Today is Saturday, Sept. 13, the 256th day of 2025
with 109 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Saturn.
On this date in history:
In 1814, during a British attack on Fort McHenry, Md., Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
In 1940, the chapel at Buckingham Palace was destroyed in the German Blitz on London. The palace came under attack nine times during World War II. Ten days later, King George VI condemned the "wickedness against which we fight."
In 1948, Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, representing Maine as a Republican.
In 1971, New York state forces stormed and regained control of Attica state prison in a riot that killed 43 people.
In 1993, in a ceremony at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat signed a declaration of principles for Palestinian self-rule.
In 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur died in Los Vegas after he was shot in an ambush on Sept. 7.
In 2001, U.S. carriers were allowed to resume flights and airports were under strict new security requirements in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In 2007, the U.N. General Assembly, with the United States dissenting, approved a measure outlawing discrimination against Indigenous peoples. The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was a watershed -- but non-binding -- document outlining individual and collective rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education, and other issues.
In 2008, Hurricane Ike battered Galveston and Houston with heavy rain and 110-mph winds, forcing about 1 million people to flee and leaving millions without electricity. Officials later said deaths caused by Ike included more than 100 in the United States and about 75 in Haiti.
In 2013, an Indian court convicted four men on charges they raped and murdered a 23-year-old student on a private bus in Delhi -- a December 2012 attack that caused nationwide outrage. They were sentenced to death.
In 2024, Jane's Addiction band members Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro got into an on-stage scuffle at a concert in Boston, abruptly ending the show. The band, which was touring together in full for the first time since 2010, canceled the tour days later.
