UPI Almanac for Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024

Today is Thursday, Sept. 19, the 263rd day of 2024 with 103 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include businessman George Cadbury in 1839; Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski in 1905; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell in 1907; automobile designer Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche in 1909; writer William Golding in 1911; actor/writer/TV personality James Lipton in 1926; actor Rosemary Harris in 1927 (age 97); actor Adam West in 1928; actor David McCallum in 1933; musician Bill Medley (Righteous Brothers) in 1940 (age 84); musician Mama Cass Elliot, born Ellen Cohen, (Mamas & the Papas) in 1941; musician Freda Payne in 1942 (age 82); Baseball Hall of Fame member Joe Morgan in 1943; musician David Bromberg (Deep) in 1945 (age 79); actor Randolph Mantooth in 1945 (age 79); actor Jeremy Irons in 1948 (age 76); model/actor Twiggy, born Lesley Hornby, in 1949 (age 75); TV personality Joan Lunden in 1950 (age 74); musician Nile Rodgers (Chic) in 1952 (age 72); musician Lita Ford (Runaways) in 1958 (age 66); actor/filmmaker Kevin Hooks in 1958 (age 66); celebrity chef Mario Batali in 1960 (age 64); actor Cheri Oteri in 1962 (age 62); musician Trisha Yearwood in 1964 (age 60); astronaut Sunita Williams in 1965 (age 59); journalist Soledad O'Brien in 1966 (age 58); celebrity chef Michael Symon in 1969 (age 55); actor Victor Williams in 1970 (age 54); actor Sanaa Lathan in 1971 (age 53); comedian/TV host Jimmy Fallon in 1974 (age 50); actor Alison Sweeney in 1976 (age 48); musician Sara Quin (Tegan and Sara) in 1980 (age 44); singer Tegan Quin (Tegan and Sara) in 1980 (age 44); actor Kevin Zegers in 1984 (age 40); actor Zoë Chao in 1985 (age 39); actor Danielle Panabaker in 1987 (age 37); musician Pia Mia Perez in 1996 (age 28).

On this date in history:

In 1777, British soldiers won the first Battle of Saratoga in the Revolutionary War, but the Americans would go on to win the second battle less than a month later.

In 1881, U.S. President James Garfield, 49, who had been shot in July by a disgruntled office-seeker, died of his wounds. Vice President Chester Arthur was sworn in as the successor to Garfield, who had been president for 6 1/2 months. His assassin was executed in 1882.

In 1893, with the signing of the Electoral Bill by Gov. David Boyle, New Zealand became the first country to grant national voting rights to women.

In 1955, after a decade of rule, Argentine President Juan Domingo Peron was deposed in a military coup.

In 1957, the United States conducted its first fully contained underground nuclear weapon test in Nevada. Scientists at the time theorized the heat and pressure from the blast could've turned rocks into rubies, sapphires or even diamonds under the rubble.

In 1969, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced he was cancelling the draft calls for 50,000 Americans in November and December. He did so in an effort to get Congress to switch to a lottery-style draft and to quell public protests.

In 1985, an earthquake collapsed hundreds of buildings, killed at least 7,000 people and injured thousands of others in Mexico City.

In 1988, U.S. swimmer Greg Louganis took the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the Seoul Olympics after hitting his head on the board during preliminary competition.

In 1995, The Washington Post published a manifesto by Theodore Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, who carried out 16 bombings across the United States from 1978-95, killing three people. Kaczynski was arrested in 1996 and was sentenced to eight life sentences in prison.

In 2006, Thailand Premier Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown in a bloodless military coup.

In 2010, 42-year-old Frenchman Philippe Croizon, a quadruple amputee, swam across the English Channel in 13 1/2 hours. Croizon covered the 21 miles with flippers attached to the stumps of his legs and special steering attachments in the arm areas.

In 2017, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook central Mexico, killing more than 350 people, including dozens of children in the rubble of a school.

In 2021, Cumbre Vieja in Spain's Canary Islands erupted, setting off the longest-known eruption period for the volcano at 85 days. The disaster killed one person and destroyed more than 3,000 structures.

In 2022, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest next to her husband, Prince Philip, in a private funeral at Windsor Castle in London. The queen died Sept. 8 at the age of 96, Britain's oldest and longest-serving monarch.

A thought for the day: "I see my body as an instrument rather than an ornament." -- Canadian musician Alanis Morissette