Sept. 26 (UPI) -- On this date in history:
In 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia.
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1 of 4 | Members of the U.S. and Philippine militaries deliver food packs donated by local businesses and private organizations to aid communities affected by Typhoon Ketsana on October 5, 2009. On September 26, 2009, Ketsana swept across the Philippines, killing about 500 people and causing the country's worst flooding in almost half a century. File Photo by Lance Cpl. Marie Matarlo/U.S. Marines
In 1934, Britain's Queen Mary bestowed her name on Cunard-White Star Line's newest ocean liner in a christening ceremony in Scotland.
In 1950, U.N. troops took the South Korean capital of Seoul from North Korean forces.
In 1960, the first televised presidential debate aired from a Chicago TV studio. It featured candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.
In 1983, the yacht Australia II won the America's Cup from the United States, ending the longest winning streak in sports -- 132 years.
File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI
In 1984, China and Britain initialed an accord to return Hong Kong to Chinese control when Britain's lease expired in 1997.
In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America, under pressure from filmmakers, adopted the "NC-17" rating -- no children under 17 allowed -- to replace the "X" rating exploited by the porn industry.
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In 1991, four men and four women entered the huge, airtight greenhouse Biosphere II in Arizona. They remained inside for two years, emerging on this date in 1993.
In 1992, a Nigerian Air Force transport plane crashed into a swamp shortly after takeoff from Lagos airport, killing all 158 people on board.
In 1996, the space shuttle Atlantis landed, returning astronaut Shannon Lucid to Earth. At the time, her six-month tour aboard the Mir space station was the longest stay in space for an American.
File Photo by Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell/UPI
In 2005, U.S. Army Pfc. Lynndie England, photographed in widely distributed pictures with inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, was convicted of conspiracy and prisoner abuse. She was sentenced to three years in prison and paroled in March 2007.
In 2009, Typhoon Ketsana swept across the Philippines, killing about 500 people and causing the country's worst flooding in almost half a century. The storm then slammed into Southeast Asia and killed 163 people in Vietnam.
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In 2017, Saudi King Salman announced the country will issue driver's licenses to women starting the following summer after years of pressure on the government.
In 2022, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test, known as DART, slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos in its first planetary defense test that could protect Earth from future threats.
In 2023, former President Donald Trump fraudulently inflated the values of his real estate properties, a judge decided in a pre-trial win for New York Attorney General Letitia James. The judge found Trump guilty in the case in February 2024 and ordered him to pay $354.8 million.
File Photo by Jeenah Moon/UPI
