Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 30, the 273rd day of 2014. There are 92 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight:

On Sept. 30, 1954, the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy.

On this date:

In 1399, England’s King Richard II was deposed by Parliament; he was succeeded by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who was crowned as King Henry IV.

In 1777, the Continental Congress — forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces — moved to York, Pennsylvania.

In 1791, Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” premiered in Vienna, Austria.

In 1846, Boston dentist William Morton used ether as an anesthetic for the first time as he extracted an ulcerated tooth from merchant Eben Frost.

In 1938, after co-signing the Munich Agreement allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said, “I believe it is peace for our time.”

In 1939, the first college football game to be televised was shown on experimental station W2XBS in New York as Fordham University defeated Waynesburg College, 34-7.

In 1949, the Berlin Airlift came to an end.

In 1955, actor James Dean, 24, was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, California.

In 1962, James Meredith, a black student, was escorted by federal marshals to the campus of the University of Mississippi, where he enrolled for classes the next day; Meredith’s presence sparked rioting that claimed two lives. The National Farm Workers Association, founded by Cesar Chavez and a forerunner of the United Farm Workers, held its first meeting in Fresno, California.

In 1984, the mystery series “Murder, She Wrote,” starring Angela Lansbury, premiered on CBS.

In 1986, the U.S. released accused Soviet spy Gennadiy Zakharov, one day after the Soviets released American journalist Nicholas Daniloff.

In 1997, France’s Roman Catholic Church apologized for its silence during the systematic persecution and deportation of Jews by the pro-Nazi Vichy regime.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry met at the University of Miami for their first presidential debate, with Kerry accusing Bush of a “colossal error in judgment” in ordering the invasion of Iraq and the president noting that Kerry had voted to authorize the military action. Bombs killed some three dozen children in Baghdad as U.S. troops handed out candy at a government-sponsored celebration. The House followed the Senate in decisively rejecting a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Vioxx, the heavily promoted arthritis drug, was pulled from the market by its maker after a study found it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Five years ago: A powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia, killing 1,115 people. A Soyuz spacecraft carrying Canadian circus tycoon Guy Laliberte (ghee lah-lee-behr-TAY’) and two crew mates lifted off from Kazakhstan, headed for the International Space Station.

One year ago: Pope Francis announced during a meeting with cardinals that he would canonize two of his most influential predecessors, John Paul II and John XXIII, the following spring. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implored President Barack Obama during a White House meeting to keep punishing sanctions in place against Iran over its nuclear programs.

Today’s Birthdays: Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel (EL’-ee vee-ZEHL’) is 86. Actress Angie Dickinson is 83. Singer Cissy Houston is 81. Singer Johnny Mathis is 79. Actor Len Cariou is 75. Singer Marilyn McCoo is 71. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is 69. Pop singer Sylvia Peterson (The Chiffons) is 68. Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall is 64. Actress Victoria Tennant is 64. Actor John Finn is 62. Rock musician John Lombardo is 62. Singer Deborah Allen is 61. Actor Calvin Levels is 60. Actor Barry Williams is 60. Singer Patrice Rushen is 60. Actress Fran Drescher is 57. Country singer Marty Stuart is 56. Actress Debrah Farentino is 55. Rock musician Bill Rieflin (R.E.M.) is 54. Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., is 54. Actress Crystal Bernard is 53. Actor Eric Stoltz is 53. Rapper-producer Marley Marl is 52. Country singer Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery-Gentry) is 51. Rock singer Trey Anastasio is 50. Actress Monica Bellucci is 50. Rock musician Robby Takac (TAY’-kak) (Goo Goo Dolls) is 50. Actress Lisa Thornhill is 48. Actress Andrea Roth is 47. Actor Silas Weir Mitchell is 45. Actor Tony Hale is 44. Actress Jenna Elfman is 43. Actor Ashley Hamilton is 40. Actress Marion Cotillard (koh-tee-YAHR’) is 39. Actor Stark Sands is 36. Actor Mike Damus is 35. Tennis player Martina Hingis is 34. Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Moceanu (moh-chee-AH’-noo) is 33. Actress Lacey Chabert (shuh-BEHR’) is 32. Actor Kieran Culkin is 32. Singer-rapper T-Pain is 30.

Thought for Today: “If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.” — Attributed to Catherine the Great, Russian empress (1729-1796).