Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.
Find the past “On This Day in History” here.
September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 98 days remaining until the end of the year.
On this day on 1789, The Judiciary Act of 1789 is passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices who were to serve on the court until death or retirement. That day, President Washington nominated John Jay to preside as chief justice, and John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson to be associate justices. On September 26, all six appointments were confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The U.S. Supreme Court was established by Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution granted the Supreme Court ultimate jurisdiction over all laws, especially those in which their constitutionality was at issue. The high court was also designated to oversee cases concerning treaties of the United States, foreign diplomats, admiralty practice, and maritime jurisdiction. On February 1, 1790, the first session of the U.S. Supreme Court was held in New York City’s Royal Exchange Building.
1180 – Manuel I Komnenos, last Emperor of the Komnenian restoration dies. The Byzantine Empire slips into terminal decline.
1645 – Battle of Rowton Heath, Parliamentarian victory over a Royalist army commanded in person by King Charles
1664 – The Dutch Republic surrenders New Amsterdam to England.
1674 – Second Tantrik Coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
1780 – Benedict Arnold flees to British Army lines when the arrest of British Major John André exposes Arnold’s plot to surrender West Point.
1789 – The United States Congress passes the Judiciary Act which creates the office of the United States Attorney General and the federal judiciary system, and orders the composition of the Supreme Court of the United States.
1830 – Belgian Revolution: A revolutionary committee of notables forms the Provisional Government of Belgium.
1841 – The Sultan of Brunei cedes Sarawak to the United Kingdom.
1846 – Mexican-American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
1852 – The first airship powered by (a steam) engine, created by Henri Giffard, travels 17 miles (27 km) from Paris to Trappes.
1853 – Admiral Despointes formally takes possession of New Caledonia in the name of France.
1869 – “Black Friday”: Gold prices plummet after Ulysses S. Grant orders the Treasury to sell large quantities of gold after Jay Gould and James Fisk plot to control the market.
1877 – Battle of Shiroyama, decisive victory of the Imperial Japanese Army over the Satsuma Rebellion
1890 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy.
1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation’s first National Monument.
1911 – His Majesty’s Airship No. 1, Britain’s first rigid airship, is wrecked by strong winds before her maiden flight at Barrow-in-Furness.
1914 – World War I: The Siege of Przemyśl (present-day Poland) begins.
1932 – Gandhi and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar agree to the Poona Pact, which reserved seats in the Indian provincial legislatures for the “Depressed Classes” (Untouchables).
1935 – Earl Bascom and Weldon Bascom produce the first rodeo ever held outdoors under electric lights at Columbia, Mississippi
1946 – Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong.
1946 – Clark Clifford and George Elsey, military advisers to U.S. President Harry S. Truman, present him with a top-secret report on the Soviet Union that first recommends the containment policy.
1948 – The Honda Motor Company is founded.
1950 – Forest fires black out the sun over portions of Canada and New England. A blue moon is seen as far away as Europe.
1957 – Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe, is opened in Barcelona.
1957 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation.
1960 – USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched.
1962 – United States court of appeals orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith.
1968 – 60 Minutes debuts on CBS.
1968 – Swaziland joins the United Nations.
1972 – Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay, India.
1973 – Guinea-Bissau declares its independence from Portugal.
1979 – CompuServe launches the first consumer internet service, which features the first public electronic mail service.
1990 – Periodic Great White Spot is observed on Saturn.
1993 – The Cambodian monarchy is restored, with Norodom Sihanouk as king.
1996 – Representatives of 71 nations sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations.
2005 – Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana.
2007 – Between 30,000 and 100,000 people take part in anti-government protests in Yangon, Burma, the largest in 20 years.
2009 – The G20 summit begins in Pittsburgh with 30 global leaders in attendance. It marks the first use of LRAD in U.S. history.
2013 – A 7.7-magnitude earthquake strikes southern Pakistan, killing more than 327 people.