"On Sept. 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria, the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years, struck the island, wiping out as much as 75 percent of power distribution lines and causing an island-wide blackout. Also on this date: In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew set out from Spain on five ships to find a western passage to the Spice Islands."
"In 1946, the first Cannes Film Festival, lasting 16 days, opened in France. In 1962, James Meredith, a Black student, was blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Democratic Gov. Ross R. Barnett. In 1964, The Beatles concluded their first full-fledged U.S. tour by performing in a charity concert at the Paramount Theater in New York. In 1967, the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 was christened by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Clydebank, Scotland."
"In 1973, in their so-called Battle of the Sexes, tennis star Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, in the Houston Astrodome. In 2011, the repeal of the U.S. military's 18-year-old don't ask, don't tell compromise took effect, allowing gay and lesbian service members to serve openly. In 2019, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the 1979 site of the nation's worst commercial nuclear power accident, was shut down by its owner after producing electricity for 45 years."
Sept. 20 has been the date of varied historical, cultural and political events. Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017, devastating power infrastructure and causing an island-wide blackout. Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in 1519 in a quest for a western passage, with one ship later completing the first circumnavigation. The first Cannes Film Festival opened in 1946. The date also saw civil-rights confrontations, major music and sporting moments, the 2011 repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,' and the 2019 shutdown of Three Mile Island. Several prominent public figures celebrate birthdays on this date.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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