By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Monday, Sept. 9, the 253rd day of 2024. There are 113 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 9, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the first civil rights bill to pass Congress since Reconstruction, a measure primarily concerned with protecting voting rights; it also established a Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice.

On this date:

In 1776, the second Continental Congress made the term “United States” official, replacing “United Colonies.”

In 1850, California became the 31st state of the union.

In 1919, some 1,100 members of Boston’s 1,500-man police force went on strike. (The strike was broken by Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge with replacement officers.)

In 1926, the National Broadcasting Co. (NBC) was incorporated by the Radio Corp. of America.

In 1942, during World War II, a Japanese plane launched from a submarine off the Oregon coast dropped a pair of incendiary bombs in a failed attempt at igniting a massive forest fire; it was the first aerial bombing of the U.S. mainland by a foreign power.

In 1948, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was declared.

In 1956, Elvis Presley made the first of three appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

In 1960, in the first regular-season American Football League game, the Denver Broncos defeated the Boston Patriots, 13-10.

In 1971, prisoners seized control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, beginning a siege that ended up claiming 43 lives.

In 1991, boxer Mike Tyson was indicted in Indianapolis on a charge of raping a beauty pageant contestant. (Tyson was convicted and ended up serving three years of a six-year prison sentence.)

In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch in British history, serving as sovereign for 23,226 days (about 63 years and 7 months), according to Buckingham Palace, surpassing Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother.

In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, speaking at an LGBT fundraiser in New York City, described half of Republican Donald Trump’s supporters as “a basket of deplorables,” a characterization for which she ended up expressing regret.

In 2018, CBS chief Les Moonves resigned, hours after six more women accused the veteran television executive of sexual misconduct.

In 2022, King Charles III gave his first speech to Britain as its new monarch, vowing to carry on the “lifelong service” of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, who died a day earlier.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Dee Dee Sharp is 79. Former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann is 75. Actor Angela Cartwright is 72. Musician-producer Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) is 72. Actor Hugh Grant is 64. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is 61. Actor Constance Marie is 59. Actor Adam Sandler is 58. Actor Julia Sawalha (suh-WAHL’-hah) is 56. Model Rachel Hunter is 55. Actor Eric Stonestreet is 53. Actor Henry Thomas is 53. Actor Goran Visnjic (VEEZ’-nihch) is 52.

Pop-jazz singer Michael Bubl˝ˇ (boo-BLAY’) is 49. Actor Michelle Williams is 44. Actor Zoe Kazan is 41. Soccer player Luka Modri is 39. Country singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes is 33.