TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 19, the 262nd day of 2018. There are 103 days left in the year.

HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY

On Sept. 19, 1881, the 20th president of the United States, James A. Garfield, died 2 1/2 months after being shot by Charles Guiteau; Chester Alan Arthur became president.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

• Author Roger Angell is 98. • Host James Lipton (“Inside the Actors Studio”) is 92. • Actor David McCallum is 85. • Singer-songwriter Paul Williams is 78. • Singer Bill Medley (the Righteous Brothers) is 78. • R&B singer Freda Payne (“Band of Gold”) is 76. • Actor Jeremy Irons is 70. • Celebrity chef Mario Batali is 58. • Actress-comedian Cheri Oteri is 56. • Country singer Trisha Yearwood is 54. • “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon is 44. • Actress Danielle Panabaker (“The Flash”) is 31.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god; he is no part of a state.” — Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384 B.C.-322 B.C.).

ON THIS DATE

In 1783, Jacques Etienne Montgolfier launched a duck, a sheep and a rooster aboard a hot-air balloon at Versailles in France.

In 1796, President George Washington’s farewell address was published. In it, America’s first chief executive advised, “Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.”

In 1934, Bruno Hauptmann was arrested in New York and charged with the kidnap-murder of 20-month-old Charles A. Lindbergh Jr.

In 1959, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, in Los Angeles as part of his U.S. tour, reacted angrily upon being told that, for security reasons, he wouldn’t get to visit Disneyland.

In 1970, the “Mary Tyler Moore” show debuted on CBS-TV.

In 1982, the smiley emoticon was invented by Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman, who suggested punctuating humorously intended computer messages with a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis as a horizontal “smiley face.” 🙂