Sept. 18
Today in history
Today is Sept. 18. On this day in:
1502: Christopher Columbus landed on the Caribbean coast of what’s now Costa Rica during his fourth and final voyage to the so-called New World. The arrival marked the first European encounter with Costa Rica, where Columbus was warmly greeted by Indigenous people there.
1793: President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building in a Masonic ceremony. The event marked the beginning of the construction of the building that would become the home of the U.S. Congress and a symbol of American democracy.
1850: Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act as part of the Compromise of 1850. It required the return of escaped enslaved people to their enslavers, even if found in
a free state. The act was one of the most contentious elements of the compromise, intensifying the divide over slavery.
1863: The Civil War’s three-day Battle of Chickamauga Creek began. Marking the end of the Union’s offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia, it was one of the war’s bloodiest battles, second only to Gettysburg.
1882: The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange, precursor to the Pacific Stock Exchange, was founded. It began when 25 brokers met in the basement of the old Fireman’s Fund Insurance Building. Nineteen signed the charter and contributed $50 each to purchase memberships.
1895: Booker T. Washington delivered his Atlanta Exposition Speech, addressing race relations and economic cooperation between Black and White Americans. The speech became known as the “Atlanta Compromise” for advocating vocational education and economic progress for Black Americans as a priority over immediate civil rights.
1934: The Soviet Union was officially admitted to the League of Nations after an effort of 30 member countries led by France. However, the USSR was expelled from the League on Dec. 14, 1939, for acts against Finland.
1947: The U.S. Air Force was established as a separate branch of the military following the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. The act marked the formal separation of the Air Force from the Army, making it an independent service equal to the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
1973: Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter documented an October 1969 UFO sighting in a report. Upon request from the International UFO Bureau, Carter detailed his experience. He described seeing a bright object in the sky changing colors and moving erratically before vanishing.
1977: Voyager 1 captured the first-ever image of the Earth and moon together in a single frame. Taken from a distance of 7.25 million miles, the historic photograph offered a new perspective on our place in the universe.
– USA TODAY Network
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Today in history, September 18
