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This day in history

Today is Sunday, Sept. 25, the 269th day of 2016. There are 97 days left in the year.

Today’s birthdays: Broadcast journalist Barbara Walters is 87. Folk singer Ian Tyson is 83. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is 73. Actor Josh Taylor is 73. Actor Robert Walden is 73. Actor-producer Michael Douglas is 72. Model Cheryl Tiegs is 69. Actress Mimi Kennedy is 68. Movie director Pedro Almodovar is 67. Actor-director Anson Williams is 67. Actor Mark Hamill is 65. Basketball Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo is 65. Polka bandleader Jimmy Sturr is 65. Actor Colin Friels is 64. Actor Michael Madsen is 58.Actress Heather Locklear is 55. Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen is 51. Actor Jason Flemyng is 50. Actor Will Smith is 48. Actor Hal Sparks is 47. Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is 47. Rapper T. I. is 36. Actor Van Hansis is 35. Actor Lee Norris is 35. Actor/rapper Donald Glover (AKA Childish Gambino) is 33. Actor Zach Woods is 32. Olympic silver medal figure skater Mao Asada is 26. Actress Emmy Clarke is 25.

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In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and sighted the Pacific Ocean.

In 1690, one of the earliest American newspapers, Publick Occurrences, published its first — and last — edition in Boston.

In 1775, American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen was captured by the British as he led an attack on Montreal. (Allen was released by the British in 1778.)

In 1789, the first US Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. (Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.)

In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed a measure establishing Sequoia National Park.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson collapsed after a speech in Pueblo, Colorado, during a national speaking tour in support of the Treaty of Versailles.

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In 1956, the first trans-Atlantic telephone cable officially went into service with a three-way ceremonial call between New York, Ottawa and London.

In 1957, nine black students who’d been forced to withdraw from Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., because of unruly white crowds were escorted to class by Army soldiers.

In 1962, Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in round one to win the world heavyweight title at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

In 1978, 144 people were killed when a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 and a private plane collided over San Diego.

In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the Supreme Court.

In 1991, Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie died in France.

In 2006, British forces in Iraq shot and killed Omar al-Farouq, a leading Al Qaeda terrorist, more than a year after he embarrassed the US military by escaping from a military prison in Afghanistan.

In 2015, House Speaker John Boehner abruptly announced his resignation. During a visit to New York City, Pope Francis offered comfort to 9/11 victims’ families at ground zero, warnings to world leaders at the United Nations, and encouragement to schoolchildren in Harlem.