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Today in history, Sept. 26

 
Published Sept. 26, 2016

1777: British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution.

1789: Thomas Jefferson was confirmed by the Senate to be the first United States secretary of state; John Jay, the first chief justice; Edmund Randolph, the first attorney general.

1892: John Philip Sousa and his newly formed band performed publicly for the first time at the Stillman Music Hall in Plainfield, N.J.

1914: The Federal Trade Commission was established.

1937: The radio drama The Shadow, starring Orson Welles, premiered on the Mutual Broadcasting System.

1957: The musical play West Side Story opened on Broadway.

1960: The first-ever debate between presidential nominees took place as Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon faced off before a national TV audience.

1981: The twin-engine Boeing 767 made its official debut in Everett, Was.

1986: William H. Rehnquist was sworn in as the 16th chief justice of the United States, while Antonin Scalia joined the Supreme Court as its 103rd member.

1991: Four men and four women began a two-year stay inside a sealed-off structure in Oracle, Ariz., called Biosphere 2. (They emerged from Biosphere on this date in 1993.)

Associated Press