Today in History • Monday, Sept. 9, 2024

On Sept. 9, 1971, prisoners seized control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, taking 42 staff members hostage and demanding improvements to inmate treatment and living conditions.

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In 1776, the second Continental Congress formally adopted the name “United States of America,” replacing the “United Colonies of North America.”

In 1850, California was admitted as the 31st U.S. state.

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

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

In 1957, Althea Gibson became the first Black tennis player to win the U.S. National Championships, which is now known as the U.S. Open.

In 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.

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 Bublé (boo-BLAY’) is 49. Actor Michelle Williams is 44. Actor Zoe Kazan is 41. Soccer player Luka Modrić is 39. Country singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes is 33.