This day in history

In 1914, the Federal Trade Commission was established.

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

In 1945, Hungarian-born composer Bela Bartok, 64, died in New York City.

In 1957, the musical play “West Side Story” opened on Broadway.

In 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 from Chicago.

In 1981, the twin-engine Boeing 767 made its official debut in Everett, Washington.

In 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.

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

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a bill ensuring two-day hospital stays for new mothers and their babies. Richard Allen Davis, the killer of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, was formally sentenced to death in San Jose, California.

In 2014, 43 students from a rural teachers college in Guerrero state in Mexico who had commandeered buses to attend a rally in Mexico City were detained by police in the city of Iguala and turned over to a crime gang; their fate remains unknown.

Ten years ago: A declassified version of a government intelligence report ordered released by President George W. Bush said the war in Iraq had become a “cause celebre” for Islamic extremists, breeding deep resentment of the U.S. that was likely to get worse before it got better. Former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow was sentenced by a federal judge in Houston to six years in prison for his role in the fallen energy company’s bankruptcy (Fastow was released in Dec. 2011). Iva Toguri D’Aquino, who was convicted and later pardoned for being World War II propagandist “Tokyo Rose,” died in Chicago at age 90. World Golf Hall of Famer Byron Nelson died in Roanoke, Texas, at age 94.

Five years ago: Ending weeks of political brinkmanship, Congress advanced legislation to avoid a partial government shutdown. President Barack Obama appeared at a town hall meeting in Mountain View, California, hosted by the social networking company LinkedIn; the president plugged his jobs agenda in fielding questions on the employment picture, education, Medicare and Social Security.

One year ago: Visiting Philadelphia on the final leg of his six-day U.S. trip, Pope Francis extolled America’s founding ideals of liberty and equality while warning that religious freedom was under threat around the globe. Speaking at a U.N. summit on new development goals, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged billions in aid to the world’s poorest countries and said Beijing would forgive debts of those worst-off.

Today’s Birthdays: Retired baseball All-Star Bobby Shantz is 91. Actor Philip Bosco is 86. Actor Richard Herd is 84. South African nationalist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is 80. Country singer David Frizzell is 75. Actor Kent McCord is 74. Television host Anne Robinson is 72. Singer Bryan Ferry is 71. Actress Mary Beth Hurt is 70. Singer Olivia Newton-John is 68. Actor James Keane is 64. Rock singer-musician Cesar Rosas (Los Lobos) is 62. Country singer Carlene Carter is 61. Actress Linda Hamilton is 60. Country singer Doug Supernaw is 56. Rhythm-and-blues singer Cindy Herron (En Vogue) is 55. Actress Melissa Sue Anderson is 54. Actor Patrick Bristow is 54. Rock musician Al Pitrelli is 54. Singer Tracey Thorn (Everything But The Girl) is 54. TV personality Jillian Barberie is 50. Contemporary Christian guitarist Jody Davis (Newsboys) is 49. Actor Jim Caviezel (kuh-VEE’-zuhl) is 48. Actress Tricia O’Kelley is 48. Actor Ben Shenkman is 48. Actress Melanie Paxon is 44. Singer Shawn Stockman (Boyz II Men) is 44. Music producer Dr. Luke is 43. Jazz musician Nicholas Payton is 43. Actor Mark Famiglietti (fah-mihl-YEH’-tee) is 37. Singer-actress Christina Milian (MIHL’-ee-ahn) is 35. Tennis player Serena Williams is 35.

Thought for Today: “The worlbe Didrikson Zaharias died in Galveston, Texas, at age 45.

In 1962, “Silent Spring,” Rachel Carson’s study on the effects of pesticides on the environment, was published in book form by Houghton Mifflin.

In 1979, Congress gave its final approval to forming the U.S. Department of Education.

In 1989, Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc. agreed to a $3.4 billion cash buyout by Sony Corp.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced in a nationally broadcast address that he was eliminating all U.S. battlefield nuclear weapons, and called on the Soviet Union to match the gesture. The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked, 7-7, on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2001, an armed man went on a shooting rampage in the local parliament of Zug, Switzerland, killing 14 people before taking his own life. President George W. Bush asked the nation’s governors to post National Guard troops at airports as a first step toward federal control of airline security.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush hosted a peacemaking dinner at the White House for the bickering leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf (pur-VEHZ’ moo-SHAH’-ruhv) and Hamid Karzai (HAH’-mihd KAHR’-zeye). Republicans announced they would hold their 2008 presidential convention in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. A gunman took six girls hostage at a high school in Bailey, Colorado; he molested some of them and killed one girl before committing suicide.

Five years ago: Opening statements in the Los Angeles trial of Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, took place as prosecutors accused Murray of killing the superstar through irresponsible use of the anesthetic propofol, and the defense maintaining Jackson had caused his own death. (Murray was later convicted of felony involuntary manslaughter.) Israel gave the go-ahead for construction of 1,100 new Jewish housing units in east Jerusalem; the announcement met with swift criticism from the United States and the European Union.

One year ago: President Barack Obama committed the U.S. to a new blueprint to eliminate poverty and hunger around the world as he addressed a global summit at the United Nations. Pope Francis urged hundreds of thousands of faithful gathered in Philadelphia for the biggest event of his U.S. visit to be open to the “miracles of love,” closing out a six-day trip with a message of hope for families and consolation for victims of child sexual abuse.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Kathleen Nolan is 83. Actor Wilford Brimley is 82. Actor Claude Jarman Jr. is 82. Author Barbara Howar is 82. World Golf Hall of Famer Kathy Whitworth is 77. Singer-musician Randy Bachman (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is 73. Rock singer Meat Loaf is 69. Actress Liz Torres is 69. Actor A Martinez is 68. Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt is 67. Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is 66. Singer Shaun Cassidy is 58. Comedian Marc Maron is 53. Rock singer Stephan (STEE’-fan) Jenkins (Third Eye Blind) is 52. Former Democratic National Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is 50. Actor Patrick Muldoon is 48. Singer Mark Calderon is 46. Actress Amanda Detmer is 45. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is 44. Rock singer Brad Arnold (3 Doors Down) is 38. Christian rock musician Grant Brandell (Underoath) is 35. Actress Anna Camp is 34. Rapper Lil’ Wayne is 34. Singer Avril Lavigne (AV’-rihl la-VEEN’) is 32. Bluegrass singer/musician Sierra Hull is 25.