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Today's highlight in history:
On Sept. 19, 1796, President Washington's farewell address was published. In it, the nation's first chief executive wrote, "Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all."
On this date:
In 1777, during the Revolutionary War, American soldiers won the first Battle of Saratoga.
In 1783, Jacques Etienne Montgolfier launched a duck, a sheep and a rooster aboard a hot-air balloon at Versailles in France.
In 1881, the 20th president of the United States, James A. Garfield, died 2 1/2 months after being shot by Charles Guiteau; Chester Alan Arthur became president.
In 1934, Bruno Hauptmann was arrested in New York and charged with the kidnap-murder of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr.
In 1945, Nazi radio propagandist William Joyce, known as "Lord Haw-Haw," was convicted of treason and sentenced to death by a British court.
In 1957, the United States conducted its first contained underground nuclear test, code-named "Rainier," in the Nevada desert.
In 1959, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev reacted angrily during a visit to Los Angeles upon being told that, for security reasons, he wouldn't be allowed to visit Disneyland.
In 1960, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in New York to visit the United Nations, angrily checked out of the Shelburne Hotel in a dispute with the management; Castro accepted an invitation to stay at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem.
In 1982, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman proposed punctuating humorously intended computer messages by employing a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis as a horizontal "smiley face." :-)
In 1988, Israel succeeded in launching a test satellite, the Ofeq ("Horizon") 1, over the Mediterranean Sea.
Ten years ago: Susan Barrantes, mother of Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, was killed in a car crash in Argentina; she was 61. Miss Virginia Nicole Johnson, a 24-year-old diabetic who wore an insulin pump on her hip, was crowned Miss America 1999.
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 Five years ago: Former Hurricane Isabel raced from Virginia to Canada, delivering far less rain than expected but leaving millions without power. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's defense minister, Sultan Hashim Ahmad, surrendered to U.S. forces.
One year ago: The Senate blocked legislation that would have regulated the amount of time troops spent in combat, a blow for Democrats struggling to challenge President Bush's Iraq policies. A powerful bomb killed anti-Syria lawmaker Antoine Ghanem and six others in Beirut, Lebanon. O.J. Simpson was released from jail after posting $125,000 bail in connection with the alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors at a Las Vegas hotel.
Today's birthdays: Author Roger Angell is 88. TV host James Lipton ("Inside the Actors Studio") is 82. Former Defense Secretary Harold Brown is 81. Actor Adam West is 78. Actor David McCallum is 75. Singer-songwriter Paul Williams is 68. Singer Bill Medley is 68. Singer Sylvia Tyson (Ian and Sylvia) is 68. Golfer Jane Blalock is 63. Singer David Bromberg is 63. Actor Randolph Mantooth is 63. Singer Freda Payne is 63. Rock singer-musician Lol Creme (10cc) is 61. Actor Jeremy Irons is 60. Actress Twiggy Lawson is 59. TV personality Joan Lunden is 58. Singer-producer Daniel Lanois is 57. Actor Scott Colomby is 56. Musician-producer Nile Rodgers is 56. Singer-actor Rex Smith is 53. Actor Kevin Hooks is 50. Actress Carolyn McCormick is 49. Country singer Jeff Bates is 45. Country singer Trisha Yearwood is 44. Actress-comedian Cheri Oteri is 43. News anchor Soledad O'Brien is 42. Rhythm-and-blues singer Espraronza Griffin is 39. Actress Sanaa Lathan is 37. Rock singer A. Jay Popoff (Lit) is 35. Comedian Jimmy Fallon is 34. TV personality Carter Oosterhouse is 32. Actress-TV host Alison Sweeney is 32. Rock musician Ryan Dusick is 31. Actor Columbus Short is 26. Rapper Eamon is 25. Christian rock musician JD Frazier (Rush of Fools) is 25. Actor Kevin Zegers is 24. Actress Danielle Panabaker is 21.
Thought for today: "There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are intersecting monologues, that is all."
-- Dame Rebecca West, Irish-born novelist (1892-1983)
[Associated Press]
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