Today is Thursday, September 24, 267th day of 2009. There are 98 days left in the year.
1493 _ Columbus' second expedition to the New World
1829 _ Russia and Ottoman Empire sign Peace Treaty of Adrianople
1852 _ A new invention, the dirigible, is demonstrated
1853 _ First round-the-world trip by yacht (Cornelius Vanderbilt)
1895 _ First round-the-world trip by a woman on a bicycle (took 15 months)
1934 _ 2500 fans see Babe Ruth's farewell Yankee appearance at Yankee Stadium
1938 _ Don Budge becomes first tennis player to grand slam
1954 _ Tonight Show premiers on NBC (Johnny takes over eight years later)
1960 _ First nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, launches (USS Enterprise)
1988 _ Canada's Ben Johnson runs drug-assisted 100-meter in 9.79 seconds