Today is Monday, September 24, the 268th day of 2012. There are 98 days left in the year.
312 ― Start of Imperial Indication
1493 ― Columbus' second expedition to the New World
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)
1938 ― Don Budge becomes first tennis player to grand slam
1963 ― U.S. Senate ratifies treaty with Britain and USSR limit nuclear testing
1976 ― Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst sentenced to seven years for her part in a 1974 bank robbery. Released after 22 months by President Carter
1988 ― Canada's Ben Johnson runs drug-assisted 100 m in 9.79 sec
1990 ― Supreme Soviet gives approval to switch to free market