Today is Monday, Sept. 19, the 263rd day of 2016. There are 103 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On Sept. 19th, 1796, President George Washington’s farewell address was published. In it, America’s first chief executive advised, “Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.”

On this date

In 1777, the first Battle of Saratoga was fought during the Revolutionary War; although British forces succeeded in driving out the American troops, the Americans prevailed in a second battle the following month.

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 1906, addressing the annual dinner of The Associated Press in New York, Mark Twain said, “There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe — only two — the sun in the heavens and The Associated Press down here.”

In 1915, vaudeville performer W.C. Fields made his movie debut as “Pool Sharks,” a one-reel silent comedy, was released.

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 1959, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, in Los Angeles as part of his U.S. tour, reacted angrily upon being told that, for security reasons, he wouldn’t get 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 ended up staying at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem.

In 1970, the situation comedy “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” debuted on CBS-TV.

In 1982, the smiley emoticon was invented by Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman, who suggested punctuating humorously intended computer messages with a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis as a horizontal “smiley face.” 🙂

In 1985, the Mexico City area was struck by a devastating earthquake that killed at least 9,500 people.

In 1996, IBM announced it would extend health benefits to the partners of its gay employees.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush, speaking to the U.N. General Assembly, tried to quell anti-Americanism in the Middle East by assuring Muslims he was not waging war against Islam. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan delivered an emotional farewell address, appealing to the world to unite against human rights abuses, religious divisions, brutal conflicts and an unjust world economy. Thailand’s army commander staged a coup, ousting Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra over accusations of corruption.

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