On this day: September 28
The U.S. Constitution heads to state legislatures for approval, Ted Williams smacks a homer in his last at-bat, the Beatles' "Hey Jude" hits No. 1, and "Star Trek" taps the next generation, all on this day.
1787: The newly completed United States Constitution is voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the state legislatures for approval.
1787: The newly completed United States Constitution is voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the state legislatures for approval.
1891: Author Herman Melville, best known for his novel "Moby-Dick," dies at his home in New York City at the age of 72. The doctor lists "cardiac dilation" on the death certificate.
1895: Scientist Louis Pasteur, one of the most important founders of medical microbiology, dies near Paris at the age of 72 from complications of a series of strokes that had started in 1868. He is remembered for his breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. He also created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax, but is best known to the general public for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing sickness, a process that came to be called pasteurization.
1901: TV show host Ed Sullivan, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show "The Ed Sullivan Show" between 1948 and 1971, is born in New York City.
1905: German boxer Max Schmeling, who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932 and whose 1936 and 1938 matches with American Joe Louis were worldwide social events because of their nationalities, is born in the German Empire province of Pomerania.
1909: Cartoonist Al Capp, best known for the satirical comic strip "Li'l Abner," is born in New Haven, Conn.
1924: Three United States Army planes land in Seattle, Wash., having completed the first round-the-world flight in 175 days.
1928: Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.
1928: The first recording session ever in Nashville, Tenn., takes place with Paul Warmack and His Gully Jumpers recording a record containing two tracks entitled "The Tennessee Waltz" and "Little Red Caboose Behind the Train."
1934: Actress Brigitte Bardot, one of the best-known sex symbols of the 1960s, is born in Paris, France.
1938: Soul singer Ben E. King, perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me," is born in Henderson, N.C.
1946: Actor Jeffrey Jones ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Beetlejuice," "Amadeus") is born in Buffalo, N.Y.
1949: The comedy "My Friend Irma" premieres in New York City. It's the first of 12 films starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. It would be followed the following year by a sequel, "My Friend Irma Goes West," the only sequel that Martin & Lewis ever made.
1951: CBS makes the first color televisions available for sale to the general public to take advantage of its new color programming, but the product is discontinued less than a month later.
1960: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hits his 521st home run in the last at-bat of his career.
1964: Actress and comedian Janeane Garofalo ("The Truth About Cats & Dogs," "Reality Bites," "The MatchMaker") is born in Newton, N.J.
1964: Comedian and actor Harpo Marx dies at the age of 75 after undergoing open heart surgery in Los Angeles following a heart attack, barely six months after his retirement. Marx, the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers comedy team, was known for wearing a curly reddish wig and never speaking in films, instead blowing a horn or whistling to communicate.
1967: Actress Mira Sorvino ("Mighty Aphrodite," "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion") is born in Manhattan, New York.
1968: The Beatles' "Hey Jude" goes to No. 1 on the U.S. charts and stays on top for nine weeks.
1968: Actress Naomi Watts ("Mulholland Drive," "The Ring," "21 Grams") is born in Shoreham, Kent, England.
1974: Weeks after becoming first lady, Betty Ford undergoes a mastectomy for breast cancer at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland. Her openness about her illness would help raise the visibility of a disease that Americans had previously been reluctant to talk about.
1978: Pope John Paul I dies from a heart attack at the age of 65. His 33-day reign as pope, from Aug. 26, 1978, until his death, is among the shortest in papal history. Born Albino Luciani, he is also the first pope to be born in the 20th century and the last pope to die in it.
1983: The movie "The Big Chill," starring Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly and JoBeth Williams, opens in theaters. The comedy-drama, about a group of baby boomer college friends who reunite briefly after 15 years due to the suicide of a friend, spawned two best-selling soundtracks and was nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture.
1987: Actress and singer Hilary Duff ("Lizzie McGuire," "Cheaper by the Dozen," "A Cinderella Story") is born in Houston, Texas.
1987: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" debuts on syndicated TV. The show, set in the 24th century, about 80 years after the original series, would run for seven seasons before ending on May 23, 1994.
1991: Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, one of the key figures in the history of jazz, dies from the combined effects of a stroke, pneumonia and respiratory failure in Santa Monica, Calif., at the age of 65. His 1959 album "Kind of Blue" has been certified platinum four times.
1991: The Garth Brooks album "Ropin' the Wind" becomes the first country album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart.
1994: The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in Baltic Sea en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden, killing 852 people. The official report would indicated that the locks on the bow door had failed from the strain of the waves and the door had separated from the rest of the vessel, pulling ajar the ramp behind it and flooding the boat's vehicle deck.
1994: The comedy-drama biopic "Ed Wood" opens in theaters. The movie, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as cult filmmaker Ed Wood Jr., would earn Martin Landau a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his portrayal of horror movie legend Bela Lugosi.
1995: A pitch from Dennis Martinez breaks Kirby Puckett's jaw as the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 12-4. The at-bat would prove to be the last of Puckett's career. During spring training in 1996, he would develop vision problems in his right eye and be diagnosed with glaucoma. Three surgeries over the next few months could not restore vision in the eye and Puckett would retire officially in July 1996.
2000: The Food and Drug Administration approves the use of RU-486, a pill that allows a woman to terminate a pregnancy days or weeks after conception, under the tradename Mifeprex.
2003: Oscar-winning film director Elia Kazan ("A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront") dies from natural causes at the age of 94 in New York City.
2008: SpaceX launches the first ever private spacecraft, the Falcon 1, into orbit on its fourth attempt with a mass simulator as a payload.
