Today is Monday, Sept. 28, the 272nd day of 2020. There are 94 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Sept. 28, 1928, Scottish medical researcher Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first effective antibiotic.
On this date:
- In 1066, William the Conqueror invaded England to claim the English throne.
- In 1781, American forces in the Revolutionary War, backed by a French fleet, began their successful siege of Yorktown, Va.
- In 1850, flogging was abolished as a form of punishment in the U.S. Navy.
- In 1892, the first nighttime football game took place in Mansfield, Pennsylvania, as teams from Mansfield State Normal and Wyoming Seminary played under electric lights to a scoreless tie.
- In 1962, a federal appeals court found Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett in civil contempt for blocking the admission of James Meredith, a Black student, to the University of Mississippi. (Federal marshals escorted Meredith onto the campus two days later.)
- In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat signed an accord at the White House ending Israel's military occupation of West Bank cities and laying the foundation for a Palestinian state.
- In 2000, capping a 12-year battle, the government approved use of the abortion pill RU-486.
Ten years ago: The youngest son of North Korean President Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, was selected for his first leadership post in the ruling Workers Party, putting him well on the path to succeed his father.
Five years ago: Former prison worker Joyce Mitchell, who'd helped two murderers escape from a maximum-security lockup, said she regretted her "horrible mistake" as she was sentenced in Plattsburgh, New York, to up to seven years behind bars.
One year ago: A massive pro-democracy rally in downtown Hong Kong ended early and violently, with police firing tear gas and a water cannon after protesters threw bricks and Molotov cocktails at government buildings.
Today's Birthdays: Actor Brigitte Bardot is 86. Actor Joel Higgins is 77. Singer Helen Shapiro is 74. Actor Vernee Watson is 71. Movie writer-director-actor John Sayles is 70. Zydeco singer-musician C.J. Chenier is 63. Actor Mira Sorvino is 53. TV personality/singer Moon Zappa is 53. Country singer Karen Fairchild (Little Big Town) is 51. Singer/songwriter A.J. Croce is 49. Actor Melissa Claire Egan is 39. Actor Jerrika Hinton is 39. Actor Hilary Duff is 33. Actor Keir Gilchrist is 28.
The Associated Press