1787

The Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.

1961

President John F. Kennedy told Congress: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

1964

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, ordered the Virginia county to reopen its public schools, which officials had closed in an attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka desegregation ruling.

1979

273 people died when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed just after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

2008

NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander arrived on the Red Planet to begin searching for evidence of water; the spacecraft confirmed the presence of water ice at its landing site.

Birthdays

Actor Ann Robinson is 94. Former White House news secretary Ron Nessen is 89. Country singer Jessi Colter is 80. Actor Matt Borlenghi is 56. Actor Joseph Reitman is 55. Rock musician Todd Whitener is 45.