Today’s highlights

On Sept. 9, 1971, prisoners seized control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, taking 42 staff members hostage and demanding improvements to inmate treatment and living conditions.

On this date

1776: The second Continental Congress formally adopted the name “United States of America,” replacing the “United Colonies of North America.”

1850: California was admitted as the 31st U.S. state.

1919: About 1,100 members of Boston’s 1,500-member police force went on strike. The strike was broken by Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge with replacement officers.

1948: The People’s Democratic Republic of Korea was declared.

1957: Althea Gibson became the first Black tennis player to win the U.S. National Championships, which is now known as the U.S. Open.

1957: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the first civil rights bill to pass Congress since Reconstruction, a measure primarily concerned with protecting voting rights. It also established a Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Today’s birthdays

Singer Dee Dee Sharp is 79. Former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann is 75. Actor Angela Cartwright is 72. Musician-producer Dave Stewart is 72. Actor Hugh Grant is 64. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is 61. Actor Constance Marie is 59. Actor Adam Sandler is 58. Actor Julia Sawalha is 56. Model Rachel Hunter is 55. Actor Eric Stonestreet is 53. Actor Henry Thomas is 53.