Moments in Time

The History Channel

• On Sept. 24, 1789, The Judiciary Act of 1789 is passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices. By 1869 the number of justices was increased to nine.

• On Sept. 30, 1868, the first volume of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved children’s book “Little Women” is published. Alcott dedicated most of her life and writing to supporting her family after her father’s failure at running a Transcendentalist school. Her works include “Little Men” (1871) and “An Old-Fashioned Girl” (1870).

• On Sept. 28, 1901, Ed Sullivan, who would become the host of the long-running TV variety program “The Ed Sullivan Show,” is born in New York City. During the peak of its popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, Sullivan’s program showcased a wide range of entertainers, including The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

• On Sept. 29, 1913, Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the engine that bears his name, disappears from the steamship Dresden while traveling from Belgium to England. On Oct. 10, Diesel’s body was found in the water. Conspiracy theories began to fly almost immediately. Many people believed (and still believe) that Diesel was murdered.

• On Sept. 25, 1957, under escort from 1,000 paratroopers in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, nine black students enter all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. Three weeks earlier, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus had surrounded the school with National Guard troops to prevent court-ordered racial integration.

• On Sept. 26, 1960, for the first time in U.S. history, a debate between major party presidential candidates is shown on television. John F. Kennedy debated Richard M. Nixon in a Chicago studio. Nixon refused to wear makeup.

• On Sept. 27, 1989, Zsa Zsa Gabor, on trial for slapping a police officer, storms out of the courtroom in the middle of the district attorney’s closing argument. She had been pulled over for expired tags on her Rolls Royce, as well as having an open container of alcohol and an expired license.

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.