This day in history

I'm a little late, but some notable historical events that happened today (September 14) include:

1716 -  Boston Light (the first lighthouse in the US) shined it's light from Little Brewster Island in Boston. The original was destroyed by the British during the Revolutionary War and was rebuilt making it the second oldest functioning lighthouse in the US

1814 -  Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that later became the National Anthem of the US while anchored on a British ship off the coast of Baltimore, MD

1901 -  President William McKinley died after an assassin shot him at point-blank range. His vice president Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in and became the youngest man to hold the office 

1939 -  Igor Sikorsky flew the first practical helicopter in Stratford, CT

1959 -  the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 impacted the moon making it the first spacecraft to strike the moon or any other body in the solar system 

1963 -  the first surviving quintuplets in America were born. The doctor informed the parents only days before the delivery that Mary Ann Fischer would deliver 5 babies

1984 -  the Video of the Year went to The Cars for "You Might Think" during the first MTV Video Music Awards

1984 -  Jo Kittinger completed the first solo transatlantic flight in a gas balloon. He traveled 3,543 miles in 86 hours

1985 -  The Golden Girls debuted on NBC

2014 -  the Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, MA hosted 902 balloon tosses to break a world record 

Some interesting birthdays include:

Charles Dana Gibson (1867)

Alice Tully (1902)

Mae Boren Axton (1914) - publicist and songwriter who co-wrote the song "Heartbreak Hotel" with Elvis Presley 

Joyce Chen (1917)

Constance Baker Motley (1921) - first African American woman elected to the NY State Senate, first woman and African American chosen as Manhattan Borough President and first African American woman nominated to Federal Court Judge

Jo Ann Boyce (1941) - civil rights activist who was one of 12 black teenagers who integrated Clinton High School in Clinton, TN in 1956