Sept. 17 (UPI) – On this date in history:
In 1787, the U.S. Constitution, completed in Philadelphia, was signed by a majority of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Nine states ratified the document in June 1788, and on March 4, 1789, it became the supreme law of the United States.
In 1862, Union troops under General George McClellan attacked Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee near Antietam Creek in Maryland. McClellan blocked Lee’s advance on Washington, but the victory was not enough.
In 1939, Soviet troops invaded Poland, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded the country. 20 days later, Warsaw surrendered to the Nazi armies.
In 1972, North Vietnam released three American pilots, the first American prisoners of war since 1969.
In 1976, NASA introduced its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, an airplane-like spacecraft that cost nearly $10 billion and took nearly a decade to develop.
In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords, laying the foundation for a lasting peace agreement between Egypt and Israel after three decades of hostilities.
In 1983, Vanessa Williams from New York became the first black woman to be crowned Miss America. She resigned eleven months later after nude photos were published, but regained fame as a singer and actress.
In 1991, North Korea, South Korea, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were admitted to the United Nations.
In 1993, Cambodia’s two largest political parties agreed that Prince Norodom Sihanouk would take over the leadership of the country. A week later, Sihanouk was proclaimed king.
In 2001, US President George W. Bush said Osama bin Laden, the suspected leader of the September 11 terrorist attacks, was “wanted dead or alive.” Bin Laden was killed in a US commando raid in Pakistan in 2011.
In 2023, an unnamed actress stated in a court document that she was sexually assaulted by British comedian Russell Brand on the set of the 2010 film “Arthur” while crew members “guarded the door from the outside.”