Today in History: September 18, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies

Today is Friday, Sept. 18, the 261st day of 2026. There are 104 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 18, 2020, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a towering champion of women’s rights who became the court’s second female justice, died at her home in Washington at age 87 of complications from pancreatic cancer.

Also on this date:

In 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.

In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which created a force of federal commissioners charged with returning escaped slaves to their owners. The act was repealed in 1864 during the American Civil War.

In 1851, the first edition of The New York Times was published.

In 1944, the British submarine HMS Tradewind sank the Japanese transport ship Junyo Maru in the Indian Ocean, killing more than 5,600, most of them forced laborers and prisoners of war. It was one of World War II’s deadliest disasters at sea.

In 1947, the National Security Act, which created a National Military Establishment and the position of Secretary of Defense, went into effect.

In 1961, United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold (dahg HAWM’-ahr-shoold) was killed in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).

In 1970, rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at age 27.

In 1975, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

In 2014, voters in Scotland rejected independence, opting to remain part of the United Kingdom in a historic referendum.

In 2023, the U.S. and Iran swapped five prisoners each in a deal in which President Joe Biden agreed to release nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets owed by a third country, South Korea.

Today’s Birthdays: Hockey Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman is 93. Singer Frankie Avalon is 86. Actor Anna Deavere Smith is 76. Neurosurgeon-author-politician Ben Carson is 75. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino is 74. Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama is 72. Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Šťastný is 70. Actor Holly Robinson Peete is 62. R&B singer Ricky Bell (Bell Biv Devoe, New Edition) is 59. Basketball Hall of Famer Toni Kukoč is 58. Actor Aisha Tyler is 56. Actor Jada Pinkett Smith is 55. Actor James Marsden is 53. Rapper Xzibit is 52. Comedian-actor Jason Sudeikis is 51. Former soccer player Ronaldo is 50. Actor/comedian Billy Eichner is 48. Rapper Dizzee Rascal is 42. Country singer Tae Kerr (Maddie and Tae) is 31. Soccer player Christian Pulisic is 28. Singer Alex Warren is 26. Actor Aidan Gallagher is 23. Actor Nina Lu is 23.