Moments in Time – Sept. 12, 2018

#Middlebury

• On Sept. 30, 1889, the Wyoming state convention approves a constitution that includes granting women the right to vote. Admitted into the union the following year, Wyoming became the first state to allow its female citizens to vote.
• On Sept. 29, 1907, Gene Autry, perhaps the greatest singing cowboy of all time, is born in Tioga, Texas. While Autry was no cowboy, he was, at least, a genuine Westerner who had lived on a ranch. Autry was one of America’s most popular movie stars in the 1930s and ’40s, appearing in almost 100 films.
• On Sept. 28, 1918, a Liberty Loan parade in Philadelphia prompts a huge outbreak of a flu epidemic that would leave an estimated 30 million people dead worldwide. The 1918 flu pandemic likely originated with a bird or farm animal in the American Midwest.
• On Sept. 26, 1945, Lt. Col. Peter Dewey, a U.S. Army officer, is shot and killed in Saigon by the Viet Minh, who thought he was French. Dewey was the first of nearly 59,000 Americans killed in Vietnam.
• On Sept. 25, 1965, the Kansas City Athletics start ageless wonder Satchel Paige in a game against the Boston Red Sox. The 59-year-old Paige, a Negro League legend, gave up only one hit in his three innings of play.
• On Sept. 24, 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson runs the 100-meter dash in 9.79 seconds to win gold at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Three days later he tested positive for steroids and was stripped of the medal.
• On Sept. 27, 1999, operatic tenor Placido Domingo makes his 18th opening-night appearance at the Metropolitan Opera House, breaking an “unbreakable” record previously held by the great Enrico Caruso, who died in 1921.

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