• Today is Sunday, Sept. 16, the 260th day of 2012. There are 106 days left in the year. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, begins at sunset.
• Today's Highlight in History:
• On Sept. 16, 1857, the song "Jingle Bells" by James Pierpont was copyrighted under its original title, "One Horse Open Sleigh." (The song, while considered a Christmastime perennial, was actually written by Pierpont for Thanksgiving.)
• On this date:
• In 1498, Tomas de Torquemada, notorious for his role in the Spanish Inquisition, died in Avila, Spain.
• In 1810, Mexicans were inspired to begin their successful revolt against Spanish rule by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and his "Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores)."
• In 1893, more than 100,000 settlers swarmed onto a section of land in Oklahoma known as the "Cherokee Strip."
• In 1908, General Motors was founded in Flint, Mich., by William C. Durant.
• In 1919, the American Legion received a national charter from Congress.
• In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Selective Training and Service Act. Samuel T. Rayburn of Texas was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
• In 1953, "The Robe," the first movie presented in the widescreen process CinemaScope, had its world premiere at the Roxy Theater in New York.
• In 1972, "The Bob Newhart Show" premiered on CBS.
• In 1977, Maria Callas, the American-born prima donna famed for her lyric soprano and fiery temperament, died in Paris at age 53.
• In 1982, the massacre of between 1,200 and 1,400 Palestinian men, women and children at the hands of Israeli-allied Christian Phalange militiamen began in west Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
• In 1987, two dozen countries signed the Montreal Protocol, a treaty designed to save the Earth's ozone layer by calling on nations to reduce emissions of harmful chemicals by the year 2000.
• In 1992, former U.S. Rep. Millicent Fenwick, R-N.J., died at age 82.
• Ten years ago: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced that Iraq had unconditionally accepted the return of U.N. weapons inspectors.
• Five years ago: Contractors for the U.S. security firm Blackwater USA guarding

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