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more events on September 22
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1991
Huntington Library makes the Dead Sea Scrolls available to the public for the first time.
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1980
The Iran-Iraq War begins as Iraq invades Iran; lasting until August 1988, it was the longest conventional war of the 20th century.
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1975
Sara Jane Moore attempts to assassinate US President Gerald Ford, the second attempt on his life in less than three weeks.
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1971
Princess Martha Louise of Norway.
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1970
President Richard M. Nixon signs a bill giving the District of Columbia representation in the U.S. Congress.
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1969
Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants becomes the first baseball player since Babe Ruth to hit 600 home runs.
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1961
President John Kennedy signs a congressional act establishing the Peace Corps.
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1959
Saul Perlmutter, astrophysicist; shared 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for providing evidence the expansion of the universe is accelerating.
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1958
Joan Jett, singer, songwriter, musician, producer, actress (“I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”).
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1956
Debby Boone, multiple Grammy Award–winning singer, author, actress; “You Light Up My Life” set a a record in 1977 with 10 weeks at the No. 1 spot on music charts.
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1949
James “Hoss” Cartwright, US Marine Corps general; commander of US Strategic Command 2004-07.
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1947
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster makes the first automatic pilot flight over the Atlantic.
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1945
President Harry Truman accepts U.S. Secretary of War Stimson’s recommendation to designate the war World War II.
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1939
Junko Tabei, Japanese mountain climber; first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
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1933
Fay Weldon, author (The Life and Loves of a She-Devil).