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 it became the supreme law of the United States on March 4, 1789.

In 1862, Union forces led by Gen. George McClellan attacked Confederate troops led by Gen. Robert E. Lee near Antietam Creek in Maryland. McClellan blocked Lee's advance on Washington but fell short of victory.

In 1939, Soviet troops invaded Poland, 16 days after Nazi Germany moved into the country. Warsaw capitulated to Nazi armies 20 days later.

In 1972, North Vietnam released three American pilots, the first U.S. prisoners of war released by the country since 1969.

In 1976, NASA displayed its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, an airplane-like spacecraft costing almost $10 billion that 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 groundwork for a permanent peace agreement between Egypt and Israel after three decades of hostilities.

In 1983, Vanessa Williams of New York became the first Black woman to be named Miss America. She resigned 11 months later after nude photos were published but regained stardom 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 leading political parties agreed that Prince Norodom Sihanouk would lead the nation. Sihanouk was installed as king a week later.

In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush said Osama bin Laden, the suspected ringleader in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was wanted dead or alive. Bin Laden was killed in a 2011 U.S. commando raid in in Pakistan.

In 2023, an unnamed actor said in a court document she was sexually assaulted by British comedian Russell Brand in 2010 while on the set of the movie Arthur as crew members guarded the door from the outside.

Copyright 2024 by United Press International