On this date:
In 1792, the French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy.
In 1937, “The Hobbit,” by J.R.R. Tolkien, was first published by George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. of London.
In 1938, a hurricane struck parts of New York and New England, causing widespread damage and claiming some 700 lives.
In 1957, the legal mystery-drama “Perry Mason,” starring Raymond Burr, premiered on CBS.
In 1961, the first Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter made its first hovering flight.
In 1973, the Senate confirmed Henry Kissinger to be Secretary of State.
In 1982, National Football League players began a 57-day strike, their first regular-season walkout ever.
In 1985, in North Korea and South Korea, relatives who had been separated for decades were allowed to visit each other as both countries opened their borders in an unprecedented family-reunion program.
In 1989, Hurricane Hugo crashed into Charleston, South Carolina; the storm was blamed for 56 deaths in the Caribbean and 29 in the United States.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act denying federal recognition of same-sex marriages, a day after saying the law should not be used as an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against gays and lesbians.
In 2001, Congress gave $15 billion to the airline industry, which was suffering mounting economic losses since the Sept. 11 attacks.
In 2011, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, two Americans jailed in Iran as spies, left Tehran for the Gulf state of Oman, closing a high-profile drama that brought more than two years of hope and heartbreak for their families.
In 2017, millions of Puerto Ricans faced the prospect of weeks or months without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
In 2018, President Donald Trump directly challenged by name the woman accusing his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, saying that if the attack on Christine Blasey Ford had been as bad as she claimed, then she would have filed charges.
In 2021, Melvin Van Peebles, a playwright, musician and movie director whose work ushered in the “blaxploitation” films of the 1970s, died at his New York home at age 89.
In 2022, Russia’s Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilization of reservists for the first time in the nation since World War II nearly seven months after invading Ukraine.