Today in History...September 21

On this day in …


* 1792, the French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy

* 1937, "The Hobbit," by J.R.R. Tolkien, was first published

* 1938, a hurricane struck parts of New York and New England, causing widespread damage and claiming some 700 lives

* 1970, "NFL Monday Night Football" made its debut on ABC-TV as the Cleveland Browns defeated the visiting New York Jets, 31-21

* 1982, National Football League players began a 57-day strike, their first regular-season walkout ever

* 1987, NFL players went on a 24-day strike, mainly over the issue of free agency

* 1997, saying their persistent demands for a special investigation had been vindicated, senior Republicans insisted Attorney General Janet Reno seek appointment of an independent counsel to look into White House fund-raising activities, a day after the Justice Department revealed it had begun a preliminary review

* 2002, a defiant Iraq said it would not abide by a U.N. resolution imposing new conditions in the weapons inspections issue or threatening war. ALSO: Israel planted its flag in West Bank compound of Yasser Arafat, ym"sh, and threatened to blow up his offices in an effort to make the Palestinian leader surrender terrorists or leave into exile

* 2006, space shuttle Atlantis and its six astronauts safely returned from a 12-day mission to install a big new piece of the international space station