Today is Wednesday, Sept. 14, the 258th day of 2016. There are 108 days left in the year.
Today’s birthdays: Former Boston Bruins general manager Harry Sinden is 84. Actress Zoe Caldwell is 83. Feminist author Kate Millett is 82. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown is 76. Actress Joey Heatherton is 72. Actor Sam Neill is 69. Singer Jon ‘‘Bowzer’’ Bauman (Sha Na Na) is 69. Actress Faith Ford is 52. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is 51.
In 1814, Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the poem ‘‘Defence of Fort McHenry’’ after witnessing the American flag flying over the Maryland fort following a night of British bombardment during the War of 1812; the poem later became the words to ‘‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’’
In 1901, President McKinley died in Buffalo, N.Y., of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin; Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him.
In 1927, modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in Nice, France, when her scarf became entangled in a wheel of the sports car she was riding in.
In 1964, Pope Paul VI opened the third session of the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, also known as ‘‘Vatican II.’’
In 1975, Pope Paul VI declared Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton the first US-born saint.
In 1982, Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly actress Grace Kelly, died at age 52 of injuries from a car crash; Lebanon’s president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, was killed by a bomb.
In 2015, at 20 people were killed in flash floods that struck in Arizona and Utah, including Zion National Park.