Today in History: September 9, Attica prison uprising begins

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Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 9, the 252nd day of 2025. There are 113 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 9, 1971, prisoners seized control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, taking 42 staff members hostage and demanding improvements to inmate treatment and living conditions.

Also on this date:

In 1776, the second Continental Congress formally adopted the name “United States of America,” replacing the “United Colonies of North America."

In 1850, California was admitted as the 31st U.S. state.

In 1919, about 1,100 members of Boston’s 1,500-member police force went on strike. The strike was broken by Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge with replacement officers.

In 1948, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was declared.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the first civil rights bill to pass Congress since Reconstruction, a measure primarily concerned with protecting voting rights. It also established a Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 2022, King Charles III gave his first speech to Britain as its new monarch, vowing to carry on the “lifelong service” of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, who died a day earlier.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Dee Dee Sharp is 80. Former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann is 76. Actor Angela Cartwright is 73. Musician-producer Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) is 73. Actor Hugh Grant is 65. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is 62. Actor Constance Marie is 60. Actor Adam Sandler is 59. Actor Julia Sawalha (suh-WAHL’-hah) is 57. Model Rachel Hunter is 56. Actor Eric Stonestreet is 54. Actor Henry Thomas is 54. Actor Goran Visnjic (VEEZ’-nihch) is 53. Pop-jazz singer Michael Bublé (boo-BLAY’) is 50. Actor Michelle Williams is 45. Actor Zoe Kazan is 42. Soccer player Luka Modrić is 40. Country singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes is 34.