Sept. 23 in History: Tiger Woods' Comeback Win, the Emmett Till Verdict and Nixon's 'Checkers' Speech

Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, is the 267th day of the year, leaving 99 days before 2025. The date has been marked by moments in sports, politics, civil rights and American exploration.

In golf, Sept. 23, 2018, brought one of the sport's best-known comebacks. Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship in Atlanta, his 80th PGA Tour victory and his first in more than five years. The win capped his recovery from four back surgeries.

Two events from the early American period fall on this date. In 1780, British spy John Andre was captured carrying papers that exposed Benedict Arnold's plan to surrender West Point to the British. In 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition returned to St. Louis, more than two years after leaving on its journey to the Pacific Northwest.

The date also carries two painful chapters in the history of civil rights. In 1955, a jury in Sumner, Mississippi, acquitted two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, of killing Emmett Till, a Black teenager. The two men later admitted to the crime in an interview with Look magazine. Two years later, in 1957, nine Black students who had entered Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas were forced to withdraw because a white mob had gathered outside.

American politics supplies two more entries. In 1952, Sen. Richard M. Nixon, a California Republican, saved his vice presidential nomination with a televised appearance from Los Angeles. He used it to answer allegations of improper campaign fundraising. The address became known as the "Checkers" speech because of its mention of his family's cocker spaniel. In 2002, Gov. Gray Davis signed a law making California the first state to offer paid family leave to workers.

In tennis, Sept. 23, 2022, was the day Roger Federer played the final professional match of a career that included 20 Grand Slam titles.

Several well-known figures celebrate birthdays on Monday. Singer Julio Iglesias turns 81, actor and singer Mary Kay Place is 77, and rock star Bruce Springsteen is 75. Director and playwright George C. Wolfe is 70, actor Rosalind Chao is 67, actor Jason Alexander is 65, and actor Chi McBride is 63.

Others marking birthdays include singer Ani DiFranco, 54; producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri, 52; and filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, 51. Actor Anthony Mackie is 46, actor Skylar Astin is 37, and tennis player Juan Martín del Potro is 36.