On This Day: Tuesday September 20, 2005 This is the 263rd day of the year, with 102 days remaining in 2005. Fact of the Day: ozone The ozone layer is a part of the upper atmosphere about 6-30 miles (10-50 km) above the Earth's surface. It contains an unstable form of oxygen called ozone. Ozone in the upper atmosphere forms an important barrier to solar radiation. It protects all animals and plants from the Sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays. But ozone created in the lower atmosphere by industry and vehicle pollution causes health and crop damage. The ozone layer in the upper atmosphere appears to be thinning, due to the creation of the polluting ozone layer in the lower atmosphere. The use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in aerosols, refrigerators, freezers, styrofoam containers, and from burning fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil) seem to be the culprits. Holidays Jewish Fast of Gedalya. Malta: Independence Day. Events 480 B.C.E. - Themistocles and a Greek fleet scored a decisive naval victory over Xerxes' Persian force near Salamis. 1519 - Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set out from Spain on a voyage to find a western passage to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. Though he was killed, one of his ships successfully circumnavigated the globe by September 1522. 1565 - Pedro Menendez of Spain defeated the French at Fort Caroline, in Florida, the first European battle on U.S. soil. 1792 - French defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Valmy. 1850 - The slave trade was abolished in the District of Columbia. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed Washington's 3,000 slaves. 1870 - Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of modern Italy, annexed Rome from the French during the Franco-Prussian War. 1873 - "Black Friday," occurred; it was the first time the New York Stock Exchange was forced to close because of a banking crisis. 1884 - The Equal Rights Party was formed and nominated Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood for president. 1939 - Cannes Film Festival debuted in France. 1952 - Scientists confirmed that DNA holds hereditary data. 1957 - "The Thin Man" debuted on TV. 1962 - Black student James Meredith was blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Governor Ross R. Barnett, but later admitted. 1965 - Seven U.S. planes were downed in one day over Vietnam. 1973 - Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in the nationally televised "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match, in three straight sets. 1974 - Gail A. Cobb, a member of the Metropolitan Police Force of Washington, D.C., became the first female police officer to be killed in the line of duty. She was murdered by a robbery suspect. 1977 - "Lou Grant" premiered on TV. 1989 - F.W. de Klerk was sworn in as president of South Africa. Births 357 B.C.E. - Alexander III (Alexander the Great), emperor and king of Macedonia. 1842 - Lord James Dewar, British chemist and physician who invented the vacuum flask and cordite (smokeless powder). 1878 - Upton Sinclair, American author and political/social reformer. 1884 - Maxwell Perkins, American publisher. 1885 - Ferdinand La menthe (Jelly Roll Morton), American jazz pianist, composer, and singer. 1917 - Red (Arnold) Auerbach, pro basketball coach with most NBA championships, second winningest record. 1928 - Dr. Joyce Brothers, American author and psychiatrist. 1929 - Anne Meara, American comedienne and actress. 1934 - Sophia Loren (Sofia Scicolone), Italian-born award-winning actress. Deaths 1947 - Former New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. 1973 - Jim Croce, American singer-songwriter, in an airplane crash.