On This Day: Wednesday September 21, 2005 This is the 264th day of the year, with 101 days remaining in 2005. Fact of the Day: NFL The National Football League was founded in 1920 in Canton, Ohio, as the American Professional Football Association. Its first president was Jim Thorpe, an outstanding American athlete who was also a player in the league. The present name was adopted in 1922. The league began play in 1920 and comprised five teams from Ohio (Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Tigers, Columbus Panhandlers, and Dayton Triangles), four teams from Illinois (Chicago Tigers, Decatur Staleys, Racine Cardinals, and Rock Island Independents), two from Indiana (Hammond Pros and Muncie Flyers), two from New York (Buffalo All-Americans and Rochester Jeffersons), and the Detroit Heralds from Michigan. Of these original franchises, only two remain: the Cardinals left Chicago for St. Louis after the 1959 season and relocated to Arizona in 1988; the Decatur Staleys moved to Chicago in 1921 and a year later changed their name to the Bears. Holidays Philippines: Thanksgiving. Armenia: Independence Day (from USSR, 1991). Belize: Independence Day (from UK, 1981). Mali: Independence Day/Proclamation of the Republic Anniversary (from France, 1960). Events 1520 - Suleiman the Magnificent became Ottoman sultan in Constantinople. 1596 - Spain named Juan de Oñate governor of the colony of New Mexico. 1784 - "Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser" became the nation's first daily newspaper. 1792 - The French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy; the French Republic was then proclaimed. 1810 - Oktoberfest festival began in West Germany with a horse race in honor of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese. 1863 - Union forces retreated to Chattanooga after defeat at Chickamauga. 1893 - Frank Duryea and Charles Duryea demonstrated the first U.S.-made gas-propelled car. 1897 - The "New York Sun" ran its famous editorial that declared, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." 1915 - Stonehenge was sold by auction for 6,600 pounds sterling to a Mr. Chubb, who bought it as a present for his wife. Three years later he gave it back to Britain. 1922 - U.S. President Warren G. Harding signed a joint resolution of approval to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. 1931 - Britain went off the gold standard. 1949 - People's Republic of China was proclaimed by its Communist leaders. 1957 - "Perry Mason" premiered. 1965 - First American, Ted Erikson, swam a round-trip of the English Channel. 1970 - "NFL Monday Night Football" made its debut with a game between the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns. 1977 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter's embattled budget director, Bert Lance, resigned. 1989 - Colin Powell was confirmed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 1989 - Hurricane Hugo hit the South Carolina coast with destruction totaling $8 billion. 1996 - John F. Kennedy, Jr. married Carolyn Bessette in a secret ceremony on Cumberland Island, Georgia. 1999 - Google launched its search engine. 2003 - NASA's aging Galileo spacecraft was deliberately plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere, ending its 14-year exploration of the solar system's largest planet and its moons. Births 1415 - Frederick III, German emperor. 1756 - John Loudon McAdam, Scottish-born American engineer who invented macadamized roads. 1866 - H. G. Wells, British science fiction writer. 1866 - Charles Jules Henri Nicolle, French bacteriologist. 1912 - Chuck Jones, American animator of "The Road Runner" and director of Warner Brothers cartoons. 1931 - Larry Hagman, American actor. 1947 - Stephen King, American horror and supernatural stories author. 1950 - Bill Murray, American comedy writer and actor. 1967 - Faith Hill, American country singer. Deaths 19 B.C.E. - Virgil, Roman poet. 1327 - Edward II, former king of England, murdered after his forced abdication. 1832 - Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist, poet, biographer, and historian. 1904 - Exiled Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph. 1974 - Walter Brennan, American television and film actor.