Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

This Day in History

This Day in History: Sept. 19

The smiley emoticon is invented by Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman

Fox News
Published
close
This Day In History: September 19 Video

This Day In History: September 19

Take a look at all of the important historical events that took place on September 19.

On this day, Sept. 19 ...

1982: The smiley emoticon is invented by Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman, who suggested punctuating humorously intended computer messages with a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis as a horizontal "smiley face." :-)

Also on this day:

(AP1931)

  • 1881: James A. Garfield, 20th president of the United States, dies in New Jersey two and a half months after being shot in Washington by Charles Guiteau; Chester Alan Arthur becomes president.
  • 1934: Bruno Hauptmann is arrested in New York and charged with the kidnap-murder of 20-month-old Charles A. Lindbergh Jr.
  • 1955: President Juan Peron of Argentina is deposed and exiled after a military coup.
  • 1957: The United States conducts its first underground nuclear test in the Nevada desert.
Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper on the set of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper on the set of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." (Getty Images)

  • 1970: The "Mary Tyler Moore Show" premieres on CBS.
  • 1985: The Mexico City area is struck by a devastating earthquake that kills at least 9,500 people.
  • 1986: Federal health officials announce the experimental drug AZT will be made available to thousands of AIDS patients. 
  • 2001: The Pentagon orders combat aircraft to the Persian Gulf following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
  • 2008: The Bush administration lays out a bailout plan calling for a takeover of a half-trillion dollars or more in worthless mortgages and other bad debt held by tottering institutions. Relieved investors send stocks soaring on Wall Street and around the globe.
  • 2018: Wanda Barzee, who helped her then-husband kidnap Utah teen Elizabeth Smart in 2003, is released from prison.

2019: Gun manufacturer Colt announces it is suspending production of the AR-15 and other long rifles for civilian use following a series of mass shootings.