September 22

Today is the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. 1791: Michael Faraday, who discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction (Faraday's Law), was born. 1914: A German U-9 submarine sank three British cruisers in the North Sea. 1939: A uranium atom was split for the first time using the cyclotron at Columbia University. 1949: President Truman announced that the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb successfully. 1949: WFMY TV channel 2 in Greensboro-High Point, NC, made its first broadcast. 1955: The first commercial television broadcasting began in Britain by ITV (Independent Television), ending the BBC's monopoly. 1980: A border conflict between Iran and Iraq developed into a full-scale war. 1993: Nolan Ryan threw his last pitch in his final game after tearing a ligament in his arm.