Today in History: September 13, Margaret Chase Smith elected to US Senate

Today is Sunday, Sept. 13, the 256th day of 2026. There are 109 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 13, 1948, Republican Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was elected to the U.S. Senate; she became the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.

Also on this date:

In 1788, the Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election and declared New York City the temporary national capital.

In 1940, during World War II, bombs dropped by the German Luftwaffe damaged Buckingham Palace for the first time; King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were in the palace but were unharmed.

In 1971, a four-day inmate rebellion at the Attica Correctional Facility in western New York ended as police and guards stormed the prison; the ordeal and final assault claimed the lives of 32 inmates and 11 hostages.

In 1993, at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

In 1997, a funeral was held in Kolkata, India, for Nobel peace laureate Mother Teresa.

In 2008, crews rescued people from their homes along the Texas coast in an all-out search for thousands of people who ignored warnings and tried to ride out Hurricane Ike.

In 2010, Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic to win his first U.S. Open title and complete a career Grand Slam.

In 2021, school resumed for New York City public school students in the nation’s largest experiment of in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.