On this date in history:

In 1779, the USS Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, defeated the British frigate HMS Serapis in a battle off the coast of Scotland.

In 1806, U.S. explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned to St. Louis on the first recorded overland journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast and back.

In 1846, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet Neptune at the Berlin Observatory. Neptune generally is the eighth planet from the sun.

In 1909, Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera was published.

In 1950, the U.S. Congress adopted the Internal Security Act, which provided for the registration of communists. (It was later ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.)

In 1966, a Rolling Stones' concert at England's Royal Albert concert hall was halted temporarily when screaming girls attacked Mick Jagger onstage. (The riotous enthusiasm of the fans resulted in a ban of pop concerts at the hall.)

In 1973, Juan Peron was again elected president of Argentina after 18 years in exile. (His second wife, Isabel, became vice president and succeeded him when he died 10 months later.)

In 1985, nine days of street fighting in Tripoli, Lebanon, left 183 people dead.

In 1991, 44 U.N. inspectors were detained in Baghdad after attempting to remove secret Iraqi plans for building nuclear weapons. (They were freed five days later.)

In 2005, a fire killed 23 people on a bus carrying Texas nursing home evacuees from Hurricane Rita.

In 2007, Yasuo Fukuda, a longtime political force and son of a former prime minister, was chosen prime minister of Japan, succeeding Shinzo Abe, who resigned amid financial scandals involving government officials. (Fukuda was in office one year and Abe became PM again in 2012.)

In 2008, a 22-year-old student killed 11 adult students and himself at a vocational college in Finland 205 miles north of Helsinki.

In 2010, the U.S. Congress enacted the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act, a multibillion-dollar package of tax breaks and government loans to aid small businesses in the United States. U.S. (President Barack Obama signed the bill into law Sept. 27.)

In 2012, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, asked if his wife, Hillary, might run for president in 2016, said: Whatever she does I am for her first, last and always. She is the ablest [of potential candidates]. I know I am biased but I think she demonstrated as senator and as secretary of state that she has extraordinary ability.

In 2013, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had losing seasons for 20 straight years, clinched a playoff berth in the National League with a 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. (The Pirates were eliminated in the post-season by the St. Louis Cardinals.)

Copyright 2014 by United Press International