Meredith (center) being escorted to class after the riot

The Ole Miss riot of 1962 was a violent disturbance at the University of Mississippi (commonly called Ole Miss) in Oxford, Mississippi, as segregationist rioters sought to prevent the enrollment of James Meredith, an African-American. In the wake of the Supreme Court's 1954 decision Brown v. Board of Education, Meredith applied to Ole Miss in 1961. His admission was delayed and obstructed, including by Mississippi governor Ross Barnett, who even had him temporarily jailed. Meredith's multiple attempts to enroll, accompanied by federal officials, were physically blocked. A riot erupted on campus when a mob assaulted reporters and federal officers, burned and looted property, and hijacked vehicles. Two civilians were murdered and 160 marshals were injured, including 28 who received gunshot wounds. U.S. President John F. Kennedy invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 and mobilized more than 30,000 troops, quelling the riot. A statue of Meredith on campus commemorates the event. (Full article...)

Statue of Yakushi Nyorai at Jingo-ji

• ... that a statue of the Medicine Buddha (pictured), dating from the late 8th or early 9th century, never left its temple grounds until 2024?
• ... that Russian pianist Pavel Kushnir died on a hunger strike after his arrest for anti-war videos posted on a YouTube channel with five subscribers?
• ... that public health measures and advances in medical science in modern human history helped raise global life expectancy from about 31 years in 1900 to over 66 years in 2000?
• ... that Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" became closely associated with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?
• ... that scientists publishing in Liebigs Annalen were subject to criticism and attacks by editor Justus von Liebig?
• ... that English amateur geologist Charlotte Eyton wrote a number of papers and pamphlets on the geology of the Wrekin, a part of Shropshire, between 1862 and 1870?
• ... that the director of a Lake Erie-based walleye fishing tournament defended two anglers accused of cheating until he found weights in their winning fish two years ago today?
• ... that East Suffolk Park, a former student hostel in Edinburgh, was once an internment camp for enemy aliens?
• ... that football player Kyle Hergel said his biggest strength was "my nastiness"?

Will Ashcroft

• In Australian rules football, the Brisbane Lions defeat the Sydney Swans to win the AFL Grand Final (Norm Smith Medal winner Will Ashcroft pictured).
• Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is killed by an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh, Lebanon.
• Hurricane Helene leaves more than 100 people dead across the southeastern United States.
• British actress Maggie Smith dies at the age of 89.
• Anura Kumara Dissanayake is elected President of Sri Lanka.

September 30: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada

Times Square Theater

• 1139 – A violent earthquake struck the Caucasus near Ganja, killing up to an estimated 300,000 people.
• 1791 – Mozart conducted the premiere of his last opera, The Magic Flute, in Vienna.
• 1920 – Times Square Theater (pictured) opened on Broadway with a production of The Mirage, a play written by its owner, Edgar Selwyn.
• 1939 – NBC broadcast the first televised American football game, between the Fordham Rams and the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets.
• 2000 – Twelve-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah was shot dead in the Gaza Strip; the Israel Defense Forces initially accepted responsibility but retracted it five years later.