Today is Wednesday, Sept. 9, the 253rd day of 2020. There are 113 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 9, 1776, the second Continental Congress made the term “United States” official, replacing “United Colonies.”

On this date:

In 1543, Mary Stuart was crowned Queen of Scots at Stirling Castle, nine months after she was born.

In 1942, during World War II, a Japanese plane launched from a submarine off the Oregon coast dropped a pair of incendiary bombs in a failed attempt at igniting a massive forest fire; it was the first aerial bombing of the U.S. mainland by a foreign power.

In 1948, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was declared.

In 1956, Elvis Presley made the first of three appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

In 1971, prisoners seized control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, beginning a siege that ended up claiming 43 lives.

In 2005, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, the principal target of harsh criticism of the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, was relieved of his onsite command.

In 2014, Apple unveiled its long-anticipated smartwatch as well as the next generation of its iPhone.

In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, speaking at an LGBT fundraiser in New York City, described half of Republican Donald Trump’s supporters as “a basket of deplorables,” a characterization for which she would end up expressing regret.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Topol is 85. Singer Inez Foxx is 78. Singer Dee Dee Sharp is 75. College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL player Joe Theismann is 71. Actor Tom Wopat is 69. Actor Angela Cartwright is 68. Musician-producer Dave Stewart is 68. Actor Hugh Grant is 60. Actor Adam Sandler is 54. Pop-jazz singer Michael Buble’ is 45. Contemporary Christian singer Lauren Daigle is 29. Country singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes is 29.