September 7, Bishop Desmond Tutu becomes South Africa's first Black clergyman

Today is Sunday, Sept. 7, the 250th day of 2025. There are 115 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 7, 1986, Bishop Desmond Tutu was installed as the first Black clergyman to lead the Anglican Church in southern Africa.

Also on this date:

In 1921, the first Miss America Pageant was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In 1940, Nazi Germany began an intense bombing campaign of Britain during World War II with an air attack on London; known as The Blitz, the eight-month campaign resulted in more than 40,000 civilian deaths.

In 1943, a fire at the Gulf Hotel, a rooming house in Houston, claimed 55 lives.

In 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio and enshrined its first 17 members.

In 1977, the Panama Canal Treaty, which called for the U.S. to turn over control of the waterway to Panama at the end of 1999, was signed in Washington by U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos.

In 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and mortally wounded on the Las Vegas Strip; he died six days later.

In 2005, police and soldiers went house to house in New Orleans to try to coax remaining residents into leaving the city shattered by Hurricane Katrina.

In 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender.