September 24 Birthday
On September 24, 1789, Congress approved twelve constitutional amendments and sent them to the states. Ten were ratified by 1791 — the Bill of Rights. The first protected freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. The second guaranteed the right to bear arms. The fourth prohibited unreasonable searches. The fifth guaranteed due process. The eighth banned cruel and unusual punishment. Two amendments were not ratified at the time — one became the twenty-seventh amendment in 1992, 203 years later, regulating congressional pay raises. F. Scott Fitzgerald, born this day in 1896, named the Jazz Age. He and Zelda were the celebrity couple of the 1920s — beautiful, reckless, and doomed. The Great Gatsby sold poorly in his lifetime. He died in 1940 at forty-four, believing himself a failure. The novel sold 25,000 copies during his life and over 30 million since. It is assigned in nearly every American high school. People born on September 24 fall under the zodiac sign of Libra. The birthstone is Sapphire and the birth flower is Aster. Historical events on September 24 include 1789: Congress approves twelve amendments including what becomes the Bill of Rights, 1957: Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne to escort Black students into Central High in Little Rock, 1960: USS Enterprise, first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, launched. Famous people born on September 24 include F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896), Jim Henson (1936), Phil Hartman (1948).