Today is Friday, Sept. 18, 2009. Today's highlights in history:

1759: The French formally surrendered Quebec to the British.

1793: President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.

1850: Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which created a force of federal commissioners charged with returning escaped slaves to their owners.

1927: The Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System (later CBS) made its on-air debut with a basic network of 16 radio stations.

1961: United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in northern Rhodesia.

1970: Rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at age 27.

1975: Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

1999: Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs became the first player in major league baseball history to reach 60 homers twice.