Today is Friday, Sept. 17, the 261st day of 2004. There are 105 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

On this date:

In 1862, Union forces hurled back a Confederate invasion of Maryland in the Civil War Battle of Antietam.

In 1920, the American Professional Football Association – a precursor of the National Football League – was formed in Canton, Ohio.

In 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland, more than two weeks after Nazi Germany launched its assault.

In 1944, during World War II, Allied paratroopers launched Operation Market Garden, landing behind German lines in the Netherlands. The Allies, however, encountered fierce German resistance.

In 1948, the United Nations mediator for Palestine, Count Folke Bernadotte, was assassinated in Jerusalem by Jewish extremists.

In 1964, the situation comedy “Bewitched” premiered on ABC.

In 1976, NASA publicly unveiled the space shuttle Enterprise at ceremonies in Palmdale, Calif.

In 1978, after meeting at Camp David, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed a framework for a peace treaty.

In 1984, Progressive Conservative leader Brian Mulroney took office as Canada’s 18th prime minister.

In 1996, former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew died in Berlin, Md., at age 77.

Ten years ago: As some 20 warships sat off the coast of Haiti, former President Jimmy Carter, Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., and retired Gen. Colin Powell arrived in the Caribbean nation in an eleventh-hour bid to avert a U.S.-led invasion. Heather Whitestone of Alabama was crowned Miss America, the first deaf contestant to win the title.

Five years ago: President Clinton lifted restrictions on trade, travel and banking imposed on North Korea a half-century earlier, rewarding it for agreeing to curb missile tests.

One year ago: Spain’s leading investigating judge, Baltasar Garzon, issued the first known indictment against Osama bin Laden in the Sept. 11 attacks. An audiotape purporting to carry the voice of Saddam Hussein, broadcast on Arab television, called on Iraqis to fight the American occupation. New York Stock Exchange chairman Dick Grasso resigned amid a furor over his $139.5 million pay package. Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark entered the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor David Huddleston is 74. Actress Anne Bancroft is 73. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, is 71. Actor Paul Benedict is 66. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter is 65. Singer LaMonte McLemore (The Fifth Dimension) is 65. Singer Fee Waybill is 54. Actress Cassandra Peterson (“Elvira, Mistress of the Dark”) is 53. Comedian Rita Rudner is 48. Movie director Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge!”) is 42. Singer BeBe Winans is 42. Actor Kyle Chandler is 39. Rapper Doug E. Fresh is 38. Actor Malik Yoba is 37. Rock musician Keith Flint (Prodigy) is 35. Actor Matthew Settle is 35. Rapper Vinnie (Naughty By Nature) is 34. Rhythm and blues singer Marcus Sanders (Hi-Five) is 31. Actress-singer Nona Gaye is 30. Pop singer Maile Misajon (Eden’s Crush) is 28. Country singer Desi Wasdin (3 of Hearts) is 21.

Thought for Today: “Governments exist to protect the rights of minorities. The loved and the rich need no protection – they have many friends and few enemies.” – Wendell Phillips, American abolitionist (1811-1884).