September 23, 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation changing from slave to free the federal legal status of more than 3.5 million African Americans enslaved in the Confederate States.
September 23, 1889 – Playing card manufacturer Nintendo is founded in Kyoto, Japan. The company’s version of “hanafuda” cards, which can be adapted to a number of different games, become wildly popular. Facing declining sales by the 1960’s, a company engineer named Gunpei Yokoi develops one of the first electronic games called “Ultra Hand” and in 1989 they develop the now iconic “Game Boy.”
September 24, 1957 – President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the National Guard to enforce racial integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas.
September 26, 1960 – For the first time in U.S. history, a debate between major party presidential candidates is shown on television. Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon square off at the studios of WBBM-TV in Chicago. Kennedy’s favorable appearance and demeanor on camera are credited with helping boost his campaign and ultimate election victory.