Today in History: The CIA was officially established by President Truman

The following are some of the major events to have occurred on September 18:

1947 - The Central Intelligence Agency officially comes into existence after being established by President Truman in July.

1961 – Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish statesman and Secretary-General of the United Nations, was killed in a plane crash in what was then Northern Rhodesia.

1964 – Sean O’Casey, Irish playwright whose works included “Juno and the Paycock” (1924), died. He was 80.

1970 – Jimi Hendrix, U.S. rock singer and guitarist, died of a drug overdose aged 27.

1981 – The French parliament voted to abolish capital punishment and the guillotine.

1982 – Lebanese Christian militias ended a massacre in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut, in which at least 800 were killed.

2000 – Ivory Coast’s military ruler, General Robert Guei, escaped an assassination attempt at his residence. Two of his bodyguards were killed.

2001 – Iranians hold vigil to mourn victims of Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

2004 – Iraq’s national carrier Iraqi Airways resumed international flights after 14 years of being grounded.

2005 – Angry crowds in Basra, Iraq attack a British tank with petrol bombs and rocks.

2005 – Voters in Afghanistan braved threats from Taliban to vote in their first legislative elections in decades.

2014 – Scotland votes against leaving the UK in referendum on independence.

(Reuters)