This Day in History: 2017-09-18
September 12, 1992 – “Dr. Mae Jemison Goes to Space” “Dr. Mae Jemison, an engineer, physician and NASA astronaut, became the first African-American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. During her 8-day mission she worked with U.S. and Japanese researchers, and was a co-investigator on a bone cell experiment. Jemison originally practiced as a doctor, then served in the Peace Corps from 1985 to 1987. In 1987, she was selected to join the astronaut corps. She resigned from NASA in 1993 to found a company that researches the application of technology to daily life.”
December 8, 2009 - "U.S. Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Brought by Native Americans for $3.4 Billion"
The United States federal government announced that it intends to pay $3.4 billion to settle claims that it has mismanaged the revenue in American Indian trust funds. In 2012, it finalized this settlement, ending one of the largest and most complicated class-action lawsuits ever brought against the United States. The lawsuit lasted 15 years in total and involved hundreds of thousands of land trust accounts that date back to the 19th century. Specialists in federal tribal law described the suit as one of the most important in the history of legal disputes involving the government's treatment of American Indians.