"Company" is a song by American singer Tinashe for Nightride. The single was released by RCA Records on September 16, 2016.
Birthday in Sanford, Florida of Claude A. Barnett founder of the Associated Negro Press, the first and only Black news wire services in the US. Barnet, who died in 1967, was a 1906 graduate of Tuskegee Institute.
Riley B. King, better known by his stage name “B.B. King” is a famous African American blues musician. He was born on September 16, 1925 on a cotton plantation in Mississippi, to Albert King and Nora Ella Farr. His father left the family when King was very young, and his mother remarried shortly after, so he was raised by his maternal grandmother. He joined the church choir at a young age, and bought his first guitar at the age of 12. He was influenced musically by the famous blues musician Bukka White, who was his mother’s cousin. In 1946, he followed White to Tennessee, and began playing small time gigs where he eventually made a name for himself in musical circles. He earned a spot on the Memphis radio station WDIA, which became so popular that it became a full-fledged show called “The Sepia Swing Club”.
King began recording in 1949, with a Los Angeles based label called RPM Records. He assembled his own band and began touring major cities such as Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, St. Louis and the southern U.S. states. During one of his performances, a fight broke out which caused a kerosene filled barrel to catch fire and be knocked down. Soon, the entire theatre caught fire and the building was evacuated. During this time, King realized that he had left his guitar inside the burning building, and went back to retrieve it, narrowly escaping death. The fight was about a woman named Lucille, and King named his guitar Lucille to remind him of the experience and vowed never to do anything so dangerous again.
In 1952, King had a number one hit on the chart called “3 O’ Clock Blues” which made him a prominent musician. This was followed by many others, including “You Know I Love You” “Woke Up This Morning”, “When My Heart Beats like a Hammer”, “Whole Lotta Love” “You Upset Me Baby”, “Every Day I Have the Blues”, “Ten Long Years”, “Sweet Little Angel”, “On My Word of Honor” and “Please Accept My Love.” In 1956 alone, he had 342 concerts, and formed his own record label called “Blues Boys Kingdom”.
Negro Baseball League player, Orlando Cepeda was born, 1937
Elgin Gay Baylor was a professional basketball player, who played for Los Angeles Lakers. He was born on September 16, 1934 and began playing basketball from an early age. Two of his older brothers were also basketball players, and Baylor took naturally to the game. He was already known to be a gifted player by the time he was in high school, and was selected to be a three time All City player. However, his academic record had always been poor, and he dropped out of high school to work odd jobs and play in local leagues. He rejoined high school a few years later, by which time he had grown to his full height of 6 feet 5 inches and weighed 190 lbs. During this time he won a trophy for being the Area’s Best Basketball player for 1954. He broke several records that season and maintained his outstanding performance.
Ambassador Charles A. James was born in 1922 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he attended public schools. After high school, James enrolled at Westchester State Teachers College in Pennsylvania (now Westchester University) where he studied for one year before enlisting in the U.S. Navy during World War II where he served for three years. James received his B.A. from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont in 1949 and an LL.B. from Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut in 1952. In 1977, Middlebury College conferred an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Ambassador James for his lifetime of public service.
The French abolish Slavery in all there territories, 1848
Six Klansmen arrested in connection with the bombing of ten school buses in Pontiac, Michigan.
Letitia Graves died on September 16, 1952 in Seattle.
National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day
• National Guacamole Day
• National Play-Doh Day (Play-Doh was originally created as a wallpaper cleaner).
• Feast of St. Cornelius, patron of cattle, domestic animals.
• St. Ludmila, patron of in-law problems.
• International Housekeepers Week / Environmental Services Week (Sept 14-20, 2025 - 2nd full week)
• Biscuits and Gravy Week (Sept 14-20, 2025 - 2nd full week in Sept)
On this day in:
1380 Charles V of France Died.
* It was Charles V who commissioned Taillevent to write what would become the first professional cookery book written in France, 'Le Viandier'.
* Forks were mentioned in an inventory during his reign
* Some believe that he died as a result of eating amanita mushrooms.
1736 Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit died (born May 24, 1686). Fahrenheit was a German physicist who invented the Fahrenheit temperature scale thermometer. It was the first thermometer to use mercury instead of alcohol, which also extended the temperature range of thermometers.
1835 Charles Darwin arrived at the Galapagos islands aboard the HMS Beagle. The unique fauna he observed on the various islands there helped in forming his theory of natural selection.
1893 At noon the Cherokee Strip Land Run began. It was Oklahoma's 4th and largest land run, with 100,000 participants competing for 40,000 homesteads on 6 million acres of land.
1903 Luther Crowell died (born Sept 7, 1840). He invented a machine to make square bottomed grocery bags.(U.S. Patent No. 123,811, Feb 20, 1872)
1916 Prohibition goes into effect in Ontario, Canada.
1919 Marvin P. Middlemark was born (died Sept 14, 1989). American inventor, he invented the 'Rabbit Ear' TV antenna in 1953 in Rego Park (Queens), New York, and among other minor inventions, a water powered potato peeler.
1947 The first aluminum foil, Reynolds Metals 'Reynolds Wrap' goes on sale.
1955 Play-Doh was introduced. Joe McVicker of Kutol Chemicals in Cincinnati used a non-toxic substance used for cleaning wallpaper.
1977 Maria Cecilia Sophia Anna Kalogeropoulos died (born Dec 2, 1923). Otherwise known as opera diva Maria Callas. She was a passionate recipe collector.
1987 The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed. The international treaty was designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of most substances responsible for ozone depletion, such as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons).
2015 The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reported that the amount of fish in the oceans has declined by 50% since 1970, caused by over-fishing and other threats. Populations of some commercial fish stocks, such as tuna, mackerel and bonito, had fallen by almost 75%, according to a study by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).