Wednesday · November 11, 2026

Edited daily

American history, reported as it happened

Made for the 250th

The events of September 20 · Read the full edition → · More from September 20 →

20111776 Club

Midnight passes, and gay service members no longer have to hide

A 17-year ban on open service ends after a 60-day countdown set by Obama, Panetta, and Mullen.

For 17 years, a service member could be discharged simply for saying who they were. At 12:01 a.m. on September 20, 2011, "don't ask, don't tell" formally ceased enforcement, and gay and lesbian personnel could serve without concealing their sexual orientation. The change followed a law Congress passed in December 2010 and a certification process that closed with this exact hour. What had been grounds for dismissal the night before no longer was by morning…

1776 Club

This story is held for members.

Members read every story of the day — and tomorrow's, and the next.

Join the 1776 Club

$17.76 your first year · then $39.99/yr · cancel anytime

More from September 20

Bush tells Congress: this is a war on terror, and it starts with al Qaeda

Nine days after the towers fell, the president draws a line meant to reach far past Afghanistan.

A van bomb tears into the US embassy annex at Aukar, killing 23

Guards' gunfire kept the van from reaching the building; it still detonated close enough to rip off the front wall.

Arthur takes the oath before dawn, in his own parlor

A New York judge administers the presidency at 2:15 in the morning, hours after Garfield dies of his wounds.

Seventy-eight members sign on, and William Charles Redfield takes the chair as the new society's first president.

Read this as a member →

Read the full September 20 edition →Everything that happened on September 20 →

More from Modern America

Lehman Brothers collapses into bankruptcy; $600 billion in assets, no buyer, no rescue

A weekend of failed talks with Barclays and Bank of America ends with the largest corporate bankruptcy filing ever recorded.

Every network goes dark to the same broadcast tonight; $200 million follows

ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox suspend their rivalry for two commercial-free hours of grief and music.

A capsule from Bennu drops onto the Utah desert, a minute ahead of schedule

A wiring flaw kept the drogue chute from opening, but the main chute held anyway.

Atlantis lifts off at night, headed for a wounded Russian station

Commander James Wetherbee's crew carries a French astronaut, David Wolf as a replacement for Michael Foale, and a repair spacewalk.

The Daily Record · free by email

Tomorrow's edition in your inbox — one featured story, one quote, and today's flag status. Free, every morning.

The full experience

Read every story, narrated, in the app.

Take this story with you.

The complete daily edition, the deep-cut narration, and a library that's yours — the 1776 Club lives in the app.

Your membership comes with you — every event, narrated, with flag alerts, CarPlay, and your saved library.