On September 16, 1974, President Gerald Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and draft-evaders which would waive any charges provided they agreed to work two years in public service. A Presidential Clemency Board was created to administer the program - it finished its work in September 1975 after having disposed of 14, 514 cases. Critics said the initiative did not go far enough, however, and noted that only about 19 percent of eligible persons even applied. Learn more about the conditional amnesty program from the Papers of Charles E. Goodell, the Washington lawyer who was Chairman of the PCB, now housed at the Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

On September 16, 1987, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was opened for signature. It has since been signed by almost 200 nations. As a result, the Earth's Ozone Layer is expected to recover by the year 2050.

On September 16, 1898, William O. Douglas was born in Maine Township, Minnesota. Douglas went on to become Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission before being named to the US Supreme Court by President Franklin Roosevelt. Douglas would become an influential civil libertarian on the Warren Court and the longest-tenured Justice in history, serving for 36 years and 7 months.