Events
★
1176 - The
Battle of Myriokephalon is fought.
★
1462 - The
Battle of Åšwiecino (or
Battle of Żarnowiec) is fought during
Thirteen Years' War.
★
1577 -
Peace of Bergerac signed between
Henry III of France and the
Huguenots.
★
1630 - The city of
Boston, Massachusetts, is founded.
★
1631 - Sweden wins a major victory at the
Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the
Thirty Years War.
★
1776 - The
Presidio of San Francisco is founded in
New Spain.
★
1778 -
Treaty of Fort Pitt signed, the first formal treaty between the
United States and a
Native American tribe (the
Lenape or
Delaware).
★
1787 - The
United States Constitution is signed in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
★
1809 - Peace between
Sweden and
Russia in the
Finnish War. The territory to become
Finland is ceded to
Russia by the
Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
★
1859 -
Joshua A. Norton declares himself
Emperor Norton I of the
United States.
★
1862 -
American Civil War:
George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of
Robert E. Lee's
Confederate army in the single-day
Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history.
★
1894 -
Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the
First Sino-Japanese War.
★
1900 -
Philippine-American War:
Filipinos under
Juan Cailles defeat
Americans under
Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at
Mabitac.
★
1908 - The
Wright Flyer flown by
Orville Wright, with
Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes; killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.
★
1914 -
Andrew Fisher becomes
Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
★
1916 -
World War I:
Manfred von Richthofen ("
The Red Baron"), a
flying ace of the
German Luftstreitkräfte, won his first aerial combat near
Cambrai,
France.
★
1920 -
National Football League is organized in
Canton, Ohio,
United States.
★
1924 - The
Border Defence Corps was established in the
Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armed
Soviet raids and local bandits.
★
1928 - The
Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern
Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in
US history, behind the
Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the
1906 San Francisco earthquake.
★
1939 - The
Soviet Union joined
Nazi Germany's invasion of
Poland during the
Polish Defensive War of
1939.
★
1941 - A decree of the
Soviet State Committee of Defense, restoring
Vsevobuch in the face of the
Great Patriotic War, was issued
★
1943 -
Russian city of
Bryansk liberated from
Nazis.
★
1944 -
Allied Airborne troops parachute into
Holland as the "Market" half of
Operation Market Garden.
★
1947 -
James V. Forrestal was sworn in as the
first Secretary of Defense of United States.
★
1948 -
Lehi (also known as the
Stern gang) assassinates
Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the
UN to mediate between the
Arabs and
Jews.
★
1949 - The
Canadian steamship
SS Noronic burns in
Toronto Harbor with the loss of over 118 lives.
★
1956 -
Television was first broadcast in
Australia.
★
1967 -
Jim Morrison and
The Doors defy
CBS censors on
The Ed Sullivan Show.
★
1970 - Fighting breaks out along the
Syria-
Jordanian border between
Jordanian troops and the
fedayeen.
★
1972 - The first episode of
M
★ A
★ S
★ H premieres on
CBS.
★
1976 - The first
Space Shuttle,
Enterprise, was unveiled by
NASA.
★
1978 - The
Camp David Accords were signed by
Israel and
Egypt.
★
1983 -
Vanessa Williams becomes the first black
Miss America.
★
1984 -
Baseball:
Reggie Jackson becomes the 13th member of the
500 home run club with a
home run at
Anaheim Stadium in
Anaheim, California.
★
1988 - Opening ceremony of the
Games of the XXIV Olympiad in
Seoul,
South Korea.
★
1991 -
North Korea,
South Korea,
Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania, the
Marshall Islands and
Micronesia join the
United Nations.
★ 1991 - The first version of the
Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the
Internet.
★
1993 - Last
Russian troops leave
Poland.
★
2001 - The
Dow Jones Industrial Average opens for the first time after the
September 11 attacks. The stocks plummet throughout the trading session and posts its biggest point drop in its history closing down 684.81 points to 8920.70.
★ 2004 -
Tamil is declared first
classical language in
India.
Births
★
64 -
Julia Flavia, daughter of
Roman Emperor Titus; lover of
Domitian.
★
879 - King
Charles III of France (d.
929)
★
1192 -
Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d.
1219)
★
1271 -
Wenceslas II of Bohemia and
Poland (d.
1305)
★
1550 -
Pope Paul V (d.
1621)
★
1580 -
Francisco de Quevedo, Spanish writer (d.
1645)
★
1630 -
Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (d.
1694)
★
1639 -
Hans Herr,
Mennonite bishop (d.
1725)
★
1657 -
Sophia Alekseyevna, regent of Russia (d.
1704)
★
1677 -
Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist, and inventor (d.
1761)
★
1687 -
Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian (d.
1772)
★
1688 -
Maria Luisa of Savoy, first queen of
Philip V of Spain (d.
1714)
★
1730 -
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian army officer (d.
1794)
★
1739 -
John Rutledge, 2nd (appointed)
Chief Justice of the United States (d.
1800)
★
1743 -
Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician (d.
1794)
★
1771 -
Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer (d.
1816)
★
1820 -
Émile Augier, French dramatist (d.
1889)
★
1826 -
Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (d.
1866)
★
1854 -
David Dunbar Buick, American automobile pioneer (d.
1929)
★
1857 -
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian rocket scientist (d.
1935)
★
1868 -
James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (d.
1956)
★
1869 -
Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian
Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d.
1938)
★
1879 -
Rube Foster, American baseball player, manager and executive (d.
1930)
★
1881 -
Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter, English soldier (d.
1955)
★
1883 -
William Carlos Williams, American writer (d.
1963)
★
1884 -
Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (d.
1920)
★
1890 -
Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator (d.
1972)
★
1897 -
Earl Webb, baseball player (d.
1965)
★
1900 -
John Willard Marriott, American hotelier (d.
1985)
★ 1900 -
Hughie Critz, baseball player (d.
1980)
★
1901 -
Francis Chichester, English adventurer (d.
1972)
★
1903 -
Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (d.
1984)
★ 1903 -
Frank O'Connor, Irish-American short-story writer (d.
1966)
★
1906 -
Edgar Wayburn, American environmentalist
★
1907 -
Warren Burger, 15th
Chief Justice of the United States (d.
1995)
★
1912 -
Irena Kwiatkowska, Polish actress and comedian
★
1918 -
Chaim Herzog,
President of Israel (d.
1997)
★
1922 -
Agostinho Neto, Angolan politician (d.
1979)
★
1923 -
Hank Williams, American musician (d.
1953)
★
1926 -
Bill Black, American musician (d.
1965)
★ 1926 -
Curtis Harrington, American film director (d.
2007)
★
1927 -
George Blanda, American football player
★
1928 -
Roddy McDowall, English actor (d.
1998)
★
1929 - Sir
Stirling Moss, English race car driver
★ 1929 -
Pat Crowley, American actress
★
1930 -
Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut
★ 1930 -
Thomas Stafford, American astronaut
★ 1930 -
Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist
★
1931 -
Anne Bancroft, American actress (d.
2005)
★
1933 -
Chuck Grassley, American politician
★ 1933 -
Dorothy Loudon, American actress (d.
2003)
★ 1933 -
Claude Provost,
National Hockey League player (d.
1984)
★
1934 -
Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (d.
1969)
★
1935 -
Ken Kesey, American author (d.
2001)
★
1937 -
Orlando Cepeda, Puerto Rican
Major League Baseball player
★
1938 -
Bobby Wine, American
Major League Baseball player
★
1939 -
Shelby Flint, American singer
★ 1939 -
David Souter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
★
1941 -
Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman (d.
2005)
★
1942 -
Des Lynam, English television presenter
★ 1942 -
Robert Graysmith,
Zodiac killer researcher
★
1944 -
Reinhold Messner, Austrian mountain climber
★
1945 -
David Emerson, Canadian politician
★ 1945 -
Phil Jackson, NBA coach
★ 1945 -
Bruce Spence, New Zealand actor
★
1946 -
Billy Bonds, English footballer
★
1947 -
Tessa Jowell, British politician
★
1948 -
Jeff MacNelly, American political cartoonist (d.
2000)
★ 1948 -
John Ritter, American actor (d.
2003)
★
1949 -
Cassandra Peterson, American actress
★
1950 -
Narendra Modi, Indian politician
★ 1950 -
Chris Heister, Swedish politician
★
1953 -
Altaf Hussain, Pakistani politician and founder of
MQM
★
1954 -
Joël-François Durand, French composer
★
1955 -
Charles Martinet, American actor
★
1956 -
Rita Rudner, American comedian
★
1959 -
Charles Lawson, Northern Irish actor
★
1960 -
Damon Hill, English race car driver
★ 1960 -
John Franco, American baseball player
★
1961 -
Ty Tabor, American guitarist and singer (
King's X)
★
1962 -
Baz Luhrmann, Australian film director
★ 1962 -
Dustin Nguyen, Vietnamese American actor
★
1963 -
Masahiro Chono, Japanese professional wrestler
★ 1963 -
Michael Adler, American businessman
★ 1963 -
Amy Roloff, American reality star
★ 1963 -
Rami Saari, Israeli poet and translator
★
1965 -
Bryan Singer, American director
★ 1965 -
Yuji Naka, Japanese video game programmer
★
1966 -
Doug E. Fresh, American rapper, record producer, and
beatboxer
★
1967 -
Malik Yoba, American actor
★
1968 -
Anastacia, American singer
★ 1968 -
Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece
★
1969 -
Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player
★
1970 -
Mark Brunell, American football player
★
1971 -
Adriana SklenaÅ™Ãková, Slovak supermodel
★ 1971 -
Mike Catt, English rugby player
★ 1971 -
Ian Whyte (actor), Welsh actor and basketball player
★
1973 -
Ada Choi, Hong Kong actress
★ 1973 -
Demis Nikolaidis, Greek footballer
★
1974 -
Rasheed Wallace, American basketball player
★ 1974 -
Mirah, American musician
★ 1974 -
Tormod Granheim, Norwegian adventurer
★
1975 -
Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
★ 1975 -
Austin St. John, American actor
★ 1975 -
Constantine Maroulis, American singer
★
1976 -
Daniella Rush, Czech pornographic actress
★
1977 -
Simone Perrotta, Italian football player
★
1978 -
Shawn Horcoff, Canadian ice hockey player
★
1979 -
Akin Ayodele, American football player
★ 1979 -
Chuck Comeau, Canadian musician (
Simple Plan)
★
1980 -
Danny Haren, American baseball player
★
1981 -
Bakari Koné,
Ivory Coast footballer
★ 1981 -
Casey Janssen, American baseball player
★
1983 -
Jennifer Peña, American singer
★
1984 -
Eugenia Volodina, Russian supermodel
★
1985 -
Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player
★ 1985 -
Jon Walker, American musician (
Panic! at the Disco)
★
1986 -
Dimitrios Regas, Greek sprinter
★
1987 -
Paul Huntington, English footballer
★
1991 -
Jordan McCoy, American entertainer
★
1994 -
Taylor Ware, American yodeler
Deaths
★
1179 -
Hildegard of Bingen, German abbess and composer (b.
1098)
★
1322 -
Robert III of Flanders (b.
1249)
★
1422 -
Constantine II of Bulgaria
★
1563 -
Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, English soldier
★
1574 -
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, first Spanish Governor of Florida (b.
1519)
★
1575 -
Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (b.
1504)
★
1621 -
Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (b.
1542)
★
1630 -
Thomas Lake, English statesman (b.
1567)
★
1665 -
Philip IV of Spain (b.
1605)
★
1679 -
John of Austria the Younger, Spanish general (b.
1629)
★
1727 -
Glückel of Hameln, German businesswoman (b.
1647)
★
1762 -
Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist (b.
1687)
★
1771 -
Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist (b.
1721)
★
1803 -
Franz Xaver Süssmayr, Austrian composer (b.
1766)
★
1808 -
Benjamin Bourne, American politician (b.
1755)
★
1836 -
Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (b.
1748)
★
1863 -
Alfred de Vigny, French author (b.
1797)
★
1873 -
Alexander Berry, Scottish adventurer (b.
1781)
★
1879 -
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (b.
1814)
★
1894 -
Deng Shichang, Chinese admiral (b.
1849)
★
1907 -
Ignaz Brüll, Austrian pianist (b.
1846)
★
1933 -
Joseph De Piro, Maltese missionary (b.
1877)
★
1936 -
Ettie Annie Rout, New Zealand activist (b.
1877)
★
1938 -
Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (b.
1901)
★
1951 -
Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (b.
1898)
★
1966 -
Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (b.
1930)
★
1972 -
Akim Tamiroff, Georgian actor (b.
1899)
★
1973 -
Hugo Winterhalter, American bandleader (b.
1909)
★
1980 -
Anastasio Somoza Debayle,
President of Nicaragua (b.
1925)
★
1982 -
Manos Loïzos, Greek composer (b.
1937)
★
1984 -
Richard Basehart, American actor (b.
1914)
★
1987 -
Harry Locke, British character actor (b.
1913)
★
1991 -
Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b.
1902)
★
1993 -
Christian Nyby, American film and television director (b.
1913)
★
1996 -
Spiro Agnew,
Vice President of the United States (b.
1918)
★
1997 -
Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (b.
1913)
★
2000 -
Nicole Reinhart, American cyclist (b.
1976)
★ 2000 -
Paula Yates, English TV personality (b.
1960)
★
2001 -
Louie Dog, Dalmatian for the band Sublime (b.
1989 )
★
2003 -
Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b.
1951)
★
2005 -
Alfred Reed, American composer (b.
1921)
★
2006 -
Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite (b.
1924)
Holidays and observances
★ The fourth day of the
Eleusinian Mysteries in ancient
Greek mythology, when the initiates sacrificed a pig.
★
RC Saints - Feasts of
Saint Lambert (martyr),
Hildegard of Bingen.
★ Also see
September 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
★
Angola -
National Heroes' Day.
★
Netherlands -
Operation Market Garden is still remembered with parachuting and dedications on this day.
★
United States -
Constitution Day (observed on the previous
Friday if it falls
Saturday, the following
Monday if on a
Sunday),
Citizenship Day,
Von Steuben Day.
Religious feasts
★
Christian martyrs
Socrates and Stephen
External links
★
BBC: On This Day
★
★
On This Day in Canada
----