September 1st
 

1653 ~ Birthday of Johann Pachelbel, Composer. Remember the theme music of “Ordinary People”? That’s “Pachelbel’s Canon” (which is not really a Canon).

1715 ~ King Louis XIV of France ("L'État, c'est moi") died after a reign of 72 years — the longest of any major European monarch.

1875 ~ Birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Writer, creator of Tarzan .

1905 ~ Alberta and Saskatchewan join the Canadian confederation.

1914 ~ The last Passenger Pigeon died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo.

1939 ~ World War II: Nazi Germany attacked Poland, beginning the war.

1972 ~ In Reykjavik, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beat Russian Boris Spassky and became the world chess champion.

1983 ~ Cold War: Korean Air Flight KAL-007 shot down by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft entered Soviet airspace.

1985 ~ A joint American-French expedition located the wreck of the RMS Titanic.

1991 ~ Uzbekistan declared independence from the Soviet Union.

September 2nd
 

31 BC ~ Battle of Actium: Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra. This date is often used for the beginning of the Roman Empire.

1666 ~ Great Fire of London started in Pudding Lane at the house of Thomas Farrinor near London Bridge. Samuel Pepys, a neighbor, was woken by the fire at around 1 AM. The fire burned for three days destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral, but only 16 people are known to have died.

1752 ~ The U.K. adopted the Gregorian Calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.

1898 ~ Battle of Omdurman: British and Egyptian troops led by Horatio Kitchener defeated Sudanese tribesmen led by Khalifa Abdullah al-Taashi, establishing British dominance in the Sudan.

1924 ~ Birthday of Daniel arap Moi, President of Kenya.

1944 ~ Anne Frank and her family were placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrived three days later.

1945 ~ The official surrender of Japan was accepted by General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz from a delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu, aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, bringing World War II to an end.

1964 ~ Death of Alvin York, Hero. He was the most decorated American soldier of World War I.

1969 ~ Death of Ho Chi Minh, Vietmamese Revolutionary, President & Prime Minister.

1973 ~ Death of J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer.

September 3rd
 

301 ~ San Marino, the world's oldest republic still in existence, was founded by Saint Marinus.

1658 ~ Death of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England.

1783 ~ American Revolutionary War: The Treaty of Paris between the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain was signed in Paris, ending the war.

1875 ~ Birthday of Ferdinand Porsche, German automotive engineer.

1893 ~ Death of James Harrison, Australian pioneer of mechanical refrigeration.

1935 ~ Malcolm Campbell reached 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile over 300 MPH.

1939 ~ World War II: France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on Germany.

1954 ~ The last new episode of The Lone Ranger was aired on radio after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years.

1962 ~ Death of e. e. cummings, poet.

2004 ~ More than 200 people die at the end of a three-day siege at a school in Beslan, Russia came to a bloody end.

September 4th
 

476 ~ Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed.

1761 ~ Los Angeles founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula (the City of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula).

1824 ~ Birthday of Anton Bruckner, Composer.

1888 ~ George Eastman registered the trademark Kodak, and received a patent for his camera which uses roll film.

1891 ~ Birthday of Fritz Todt, developer of the German autobahn, the archtype for the limited access highway.

1907 ~ Death of Edvard Grieg, Norwegian Composer.

1945 ~ World War II: Japanese forces surrender on Wake Island after hearing word of their nation's surrender.

1965 ~ Death of Albert Schweitzer, Physician, 1952 Nobel Peace Prize laureate & JS Bach interpreter.

1972 ~ Mark Spitz won his seventh swimming gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

1995 ~ Death of William Kunstler, Attorney.

September 5th
 

1735 ~ Birthday of Johann Christian Bach, Composer, son of Johann Sebastian Bach.

1774 ~ First Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1793 ~ The French National Convention voted to implement terror measures to enforce the principles of the French Revolution. This Reign of Terror lasted until the spring of 1794 and killed 35,000-40,000 people.

1847 ~ Birthday of Jesse James, outlaw.

1857 ~ Birthday of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Visionary & Pioneer of Astronautics.

1914 ~ World War I: First Battle of the Marne began northeast of Paris where the French defeated German advancing on the capital.

1948 ~ Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France. He is considered to be one of the founders of the European Union.

1950 ~ Birthday of Cathy Guisewite, Cartoonist.

1972 ~ Munich Massacre: A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September" attacked Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games.

1997 ~ Death of Mother Teresa, Inspiration.

September 6th
 

1620 ~ The Pilgrims sailed from Plymouth, England, on the Mayflower to settle in North America.

1766 ~ Birthday of John Dalton, British chemist and physicist. He is well known for his advocacy of the atomic theory.

1847 ~ Henry Thoreau left Walden Pond and moved in with Ralph Waldo Emerson and his family in Concord, Massachusetts.

1915 ~ The first prototype tank is tested by the British Army.

1928 ~ Birthday of Robert Pirsig, Author (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

1941 ~ The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word "Jew" inscribed, was extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.

1986 ~ In Istanbul, two Arab terrorists from Abu Nidal's terror organization killed 22 and wounded six inside the Neve Shalom synagogue during Sabbath services.

1991 ~ The Soviet Union recognized the independence of the Baltic states.

1995 ~ Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig's record of playing 2,131 consecutive baseball games

1996 ~ Eddie Murray became the 15th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Oriole Park in Baltimore, Maryland.

September 7th
 

1776 ~ World's first submarine attack. American submersible craft Turtle attempted to attach a bomb to the hull of the British flagship Eagle in New York Harbor.

1901 ~ The Boxer Rebellion in China officially ended with the signing of the Peking Protocol.

1908 ~ Birthday of Dr. Michael DeBakey, Heart Surgeon and inventor of the MASH.

1912 ~ Birthday of David Packard, Electrical Engineer.

1940 ~ World War II: The Blitz – Under orders from Adolf Hitler, the Luftwaffe began to bomb London. This was the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing.

1977 ~ The U.S. agreed to transfer control of the Panama Canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.

1986 ~ Desmond Tutu becomes the first black to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.

1994 ~ Death of James Clavell, Author (Shogun; To Sir, with Love; The Great Escape).

1997 ~ Death of Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of Zaire.

1998 ~ Google Inc. is founded.

September 8th
 

828 ~ Birthday of Ali al-Hadi , Shia Imam

1636 ~ Harvard College founded as the first college in the Americas.

1841 ~ Birthday of Antonin Dvorak, Composer.

1886 ~ Birthday of Siegfried Sassoon , Poet

1888 ~ The first season of The Football League began in England with 12 clubs.

1925 ~ Birthday of Peter Sellers, Actor (A Shot in the Dark, Dr. Strangelove, The Pink Panther, etc.).

1930 ~ 3M began marketing Scotch transparent tape.

1944 ~ World War II: London was hit by a V2 rocket for the first time.

1949 ~ Death of Richard Strauss, Composer.

1966 ~ The first episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek aired.

September 9th
 

1585 ~ Birthday of Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu, French statesman.

1737 ~ Birthday of Luigi Galvani, Italian Physician and Physicist.

1754 ~ Birthday of William Bligh, British naval officer.

1776 ~ The Continental Congress officially named their new country the United States.

1824 ~ Birthday of Anton Bruckner, Austrian Composer.

1828 ~ Birthday of Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (Anna Karenina, War and Peace).

1839 ~ John Herschel took the first astronomical glass plate photograph.

1945 ~ Admiral Grace Hopper discovered the first computer bug.

1956 ~ Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.

2001 ~ Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance, was assassinated in Afghanistan.

September 10th

1939 ~ The submarine HMS Oxley was sunk by mistake by the submarine HMS Trition off the coast of Norway and became the first loss of the Royal Navy in the Second World War.

1942 ~ Birthday of Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist.

1943 ~ World War II: German forces began their occupation of Rome.

1945 ~ Vidkun Quisling sentenced to death for collaboration with Nazi Germany.

1960 ~ Birthday of Colin Firth, Actor (Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually)

1967 ~ Birthday of Colin Firth, Actor (Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually)

1971 ~ Death of Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union.

1977 ~ France's last execution was performed by guillotine.

1990 ~ The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, the largest church in Africa and perhaps the world, consecrated by Pope John Paul II.

2002 ~ Switzerland joined the United Nations.

September 11th
 

1297 ~ Scots of William Wallace defeat English in the Battle of Stirling Bridge

1711 ~ Birthday of William Boyce, Composer.

1914 ~ World War I: In one of the first military engagements, Australian forces defeat Germans in New Britain.

1922 ~ British Mandate of Palestine began.

1948 ~ Death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, first Governor-General of Pakistan.

1962 ~ The Beatles recorded their debut single, Love Me Do.

1973 ~ A military coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet toppled elected Marxist President Salvador Allende.

1987 ~ CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, angry over being preempted for a tennis match, marched off the set, leaving affiliates with six minutes of an empty news desk.

1997 ~ Scotland voted to re-establish its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England and the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

2001 ~ The September 11 terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City, part of The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and crashed a passenger airliner in Pennsylvania. In total, almost 3,000 are killed.

September 12th
 

490 BC ~ Athenians defeated Persians at the Battle of Marathon.

1814 ~ War of 1812: An American detachment halted the British land advance to Baltimore in the Battle of North Point.

1880 ~ Birthday of H.L. Mencken, Journalist, Author.

1888 ~ Birthday of Maurice Chevalier, Singer, Actor (Gigi, Thank Heaven For Little Girls).

1933 ~ Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, came up with the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.

1940 ~ Cave paintings discovered in Lascaux, France.

1959 ~ Bonanza premiered. First regularly-scheduled TV program presented in color.

1977 ~ Death of Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist.

2003 ~ The United Nations lifted sanctions against Libya after Libya agreed to accept responsibility and make payment of US $2.7 billion to the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

2003 ~ Death of Johnny Cash, Country Music Great

September 13th
 

1321 ~ Death of Dante Alighieri, writer (The Divine Comedy)

1819 ~ Birthday of Clara Schumann, Pianist, Composer.

1857 ~ Birthday of Milton S. Hershey, chocolate entrepreneur and founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company.

1874 ~ Birthday of Arnold Schoenberg, Composer.

1939 ~ Canada entered World War II.

1948 ~ Margaret Chase Smith was elected senator, and became the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

1971 ~ Frank Robinson became the 11th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

1977 ~ Death of Leopold Stokowski, Conductor.

1999 ~ Bomb explodes in Moscow, Russia. At least 119 people are killed.

2001 ~ Civilian airplane traffic in the U.S., which had been grounded following the September 11th attacks, was allowed to resume.

September 14th
 

786 ~ Harun al-Rashid became the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother al-Hadi.

1752 ~ The British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (September 2 was followed directly by September 14 that year).

1737 ~ Birthday of Michael Haydn, Austrian composer.

1760 ~ Birthday of Luigi Cherubini, Composer.

1814 ~ Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner

1927 ~ Death of Isadora Duncan, Dancer.

1959 ~ The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashed onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it.

1975 ~ The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, was canonized by Pope Paul VI.

1982 ~ Death of Princess Grace of Monaco.

1999 ~ Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga joined the United Nations.

September 15th
 

1914 ~ Birthday of Allen Funt, radio & television personality.

1925 ~ Birthday of B. B. King, Musician.

1928 ~ Alexander Fleming noticed a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.

1950 ~ Korean War: The U.N. staged it’s fist offensive operation; an amphibious assault at Inchon.

1963 ~ Malaysia formed from Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo and Sarawak.

1975 ~ Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia.

1977 ~ Death of Maria Callas, Opera Diva.

1981 ~ The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Sandra Day O'Connor to the U. S. Supreme Court.

1982 ~ The first issue of USA Today is published.

1992 ~ The Pound Sterling was forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and to devalue against the Deutschmark.

September 16th
 

1810 ~ Fr. Miguel Hidalgo proclaimed Mexico's independence from Spain.

1736 ~ Death of Gabriel Fahrenheit, German Physicist.

1795 ~ British captured Capetown South Africa

1940 ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Selective Training and Service Act

1956 ~ Play-Doh was introduced to the world.

1959 ~ French President De Gaulle recognized Algerian right of self determination.

1968 ~ Candidate Richard Nixon appeared on Laugh-in

1986 ~ 177 people die during a fire in the Kinross, South African gold mine.

1987 ~ The Montreal Protocol was signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.

1996 ~ Howard Stern Radio Show premiered.

September 17th
 

1394 ~ King Charles VI of France ordered all Jews expelled from France.

1630 ~ Boston, Massachusetts is incorporated.

1787 ~ The text of the U.S. Constitution was completed in Philadelphia, PA.

1859 ~ Joshua A. Norton declares himself Emperor Norton I of the United States.

1900 ~ Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeated Americans under Colonel Benjamin Cheatham at Mabitac.

1908 ~ Death of Lt. Thomas Selfridge, first to die in an airplane crash.

1929 ~ Birthday of Sir Stirling Moss, Formula One racer.

1939 ~ The Soviet Union joined Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland.

1978 ~ The Camp David Accords were signed by Israeli and Egyptian representatives.

1991 ~ North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia joined the United Nations.

Today is the Feast Day of Hildegard of Bingen, recording artist.

September 18th
 

1709 ~ Birthday of Samuel Johnson, Essayist & Critic.

1759 ~ The British capture Quebec City.

1819 ~ Birthday of Leon Foucault, Physicist.

1927 ~ Columbia Broadcasting System went on the air.

1961 ~ Death of Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the United Nations.

1970 ~ Death of Jimi Hendrix, Rock Musician.

1971 ~ Birthday of Lance Armstrong, Cyclist Extraordinaire.

1975 ~ Patty Hearst was arrested after a year on the FBI Most Wanted List.

1990 ~ Liechtenstein became a member of the UN

1998 ~ ICANN was formed.

September 19th
 

1737 ~ Birthday of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Declaration of Independence Signer, US Senator.

1796 ~ George Washington made his farewell address.

1900 ~ Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid committed their first robbery together.

1934 ~ Bruno Hauptmann was arrested for the murder of Charles Lindbergh Junior.

1935 ~ Death of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, rocket scientist, physicist.

1941 ~ Birthday of Mama Cass Elliott, musician.

1945 ~ Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce) sentenced to death in London.

1955 ~ Juan Peron was deposed in Argentina.

1989 ~ A terrorist bomb explodes in a UTA DC-10 above Niger killing 171.

1991 ~ Ötzi the Iceman is discovered by German tourists.

September 20th
 

1187 ~ Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.

1519 ~ Ferdinand Magellan began his voyage around the world.

1797 ~ The USS Constitution was launched in Boston, Massachusetts.

1908 ~ Death of Pablo de Sarasate, Violinist.

1934 ~ Birthday of Sophia Loren , Italian actress.

1946 ~ First Cannes Film Festival.

1948 ~ Birthday of George R. R. Martin, Science Fiction Writer.

1979 ~ A coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrew Emperor Bokasa I.

1981 ~ A coup d'état in the Central African Republic overthrew President David Dacko.

2000 ~ After playing 2,632 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken, Jr took a day off.

September 21st
 

1756 ~ Birthday of John MacAdam, road builder.

1780 ~ Benedict Arnold gave the British the plans to West Point.

1866 ~ Birthday of H. G. Wells, science fiction author.

1874 ~ Birthday of Gustav Holst, Composer.

1896 ~ British force under Horatio Kitchener took Dongola in the Sudan.

1897 ~ The Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus letter is published in the New York Sun.

1937 ~ J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit.

1947 ~ Birthday of Stephen King, Author.

1964 ~ Malta became independent from the U.K.

2003 ~ Galileo mission was terminated by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere

September 22nd
 

1784 ~ Russia established a colony at Kodiak, Alaska.

1791 ~ Birthday of Michael Faraday, Scientist.

1828 ~ Death of Shaka Zulu, Zulu leader.

1869 ~ Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold opened in Munich.

1949 ~ Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear weapon.

1960 ~ Mali gained independence from France.

1975 ~ Sara Jane Moore’s assassination attempt on U.S. President Gerald Ford was foiled by Oliver Sipple.

1980 ~ Iraq invaded Iran.

1999 ~ Death of George C. Scott, Actor.

2001 ~ Death of Isaac Stern, Violinist.

September 23rd
 

1642 ~ First commencement at Harvard College.

1779 ~ USS Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, won a battle against the HMS Serapis and HMS Countess of Scarborough off the coast of England.

1806 ~ Discovery of Neptune by French astronomer Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier.

1884 ~ Herman Hollerith patented his mechanical adding machine.

1920 ~ Birthday of Mickey Rooney, actor.

1930 ~ Birthday of Ray Charles, U.S. R&B and jazz musician, singer.

1932 ~ The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd renamed Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

1949 ~ Birthday of Bruce Springsteen, Singer & Songwriter.

1962 ~ The Jetsons premiered.

1983 ~ Saint Kitts and Nevis joined the United Nations.

September 24th
 

622 ~ Muhammad completed his hegira from Mecca to Medina.

1664 ~ Netherlands surrendered New Amsterdam to England.

1755 ~ Birthday of John Marshall, the longest-serving Chief Justice of the American Supreme Court. The principle of judicial review: "A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law."

1890 ~ As a pre-condition to Utah being admitted to the United States, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) officially renounced polygamy.

1896 ~ Birthday of F Scott Fitzgerald, Novelist.

1936 ~ Birthday of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets.

1957 ~ President Eisenhower sent National Guard troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce desegregation.

1988 ~ Summer Olympics: Ben Johnson beat Carl Lewis in the 100 Meters sprint. Mr. Johnson was later disqualified using performance enhancing dugs.

1991 ~ Death of Dr. Seuss, Writer.

1993 ~ Broderbund released the computer game Myst.

September 25th
 

1066 ~ Battle of Stamford Bridge, which marked the end of the Viking era.

1683 ~ Birthday of Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer.

1890 ~ Yosemite National Park established.

1906 ~ Birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer.

1932 ~ Birthday of Glenn Gould, Pianist.

1950 ~ UN forces recaptured the South Korean capital Seoul

1981 ~ Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the 102nd Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the first woman to hold the office.

1983 ~ Soviet Officer Stanislav Petrov averts World War III by refusing to accept that the U.S. had launched missiles against the USSR, despite the indications given by his early warning systems.

1996 ~ The last of the Magdalen Asylums was closed.

2002 ~ The Vitim event.

September 25th
 

1687 ~ The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed after an explosion caused by the bombing from the Venetian forces besieging the Ottoman Turks.

1820 ~ Death of Daniel Boone, American icon.

1888 ~ Birthday of T. S. Eliot, Poet.

1898 ~ Birthday of George Gershwin, Composer.

1907 ~ New Zealand and Newfoundland became dominions.

1944 ~ Allied troops began a retreat from Arnhem.

1945 ~ Death of Béla Bartók, Composer.

1948 ~ Birthday of Olivia Newton-John, Singer.

1957 ~ West Side Story opened on Broadway.

1983 ~ Australia II won the “Americas Cup”.

September 27th
 

1389 ~ Birthday of Cosimo de Medici, Florentine ruler.

1540 ~ Jesuit Order received its charter from Pope Paul III.

1722 ~ Birthday of Samuel Adams, Patriot & Brewer.

1840 ~ Birthday of Thomas Nast, political cartoonist.

1917 ~ Death of Edgar Degas, Impressionist painter.

1921 ~ Death of Engelbert Humperdinck, Composer.

1964 ~ The Warren Commission issued a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President Kennedy.

1968 ~ The Hippy Musical "Hair" opened in London.

1996 ~ In Afghanistan, the Taliban captured Kabul. They then dragged former leader Mohammad Najibullah out of the U.N. compound and hanged him from a traffic light pole.

2002 ~ East Timor joins the United Nations.

September 28th
 

1066 ~ William the Conqueror invaded England, landing at Pevensey, Sussex.

1915 ~ Birthday of Ethel Rosenberg, Spy.

1925 ~ Birthday of Seymour Cray, Computer Scientist.

1939 ~ Germany and the Soviet Union agreed on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II.

1953 ~ Death of Edwin Hubble, Astronomer.

1958 ~ France ratified a new constitution; the Fifth (and current) Republic of France was formed.

1961 ~ A military coup in Damascus, Syria brought an end to the United Arab Republic.

1976 ~ Stevie Wonder released Songs in the Key of Life.

1988 ~ Death of Charles Addams, Cartoonist, creator of The Adams Family.

2000 ~ Death of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada

September 29th
 

1547 ~ Birthday of Miguel de Cervantes, Author (Don Quixote).

1714 ~ George, Elector of Hanover, arrived in Greenwich to assume the British throne as King George I. (Thanks dm383!)

1758 ~ Birthday of Horatio Nelson, British admiral.

1901 ~ Birthday of Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist.

1954 ~ CERN opened for business.

1960 ~ Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupted a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

1962 ~ Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite was launched.

1978 ~ Death of Pope John Paul, who reigned just 33 days.

2004 ~ The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passed within 964,000 miles of Earth.

2004 ~ Baseball: The Montreal Expos played their last game at Olympic Stadium.

September 30th
 

1882 ~ Birthday of Hans Geiger, German physicist & the inventor of the Geiger counter.

1896 ~ Madagascar became a French protectorate.

1913 ~ Death of Rudolf Diesel, German inventor.

1924 ~ Birthday of Truman Capote, Author (In Cold Blood).

1938 ~ The League of Nations unanimously outlawed "intentional bombings of civilian populations".

1954 ~ The submarine USS Nautilus was commissioned as the first nuclear reactor powered vessel.

1960 ~ The last episode of The Howdy Doody Show aired.

1982 ~ Cheers premiered.

1991 ~ President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti was forced from office.

1999 ~ Japan's worst nuclear accident occurred at a uranium reprocessing facility in Tokai-mura, northeast of Tokyo.

October 7th
 

1571 ~ Ottoman Empire defeated at the battle of Lepanto, the last major naval battle to take place between exclusively oared galleys.

1582 ~ Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1849 ~ Death of Edgar Allan Poe, American writer.

1885 ~ Birthday of Niels Bohr, The Nobel Prize in Physics 1922.

1886 ~ Spain abolished slavery in Cuba.

1913 ~ Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line.

1919 ~ KLM founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.

1900 ~ Birthday of Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official and leader of the SS.

1931 ~ Birthday of Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop, The Nobel Peace Prize 1984.

1955 ~ Birthday of Yo-Yo Ma, Cellist.

October 8th
 

1871 ~ The Great Chicago Fire destroyed about 17,450 buildings, killed about 250 people and left another 90,000 homeless.

1895 ~ Birthday of Juan Perón, former president of Argentina.

1920 ~ Birthday of Frank Herbert, Science Fiction writer.

1949 ~ Birthday of Sigourney Weaver, Actress.

1961 ~ In London, the Post Office Tower opened.

1967 ~ Guerrilla leader Che Guevara was captured in Bolivia.

1982 ~ All labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned.

1992 ~ Death of Willy Brandt, German politician.

2003 ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California.

2004 ~ Martha Stewart went to jail.

October 9th
 

1776 ~ Father Francisco Palou founds Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California.

1835 ~ Birthday of Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer.

1859 ~ Birthday of Alfred Dreyfus, French military officer.

1897 ~ Henry Sturmey became the 1st man to drive from Land's End, Cornwall to John O'Groats, Scotland.

1940 ~ Birthday of John Lennon, Musician & Songwriter.

1942 ~ Statute of Westminster Adoption Act formalizes Australian autonomy.

1948 ~ Birthday of Jackson Browne (Doctor My Eyes, The Pretender, Running On Empty)

1961 ~ Ray Charles' Hit the Road Jack reached No. 1.

1970 ~ The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia.

1974 ~ Death of Oskar Schindler, businessman.

October 10th
 

1813 ~ Birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer.

1845 ~ In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opened with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.

1875 ~ Death of Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Novelist & Poet.

1961 ~ Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 published.

1966 ~ Simon and Garfunkel released the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

1970 ~ A crisis hit Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier Pierre Laporte became the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.

1975 ~ Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor remarried.

1980 ~ UK PM Margaret Thatcher gave a defiant speech at the Tory party conference "…I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning!"

1985 ~ U.S. Navy F-14 fightess intercepted the Egyptian plane carrying the “Achille Lauro” cruise ship hijackers and forced it to land at a NATO base in Sicily where they were arrested.

1985 ~ Death of Yul Brynner, Actor and Orson Welles, Director & Actor.

October 11th
 

1779 ~ Death of Casimir Pulaski, Polish fighter for American independence.

1809 ~ Death of Meriwether Lewis, explorer.

1844 ~ Birthday of Henry Heinz, food manufacturer.

1896 ~ Death of Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer.

1899 ~ Boer War: In South Africa, a war between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State began.

1961 ~ Death of Chico Marx, comedian.

1962 ~ Pope John XXIII convenes the Second Vatican Council.

1968 ~ Launch of Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission.

1975 ~ Saturday Night Live premiered with George Carlin as the guest host.

1987 ~ Operation Deepscan: An exploration of Loch Ness using sonar ended without finding Nessie.

October 12th
 

1492 ~ Christopher Columbus's first expedition makes landfall in the Caribbean. But where?

1609 ~ Three Blind Mice published by Thomas Ravenscroft.

1870 ~ Death of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Leader.

1935 ~ Birthday of Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor.

1968 ~ Summer Olympics open in Mexico City.

1977 ~ Four Palestinians hijacked a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Somalia and demanded release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.

1986 ~ Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev fail to agree on Star Wars at a disarmament summit in Reykjavik.

1997 ~ Death of John Denver, American singer.

2000 ~ Suicide bombers attack the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden.

2002 ~ A car bomb at a Bali nightclub killed 202 people, mainly Australians.

October 13th
 

54 ~ Death of Claudius, Roman Emperor

1307 ~ All Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of the French king, to be later tortured into admitting heresy.

1792 ~ The cornerstone of the White House was laid

1812 ~ Death of Sir Isaac Brock, British general (killed in the Battle of Queenston Heights)

1925 ~ Birthday of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the UK.

1941 ~ Birthday of Paul Simon, Singer & Songwriter.

1945 ~ Death of Milton S. Hershey, founder of Hershey Chocolate Company.

1954 ~ Birthday of Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician.

1959 ~ Birthday of Marie Osmond, Singer & Actress.

1974 ~ Death of Ed Sullivan, Television Personality.

October 14th
 

1066 ~ Battle of Hastings - William the Conqueror’s Normans defeated the Saxon army and kill King Harold II of England.

1882 ~ Birthday of Eamon de Valera, Irish politician and patriot.

1894 ~ Birthday of E. E. Cummings, American poet.

1926 ~ Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, was published.

1940 ~ Birthday of Cliff Richard, British rock singer.

1944 ~ World War II: Given the choice between a public treason trial and a certain death by firing squad or suicide with honor, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel chose the latter.

1947 ~ Chuck Yeager flew a Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound, the first man to do so in level flight.

1962 ~ Cuban Missile Crisis began: A U-2 flight over Cuba took photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed.

1964 ~ Civil Rights movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1994 ~ PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shared the Nobel Peace Prize.

October 15th
 

70 BC ~ Birthday of Virgil, Roman poet.

1844 ~ Birthday of Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher.

1881 ~ Birthday of P. G. Wodehouse, British comic novelist.

1908 ~ Birthday of John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist.

1917 ~ Mata Hari was executed by firing squad for spying for Germany.

1951 ~ I Love Lucy premiered starring comedian Lucille Ball and her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz.

1964 ~ Death of Cole Porter, Composer.

1964 ~ Nikita Khrushchev retires as head of USSR.

1970 ~ 35 construction workers died when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapsed.

2003 ~ China launched its first manned spacecraft into orbit, becoming the third country to do so.

October 16th
 

1793 ~ Marie Antoinette was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution.

1854 ~ Birthday of Oscar Wilde, Irish writer.

1859 ~ John Brown led a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

1886 ~ Birthday of David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel.

1925 ~ Birthday of Angela Lansbury, actress

1964 ~ China detonated its first atomic bomb.

1970 ~ Anwar Sadat elected President of Egypt.

1978 ~ Karol Józef Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II. He was the first non Italian to be elevated to the position since 1522.

1981 ~ Death of Moshe Dayan, Israeli general.

1983 ~ The Baltimore Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 3 in the 80th World Series.