September 17
September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in
leap years). There are 105 days remaining.
*
1176 - The
Battle of Myriokephalon is fought.
*
1394 - King
Charles VI of France orders all
Jews expelled from
France.
*
1462 - The
Battle of Świecino (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.
*
1776 - The
Presidio of San Francisco is founded in
New Spain.
*
1787 - The United States forms and becomes a country.
*
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 McClellan halts the northward drive of
Robert E. Lee's
Confederate army in the
Battle of Antietam.
*
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 -
Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge and
Orville Wright while on a demonstration flight in Wright's Military Flyer, crash at
Fort Myer Virginia. Wright is critically injured but recovers. Selfridge dies from a fractured skull and becomes the first person to die in a powered aeroplane crash.
*
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.
* 1939 - Taisto Mäki of Finland. New world record on 10.000m. 29.52.6. First time under 30 min. In Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Finland. The stadium was built for the 1940 Olympic Games after the games were moved there from Tokyo, Japan. The games never took place.
*
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 know 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.
*
1951 -
Robert A. Lovett was sworn in as the
4th Secretary of Defense of United States.
*
1961 - The
Minnesota Vikings play their first
NFL game, defeating the
Chicago Bears 37-13, with
Fran Tarkenton throwing 4 touchdowns and running for 1 touchdown.
*
1967 -
Jim Morrison and
The Doors defy
CBS censors on
The Ed Sullivan Show. Morrison sang the lyrics, "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" from the song,
Light My Fire when asked not to.
*
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 first
African American Miss America.
*
1984 -
Brian Mulroney is sworn in as
Prime Minister of Canada.
* 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.
*
2001 -
The Late Show with David Letterman is the first TV talk show to return to the airwaves six days after terrorists attack the United States in New York City and Washington D.C.
* 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.
*
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)
*
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)
*
1819 -
Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st
Vice President of the United States (d.
1885)
*
1820 -
Émile Augier, French dramatist (d.
1889)
*
1826 -
Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (d.
1866)
*
1857 -
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian rocket scientist (d.
1935)
*
1869 -
Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian
Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d.
1938)
*
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
*
1897 -
Earl Webb, baseball player (d.
1965)
*
1900 -
John Willard Marriott, American hotelier (d.
1985)
* 1900 -
Hughie Critz, baseball player (d.
1980)
*
1903 -
Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (d.
1984)
*
1907 -
Warren Burger, 15th
Chief Justice of the United States (d.
1995)
*
1918 -
Chaim Herzog,
President of Israel (d.
1997)
*
1922 -
Agostinho Neto, Angolan politician (d.
1979)
*
1923 -
Hank Williams, American musician (d.
1953)
*
1927 -
George Blanda, American football player
*
1928 -
Roddy McDowall, English actor (d.
1998)
*
1929 - Sir
Stirling Moss, English race car driver
*
1930 -
Edgar Mitchell, astronaut
*
1931 -
Anne Bancroft, American actress (d.
2005)
*
1933 -
Dorothy Loudon, American actress (d.
2003)
*
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 -
David Souter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
*
1941 -
Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman (d.
2005)
*
1942 -
Des Lynam, English television presenter
*
1944 -
Reinhold Messner, Austrian mountain climber
*
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)
*
1950 -
Narendra Modi, Indian politician
*
1951 -
Cassandra Peterson, American actress
*
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
*
1965 -
Bryan Singer, American director
* 1965 -
Yuji Naka, Japanese video game programmer
*
1966 -
Doug E. Fresh, American rapper, record producer, and
beatboxer*
1969 -
Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player
*
1971 -
Adriana Sklenaříková, Slovak supermodel
*
1973 -
Anastacia, American singer
*
1974 -
Rasheed Wallace, American basketball player
*
1974 -
Mirah, American musician
*
1975 -
Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
* 1975 -
Austin St. John, American actor
* 1975 -
Constantine Maroulis,
American Idol Finalist
*
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, baseball player
*
1981 -
Bakari Koné,
Ivory Coast Footballer*
1983 -
Jennifer Peña, American singer
*
1984 -
Eugenia Volodina, Russian supermodel
*
1985 -
Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player
*
1991 -
Jordan McCoy,
American Juniors Finalist
*
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 - King
Philip IV of Spain (b.
1605)
*
1679 -
John of Austria the Younger, Spanish general (b.
1629)
*
1727 -
Glückel of Hameln, German businesswoman and diarist (b.
1647)
*
1762 -
Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (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 Rout, New Zealand activist (b.
1877)
*
1938 -
Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (b.
1901)
*
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)
*
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 reporter (b.
1960)
*
2003 -
Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b.
1951)
* 2003 -
Sheb Wooley, American actor and singer (b.
1921)
*
2005 -
Alfred Reed, American composer (b.
1921)
*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 in a weekend),
Citizenship Day,
Von Steuben Day*
BBC: On This DaySeptember 16 ·
September 18 ·
August 17 ·
October 17 · more
historical anniversaries
