Category: This Day in History (Page 3 of 25)

On Sept. 14, 1836, former Vice President Aaron Burr died in Staten Island, New York, at age 80.

In 1927, modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in Nice France, when her scarf became entangled in a wheel of the sports car she was riding in.

In 1982, Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly film star Grace Kelly, died at age 52 of injuries from a car crash the day before.

In 2011, a government panel released a report saying that BP bore ultimate responsibility for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

In 2020, in Northern California for a briefing on the wildfires that had killed dozens of people, President Donald Trump dismissed the scientific consensus that climate change was playing a central role in the fires; he renewed his unfounded claim that failure to rake forest floors was to blame.

On Sept. 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the poem “Defence of Fort McHenry” (later “The Star-Spangled Banner”) after witnessing the American flag flying over the Maryland fort following a night of British naval bombardment during the War of 1812.

In 1847, during the Mexican-American War, U.S. forces under Gen. Winfield Scott took control of Mexico City.

In 1861, the first naval engagement of the Civil War took place as the USS Colorado attacked and sank the Confederate private schooner Judah off Pensacola, Florida.

In 1867, the first volume of “Das Kapital” by Karl Marx was published in Hamburg, Germany.

In 1901, President William McKinley died in Buffalo, New York, of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin; Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him.

In 1927, modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in Nice, France, when her scarf became entangled in a wheel of the sports car she was riding in.

In 1982, Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly film star Grace Kelly, died at age 52 of injuries from a car crash the day before; Lebanon’s president-elect, Bashir Gemayel (bah-SHEER’ jeh-MAY’-el), was killed by a bomb.

In 1991, the government of South Africa, the African National Congress and the Inkatha (in-KAH’-tah) Freedom Party signed a national peace pact.

In 1994, on the 34th day of a strike by players, Acting Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced the 1994 season was over.

In 2001, Americans packed churches and clogged public squares on a day of remembrance for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. President George W. Bush prayed with his Cabinet and attended services at Washington National Cathedral, then flew to New York, where he waded into the ruins of the World Trade Center and addressed rescue workers in a flag-waving, bullhorn-wielding show of resolve.

In 2009, death claimed “Dirty Dancing” star Patrick Swayze at 57; former White House press secretary Jody Powell at age 65; and comic character actor Henry Gibson at age 73.

In 2012, fury over an anti-Muslim film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad spread across the Muslim world, with deadly clashes near Western embassies in Tunisia and Sudan, an American fast-food restaurant set ablaze in Lebanon, and international peacekeepers attacked in the Sinai.

In 2015, Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis returned to work for the first time since she was jailed for defying a federal court and announced that she would no longer block her deputies from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In 2018, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh denied an allegation of sexual misconduct from when he was in high school, saying, “I did not do this back in high school or at any time.” (Kavanaugh would later be confirmed by the Senate.)

On Sept. 13, 1959, Elvis Presley first met his future wife, 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, while stationed in West Germany with the U.S. Army. (They married in 1967 but divorced in 1973.)

In 1970, the first New York City Marathon was held; winner Gary Muhrcke finished the run, which took place entirely inside Central Park, in 2:31:38.

In 1990, the combination police-courtroom drama “Law & Order” premiered.

In 1993, at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

In 1998, former Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace died in Montgomery at age 79.

In 2010, Rafael Nadal won his first U.S. Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

On Sept. 11, 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

In 1936, Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) began operation as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a key in Washington to signal the startup of the dam’s first hydroelectric generator.

In 1985, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds cracked career hit number 4,192, eclipsing the record held by Ty Cobb.

In 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed as 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four jetliners, sending two of the planes into New York’s World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania.

In 2003, actor John Ritter died six days before his 55th birthday in Burbank, California.

On Sept. 10, 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.

In 1963, 20 Black students entered Alabama public schools following a standoff between federal authorities and Gov. George C. Wallace.

In 1984, a revival of the TV game show “Jeopardy!” hosted by Alex Trebek premiered in syndication.

In 1998, President Clinton met with members of his Cabinet to apologize, ask forgiveness and promise to improve in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

In 2015, New York State approved gradually raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 an hour— the first time any state had set the minimum that high.

In 2020, Diana Rigg, a British actor whose career included roles in the 1960s spy series “The Avengers” and the fantasy juggernaut “Game of Thrones,” died at the age of 82.

On Sept 9, 1893, Frances Cleveland gave birth to a daughter, Esther, in the White House; it was the first (and, to date, only) time a president’s child was born in the executive mansion.

In 1948, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) was declared.In 1956, Elvis Presley made the first of three appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

In 1960, in the first regular-season American Football League game, the Denver Broncos defeated the Boston Patriots, 13-10.

In 1971, prisoners seized control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, beginning a siege that ended up claiming 43 lives.

In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch in British history, serving for 23, 226 days, surpassing Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother.

On Sept. 8, 1504, Michelangelo’s David was unveiled to the public in Florence, Italy.

In 1892, an early version of “The Pledge of Allegiance,” written by Francis Bellamy, appeared in “The Youth’s Companion.”

In 1935, Sen. Huey P. Long, a Louisiana Democrat, was shot and mortally wounded inside the Louisiana State Capitol.

In 1943, during World War II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower announced Italy’s surrender; Nazi Germany denounced Italy’s decision as a cowardly act.

In 1964, schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia, reopened after being closed for five years by officials attempting to prevent racial desegregation.

In 1968, The Beatles were seen performing ‘Hey Jude’ on the UK television show ‘Frost On Sunday’ in front of an invited audience. The song was the first single from The Beatles‘ record label Apple Records and at over seven minutes in length, ‘Hey Jude’ was, at the time, the longest single ever to top the British charts. It also spent nine weeks as No.1 in the United States—the longest run at the top of the American charts for a Beatles’ single. In 1974, In a controversial executive action, President Gerald Ford pardons his disgraced predecessor Richard M. Nixon for any crimes he may have committed or participated in while in office.

In 1974, in a controversial executive action, President Gerald Ford pardons his disgraced predecessor Richard M. Nixon for any crimes he may have committed or participated in while in office.

In 1984, Stevie Wonder had his first UK No.1 with ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’. Taken from the film ‘The Woman In Red’, it was 18 years after Wonder’s chart debut in 1966. The song stayed at No.1 for six weeks.

In 2016, California and federal regulators fined Wells Fargo a combined $185 million, alleging the bank’s employees illegally opened millions of unauthorized accounts for their customers.

On September 7, 1940, 300 German bombers raid London, in the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing. This bombing “blitzkrieg” (lightning war) would continue until May 1941.

In 1972, the International Olympic Committee banned Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett from further competition for talking to each other on the victory stand during the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” after winning gold and silver in the 400-meter run.

In 1976, ABBA were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Dancing Queen’, the group’s fourth UK No.1 single and their only US No.1 chart topper. The song was a No.1 hit in over a dozen countries and stayed at the top of the Swedish charts for 14 weeks.

In 1977, in Washington, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos sign a treaty agreeing to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama at the end of the 20th century.

In 1986, Desmond Tutu was installed as the first Black clergyman to lead the Anglican Church in southern Africa.

In 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and mortally wounded on the Las Vegas Strip.

In 2015, Hillary Clinton said she did not need to apologize for using a private email account and server while at the State Department because “what I did was allowed.”

On Sept. 6, 1901, President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, New York.

In 1972, the Summer Olympics resumed in Munich, West Germany, a day after the deadly hostage crisis that claimed the lives of eleven Israelis and five Arab abductors.

In 1975, 18-year-old tennis star Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia, in New York for the U.S. Open, requested political asylum in the United States.

In 1991, the Soviet Union recognized the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

In 1995, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record by playing his two-thousand-131st consecutive game.

In 2017, Hurricane Irma, the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, pounded Puerto Rico.