History: Constitution, Nathan Hale, 9/11, Antietam, Marathon, Irish Home Rule, Stirling, Holy Sepulchre, Richard Lionheart, Von Steuben &More
Last week was the anniversary of the devastating 9/11 terrorist attacks, reminding us that a single event can change history.
September 8
1157 - Future Crusader and English King Richard the Lionheart is born.
1380 - Battle of Kulikovo: the Russians under Grand Prince Dmitri Ivanovich liberate Russia from the Islamized Mongols.
1565 - St. Augustine (FL), the first permanent European settlement in what would become the United States, is founded.
1664 - Dutch Gov. Stuyvesant surrenders New Netherland colony (now New York) to English soldiers.
1941 - WWII: Nazis’ Siege of Leningrad begins.
2022 - Queen Elizabeth II, longest reigning British monarch, dies.
September 9
214 - Roman emperor Aurelian is born; titled “restorer of the world” for his military victories, but he also persecuted Christians.
1000 - Reported date of the major Scandinavian/Viking Battle of Svolder.
1776 - The Second Continental Congress names the Revolutionary colonies the United States of America.
1970 - Terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine commandeers the last of four planes in the “Black September” hijackings.
1976 - Chinese dictator Mao Zedong dies. Mao is history’s greatest single mass murderer, responsible for up to 65 million deaths, and the first dictator of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which still exercises a reign of terror in China.
September 10
210 BC - Qin Shi Huang, first emperor of unified China, dies.
1487 - Future Pope Julius III, patron of famed Renaissance artists, is born.
1776 - Young Patriot Nathan Hale volunteers to spy on the British on behalf of the Revolutionary Army. Hale, disguised as a schoolteacher, unfortunately was captured and hanged.
1813 - War of 1812: “American Naval forces under the command of Oliver H. Perry attacked Robert H. Barclay’s British fleet in Lake Erie. In the resulting action, Perry’s forces gained a victory and claimed supremacy over the lake, causing the British to evacuate Fort Detroit.”
September 11
1297 - William Wallace of Scotland defeats the English at the Battle at Stirling Bridge.
1697 - Battle of Zenta: Prince Eugene of Savoy and forces save Christian Europe from the Muslim Turks.
1862 - Talented American short story writer O. Henry is born.
2001 - 9/11: Devastating Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks via hijacked planes destroy the Twin Towers, damage the Pentagon, and kill nearly 3,000 people.
September 12
490 BC - Estimated date of the Battle of Marathon, when the Greeks decisively defeated the invading Persians. The messenger who brought the news back to Athens, Pheidippides, ran 26 miles (hence our 26-mile marathons), delivered his news, and died.
1862 - Battle of Harpers Ferry, Virginia (ultimately Confederate victory) begins. Read how Union Col. Trimble bravely faced down the Confederate troops trying to enslave free black men after the battle.
1913 - Jesse Owens, groundbreaking black American Olympic athlete, is born. Read my full piece.
September 13
335 - Constantine’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated in Jerusalem, on the site where Christ died and was buried.
1819 - German composer Clara Schumann is born.
1847 - American victory at the Battle of Chapultepec during the Mexican-American War.
1782 - The French and Spanish grand assault on British-held Gibraltar fails.
1860 - John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, famed US military leader, is born.
September 14
1922 - The Catastrophe of Smyrna, as Turks destroy the Greek town in Asia Minor.
1982 - American-born Princess of Monaco and former actress Grace Kelly tragically dies in a car crash.
September 15
1821 - Central America declares independence from Spain.
1916 - WWI, Battle of the Somme: first use of tanks on the battlefield.
1940 - Battle of Britain Day, WWII: Royal Air Force repels major Nazi assault.
1946 - US actor Tommy Lee Jones is born.
September 16
1179 - St. Hildegard von Bingen, mystic, abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church, dies.
1620 - The Mayflower leaves Plymouth for the Americas.
1810 - A Mexican priest first utters the battle cry of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain (reportedly: “Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe, death to bad government, death to the gachupines!”).
1924 - Actress Lauren Bacall is born.
September 17
1394 - King Charles VI expels Jews from France, seizes their property.
1730 - Baron von Steuben, Prussian military officer who aided the American Revolutionaries, is born.
1787 - The Founding Fathers at the Constitutional Convention sign the U.S. Constitution. Read my full piece.
1862 - U.S. Civil War: Battle of Antietam, somewhat inconclusive Union win, “the deadliest one-day battle in American military history.” Among the 22,717 estimated casualties was my ancestor, Union soldier James Lees.
September 18
96 AD - Roman Emperor Domitian, efficient administrator but ruthless persecutor (especially of Christians), is assassinated.
324 - Battle of Chrysopolis: Constantine defeats Licinius, wins Roman imperial supremacy.
1709 - Famed English literary figure Samuel Johnson is born.
1793 - George Washington lays the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.
1812 - The Great Fire of Moscow, ignited during the Napoleonic invasion, finally burns out, most of the city is destroyed.
1850 - Congress passes the infamous Fugitive Slave Act.
1873 - The Panic of 1873 starts a U.S. depression.
1914 - The Irish Home Rule bill receives Royal Assent, granting the Irish their own government (but still under British rule).
1944 - WWII: American assault on Nazi-held Brest finally succeeds.
Did I miss any important events? Let me know in the comments.