September 14th

Events

• 786 - Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother al-Hadi
• 1752 - The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (September 2 was followed directly by September 14 this year)
• 1812 - Russian army burns Moscow to prevent Napoleon from capturing it
• 1812 - Francis Scott Key writes The Star-Spangled Banner
• 1847 - Winfield Scott captures Mexico City
• 1886 - Typewriter ribbon patented
• 1901 - Theodore Roosevelt becomes President of the United States.
• 1917 - Republican government declared in Russia
• 1923 - Miguel Primo de Rivera becomes dictator of Spain
• 1944 - United States Marines land on the island of Peleliu
• 1948 - Groundbreaking for the United Nations headquarters in New York City
• 1959 - The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it.
• 1960 - The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded.
• 1964 - The opening of the third period of Second Vatican Council
• 1965 - The opening of the fourth and final period of Second Vatican Council
• 1984 - Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a hot air balloon solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1975 - The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, is canonized by Pope Paul VI
• 1999 - Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations.
• 2000 - Juan Antonio Samaranch leaves the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), after 20 years.
• 2003 - Sweden rejects adopting the Euro in a referendum. (Results.)
• 2003 - Estonia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.

Births

• 1547 - Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch statesman († 1619)
• 1760 - Luigi Cherubini, composer († 1842)
• 1769 - Alexander von Humboldt, naturalist and explorer († 1859)
• 1849 - Ivan Pavlov, scientist († 1936)
• 1867 - Charles Dana Gibson, artist († 1944)
• 1879 - Margaret Sanger, birth control advocate († 1966)
• 1899 - Hal Wallis, film producer († 1986)
• 1909 - Peter Scott, naturalist, artist, and explorer († 1989)
• 1914 - Clayton Moore, actor († 1999)
• 1921 - Ruth Brooks Flippen, television writer († 1981)
• 1923 - Bud Palmer, sports reporter
• 1933 - Zoe Caldwell, actress
• 1933 - Harve Presnell, actor
• 1934 - Kate Millett, feminist writer
• 1936 - Walter Koenig, actor
• 1938 - Nicol Williamson, actor
• 1947 - Sam Neill, actor
• 1959 - Mary Frances, actress
• 1971 - Kimberly Williams, actress
• 1973 - Nas, rap music singer

Deaths

• 258 - Cyprian, early Christian writer
• 786 - Al-Hadi, Abbasid caliph
• 891 - Pope Stephen V
• 1321 - Dante Alighieri, author
• 1638 - John Harvard, clergyman, namesake of Harvard College
• 1851 - James Fenimore Cooper, author
• 1852 - Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, British general and Prime Minister
• 1899 - Henry Bliss, first automobile fatality
• 1901 - United States President William McKinley
• 1927 - Isadora Duncan, dancer
• 1936 - Irving Thalberg, film producer
• 1960 - Sir Arthur Percy Morris Fleming, radar pioneer
• 1966 - Gertrude Berg, actress
• 1982 - Bashir Gemayel, President of Lebanon
• 1982 - Princess Grace of Monaco
• 1984 - Janet Gaynor, Academy Award winning actress
• 1996 - Juliet Prowse, actress, dancer
• 2000 - Beah Richards, actress

Holidays

• Eastern Orthodox Church Exaltation of the Cross, which commemorates the discovery of the (allegedly) original Christian cross in 326 by Helena, mother of Constantine.
• In ancient Greece, the first day of the Eleusinian mysteries, during which the sacred objects were brought from Eleusis to Athens.

See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By