[Edit]

top

1400 - Owain Glyndŵr declared Prince of Wales by his followers.

1597 - Yi Sun-sin leads 12 ships of the Korean fleet against an invasion by 133 Japanese ships. The Koreans sink 31 enemy ships and force a Japanese retreat.

1701 - Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, more commonly referred to as the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant of the thrones of Scotland and England.

1776 - American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.

1795 - United Kingdom conquers Cape Town, South Africa.

1810 - With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain

1812 - Russians set fire to Moscow shortly after midnight - the city is burned completely down days later.

1893 - Settlers race in Oklahoma for prime land in the Cherokee Strip.

1901 - Alturas, California, incorporated as the only city in Modoc County.

1908 - General Motors is founded.

1919 - The American Legion is incorporated.

1920 - The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J.P.Morgan building in New York City - 33 are killed with 400 injured.

1940 - Sam Rayburn elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, widely regarded as the most effective Speaker of the House in American history.

1941 - Concerned that Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia was about to align his petroleum-rich country with Germany during World War II, the United Kingdom and the USSR occupy Iran and forced him to resign in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

1950 - After dominating the All-America Football Conference, winning the championship all 4 years the league existed, the Cleveland Browns begin play in the NFL with a showdown with the 2-time NFL Champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Browns would win easily 35-10 and would go on to win the NFL Championship.

1955 - Juan Perón is deposed in Argentina.

1963 - Malaysia is formed from Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak.

1966 - The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City to the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera, Antony and Cleopatra.

1970 - King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule due to the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.

1975 - Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.

1976 - Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus, that had fallen into Erevan reservoir

1981 - Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Thomas Hearns by a knockout in round 14 in Las Vegas to unify boxing's world Welterweight championship.

1982 - Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon.

1984 - Miami Vice first airs on NBC.

1987 - The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.

1991 - The trial of Panamanian "strongman" Manuel Noriega begins in the United States.

1992 - Black Wednesday: the Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the Deutschmark.

2000 - Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze is last seen alive.

2004 - Hurricane Ivan touches land near Gulf Shores, Alabama, becoming the third costliest hurricane to strike the United States.

top

16 - Drusilla, daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder (d. 38)

1387 - King Henry V of England, (d. 1422)

1507 - Jiajing, Emperor of China (d. 1567)

1557 - Jacques Mauduit, French composer (d. 1627)

1651 - Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and traveler (d. 1716)

1666 - Antoine Parent, French mathematician (d. 1716)

1678 - Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (d. 1751)

1722 - Gabriel Christie, British general (d. 1799)

1725 - Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist (d. 1815)

1745 - Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, Russian field marshal, (d. 1813)

1782 - Daoguang, Emperor of China (d. 1850)

1823 - Francis Parkman, American historian (d. 1893)

1827 - Jean Albert Gaudry, French geologist (d. 1908)

1853 - Albrecht Kossel, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1927)

1858 - Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1923)

1859 - Yuan Shikai, Chinese politician and self-proclaimed emperor (d. 1916)

1875 - James C. Penney, American department store founder (d. 1971)

1881 - Clive Bell, English art critic (d. 1964)

1883 - T. E. Hulme, English writer (d. 1917)

1886 - Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor, painter, and poet (d. 1966)

1887 - Nadia Boulanger, French composer and composition teacher (d. 1979)

1888 - F. E. Sillanpää, Finnish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)

1891 - Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-born German World War II spy (d. 1972)

1891 - Karl Dönitz, German naval leader (d. 1980)

1893 - Alexander Korda, Hungarian film director (d. 1956)

1893 - Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)

1905 - Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (d. 1980)

1910 - Karl Kling, German race car driver (d. 2003)

1910 - Erich Kempka, Adolf Hitler's chauffeur (d. 1975)

1914 - Allen Funt, American radio and television personality (d. 1999)

1916 - M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian singer (d. 2004)

1916 - Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw, Saint Kitts and Nevis politician (d. 1978)

1919 - Laurence J. Peter, Canadian born educator and writer (d. 1990)

1922 - Janis Paige, American actress

1923 - Lee Kuan Yew, Minister Mentor of Singapore

1924 - Lauren Bacall, American actress

1925 - Charlie Byrd, American musician (d. 1999)

1925 - B. B. King, American musician

1925 - Charles J. Haughey, President of Ireland (d. 2006)

1927 - Peter Falk, American actor

1927 - Jack Kelly, American actor (d. 1992)

1928 - Lady Gwen Thompson, Pioneer in the Witchcraft movement

1930 - Anne Francis, American actress

1934 - Elgin Baylor, American basketball player

1934 - George Chakiris, American actor

1935 - Carl Andre, American artist

1935 - Bob Kiley, American public transit specialist

1937 - Alexander Medved, Russian wrestler

1939 - Breyten Breytenbach, South African writer and painter

1941 - Richard Perle, American political advisor

1943 - James Alan McPherson, American writer

1944 - Winston Grennan, Jamaican American drummer

1946 - Cathee Dahmen, American fashion model

1946 - Mike Reynolds, Speaker of Queensland Parliament, Australia

1947 - Russ Abbot, British comedian

1948 - Ron Blair, American bassist

1948 - Kenny Jones, English rock drummer (The Small Faces - Faces - The Who)

1949 - Ed Begley, Jr., American actor

1950 - Loyd Grossman, American television presenter

1953 - Eric Vail, Canadian ice hockey player

1954 - Earl Klugh, American jazz guitarist

1955 - Ron Brewer, American basketball player

1955 - Janet Ellis, British television presenter

1955 - Yolandita Monge, Puerto Rican singer

1955 - Robin Yount, baseball player

1956 - David Copperfield, American magician

1956 - Mickey Rourke, American actor

1957 - David McCreery, Irish footballer

1958 - Orel Hershiser, baseball player

1958 - Jennifer Tilly, American actress

1959 - Tim Raines, Major League Baseball player

1960 - Danny John-Jules, British actor

1960 - Kurt Busiek, American comic book writer

1963 - Richard Marx, American singer

1964 - Molly Shannon, American actress

1964 - Mary Coustas, Austalian entertainer

1965 - Katy Kurtzman, American actress, director, and producer

1968 - Marc Anthony, American singer

1968 - Walt Becker, American director and writer

1970 - Mark Schultz (musician), American singer/songwriter

1971 - Amy Poehler, American comedienne/actress (Saturday Night Live)

1973 - Alexander Vinokourov, Kazakh cyclist

1975 - Shannon Noll, Australian singer and actor

1976 - Greg Buckner, American basketball player

1978 - Dan Dickau, American basketball player

1981 - Alexis Bledel, American actress

1984 - Katie Melua, Georgian singer

1984 - Sabrina Bryan, American actress and singer

1985 - Madeline Zima, American actress

1986 - Kyla Pratt, American actress

1988 - Teddy Geiger, American singer and songwriter

top

96 - Domitian, Roman Emperor (b. 51)

307 - Flavius Valerius Severus, deposed Roman Emperor (murder)

1087 - Pope Victor III

1100 - Bernold of Constance, German chronicler

1345 - John IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1295)

1380 - King Charles V of France (b. 1338)

1394 - Avignon Pope Clement VII (b. 1342)

1406 - Cyprian, Metropolitan of Moscow

1589 - Michael Baius, Flemish theologian (b. 1513)

1672 - Anne Bradstreet, American colonial poet

1701 - James II of England and VII of Scotland (b. 1633)

1736 - Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist (b. 1686)

1775 - Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, English privy councillor (b. 1684)

1803 - Nicolas Baudin, French explorer (b. 1754)

1824 - King Louis XVIII of France (b. 1755)

1829 - Nikolay Raevsky, Russian general and statesman (b. 1771)

1864 - John Hanning Speke, English explorer (b. 1827)

1865 - Christian Julius De Meza, Danish general (b. 1792)

1911 - Edward Whymper, English mountain climber (b. 1840)

1925 - Alexander Alexandrovich Friedman, Russian physicist (b. 1888)

1932 - Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1857)

1933 - George Gore, baseball player (b. 1857)

1944 - Gustav Bauer, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1870)

1945 - John McCormack, Irish tenor (b. 1884)

1950 - Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (b. 1881)

1973 - Victor Jara, Chilean folk singer and activist (murdered)

1975 - Irene Hayes, Ziegfeld girl and businesswoman (b.1896)

1977 - Marc Bolan, English musician (b. 1947)

1977 - Maria Callas, American-born soprano (b. 1923)

1980 - Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (b. 1896)

1992 - Millicent Fenwick, American politician and writer (b. 1910)

1993 - Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (b. 1966)

1996 - McGeorge Bundy, U.S. National Security Advisor (b. 1919)

2000 - Georgiy Gongadze, Ukrainian journalist (b. 1969)

2001 - Samuel Z. Arkoff, American film producer (b. 1918)

2002 - James Gregory, American actor (b. 1911)

2003 - Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b. 1951)

2003 - Sheb Wooley, singer and actor (b. 1921)

2006 - Rob Levin, creator of Freenode. (b. 1955)

top

In ancient Greece, the third day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the initiates walked to the sea at Phaleron and purified themselves in the water.

RC Saints - Saint Cyprian, Pope Cornelius, Saint Ludmila.

Also see September 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).

Mexico - Independence Day (from Spain; proclaimed 1810, recognised 1821, instituted 1825; See Fiestas Patrias).

Papua New Guinea - Independence Day (from Australia, 1975).