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48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt (may have occurred September 29, records unclear).

351 - Battle of Mursa Major: the Roman Emperor Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius.

365 - Roman usurper Procopius bribes two legions passing by Constantinople, and proclaims himself Roman emperor.

935 - Saint Wenceslas is murdered by his brother, Boleslav I of Bohemia.

995 - Members of Slavník's dynasty - Spytimír, Pobraslav, Pořej and Čáslav are murdered by Boleslaus's son, Boleslaus II the Pious.

1066 - William the Conqueror invades England: the Norman Conquest begins.

1106 - The Battle of Tinchebrai - Henry I of England defeats his brother, Robert Curthose.

1322 - Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Frederick I of Austria in the Battle of Mühldorf.

1448 - Christian I is crowned king of Denmark.

1542 - Navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo of Portugal arrives as what is now San Diego, California, United States.

1708 - Peter the Great defeats the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya.

1779 - American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.

1781 - American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War.

1787 - The newly completed United States Constitution is voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the State legislatures for approval.

1823 - Leo XII is elected pope.

1844 - Oscar I of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden.

1867 - Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario.

1867 - The United States takes control of Midway Island.

1868 - Battle of Alcolea causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France.

1871 - Brazil passes law freeing future children of slavery.

1928 - UK passed Dangerous Drugs Act (1925) - outlawing cannabis.

1939 - Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II.

1939 - Warsaw surrenders to Nazi Germany during World War II.

1941 - Major League Baseball: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hits a batting average of .406 that was originally at .3995. He is the last player to have a batting average of .400 or better.

1944 - Battle of Arnhem - Germans defeat British airborne at Arnhem, Netherlands.

1944 - Soviet Army troops liberate Klooga concentration camp in Klooga, Estonia.

1958 - France ratifies a new Constitution of France; the French Fifth Republic is then formed upon the formal adoption of the new constitution on October 4. Guinea rejects the new constitution, voting for independence instead.

1961 - A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.

1962 - Paddington tram depot fire destroys 65 trams in Brisbane, Australia.

1971 - UK Misuse of Drugs Act: medicinal cannabis is banned.

1972 - Paul Henderson scores The Goal to win the Canada/USSR (ice hockey) "Summit Series".

1973 - ITT Building in New York City bombed to protest ITT's involvement in the September 11 1973 coup d'état in Chile.

1976 - R&B singer Stevie Wonder releases the classic double album Songs in the Key of Life.

1987 - Encounter at Farpoint, the first episode of TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation airs.

1994 - The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.

1995 - Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries take the islands of Comoros in a coup.

1996 - Arsène Wenger is appointed manager of Arsenal F.C..

2000 - Al-Aqsa Intifada: Arial Sharon visits the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

2006 - Typhoon Milenyo, ultimately responsible for at least 279 deaths, strikes the Philippines.

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551 BC - Confucius, Chinese philosopher (d. 479 BC)

58 BC - Livia Drusilla, wife of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus (d. 29)

1493 - Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet (d. 1545)

1605 - Ismael Bullialdus, French astronomer (d. 1694)

1667 - Asano Naganori, Japanese warlord (d. 1701)

1681 - Johann Mattheson, German composer (d. 1764)

1705 - Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, English statesman (d. 1774)

1735 - Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1811)

1746 - Sir William Jones, English philologist (d. 1794)

1803 - Prosper Mérimée, French author (d. 1870)

1821 - Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, American politician (d. 1874)

1823 - Alexandre Cabanel, French painter (d. 1889)

1824 - Francis Turner Palgrave, British critic and poet (d. 1897)

1841 - Georges Clemenceau, French politician (d. 1929)

1852 - Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)

1856 - Kate Douglas Wiggin, American children's author (d. 1923)

1867 - Kiichiro Hiranuma, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1952)

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

1887 - Avery Brundage, American athlete and sports official (d. 1975)

1889 - Jack Fournier, baseball player (d. 1973)

1891 - Myrtle Gonzalez, American actress (d. 1918)

1901 - William S. Paley, American radio and television executive (d. 1990)

1901 - Ed Sullivan, American television show host (d. 1974)

1905 - Max Schmeling, German boxer (d. 2005)

1909 - Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979)

1915 - Ethel Rosenberg, American Communist (d. 1953)

1916 - Peter Finch, English-born actor (d. 1977)

1917 - Audree Wilson, mother of three founding members of The Beach Boys (d. 1997)

1923 - William Windom, American actor

1924 - Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (d. 1996)

1925 - Seymour Cray, American computer scientist (d. 1996)

1925 - Arnold Stang, American actor

1926 - Jerry Clower, American comedian (d. 1998)

1929 - Lata Mangeshkar, Indian playback singer

1932 - Víctor Jara, Chilean folk singer, theatre director, and political activist (d. 1973)

1934 - Brigitte Bardot, French actress

1934 - Janet Munro, British actress (d. 1972)

1937 - Alice Mahon, English politician and labor leader

1937 - Rod Roddy, American television announcer (d. 2003)

1938 - Ben E. King, American singer and songwriter

1939 - Stuart Kauffman, American biologist

1941 - Edmund Stoiber, German politician

1942 - Marshall Bell, American actor

1942 - Pierre Clémenti, French actor (d. 1999)

1943 - Joel Higgins, American actor

1943 - Nick St. Nicholas, Canadian musician (Steppenwolf)

1943 - J. T. Walsh, American actor (d. 1998)

1946 - Helen Shapiro, English singer

1946 - Jeffrey Jones, American actor

1947 - Bob Carr, Former Premier of New South Wales

1947 - Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh

1950 - John Sayles, American director and screenwriter

1950 - Laurie Lewis, American musician

1951 - Wei Chen, Canadian journalist

1952 - Sylvia Kristel, Dutch actress

1954 - Steve Largent, American football player and U.S. Congressman

1954 - George Lynch, American musician (Dokken)

1955 - Stéphane Dion, Canadian politician

1960 - Jennifer Rush, American pop singer

1962 - Grant Fuhr, Canadian hockey player

1964 - Janeane Garofalo, American actress and comedian

1967 - Mira Sorvino, American actress

1967 - Moon Unit Zappa, American singer and actress

1968 - Mika Häkkinen, Finnish race car driver

1968 - Naomi Watts, English-born actress

1969 - Nico Vaesen, Belgian footballer

1969 - Mark Everett, former child actor, now fugitive

1969 - Éric Lapointe, Québécois singer

1970 - Mike DeJean, baseball player

1971 - Alan Wright, English footballer

1972 - Dita Von Teese, American burlesque artist

1973 - Jori Hulkkonen, Finnish electronic musician

1975 - Lenny Krayzelburg, American Swimmer

1976 - Fedor Emelianenko, Russian Mixed Martial Artist

1977 - Se Ri Pak, Korean golfer

1978 - Bushido, German rapper

1978 - Nikki McKibbin, American singer

1979 - Bam Margera, American skateboarder

1981 - Jorge Guagua, Ecuadorian footballer

1982 - Emeka Okafor, American basketball player

1983 - Stefan Moore, English footballer

1984 - Ryan Zimmerman, Baseball player

1984 - Melody Thornton, American singer (Pussycat Dolls)

1987 - Hilary Duff, American actress

1990 - Kirsten Prout, Canadian actress

1992 - Skye McCole Bartusiak, American actress

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48 BC - Pompey, Roman general and politician (b. 106 BC)

235 - Saint Pontianus, Pope

876 - Louis the German, King of Eastern Francia (b. 804)

935 - Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (b. 907)

1104 - Pedro I, king of Aragon and Navarre (b. 1068)

1197 - Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1165)

1429 - Cymburgis of Masovia, wife of Duke Ernest of Austria

1582 - George Buchanan, Scottish historian (b. 1506)

1618 - Joshua Sylvester, English poet (b. 1563)

1687 - Francis Turretin, Swiss theologian (b. 1623)

1694 - Gabriel Mouton, French scientist (b. 1618)

1702 - Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, English statesman (b. 1640)

1742 - Jean Baptiste Massillon, French churchman (b. 1663)

1781 - William Henry Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford, British diplomat and statesman (b. 1717)

1844 - Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy, Russian general and statesman (b. 1769)

1891 - Herman Melville, American novelist (b. 1819)

1895 - Louis Pasteur, French scientist (b. 1822)

1914 - Richard Sears, businessman (Sears, Roebuck and Company) (b. 1863)

1915 - Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian theatre director (d. 1989)

1915 - Saitou Hajime, 3rd squad leader of the Shinsengumi died under name of Goro Fujita (b. 1844)

1918 - Georg Simmel, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1858)

1918 - Freddie Stowers, American soldier (b. 1896)

1935 - W.K. Dickson, Scottish inventor (b. 1860)

1953 - Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (b. 1889)

1959 - Rudolf Caracciola, German racecar driver (b. 1901)

1964 - Harpo Marx, American comedian and actor (b. 1888)

1966 - André Breton, French poet (b. 1896)

1970 - John Dos Passos, American novelist (b. 1896)

1970 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, the second President of Egypt (b. 1918)

1978 - Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)

1979 - John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist (b. 1921)

1981 - Rómulo Betancourt, President of Venezuela (b. 1908)

1982 - Mabel Albertson, American actress (b. 1901)

1988 - Charles Addams, American cartoonist (b. 1912)

1989 - Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines (b. 1917)

1991 - Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1926)

1993 - Peter De Vries, American novelist (b. 1910)

1994 - José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, Mexican politician (assassinated) (b. 1946)

2000 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau, fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1919)

2002 - Patsy T. Mink, U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1927)

2002 - Hartland Molson, Canadian businessman (Molson family), senator and sports executive (Montreal Canadiens) (b. 1907)

2003 - Althea Gibson, American tennis player (b. 1927)

2003 - Elia Kazan, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1909)

2003 - George Odlum, West Indian politician (b. 1934)

2004 - Geoffrey Beene, American fashion designer (b. 1927)

2004 - Scott Muni, American disc jockey (b. 1930)

2005 - Constance Baker Motley, American judge (b. 1921)

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Feast day of the following RC Saints

Leoba

St. Wenceslas

Lorenzo Ruiz

Also see September 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).

Czech Republic - Czech Statehood Day.

Taiwan - Teacher's Day (Confucius' birthday).

French Republican Calendar - Carotte (Carrot) Day, seventh day in the Month of Vendémiaire.