Today in History – September 17th

Published September 17, 2012 |

1577, The Peace of Bergerac is signed between Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
1630, The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
1775, American Revolutionary War: The Invasion of Canada begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean.
1776, The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
1778, The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. 1st formal treaty b/w US and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).
1787, The US Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1814, Francis Scott Key finishes his poem “Defence of Fort McHenry”, later to be the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
1849, American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
1854, David Dunbar Buick, American automobile pioneer (d. 1929) was born.
1858, Dred Scott, American slave who unsuccessfully sued for citizenship (b. 1795) died.
1859, Joshua A. Norton declares himself “Emperor Norton I” of the US.
1862, American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
1862, George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam.
1894, The Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of 1st Sino-Japanese War.
1899, Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American industrialist (b. 1842) died.
1908, The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge.
1914, Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
1914, Thomas J. Bata, Canadian shoemaker (Bata Shoes) (d. 2008) was born.
1916, WWI: German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen “The Red Baron” wins his 1st aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
1920, The American Professional Football Association (later renamed National Football League) is organized in Canton, Ohio, US.
1923, Hank Williams, American musician (d. 1953) was born.
1928, Roddy McDowall, English actor (d. 1998) was born.
1931, Anne Bancroft, American actress (d. 2005) was born.
1939, WWII: A German U-boat U 29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
1939, WWII: The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.
1940, WWII: Following the German defeat in the Battle of Britain, Hitler postpones Operation Sea Lion indefinitely.
1943, WWII: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated from Nazis.
1948, John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003) was born.
1949, The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.
1961, The world’s 1st retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh.
1976, 1st Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
1978, The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
1983, Vanessa Williams becomes 1st black Miss America.
1991, 1st version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
1996, Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States (b. 1918) died.
1997, Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (b. 1913) died.

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Chris Rivait

Chris loves history and hopes that Yesteeyear becomes a place where everyone can share their history knowledge. Chris owns an Internet Marketing company, Arrivait Marketing. He has a wonderful wife and four great children.