Today in History – September 21st

Published September 21, 2012 |

455, Emperor Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army and consolidates his power.
1217, Livonian Crusade: The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu and Livonian leader Kaupo are killed in Battle of St. Matthew’s Day.
1338, Hundred Years’ War : The Battle of Arnemuiden was 1st naval battle in history involving artillery.
1411, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, claimant to the English throne (d. 1460) was born.
1776, Part of New York City is burned shortly after being occupied by British forces.
1780, American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point.
1792, The National Convention declares France a republic and abolishes the monarchy.
1823, Joseph Smith is reportedly visited by the angel Moroni, who told him the location of gold plates.
1832, Sir Walter Scott, Scottish writer (b. 1771) died.
1860, In the Second Opium War, an Anglo-French force defeats Chinese troops at the Battle of Palikao.
1866, H. G. Wells, English writer (d. 1946) was born.
1896, British force under Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola in the Sudan.
1897, The “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” editorial is published in the New York Sun.
1898, Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days’ Reform in China.
1912, Chuck Jones, American animator (d. 2002) was born.
1921, A storage silo in Oppau, Germany, explodes, killing 500-600 people.
1934, A large typhoon hits western Honshu, Japan, killing 3,036 people.
1937, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is published.
1938, The Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island in New York. The death toll is estimated at 500-700 people.
1939, Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu is assassinated by ultranationalist members of the Iron Guard.
1942, In Dunaivtsi, Ukraine, Nazis murder 2,588 Jews.
1942, On the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Nazis send over 1,000 Jews of Pidhaytsi (west Ukraine) to Belzec extermination camp.
1942, The B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight.
1953, LT No Kum-Sok a North Korean pilot defected to South Korea and is associated with Operation Moolah.
1961, Maiden flight of the CH-47 Chinook transportation helicopter.
1964, Malta becomes independent from the UK.
1964, The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world’s 1st Mach 3 bomber, makes its maiden flight from Palmdale, California.
1971, Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations.
1974, Walter Brennan, American actor (b. 1894) died.
1981, Belize is granted full independence from the UK.
1981, Sandra Day O’Connor is unanimously approved by the US Senate as 1st female Supreme Court justice.
1991, Armenia is granted independence from Soviet Union.
1998, Florence Griffith Joyner, American athlete (b. 1959) died.
2001, America: A Tribute to Heroes is broadcasted, raising over $200 million for Sept 11 victims.
2001, Deep Space 1 flies within 2,200 km of Comet Borrelly.
2007, Alice Ghostley, American actress (b. 1926) 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.