September 1

Historic Events

2008

Iraq War: The United States Armed Forces transfers control of Anbar Province to the Iraqi Armed Forces. ›

2004

The Beslan school siege begins when armed terrorists take schoolchildren and school staff hostage in North Ossetia, Russia; by the end of the siege, three days later, more than 385 people are dead (including hostages, other civilians, security personnel and terrorists). ›

1985

The wreck of the Titanic is discovered by an American-French expedition led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel. ›

1983

Cold War: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet jet fighter after the commercial aircraft strayed into Soviet airspace, killing all 269 on board, including Congressman Lawrence McDonald. ›

1982

The United States Air Force Space Command is founded. ›

1981

Central African President David Dacko is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General André Kolingba. ›

1974

The SR-71 Blackbird sets (and holds) the record for flying from New York to London in the time of one hour, 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds at a speed of 1,435.587 miles per hour (2,310.353 km/h). ›

1973

A 76-hour multinational rescue effort in the Celtic Sea results in the rescue of Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman. ›

1969

A coup in Libya brings Muammar Gaddafi to power. ›

1967

Six-Day War: The Khartoum Resolution is issued at the Arab Summit, and eight countries adopt the "three 'no's against Israel". ›

1961

TWA Flight 529 crashes shortly after takeoff from Midway Airport in Chicago, killing all 78 people on board. At the time, it was the deadliest single plane disaster in U.S. history. ›

1944

World War II: Launch of Operation Ratweek, complicating German retreat. ›

1939

World War II: Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, beginning the European phase of World War II. ›

1939

J. Robert Oppenheimer and his student Hartland Snyder publish the Oppenheimer–Snyder model, proving for the first time in contemporary physics how black holes could develop. ›

1923

The Great Kantō Earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing about 105,000 people. ›

1897

The Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America. ›

1894

Over 400 people die in the Great Hinckley Fire, a forest fire in Hinckley, Minnesota. ›

1880

The army of Mohammad Ayub Khan is routed by the British at the Battle of Kandahar, ending the Second Anglo-Afghan War. ›

1878

Emma Nutt becomes the world's first female telephone operator when she is recruited by Alexander Graham Bell to the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company. ›

1873

Cetshwayo ascends to the throne as king of the Zulu nation following the death of his father Mpande. ›

1870

Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Sedan is fought, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory. ›

1864

American Civil War: The Battle of Jonesborough, alongside the overall Atlanta campaign, culminates in a Union victory for General William T. Sherman as Confederate General John Bell Hood orders the evacuation of Atlanta. ›

1862

American Civil War: Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson inflict heavy casualties in the Battle of Chantilly during the Union withdrawal from the Northern Virginia campaign. ›

1859

Carrington Event started - the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history. ›

1838

Saint Andrew's Scots School, the oldest school of British origin in South America, is established. ›

1836

Narcissa Whitman, one of the first English-speaking white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington. ›

1831

The Order of St. Gregory the Great is established by Pope Gregory XVI of the Vatican State to recognize high support for the Vatican or for the Pope, by a man or a woman, and not necessarily a Roman Catholic. ›

1804

3 Juno, one of the largest asteroids in the Main Belt, is discovered by the German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding. ›

1774

Massachusetts Bay colonists rise up in the bloodless Powder Alarm. ›

1772

The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is founded in San Luis Obispo, California. ›

1763

Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, endorses Ivan Betskoy's plans for a Foundling Home in Moscow. ›

1715

At the age of five, Louis XV becomes king of France in succession to his great-grandfather, King Louis XIV. ›

1645

English Civil War: Scottish Covenanter forces abandon their month-long Siege of Hereford, a Cavalier stronghold, on news of Royalist victories in Scotland. ›

1644

Battle of Tippermuir: James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose defeats the Earl of Wemyss's Covenanters, reviving the Royalist cause. ›

1610

Claudio Monteverdi's musical work Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin) is first published, printed in Venice and dedicated to Pope Paul V. ›

1604

Adi Granth, now known as Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhs, is first installed at Harmandir Sahib. ›

1532

Lady Anne Boleyn is made Marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII of England. ›

1529

The Spanish fort of Sancti Spiritu, the first one built in modern Argentina, is destroyed by indigenous people. ›

1449

Tumu Crisis: The Mongols capture the Emperor of China. ›

1355

King Tvrtko I of Bosnia writes In castro nostro Vizoka vocatum from the Old town of Visoki. ›

1271

Election of pope Gregory X following the death of Clement IV three years prior. ›

1181

Election of pope Lucius III following the death of pope Alexander III in the previous month. ›

1173

The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancona by the forces of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. ›

1145

The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time the seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated. ›

1057

Byzantine general Isaak Komnenos is crowned Byzantine Emperor by patriarch Cerularius at the Hagia Sophia. ›

396 BC

The Temple of Juno Regina (Aventine) is dedicated in Rome by Marcus Furius Camillus. ›