A Hungarian postage stamp commemorating the landing of Luna 2 on the Moon

Today in History

• Handel completes the Messiah oratorio (1741)
• Because of the conversion from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in the British Empire, eleven calendar days are skipped, meaning that yesterday was September 2 (1752)
• Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon’s Grande Armée enters Moscow (1812)
• Francis Scott Key composes his poem “Defence of Fort McHenry,” which become the lyrics to the US national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814)
• The wonderfully named assassin Raoul Villain is killed by Spanish republicans for killing French socialist Jean Jaures (1936)
• The Soviet probe Luna 2 becomes the first man-made object to reach (crash onto) the Moon (1959)
• The Organization of Petroleum Exporting States (OPEC) is founded (1960)
• September 14 becomes the first date drawn in the new US Selective Service System draft lottery (1969)
• Elizabeth Ann Seton becomes the first American saint (1975)

Birthdays

• Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the Gibson Girl (1867)
• Margaret Sanger, birth control activist (1879)
• Hal B. Wallis, film producer (1898)
• Jack Hawkins, actor (1910)
• Clayton Moore, actor known as the Lone Ranger (1914)
• John Dobson, invented the Dobsonian telescope (1915)
• Martin Caidin, author (1927)
• Allan Bloom, philosopher (1930)
• Harve Presnell, actor and singer (1933)
• Kate Millett, feminist (1934)
• Walter Koenig, actor known for playing Chekov on Star Trek (1936)
• Joey Heatherton, dancer and actress (1944)
• Fred “Sonic” Smith, guitarist and songwriter (1949)
• Barry Cowsill, singer-songwriter (1954)
• Geraldine Brooks, author (1955)
• Wendy Thomas, namesake of the Wendy’s hamburger chain (1961)
• Faith Ford, actress (1964)
• Amy Winehouse, singer-songwriter (1983)

Deaths

• Dante Alighieri, poet (1321)
• John Harvard, namesake of Harvard University (1638)
• Dom Pérignon, monk and champagne namesake (1715)
• Aaron Burr, US vice president (1836)
• James Fenimore Cooper, novelist (1851)
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo (1852)
• William McKinley, 25th US president, assassinated (1901)
• Isadora Duncan, dancer and choreographer (1927)
• Irving Thalberg, filmmaker (1936)
• John Gardner, novelist (1982)
• Grace Kelly, actress and Princess of Monaco (1982)
• Janet Gaynor, actress (1984)
• Juliet Prowse, actress and dancer (1996)
• Dorothy McGuire, actress (2001)
• LaWanda Page, actress (2002)
• Robert Wise, filmmaker (2005)
• Mickey Hargitay, bodybuilder and husband of Jayne Mansfield (2006)
• Patrick Swayze, actor (2009)

Holidays and Observances

• Engineer’s Day (Romania)
• Hindi Divas (Hindi-speaking regions)
• Mobilized Servicemen Day (Ukraine)
• National Kreme Filled Donut Day (US)
• San Jacinto Day (Nicaragua)

September 14 is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years). There are 108 days remaining until the end of the year.