September 17th in History

Harriet Tubman

Today in History

  • The US Constitution is signed in Philadelphia (1787)
  • Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery (1849)
  • San Francisco resident Joshua Norton declares himself to be “Norton I, Emperor of the United States” (1859)
  • American Civil War: The Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history, takes place (1862)
  • Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, a passenger on a Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, becomes the first aviation fatality when the plane crashes (1908)
  • World War I: “Red Baron” Manfred von Richthofen wins his first aerial combat (1916)
  • World War II:  Allied airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden (1944)
  • The first retractable roof stadium opens in Pittsburgh (19161)
  • The Camp Davis Accords are signed (1978)
  • The Polish independent trade union Solidarity is founded (1980)
  • Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America (1983)

Birthdays

  • Hans Herr, first Mennonite bishop in the New World (1639*)
  • Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, rocket scientist (1857)
  • Billy the Kid, gun fighter (1859)
  • William Carlos Williams, poet (1883)
  • J. Willard Marriott, hotelier (1900)
  • Frank O’Connor, author (1903)
  • Warren E. Burger, US Supreme Court Chief Justice (1907)
  • John Creasey, author (1908)
  • Mary Stewart, author (1916)
  • Hank Williams, country musician (1923)
  • Dorothy Loudon, actress and singer (1925)
  • George Blanda, football player (1927)
  • Stirling Moss, race car driver (1929)
  • Anne Bancroft, actress (1931)
  • Robert B. Parker, author (1932)
  • Ken Kesey, author (1935)
  • Phil Jackson, basketball coach (1945)
  • Jeff MacNelly, cartoonist (1947)
  • Rita Rudner, comedian (1953)
  • Baz Luhrmann, filmmaker (1962)
  • Bryan Singer, filmmaker (1965)
  • Flo Rida, rapper (1979)

* Hans Herr is my many times removed great-grandfather. His house, the oldest in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is a museum site.

Deaths

  • Hildegard of Bingen, saint (1179)
  • Tobias Smollett, author (1771)
  • Dred Scott, slave (1858)
  • Charles Pillsbury, flour industrialist (1899)
  • Folke Bernadotte, count (1948)
  • Akim Tamiroff, actor (1972)
  • Richard Basehart, actor (1984)
  • Laura Ashley, fashion designer (1985)
  • Willie Mosconi, pool player (1993)
  • Spiro Agnew, 39th US vice president (1996)
  • Red Skelton, comedian (1997)
  • George Hamilton IV, country musician (2014)

Holidays and Observances

  • Citizenship Day (Australia)
  • Batman Day (DC Comics)
  • Heroes’ Day (Angola)
  • Marathwada Liberation Day (Maharashtra)
  • Operation Market Garden Anniversary (the Netherlands)
  • Sybirak’s Day (Poland)
  • Teacher’s Day (Honduras)

September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). There are 105 days remaining until the end of the year.