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.