September
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1 September 1875 – birth of Edgar Rice Burroughs, American science fiction author: Tarzan, Mars series (on which the 2012 movie ‘John Carter‘ was based). Died 19 March 1950.
1 September 1939 – official commencement date of World War II, when Germany invaded Poland.
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2 – 5 September 1666 – Great Fire of London. It destroyed 13,200 homes, leaving 70,000 of the 80,000 inhabitants homeless, 87 churches, St Paul’s Cathedral.
2 September 1752 – last day of the Julian calendar as the British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar. To balance the books, the next 10 days (3 – 13 September) are written off so the Gregorian commences on 14 September, which should have been 3 September in the Julian calendar.
2 September 1945 – Japan signs the ‘Instrument of Surrender’, on the USS Missouri, bringing World War II to an end.
2 September 1951 – Australia, New Zealand and United States sign the ANZUS Security Treaty, a defence pact.
2 September 1973 – death of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of ‘The Hobbit‘ and ‘Lord of the Rings‘. Born 3 January 1892.
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3 September 1901 – Australian national flag flies for the first time. The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne has the honours. 3 September is celebrated each year as Australia’s National Flag Day.
3 September 1939 – Britain declares war on Germany.
3 September 1970 – death of Alan Wilson from barbiturate poisoning. It’s unclear whether his death was accidental or suicide. American guitarist and singer-songwriter for Canned Heat. He was 27. His death occurred exactly 14 months after the death of Rolling Stones founder and guitarist Brian Jones, two weeks before the death of Jimi Hendrix, four weeks before the death of Janis Joplin and exactly 10 months before the death of Jimmy Morrison, all of whom were 27 when they died, fanning concerns for musicians at this age and referencing the deaths as the 27 Club. Born 4 July 1943.
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4 September 1937 – birth of Dawn Fraser AO MBE, Australian swimming legend. Won Olympic gold medals in 1956, 1960 and 1964, as well as a number of silver medals.
4 September 2006 – death of Steve Irwin, ‘The Crocodile Hunter’, Australian wildlife expert and television personality. (Born 22 February 1962).
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5 September – Freddie for a Day. Dress up as Freddie Mercury for the day. FFOD is the brainchild of Liz Swanton and raises money for the Mercury Phoenix Trust. The MPT was founded in 1992, following Freddie Mercury’s death, and helps AIDS charities throughout the world. To participate or find out more, go to: http://www.freddieforaday.com.au or http://www.freddieforaday.com
5 September 1689 – Tsar Peter the Great of Russia, starts taxing men’s beards. He wasn’t the first to do this however. In 1535, King Henry VIII also taxed beards and Queen Elizabeth I reintroduced the tax later that century.
5 September 1847 – birth of Jesse James, U.S. outlaw. (Died 3 April 1882).
5 September 1877 – death of Crazy Horse, Sioux Chief (not to be confused with a Sous Chef … or an 1960’s rock band of the same name, who teamed up with a crazy hippy named Neil Young). Born around 1840 (Chief Crazy Horse that is, not Neil Young).
5 September 1939 – United States declares its neutrality in the Second World War.
5 September 1946 – birth of Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) on Zanzibar. British musician and vocalist. Lead singer of rock group, Queen. Died 24 November 1991.
5 September 1997 – death of Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) in Yugoslavia, winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work in the slums of Calcutta. On 4 September 2016, she became Saint Mother Teresa in a canonisation ceremony conducted by Pope Francis. Born 26 August 1910.
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6 September 1819 – the lathe patented by Thomas Blanchard.
6 September 1919 – death of Worm Pander, sculptor. (Born 20 June 1864).
6 September 1930 – Democratically elected Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen overthrown by fascist and conservative forces. Hipólito was affectionately known as ‘el peludo‘ (the Hairy Armadillo) because of his introverted character. A revolutionary, left-wing politician, Hipólito was also known as the ‘Father of the Poor’. He was twice president (1916-1922 and 1928-1930). He introduced numerous important social reforms, becoming a hero to the working class, including compulsory male suffrage, a rise in the standard of living for Argentina’s working class, improvements in factory conditions, regulation of working hours, compulsory pensions and universally accessible public education system.
6 September 1943 – birth of Roger Waters, bassist and vocalist for Pink Floyd.
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7 September 1876 – birth of C.J. Dennis, Australian poet (Songs of a Sentimental Bloke). Died 22 June 1938.
7 September 1936 – birth of Charles Hardin Holley, otherwise known as Buddy Holly. 1950s rock star, famous for songs such as ‘Peggy Sue’ and ‘That’ll be the day’. Died in a plane crash on 3 February 1959 with other musicians, Richie Valens, J.P. ‘Big Bopper’ Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson. Their deaths were immortalised in the Don McLean song, ‘American Pie’, when he sang about the day the music died.
7 September 1978 – death of Keith Moon, British musician, drummer for ‘The Who’. Born 23 August 1946.
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8 September – International Day of Literacy.
8 September 1504 – Michelangelo unveils his iconic sculpture, ‘David‘.
8 September 1930 – Richard Drew invents ‘scotch’ tape, the world’s first transparent, adhesive tape … otherwise known as ‘sticky tape’.
8 September 1966 – Star Trek premiers on NBC TV in the U.S.
8 September 2006 – death of Peter Brock, Australian car racing legend. Born 26 February 1945.
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9 September 1543 – Mary Stuart crowned ‘Queen of Scots’. She was 9 months old.
9 September 1828 – birth of Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer, (‘Anna Karenina‘, ‘War and Peace‘). Died 20 November 1910.
9 September 1890 – birth of Harlan Sanders who eventually becomes a Colonel and chickens throughout Kentucky, and ultimately the rest of the world, are never the same again as he invents Kentucky Fried Chicken. Died 16 December 1980.
9 September 1907 – Birth of Horst Wessel. Berlin leader of the Nazi Party’s Stormtroopers. Wessel had written the lyrics to a song which became known as ‘Horst-Wessel-Lied‘ (The Horst Wessel Song). Later, it became the anthem for the Nazi Party and was renamed as ‘Deutschlandlied‘. Wessel was shot on 14 January 1930 by members of the Communist Party. As Horst lay seriously wounded in hospital, Joseph Goebbels labelled those responsible for the shooting as ‘degenerate subhuman Communists’. Wessel died in hospital on 23 February 1930 from blood poisoning. Following Wessel’s death, Goebbels portrayed Wessel as a matyr while targeting and dehumanising Communists. The Nazis used it as an excuse to implement authoritarian measures against Communists and other dissidents. In 1933, with the ascent to power by the Nazis, the person convicted of shooting Weller, was taken from jail and illegally executed. In 1935, two other people believed to be involved in it were put on trial and subsequently beheaded. Goebbels had been looking for a matyr, initially using Albert Leo Schlageter, who had been executed by the French for trying to blow up a train. Wessel provided the perfect matyr for Goebbels, because of his killers being Communists. Goebbels deliberately used Christian overtones in a eulogy he wrote about Wessel: ‘A Christian Socialist! A man who calls out through his deeds: ‘Come to me, I shall redeem you!’ … A divine element works in him. making him the man he is and causing him to act in this way and no other. One man must set an example and offer himself up as a sacrifice! Well, then, I am ready!‘ The Nazi-owned newspaper, Völkischer Beobachter, described Wessel as ‘hero of the brown revolution‘ and referred to his ‘sacrificial death‘ that ‘passionately inflamed millions who followed‘.
9 September 2004 – Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, bombed. 10 people killed.
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10 September – World Suicide Prevention Day.
10 September 1945 – birth of José Feliciano, Puerto Rican singer/musician.
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11 September 1297 – William Wallace leads Scottish forces to victory against the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
11 September 1941 – construction of the Pentagon commences in Washington DC. (Completed on 15 January 1943).
11 September 1948 – death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of Pakistan. Leader of the Muslim League calling for the creation of Pakistan. Served as Pakistan’s first Governor-General from 15 August 1947 until his death. In Pakistan, his birthday is a national holiday. Born 25 December 1876.
11 September 1972 – Democratically elected President Salvador Allende of Chilé, is overthrown in a U.S. sponsored coup which brings to power General Augusto Pinochet. The Church Committee, commissioned by the U.S. Department of State to investigate covert C.I.A. operations in Chilé, found that Henry Kissinger had directed the C.I.A. to prevent the socialist Allende from being elected, then to undermine his presidency, before supplying arms to a military junta which succeeded in overthrowing Allendé. Thousands of people died or disappeared under Pinochet’s rule, with approximately 40,000 suffering human rights violations, including torture.
11 September 1987 – death of Peter Tosh, Jamaican reggae singer and musician. From 1963 to 1974, Tosh was a member of Bob Marley and Wailers until going solo. His most famous song is ‘Legalize It’, about legalising marijuana. Tosh’s album, ‘Bush Doctor’, included a duet with Mick Jagger in the song, ‘Don’t Look Back’. Tosh was a Rastafarian. He campaigned against apartheid, which he sang about on his album ‘Equal Rights’. Tosh was murdered on 11 September 1987, after three men broke into his house and tortured him in an effort to extort money. After several hours, one of the men shot Tosh in the head, killing him. Two other friends of Tosh’s were also killed. Born 19 October 1944.
11 September 2001 – 9/11 Terrorist Attacks in which four commercial airliners were hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists. Two planes hit the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City, one plane hit the Pentagon in Washington DC and one crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought with the hijackers. Approximately, 3,000 people died in the attacks.
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12 September 1869 – death of Peter Roget, British lexographer and creator of Roget’s Thesaurus. (Born 18 January 1779).
12 September 1885 – the highest scoring soccer match in history is a Scottish Cup match played between Arbroath and Bon Accord. Arbroath won 36-0.
12 September 1990 – formal end of World War II with Germany. In 1945 there was no formal German state to accept the terms of surrender or the ongoing governing of Germany. The 1945 Potsdam Agreement set the provisional terms under which the Allies would govern Germany. The lack of a German government at the time, became known as ‘The German Question’ and was used by the U.S.A. as the reason for maintaining American bases in West Germany throughout the Cold War. It wasn’t until German re-unification in 1990, that the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) unified. To achieve full sovereignty the new unified state was required to accept the terms of the Potsdam Agreement. A settlement was then negotiated with the new German government between the new German state, the U.S.A, France, U.S.S.R and Britain, formally ending World War II. It should be noted, that hostilities between Russia and Japan have never formally ceased and talks for a treaty are still ongoing.
12 September 2001 – Ansett, Australia’s first commercial airline, collapses.
12 September 2003 – death of Johnny Cash, American singer and musician. Born 26 February 1932.
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13 September 1503 – Michelango commences his iconic sculpture, ‘David‘.
13 September 1922 – official highest temperature ever recorded: 57.8oC (138oF) at Azizya, Libya.
13 September 1940 – German Luftwaffe bombs Buckingham Palace, London, while King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) are in residence.
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14 September 1752 – the British Empire commences using the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian calendar. To balance the calendar, the 10 days from 3 September to 13 September are written off. This is because the Gregorian claimed the annual cycle was 365.2425 days. The Julian calendar averaged out at 365.25 days per year, but used 365 days each year with an extra day every four years to allow for the rounded down amount.
14 September 1812 – Fire of Moscow – French troops under the command of Napoleon defeat Russian troops in the Battle of Borodino and invade Moscow. Count Fyodor Rostopchin orders Russian citizens to destroy the Kremlin and other major buildings as they retreat. The fires burn for 4 days and destroy around 75% of Moscow.
14 September 1983 – birthday of Amy Winehouse. English singer-songwriter. Died 23 July 2011.
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15 September – International Day of Democracy.
15 September 1254 – birth of Marco Polo, Italian explorer. Died 9 January 1324.
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16 September – International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.
16 September 1908 – General Motors is founded by William C. Durrant.
16 September 1920 – The bombing of Wall St, New York, which kills 38 and injures 143. The crime has never been solved, but is believed to have been committed by Italian anarchists known as Galleanists, (after their leader Luigi Galleani), who were protesting against capitalism. The bomb had been placed in a horse wagon.
16 September 1927 – birth of Peter Falk, U.S. actor (Colombo) … ‘therrre ya go‘… (died 23 June 2011.
16 September 1975 – Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia. PNG National Day.
16 September 1977 – death of Marc Bolan in a car accident. Singer/guitarist for T-Rex. (Born 30 September 1947 as Mark Feld).
16 – 18 September 1982 – Lebanese Christian militia (Phalange) massacres between 765 and 3,500 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut. An inquiry in 1983 held Israeli troops indirectly responsible as they had surrounded the camps, controlling access to them, and were aware a massacre was occurring without taking steps to stop it.
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17 September 1916 – Baron Manfred Von Richthofen (a.k.a The Red Baron), wins his first aerial combat in World War I.
17 September 1947 – the United State Department of Defense forms and is tasked with coordinating all defense related organisations in the U.S. The DoD is the largest employer in the world, with over 3.2 million employees, including active soldiers, sailors, airmen/women, and National Guard.
17 September 1951 – birth of Cassandra Peterson a.k.a Elvira, U.S. actress and host of late-night B-grade horror and sci-fi movies.
17 September 1961 – birth of Baz Luhrmann, Australian film director (Romeo and Juliet, Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge).
17 September 1966 – St George Dragons beat Balmain Tigers 23-4, to win the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) grand final for the 11th consecutive year. The longest premiership-winning streak in Australian sport.
17 September 1972 – M*A*S*H* premieres on NBC-TV.
17 September 1991 – first version of Linux released.
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18 September 1873 – ‘The panic of 1873’ – a severe economic crisis in Europe and the United States caused by a drop in demand for silver following Germany’s decision to abandon the silver standard after the Franco-Prussian Wars. ‘The Panic’ lasted until 1879. It was known as the ‘Great Depression’, until the financial crisis of the 1930s.
18 September 1965 – ‘Get Smart’ premieres on U.S. television.
18 September 1970 – death of Jimi Hendrix. American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was 27. Born 27 November 1942
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19 September – International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
19 September 1952 – Charlie Chaplin exiled from the United States because of his anti-war and humanitarian beliefs which conflicted with McCarthy’s ‘reds under the bed’ policy.
19 September 1959 – USSR President Nikita Khrushchev banned from visiting Disneyland … ironically 31 years after Mickey Mouse debuted on screen. The reason given was that the Los Angeles Police Chief couldn’t provide adequate security.
19 September 1982 – birth of the emoticon. At 11.44am on this day, a computer scientist by the name of Scott Fahlman suggested on a bulletin board forum that the now iconic 🙂 be used to indicate a post was ‘not serious’. It has now come to also mean happy, as well as not serious for when people post comments, emails etc … or when they think a smiley will help ease a flame …
19 September 2003 – death of Slim Dusty AO, MBE, Australian country music singer, song-writer and producer. He was born as David Gordon Kirkpatrick and adopted the name of Slim Dusty at 11 years of age. He released his first record when he was 18. In 1957, he released ‘The Pub With No Beer‘, which became the biggest selling Australian song to that time, and the first Australian single to go gold. He won 36 Golden Guitar Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. In 2000, he recorded his 100th album, ‘Looking Forward, Looking Back‘. He is the only artist in the world to have recorded 100 albums with the same record label (EMI). Born 13 June 1927.
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20 September 2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush declares a ‘war on terror’.
20 September 2011 – the U.S. military ends its ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, allowing gay servicemen and women to serve openly.
20 September 2012 – death of Robert G. Barrett, Australian author of books such as ‘Davo’s Little Something’ and the Les Norton series which included, ‘High Noon in Nimbin’, ‘The Tesla Legacy’, ‘Crime Scene Cessnock’, ‘Rosa-Marie’s Baby’, ‘Guns n Rosé’. Barrett sold over 1,000,000 books in Australia. Born 14 November 1942.
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21 September – International Day of Peace.
21 September – World Alzheimer’s Day.
21 September 1866 – birth of Herbert George ‘H.G.’ Wells, British science fiction writer, author of The War of the Worlds, Time Machine, Island of Dr Moreau, The War of the Worlds. Died 13 August 1946.
21 September 1934 – birth of Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer-songwriter, whose biggest hit was his 1984 song ‘Hallelujah‘, which has since been covered by dozens of other singers. In 2004, Cohen discovered his manager had misappropriated around $5 million from him. Although Cohen sued her and was awarded $9 million, she refused to pay up. Cohen was forced to return to work and embarked on a number of worldwide tours as well as released a book of poetry and a number of albums, including ‘Old Ideas‘, ‘Popular Problems‘ and his 13th and last album, ‘You Want It Darker‘, which was released three weeks before his death. Died 7 November 2016.
21 September 1937 – J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ first published.
21 September 2012 – ‘The Hobbit Second Breakfast’ at 11am – to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Hobbit, people everywhere are invited to celebrate the Hobbit Second Breakfast at 11am by popping on the kettle and sitting down with family and friends for camaraderie, companionship and a love of good food.
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22 September 1913 – execution by hanging of Ernest Austin at Boggo Road Gaol. Austin was the last man to be legally executed in Queensland. He had been convicted of the rape and murder of 12 year old Ivy Mitchell at Cedar Creek Road near Samford. Austin is buried in South Brisbane Cemetry. It is said that his ghost haunts Boggo Road Gaol. Queensland abolished the death penalty in 1922, becoming the first Australian state to do so.
22 September 1957 – birth of Nick Cave in Warracknabeal, Victoria (Australia). Australian gothic/alternative musician. Frontman of ‘The Birthday Party’ and ‘Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’, also having a successful solo career. In 2006, he formed ‘Grinderman’, an alternative rock band which disbanded in 2011.
22 September 2890 – birth of Bilbo Baggins, Hobbit, born in the Shire. Star of the iconic novel, ‘The Hobbit‘, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Bilbo also features in Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings‘. Note, his birthday is in the year 2890 in the Third Age or in the year 1290 in Shire-Reckoning). There is some disparity between Shire-Reckoning and the Gregorian calendar. Some believe that 12 September is the comparative Gregorian date, others believe 14 September is the Gregorian date to celebrate Bilbo’s birthday, as explained in one of the appendices to Lord of the Rings.
22 September 2968 – birth of Frodo Baggins, Hobbit, born in the shire. Nephew of legendary hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, with whom he shares his birthday. Star of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings‘. His birthday is in the year 2968 in the Third Age, or in the year 1368 in Shire-Reckoning). As Bilbo celebrated his eleventy-first (111th) birthday, Frodo was celebrating his 33rd birthday, which is the age at which a hobbit legally comes of age.
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23 September 63BC – birth of Augustus Caesar, founder of the Roman Empire and first Roman Emperor. Died 19 August 14 AD.
23 September 1122 – The Concordat of Worms, sometimes known as Pactum Calixtinum, which was an agreement between Pope Calixtinum and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, near the City of Worms, to end the first phase of the power struggle between the Papacy and the Emperors by granting Kings the right to grant Bishops in their territories with secular authority, but not sacred authority. Bishops then swore allegiance to the King and the Pope. The Kings could also call on them for military support.
23 September 1215 – birth of Kublai Khan, of the Mongol Empire. He was the grandson of Genghis Khan. In 1271, Kublai Khan established the Yuan Empire ruling over modern-day Mongolia, China and Korea. He became the first non-Chinese Emperor to conquer all of China. Died 18 February 1294.
23 September 1913 – French aviator Roland Garros, becomes the first person to fly across the Mediterranean Sea.
23 September 1918 – Birth of Faith Bandler. Australian civil rights activist. Her father was from Vanuatu. Her mother of Scottish-Indian descent. Campaigned for the rights of indigenous Australians and South Sea Islanders. She was a leader in the 1967 referendum on aboriginal Australians. She was involved with the Aboriginal–Australian Fellowship and the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). She was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 1984 and Companion of the Order of Australia in 2009. Died 12 February 2015.
23 September 1949 – birth of Bruce Springsteen (a.k.a. The Boss), American rocker.
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24 September 1724 – birth of Sir Arthur Guiness, Irish brewer and founder of the Guinness brewery. Died 23 January 1803.
24 September 1869 – Black Friday. Wall Street panic caused by two speculators, Fisk and Gould, trying to corner the gold market on the New York Gold Exchange. During reconstruction following the American Civil War, the US government had issued large amounts of money backed by nothing but credit. Rumour had it that the government would buy back the money with gold. Fisk and Gould attempted to profit from this by buying large amounts of gold, driving the price higher. The government unloaded $4 million of its own gold on the market which caused the price to plummet. As the price plummeted, investors panicked and sold their holdings, many were ruined.
24 September 1936 – birth of Jim Henson, American muppeteer (Sesame Street, the Muppet Show). Died 16 May 1990.
24 September 1952 – birth of Mark Sandman, US musician, singer, songwriter. Founder of the alternative rock band, Morphine, which blended heavy bass sounds with blues and jazz. Sandman was described as the most under-rated and skilled bass player of his generation. Sandman collapsed and died on stage during a Morphine concert in Latium, Italy. His death was the result of a heart attack and blamed on heavy smoking, stress and extreme heat, in which the temperature on the night was in excess of 38o Celsius. Died 3 July 1999.
24 September 1990 – The Supreme Soviet agrees to change to free market.
24 September 1991 – death of Theodore Seuss Geisel, (Dr Seuss), children’s author. Born 2 March 1904.
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25 September 1780 – American Major General Benedict Arnold, joins the British during the American Revolution, becoming forever known as a traitor. Arnold had been a successful officer. He had trained patriot (American) troops using his own time and money after the government failed to provide the resources he felt necessary for a successful Army. He led troops to victory in the battle of Saratoga, where he was injured. While recuperating, his commanding officer claimed the credit for the victory. Some of his American enemies had him unfairly charged with dereliction of duty. Arnold had invested considerable time, money and effort in the American forces, but felt betrayed and that the revolution had been corrupted. He claimed his only option was to change sides. He eventually moved to London, however, he was not welcomed there because he was seen as a traitor to his own country. He died in 1801.
25 September 1958 – End of World War I in Andorra … Andorra was not invited to the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, so diplomatic peace between Germany and Andorra, relating to World War I, was not settled until this date. Refer to 12 September 1990 for the end of World War II.
25 September 1980 – death of John Bonham, Led Zeppelin drummer. Born 31 May 1948.
25 September 2005 – death of Don Adams, American actor, most famous for his character Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) in the TV show ‘Get Smart’. Born 13 April 1923. Famous catchphrases include ‘missed it by that much‘, ‘would you believe …‘, ‘sorry about that Chief‘, ‘the old [something] trick‘, ‘that’s the second […..] I’ve ever seen‘.
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26 September 1181 – birth of St Francis of Assisi, Italian friar and founder of the men’s Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St Clare and the Third Order of St Francis. Although these are all Catholic Orders, he was never ordained as a Catholic priest. Died 3 October 1226.
26 September 1774 – birth of Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman), American environmentalist. Appleseed was a nurseryman who introduced significant numbers of apple trees to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and Illinois. His legend grew while he was still alive because of his generous nature, care for animals and the environment, and respect he had for the American Indian tribes who believed he’d been touched by the ‘Great Spirit’ because of his love and admiration for them and the gospel message he preached. Born 26 September 1774. Died 11 March 1845. The exact date of Appleseed’s death is in dispute, with some sources claiming 18 March 1845 and others as ‘Summer 1845’. 11 March is celebrated in the USA as ‘Johnny Appleseed Day’.
26 September 1888 – birth of Thomas Stearns Eliot (T.S. Eliot), poet, playwright, publisher, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, described as ‘arguably the most important English language poet of the 20th century’. Wrote ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock‘, ‘The Waste Land‘, ‘Ash Wednesday‘, ‘The Hollow Men‘. Died 4 January 1965.
26 September 1902 – death of Levi Strauss, German-born, American clothing manufacturer. Most notable for Levi jeans. Born 26 February 1829.
26 September 1907 – New Zealand declares independence from Great Britain.
26 September 1960 – Fidel Castro delivers the longest speech in U.N. history, at 4 hours, 29 minutes.
26 September 1964 – the first episode of the sit-com, Gilligan’s Island, airs in the United States. The final episode aired on 17 April 1967. It told the story of four men and three women on board the S.S. Minnow are ship-wrecked on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean following a storm. Stranded are the ship’s mate, Gilligan and the ship’s skipper, a millionaire and his wife (the Howells), a sultry movie star (Ginger Grant), a professor and farm girl (Mary-Anne Summers).
26 September 1983 – Australia wins the America’s Cup yacht race; the first nation to take the cup off America in 132 years.
26 September 1997 – the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi (in Assisi, Italy) partially collapses after an earthquake strikes the region.
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27 September 1540 – The Jesuits (Society of Jesus) founded by Ignatius Loyola.
27 September 1660 – death of St Vincent de Paul, Catholic priest, born in France, who dedicated himself to serving the poor. Born 24 April 1581.
27 September 1722 – birth of Samuel Adams, American revolutionary and founding father. Died 2 October 1803.
27 September 1947 – birth of Marvin Lee Aday, American rocker – otherwise known as Meatloaf.
27 September 1961 – birth of Irvine Welsh, Scottish writer – ‘Train-spotting‘, ‘Ecstasy‘.
27 September 1963 – Lee Harvey Oswald visits Cuban embassy in Mexico to apply for a Cuban visa. The embassy initially denies the visa, stating that the man was not Lee Harvey Oswald. The embassy said he would need Soviet approval. Following scrutiny from the KGB and CIA, and intense debate between the Soviets, Cuba and Oswald (?) the visa was finally issued. Oswald, or the man purporting to be Oswald, never travelled to Cuba, but returned to the U.S. on 3 October 1963 … conspiracy, anyone?
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28 September 551BC – birth of Confucius, Chinese teacher and philosopher, founder of Confucianism. Died 479BC.
28 September 1330 – birth of Nicholas Flamel, French alchemist who purportedly made it his life’s work to decode a mysterious book, known as Book of Abramelin the Mage. Some believe he decoded the recipe for the Philosopher’s Stone, which could turn base metals into silver and gold, and was said to be the elixir of life. Died 22 March 1418(?) He was seen at least 3 times after his death, which led to rumour that he had produced the elixir of life and was therefore immortal. He has been immortalised in numerous books and movies, including ‘Harry Potter‘ by J.K. Rowling, and the ‘Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel‘ series by Michael Scott.
28 September 1864 – The birth of Revolutionary Marxism following a meeting at St Martin’s Hall in London of delegates from different countries in an effort to unify the various left-wing groups comprised of communists, socialists, anarchists and trade unionists. The meeting resulted in the founding of the International Workingmen’s Association or First International. The First International was headquartered in London and directed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels who had long stated that the working class struggle had to be supported internationally or would fail.
28 September 1872 – birth of David Uniapon, indigenous preacher, author and inventor. He is on the Australian $50 note. David influenced government decision making regarding aboriginal issues and invented a hand-piece for shearing sheep. Died 7 February 1967.
28 September 1895 – death of Louis Pasteur, French bacteriologist, one of the founders of microbiology. Invented the process for preventing milk and wine from causing sickness, known as pasteurisation. (Not entirely fool-proof, as over-imbibing wine still seems to cause sickness in some). Born 27 December 1822.
28 September 1967 – birth of Moon Unit Zappa, American musician. Daughter of legendary musician, Frank Zappa.
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29 September – National Coffee Day
29 September 1547 – birth of Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, authored Don Quixote, a classic of Western literature and which is considered to be the first modern European novel. Cervantes is considered to be the greatest writer in the Spanish language and the world’s pre-eminent novelist. Died 22 April 1616.
29 September 1997 – death of Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist. Born 27 October 1923.
29 September – World Heart Day.
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30 September 1947 – birth of Marc Bolan, singer/guitarist for T-Rex. (Born as Mark Feld). Died 16 September 1977.