September 17

Events

*1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought.
*1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec) is fought during Thirteen Years' War.
*1577 - The Peace of Bergerac is signed between Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
*1630 - The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
*1631 - Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War.
*1683 - Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules": the first known description of bacteria.
*1776 - The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
*1778 - The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).
*1787 - The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
*1809 - Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
*1814 - Francis Scott Key finishes his poem The Star-Spangled Banner.
*1859 - Joshua A. Norton declares himself Emperor Norton I of the United States.
*1862 - American Civil War: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history.
* 1862 - American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
*1894 - The Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.
*1900 - Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.
*1908 - The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.
*1914 - Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
*1916 - World War I: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
*1920 - The National Football League is organized in Canton, Ohio, United States.
*1924 - The Border Defence Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armed Soviet raids and local bandits.
*1928 - The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in US history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
*1939 - World War II: The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.
* 1939 - World War II: A German U-boat "U 29" sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS "Courageous".
* 1939 - Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6
*1941 - World War II: A decree of the Soviet State Committee of Defense, restoring Vsevobuch in the face of the Great Patriotic War, is issued
*1943 - World War II: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated from Nazis.
*1944 - World War II: Allied Airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as the "Market" half of Operation Market Garden.
*1947 - James V. Forrestal is sworn in as the first Secretary of Defense of United States.
*1948 - The Lehi (also known as the Stern gang) assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the UN to mediate between the Arabs and Jews.
*1949 - The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbor with the loss of over 118 lives.
*1956 - Television is first broadcast in Australia.
*1957 - The North East Humanists group is founded in Newcastle upon Tyne.
*1970 - Fighting breaks out along the Syria-Jordanian border between Jordanian troops and the fedayeen.
*1976 - The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
*1978 - The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
*1980 - After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
* 1980 - Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
*1983 - Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.
*1991 - North Korea, South Korea, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
*1991 - The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
*1993 - Last Russian troops leave Poland.
*2004 - Tamil is declared the first classical language in India.
*2007 - AOL, once the largest ISP in the U.S., officially announces plans to refocus the company as an advertising business and to relocate its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York, New York.

Births

*64 - Julia Flavia, daughter of Roman Emperor Titus; lover of Domitian.
*879 - King Charles III of France (d. 929)
*1192 - Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1219)
*1271 - Wenceslas II of Bohemia and Poland (d. 1305)
*1550 - Pope Paul V (d. 1621)
*1630 - Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1694)
*1639 - Hans Herr, Mennonite bishop (d. 1725)
*1657 - Sophia Alekseyevna, regent of Russia (d. 1704)
*1677 - Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist, and inventor (d. 1761)
*1687 - Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian (d. 1772)
*1688 - Maria Luisa of Savoy, first queen of Philip V of Spain (d. 1714)
*1730 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian army officer (d. 1794)
*1739 - John Rutledge, 2nd (appointed) Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1800)
*1743 - Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician (d. 1794)
*1771 - Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer (d. 1816)
*1820 - Émile Augier, French dramatist (d. 1889)
*1826 - Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (d. 1866)
*1854 - David Dunbar Buick, American automobile pioneer (d.1929)
*1857 - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian rocket scientist (d. 1935)
*1868 - James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (d. 1956)
*1869 - Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d. 1938)
*1879 - Rube Foster, American baseball player, manager and executive (d. 1930)
*1879 - Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Indian Social Reformer (d. 1973)
*1881 - Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter, English soldier (d. 1955)
*1883 - William Carlos Williams, American writer (d. 1963)
*1884 - Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (d. 1920)
*1890 - Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator (d. 1972)
*1897 - Earl Webb, baseball player (d. 1965)
*1900 - John Willard Marriott, American hotelier (d. 1985)
* 1900 - Hughie Critz, baseball player (d. 1980)
*1901 - Francis Chichester, English adventurer (d. 1972)
*1903 - Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (d. 1984)
* 1903 - Frank O'Connor, Irish-American short-story writer (d. 1966)
*1906 - Edgar Wayburn, American environmentalist
*1907 - Warren Burger, 15th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1995)
*1912 - Irena Kwiatkowska, Polish actress and comedian
*1918 - Chaim Herzog, President of Israel (d. 1997)
*1922 - Agostinho Neto, Angolan politician (d. 1979)
*1923 - Hank Williams, American musician (d. 1953)
*1926 - Bill Black, American musician (d. 1965)
* 1926 - Curtis Harrington, American film director (d. 2007)
*1927 - George Blanda, American football player
*1928 - Roddy McDowall, English actor (d. 1998)
*1929 - Sir Stirling Moss, English race car driver
* 1929 - Pat Crowley, American actress
*1930 - Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut
*1930 - Jim Rohn, American business philosopher
* 1930 - Thomas Stafford, American astronaut
* 1930 - Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist
*1931 - Anne Bancroft, American actress (d. 2005)
*1933 - Chuck Grassley, American politician
* 1933 - Dorothy Loudon, American actress (d. 2003)
* 1933 - Claude Provost, National Hockey League player (d. 1984)
*1934 - Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (d. 1969)
*1935 - Ken Kesey, American author (d. 2001)
*1937 - Orlando Cepeda, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
*1938 - Bobby Wine, American Major League Baseball player
*1939 - Shelby Flint, American singer
* 1939 - David Souter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
*1940 - Jan Eliasson, Swedish diplomat
* 1940 - Sotiris Moustakas, Greek actor (d. 2007)
*1941 - Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman (d. 2005)
*1942 - Des Lynam, English television presenter
* 1942 - Robert Graysmith, Zodiac killer researcher
*1944 - Reinhold Messner, Italian mountain climber
*1945 - David Emerson, Canadian politician
* 1945 - Phil Jackson, American basketball player and NBA head coach
* 1945 - Bruce Spence, New Zealand actor
*1946 - Billy Bonds, English footballer
*1947 - Tessa Jowell, British politician
*1948 - Jeff MacNelly, American political cartoonist (d. 2000)
* 1948 - John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)
*1950 - Narendra Modi, Indian politician
* 1950 - Chris Heister, Swedish politician
* 1950 - Fee Waybill, American musician (The Tubes)
*1951 - Cassandra Peterson, American actress
*1953 - Altaf Hussain, Pakistani politician and founder of MQM
*1954 - Joël-François Durand, French composer
*1955 - Koralia Karanti, Greek actress
* 1955 - Charles Martinet, American actor
*1956 - Thad Bosley. American major league baseball player
* 1956 - Rita Rudner, American comedian
*1956 - Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
*1959 - Charles Lawson, Northern Irish actor
*1960 - Damon Hill, English race car driver and one-time F1 world champion
* 1960 - John Franco, American baseball player
*1961 - Ty Tabor, American guitarist and singer (King's X)
* 1961 - Jim Cornette, American professional wrestling manager
*1962 - Baz Luhrmann, Australian film director
* 1962 - Dustin Nguyen, Vietnamese American actor
*1963 - Masahiro Chono, Japanese professional wrestler
* 1963 - Michael Adler, American businessman
* 1963 - Steven Dye, English musician (Scarlet Party), (The Alan Parsons Project)
* 1963 - Wendy Northcutt, Author of the Darwin Awards
* 1963 - Amy Roloff, American reality star
* 1963 - Rami Saari, Israeli poet and translator
* 1963 - James Urbaniak, American actor
*1965 - Yuji Naka, Japanese video game programmer
* 1965 - Guy Picciotto, American musician (Rites of Spring, Fugazi)
* 1965 - Bryan Singer, American director
*1966 - Doug E. Fresh, American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer
*1967 - Malik Yoba, American actor
*1968 - Anastacia, American singer
* 1968 - Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece
*1969 - Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player
* 1969 - Keith Flint, Member of the British band The Prodigy
* 1969 - Matthew Settle, American actor
*1970 - Mark Brunell, American football player
*1971 - Adriana Sklenaříková, Slovak supermodel
* 1971 - Mike Catt, English rugby player
* 1971 - Ian Whyte (actor), Welsh actor and basketball player
*1972 - Bobby Lee, American comedian
*1973 - Ada Choi, Hong Kong actress
* 1973 - Demis Nikolaidis, Greek footballer
*1974 - Rasheed Wallace, American basketball player
* 1974 - Mirah, American musician
* 1974 - Tormod Granheim, Norwegian adventurer
*1975 - Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
* 1975 - Austin St. John, American actor
* 1975 - Constantine Maroulis, American singer
*1976 - Daniella Rush, Czech pornographic actress
*1977 - Simone Perrotta, Italian football player
*1978 - Shawn Horcoff, Canadian ice hockey player
*1979 - Akin Ayodele, American football player
* 1979 - Chuck Comeau, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
* 1979 - Steffen Algreen, Danish footballer
*1980 - Danny Haren, American baseball player
*1981 - Casey Janssen, American baseball player
* 1981 - Bakari Koné, Ivorian footballer
* 1981 - Francis Manioru, Solomon Islander sprinter
* 1981 - Jonathan Radtke, American musician (Kill Hannah)
*1982 - Hope Larson, American illustrator and cartoonist
* 1982 - Garth Murray, Canadian ice hockey player
*1983 - Jennifer Peña, American singer
*1984 - Eugenia Volodina, Russian supermodel
*1985 - Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player
* 1985 - Mason Raymond, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1985 - Brendan Clarke, Irish Soccer Player with St. Patrick's Athletic
* 1985 - Jon Walker, American musician (Panic at the Disco)
* 1985 - Tomáš Berdych, Czech tennis player
*1986 - Landry Mulemo, Belgian footballer
* 1986 - Dimitrios Regas, Greek sprinter
*1987 - Paul Huntington, English footballer
*1991 - Jordan McCoy, American entertainer
*1994 - Taylor Ware, American yodeler

Deaths

*1179 - Hildegard of Bingen, German abbess and composer (b. 1098)
*1322 - Robert III of Flanders (b. 1249)
*1422 - Constantine II of Bulgaria
*1563 - Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, English soldier
*1574 - Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, first Spanish Governor of Florida (b. 1519)
*1575 - Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (b. 1504)
*1621 - Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (b. 1542)
*1630 - Thomas Lake, English statesman (b. 1567)
*1665 - Philip IV of Spain (b. 1605)
*1676 - Sabbatai Zevi, Montenegrin rabbi, kabbalist, and founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement (b. 1626)
*1679 - John of Austria the Younger, Spanish general (b. 1629)
*1727 - Glückel of Hameln, German businesswoman (b. 1647)
*1762 - Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist (b. 1687)
*1771 - Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist (b. 1721)
*1803 - Franz Xaver Süssmayr, Austrian composer (b. 1766)
*1808 - Benjamin Bourne, American politician (b. 1755)
*1836 - Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (b. 1748)
*1863 - Alfred de Vigny, French author (b. 1797)
*1873 - Alexander Berry, Scottish adventurer (b. 1781)
*1879 - Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (b. 1814)
*1894 - Deng Shichang, Chinese admiral (b. 1849)
*1899 - Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American industrialist (b. 1842)
*1907 - Ignaz Brüll, Austrian pianist (b. 1846)
*1908 - Thomas Selfridge, First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army (b. 1882)
*1933 - Joseph De Piro, Maltese missionary (b. 1877)
*1936 - Ettie Annie Rout, New Zealand activist (b. 1877)
*1938 - Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (b. 1901)
*1946 - Frank Burke, American baseball player (b. 1880)
*1951 - Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (b. 1898)
*1966 - Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (b. 1930)
*1972 - Akim Tamiroff, Georgian actor (b. 1899)
*1973 - Hugo Winterhalter, American bandleader (b. 1909)
*1980 - Anastasio Somoza Debayle, President of Nicaragua (b. 1925)
*1982 - Manos Loïzos, Greek composer (b. 1937)
*1984 - Richard Basehart, American actor (b. 1914)
*1985 - Laura Ashley, Welsh designer (b. 1925)
*1987 - Harry Locke, British character actor (b. 1913)
*1991 - Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b. 1902)
*1993 - Christian Nyby, American film and television director (b. 1913)
*1994 - Karl Popper, Austrian philosopher (b. 1902)
*1995 - Lucien Victor, Belgian cyclist (b. 1931)
*1996 - Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States (b. 1918)
*1997 - Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (b. 1913)
*1998 - Ted Binion, Las Vegas casino heir (b. 1943)
*1999 - Frankie Vaughan, British singer (b. 1928)
*2000 - Nicole Reinhart, American cyclist (b. 1976)
* 2000 - Paula Yates, English TV personality (b. 1960)
*2001 - Lou Dog, Sublime mascot.
*2003 - Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b. 1951)
*2005 - Alfred Reed, American composer (b. 1921)
*2006 - Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite (b. 1924)

Holidays and observances

*The fourth day of the Eleusinian Mysteries in ancient Greek mythology, when the initiates sacrificed a pig.
*RC Saints - Feasts of Saint Lambert (martyr), Hildegard of Bingen, Albert Avogadro, Alan, Robert Bellarmine.
*Also see September 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
*Angola - National Heroes' Day.
*Netherlands - Operation Market Garden is still remembered with parachuting and dedications on this day.
*United States - Constitution Day (observed on the previous Friday if it falls Saturday, the following Monday if on a Sunday), Citizenship Day, Von Steuben Day.
*Christian martyrs Socrates and Stephen

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/17 BBC: On This Day]
*
* [http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Sep&day=17 On This Day in Canada] ----