September 21
Today is observed as an
International Day of Peace.
1745 –
Battle of Prestonpans: A
Hanoverian army under the command of
Sir John Cope is defeated,
in ten minutes, by the
Jacobite forces of
Prince Charles Edward Stuart.
1776 –
Part of New York City is burned shortly after being occupied by British forces.
1780 – American Revolutionary War:
Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to
West Point.
1897 – The
"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial is published in the
New York Sun.
1921 – A storage
silo containing 4,500 tonnes of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate explodes in Oppau, Germany, killing 500-600 people, injuring 2,000 more. The explosion was heard in Munich, more than 300 km away, blew roofs off houses 25 km away, and destroyed ~80 percent of all buildings in Oppau.
1937 –
The Hobbit, by
J. R. R. Tolkien, is published.
1938 – The
Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island in New York. The death toll is estimated at 500-700 people.
1942 – The
Boeing B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight.
1961 – Maiden flight of the
Boeing CH-47 Chinook transportation helicopter.
1964 – The
North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world's first Mach 3 bomber, makes its maiden flight from Palmdale, California.
1980 - During a North American tour,
Bob Marley collapsed while jogging in New York's Central Park. After hospital tests he was diagnosed as having cancer. Marley played his last ever concert two nights later at the
Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1981 –
Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice.
1987 - American jazz bassist
Jaco Pastorius died from injuries sustained in a fight. Pastorius was trying to enter the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida, (where he'd been banned), and became involved in a fight with a bouncer, Pastorius fell into a coma and was put on life support. In 2006, Pastorius was voted "The Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived" by readers in
Bass Guitar magazine.
1996 – The
Defense of Marriage Act passes the United States Congress (a vote of 342-67 in the House of Representatives and a vote of 85-14 in the Senate). The law prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriage, while allowing states to adopt any marital definition of their choosing.
2001 –
Deep Space 1 flies within 2,200 km of
Comet Borrelly.
2003 –
Galileo mission is terminated by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it is crushed by the pressure at the lower altitudes.
2005 –
Hurricane Rita becomes the third most intense hurricane (dropped to fourth on October 19, 2005).
Deaths
1645 – Louis Jolliet (namesake of Joliet, Illinois; Joliet, Montana; and Joliette, Quebec); 1866 – H. G. Wells; 1903 – Preston Tucker (designed the Tucker Sedan); 1912 – Chuck Jones; 1931 – Larry Hagman; 1934 – Leonard Cohen♪ ♫; 1935 – Henry Gibson; 1936 – Dickey Lee♪ ♫; 1940 – Bill Kurtis; 1944 – Steve Beshear; 1944 – Fannie Flagg, Hamilton Jordan, Bobby Tench
; 1945 – Jerry Bruckheimer; 1945 – Richard Childre$$
(NASCAR team owner); 1947 – Don Felder
(The Eagles), Stephen King
; 1950 – Bill Murray; 1953 – Arie Luyendyk
; 1954 – Shinzō Abe, Phil Taylor
(Motorhead); 1957 – Ethan Coen; 1959 – Dave Coulier; 1960 – David James Elliott (
JAG); 1961 – Nancy Travis; 1962 – Rob Morrow (
Northern Exposure); 1963 – Angus Macfadyen (
Braveheart); 1965 – Cheryl Hines; 1967 – Faith Hill♪ ♫, Tyler Stewart
(Barenaked Ladies); 1968 – Ricki Lake (tv mouth); 1971 – Alfonso Ribeiro ('Carlton' on
Fresh Prince of Bel Air), Luke Wilson; 1972 – Liam Gallagher♪ ♫(Oasis); 1981 – Nicole Richie; 1983 – Maggie Grace (
Taken); 1989 – Jason Derulo
Deaths
1904 – Chief Joseph (Nez Perce chief); 1947 – Harry Carey (the actor); 1962 – Bo Carter
(Mississippi Sheiks); 1974 – Walter Brennan, Jacqueline Susann; 1987 - Jaco Pastorious
; 1998 – Florence Griffith Joyner (FloJo, Olympic sprinter); 2006 – Boz Burrell
(King Crimson, Bad Company); 2007 – Alice Ghostley, Rex Humbard