September 21......

September 21 is the 264th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (265th in leap years). There are 101 days remaining.

EVENTS

● 454 - Roman Emperor Valentinian III assassinates Aëtius in his own throne room.

● 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

● 1765 - Antoine de Beauterne announced he had killed the Beast of Gévaudan.

● 1780 - American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point.

● 1792 - The French National Convention votes to abolish the monarchy.

● 1827 - According to Joseph Smith, Jr., the angel Moroni gave him a record of gold plates, one-third of which Joseph translated into The Book of Mormon.

● 1860 - In the Second Opium War, an Anglo-French force defeats Chinese troops at the Battle of Baliqiao.

● 1896 - British force under Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola in the Sudan.

● 1897 - The New York Sun ran an editorial that answered a question from 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon: ''Is there a Santa Claus?'' The answer was"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

● 1898 - Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China.

● 1921 - Oppau explosion, a storage silo at a fertilizer producing plant exploded in Oppau, Germany, 500—600 killed.

● 1931 - Britain went off the gold standard.

● 1937 - J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is published.

● 1938 - The Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island in New York and parts of New England. The death toll is estimated at 500-700 people.

● 1939 - Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu is assassinated by pro-Nazi members of the Iron Guard.

● 1942 - The B-29 Superfortress makes its debut.

● 1948 - Milton Berle debuted as permanent host of ''The Texaco Star Theater'' on NBC.

● 1949 - The People's Republic of China was proclaimed by its Communist leaders.

● 1950 - George Marshall sworn in as the 3rd Secretary of Defense of United States.

● 1955 - Britain claims Rockall; Britain annexed a rocky islet 300 miles west of Scotland to stop the Soviets spying on missile tests, the Admiralty announced.

● 1964 - Malta becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

● 1964 -The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world's first air-breathing aircraft to achieve a speed of Mach 3, made its maiden flight from Palmdale, California.

● 1969 - Police storm squat in Piccadilly; Police raid a 100-room mansion in Piccadilly and evict squatters who have occupied the building for the last six days.

● 1970 - ''NFL Monday Night Football'' debuted on ABC. This year is the first since where the games appear elsewhere.

● 1972 - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos issues Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire country under martial law.

● 1973 - The Senate confirmed Henry Kissinger to be secretary of state.

● 1977 - President Jimmy Carter's budget director, Bert Lance, resigned after weeks of controversy over past business and banking practices.

● 1977 - Harrier crash kills three
An RAF plane crashes onto houses in a Cambridgeshire town, killing two men and a young boy.

● 1981 - Belize is granted full independence from the United Kingdom.

● 1981 - Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female supreme court justice, is confirmed by the senate in a 99-0 vote.

● 1982 - National Football League players began a 57-day strike.

● 1982 - In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Interior Secretary James G. Watt described a special advisory panel as consisting of ''a black ... a woman, two Jews and a cripple.'' Watt later apologized and resigned. Watt is also known to go into a closet and pray for guidance before making any decision and believes all the Earth’s resources need to used as soon as possible before the Second Coming.

● 1984 - Maltby picket sparks violence; Police and miners clash at a pit in South Yorkshire in one of the biggest pickets since the strike began.

● 1989 - Hurricane Hugo makes landfall in the U.S. state of South Carolina.

● 1991 - Armenia is granted independence from Soviet Union.

● 1993 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspends parliament and scraps the then-functioning constitution, thus triggering the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993.

● 1995 - The Hindu milk miracle occurs, in which statues of the Hindu god Ganesh began drinking milk when spoonfuls were placed near their mouths.

● 1996 - John F. Kennedy Jr. married Carolyn Bessette.

● 1996 - The board of Virginia Military Institute voted to admit women.

● 1998 - President Bill Clinton's videotaped grand jury testimony was publicly broadcast. In it, Clinton sparred with prosecutors about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, at one point answering a question by saying, ''It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is.''

● 1998 - Olympic gold medal track star Florence Griffith Joyner, 38, died in her sleep after suffering an epilectic seizure.

● 1999 - Chi-Chi earthquake occurs in central Taiwan, leaving about 2,400 people dead.

● 2001 - Deep Space 1 flies within 2,200 km of Comet Borrelly.

● 2001 - Congress approved $15 billion to help an airline industry reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

● 2003 - NASA's Galileo spacecraft plunged into Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere, bringing a fiery conclusion to a 14-year exploration of the solar system's largest planet and its moons.

● 2004 - The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India merge to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist).

● 2005 - JetBlue Airways Flight 292 performs an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport following a front landing gear failure.

BIRTHS

● 1328 - Hongwu Emperor of China (d. 1398)

● 1411 - Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, claimant to the English throne (d. 1460)

● 1415 - Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1493)

● 1428 - Jingtai Emperor of China (d. 1457)

● 1452 - Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican priest and ruler of Florence (d. 1498)

● 1629 - Philip Cardinal Howard, English Catholic cardinal (d. 1694)

● 1645 - Louis Joliet, Canadian explorer (d. 1700)

● 1756 - John Loudon McAdam, Scottish engineer and inventor of macadamized road construction (d. 1836)

● 1760 - Ivan Dmitriev, Russian statesman (d. 1837)

● 1840 - Murad V, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1904)

● 1842 - Abd-ul-Hamid II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1918)

● 1849 - Maurice Barrymore, actor; patriarch of the Barrymore family (d. 1905.

● 1853 - Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)

● 1863 - John Bunny, American film comedian (d. 1915)

● 1866 - H. G. Wells, English novelist, historian and science fiction writer (d. 1946)

● 1866 - Charles Nicolle, French bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1928) (d. 1936)

● 1867 - On Sept. 21, 1867, Henry Stimson, United States Secretary of War during World War II and American statesman serving under five presidents. (d. 1950)

● 1873 - Papa Jack Laine, American musician (d. 1966)

● 1874 - Gustav Holst, English composer and teacher (d. 1934)

● 1895 - Sergei Yesenin, Russian poet (d. 1925)

● 1899 - Frederick Coutts, the 8th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1986)

● 1902 - Luis Cernuda, Spanish poet (d. 1963)

● 1902 - Sir Allen Lane, English publisher; pioneered paperback publishing (d. 1970)

● 1902 - Westbrook Van Voorhis, American radio announcer (d. 1968)

● 1904 - Hans Hartung, German-born French painter (d. 1989)

● 1906 - Henry Beachell, American Plant Breeder

● 1912 - Chuck Jones, American animator (d. 2002)

● 1912 - György Sándor, Hungarian pianist (d. 2005)

● 1919 - Mario Bunge, Argentine philosopher and physicist

● 1919 - Fazlur Rahman, Pakistani scholar (d. 1988)

● 1926 - Donald A. Glaser, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

● 1929 - Bernard Williams, English philosopher (d. 2003)

● 1929 - Sándor Kocsis, Hungarian footballer (d. 1979)

● 1931 - Larry Hagman, American actor (''I Dream of Jeannie,'' ''Dallas'')

● 1933 - Dick Simon, American racing driver

● 1934 - Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer and songwriter

● 1935 - Henry Gibson, American Actor-comedian

● 1936 - Yuriy Luzhkov, Russian politician, mayor of Moscow

● 1938 - Doug Moe, American basketball player and coach

● 1940 - Bill Kurtis, American television journalist

● 1941 - R. James Woolsey, Jr., Former CIA director

● 1941 - Jack Brisco, American professional wrestler

● 1944 - Fannie Flagg, American actress, comedian and novelist

● 1944 - Hamilton Jordan, Carter's 1ST Chief of Staff

● 1945 - Jerry Bruckheimer, American film and television producer (''CSI'')

● 1945 - Richard Childress, NASCAR Team Owner

● 1945 - Shaw Clifton, the 18th General of The Salvation Army

● 1946 - Moritz Leuenberger, Swiss Federal Councilor

● 1947 - Stephen King, American author

● 1947 - Marsha Norman, American playwright

● 1947 - Don Felder, American guitarist (Eagles)

● 1949 - Artis Gilmore, American basketball player

● 1950 - Charles Clarke, British politician

● 1950 - Bill Murray, American actor

● 1951 - Bruce Arena, American soccer coach

● 1951 - Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen rebel leader (d. 2005)

● 1953 - Arie Luyendyk, Dutch race car driver

● 1954 - Shinzo Abe, Japanese politician

● 1954 - Philthy Animal, Rock musician (Motorhead)

● 1955 - Mika Kaurismäki, Finnish director

● 1955 - Richard Hieb, American astronaut

● 1956 - Jack Givens, American basketball player

● 1957 - Ethan Coen, American film director, producer and screenwriter

● 1959 - Dave Coulier, American actor and comedian

● 1959 - Danny Cox, baseball player

● 1960 - David James Elliott, Canadian actor (“JAG”)

● 1961 - Húbert Nói, Icelandic artist

● 1961 - Nancy Travis, American actress

● 1962 - Rob Morrow, American actor (''Numb3rs,'' ''Northern Exposure'')

● 1963 - Angus Macfadyen, Scottish actor

● 1963 - Curtly Ambrose, West Indian cricketer

● 1963 - Cecil Fielder, baseball player

● 1965 - Cheryl Hines, American actress (''Curb Your Enthusiasm'')

● 1965 - David Wenham, Australian actor

● 1966 - Mike Richter, Hockey player

● 1967 - Faith Hill, American Country singer

● 1967 - Tyler Stewart, Canadian drummer (Barenaked Ladies)

● 1968 - Ricki Lake, American actress and talk show hostess

● 1968 - Dave Jolicoeur, AKA Trugoy The Dove, Rapper (De La Soul)

● 1968 - Ronna Reeves, Country singer

● 1969 - Jason Christiansen, baseball player

● 1971 - John Crawley, English cricketer

● 1971 - Luke Wilson, American actor

● 1971 - Alfonso Ribeiro, Dominican-born actor

● 1972 - Liam Gallagher, British singer (Oasis)

● 1972 - Jon Kitna, American football player

● 1972 - David Silveria, American drummer (KoЯn)

● 1973 - Virginia Ruano Pascual, Tennis player

● 1974 - Andy Todd, English footballer

● 1975 - Doug Davis, baseball player

● 1977 - Sam Rivers, Rock musician (Limp Bizkit)

● 1978 - Paulo Costanzo, Actor (''Joey'')

● 1979 - Richard Dunne, Irish footballer

● 1979 - Chris Gayle, West Indian cricketer

● 1979 - Julian Gray, English footballer

● 1980 - Kareena Kapoor, Indian actress

● 1981 - Nicole Richie, American actress (''The Simple Life'')

● 1982 - Danny Kass, American snowboarder

● 1983 - Maggie Grace, American actress (''Lost'')

● 1983 - Joseph Mazzello, Actor

● 1983 - Anna Meares, Australian cyclist

● 1991 - Zoe Weizenbaum, American actress

● 1998 - Lorenzo and Nikolas Brino, Actors (''7th Heaven'')

DEATHS

● 19 BC - Virgil, Roman poet (b. 70 BC)

● 454 - Aëtius, Roman general (bc. 396)

● 1217 - Lembitu of Lehola, Estonian soldier

● 1327 - King Edward II of England (b. 1284)

● 1397 - Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel, English military leader (executed) (b. 1346)

● 1542 - Juan Boscán Almogáver, Spanish poet

● 1558 - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1500)

● 1576 - Gerolamo Cardano, Italian mathematician (b. 1501)

● 1586 - Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, French church leader (b. 1517)

● 1626 - François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières, Constable of France (b. 1543)

● 1719 - Johann Heinrich Acker, German writer (b. 1647)

● 1743 - Jai Singh II, King of Amber-Juiper (b. 1688)

● 1748 - John Balguy, English philosopher (b. 1686)

● 1796 - François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French general (b. 1769)

● 1798 - George Read, American lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1733)

● 1832 - Sir Walter Scott, Scottish writer (b. 1771)

● 1860 - Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (b. 1788)

● 1874 - Jean-Baptiste Élie de Beaumont, French geologist (b. 1794)

● 1897 - Wilhelm Wattenbach, German historian (b. 1819)

● 1904 - Chief Joseph, Nez Perce leader (b. 1840)

● 1906 - Samuel Arnold, Lincoln conspirator (b. 1838)

● 1926 - Leon Charles Thevenin, French telegraph engineer (b. 1857)

● 1938 - Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic Croatian writer (b. 1874)

● 1939 - Armand Călinescu Romanian prime-minister (assassinated) (b. 1893)

● 1954 - Kokichi Mikimoto, Japanese inventor (b. 1858)

● 1957 - King Haakon VII of Norway (b. 1872)

● 1966 - Paul Reynaud, French politician (b. 1878)

● 1971 - Bernardo Houssay, Argentine physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)

● 1972 - Henry de Montherlant, French writer (b. 1896)

● 1974 - Walter Brennan, American actor (b. 1894)

● 1974 - Jacqueline Susann, American novelist (b. 1918)

● 1987 - Jaco Pastorius, American bassist (b. 1951)

● 1988 - Glenn Robert Davis, member of United States Congress (b. 1914)

● 1995 - Rudy Perpich, American politician (b. 1928)

● 1998 - Florence Griffith Joyner, American olympic gold medal track star (b. 1959)

● 2002 - Robert L. Forward, American physicist and writer (b. 1932)

● 2002 - Angelo Buono Jr., the Hillside Strangler whose killings of young women terrorized Los Angeles in the 1970s, died in prison at age 67.

● 2004 - Barry Noble Wakeman, American naturalist and educator (b. 1939)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES


● International Day of Peace of the United Nations, as propagated by Peace One Day

● RC Saints - Matthew the Evangelist

● Also see September 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

● Independence Day in Malta (1964), Belize (1981) & Armenia (1991)

● Mabon - Neopagan festival of Mabon

● In ancient Greece, the eighth day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the secret rites in the Telesterion finish and the feast, Pannychis, begins.


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

The BBC Take on the day

On this day in the New York Times