This Day in History
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15th September 1954
Marilyn Monroe's skirt scene filmed
The famous picture of Marilyn Monroe, laughing as her skirt is blown up by the blast from a subway vent, is shot on this day during the filming of The Seven Year Itch. The scene infuriated her husband, Joe DiMaggio, who felt it was exhibitionist. The couple divorced shortly after. -
16th September 1923
Lee Kuan Yew is born
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew is born today in 1923. He's 82 years old this year. -
17th September 1787
U.S. Constitution signed
The Constitution of the United States of America is signed by 38 of 41 delegates present at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Supporters of the document waged a hard-won battle to win ratification by the necessary nine out of 13 U.S. states. -
18thSeptember 1945
MacArthur in Tokyo
On this day in 1945, Gen. Douglas MacArthur moves his command headquarters to Tokyo, as he prepares for his new role as architect of a democratic and capitalist postwar Japan. -
19th September 1893
New Zealand first in women's vote
With the signing of the Electoral Bill by Governor Lord Glasgow, New Zealand becomes the first country in the world to grant national voting rights to women. The bill was the outcome of years of suffragette meetings in towns and cities across the country, with women often traveling considerable distances to hear lectures and speeches, pass resolutions, and sign petitions. New Zealand women first went to the polls in the national elections of November 1893. -
20th September 1946
FIRST CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
The first annual Cannes Film Festival opens at the resort city of Cannes on the French Riviera. The festival had intended to make its debut in September 1939, but the outbreak of World War II forced the cancellation of the inaugural Cannes. -
21th September 1965
Singapore joins the UN
Singapore becomes the 117th member of the United Nations. -
22th September 1980
Iran-Iraq War
Long-standing border disputes and political turmoil in Iran prompt Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to launch an invasion of Iran's oil-producing province of Khuzestan. After initial advances, the Iraqi offense was repulsed.
In 1982, Iraq voluntarily withdrew and sought a peace agreement, but the Ayatollah Khomeini renewed fighting. Stalemates and the deaths of thousands of young Iranian conscripts in Iraq followed. Population centers in both countries were bombed, and Iraq employed chemical weapons.
In the Persian Gulf, a "tanker war" curtailed shipping and increased oil prices. In 1988, Iran agreed to a cease-fire. -
23th September 1846
Eighth planet discovered
German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovers the planet Neptune at the Berlin Observatory.
Neptune, generally the eighth planet from the sun, was postulated by the French astronomer Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier, who calculated the approximate location of the planet by studying gravity-induced disturbances in the motions of Uranus. On September 23, 1846, Le Verrier informed Galle of his findings, and the same night Galle and his assistant Heinrich Louis d'Arrest identified Neptune at their observatory in Berlin. Noting its movement relative to background stars over 24 hours confirmed that it was a planet.
The blue gas giant, which has a diameter four times that of Earth, was named for the Roman god of the sea. It has eight known moons, of which Triton is the largest, and a ring system containing three bright and two dim rings. It completes an orbit of the sun once every 165 years. In 1989, the U.S. planetary spacecraft Voyager 2 was the first human spacecraft to visit Neptune. -
24th September 1941
Japanese gather preliminary data on Pearl Harbor
On this day in 1941, the Japanese consul in Hawaii is instructed to divide Pearl Harbor into five zones and calculate the number of battleships in each zone--and report the findings back to Japan. -
25th September 1913
Chaplin signs with Keystone
On this day in 1913, 24-year-old Charlie Chaplin signs with Keystone, a production company known for its silent comedies, where he will make more than a dozen movies in the next year alone. -
26thSeptember 1580
Drake circumnavigates the globe
English seaman Francis Drake returns to Plymouth, England, in the Golden Hind, becoming the first British navigator to sail the earth. -
28th September 1939
Poland surrenders
On this day in 1939, 140,000 Polish troops are taken prisoner by the German invaders as Warsaw surrenders to the superior mechanized forces of Hitler's army. The Poles fought bravely, but were able to hold on for only 26 days. -
28th September 1968
"Hey Jude" breaks records
The Beatles' single "Hey Jude" hits the top of the charts. The song had debuted two weeks earlier at No. 10, the highest spot ever achieved by a new release up to that time. Over seven minutes long, it was the longest song ever to hit No. 1, a record it holds to this day. -
29th September 1888
Mercedes-Benz, U.S.A.
Daimler cars managed to make it to New York long before other imports, thanks to William Steinway. Steinway, a car enthusiast, concluded licensing negotiations with Gottlieb Daimler on this day, gaining permission to manufacture Daimler cars in the U.S. He founded the "Daimler Motor Company" and began producing Daimler engines, as well as importing Daimler boats, trucks, and other equipment to the North American market. Still, the U.S. was just a small portion of Daimler's market, and when he introduced a new line in 1901, he christened it Mercedes because he feared the German-sounding Daimler would not sell well in France. -
30th September 1399
Henry IV proclaimed
Henry Bolingbroke is proclaimed King Henry IV of England upon the abdication of King Richard II. -
1st October 1949
Mao Zedong proclaims People's Republic of China
Naming himself head of state, communist revolutionary Mao Zedong officially proclaims the existence of the People's Republic of China.
The proclamation was the climax of years of battle between Mao's communist forces and the regime of Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek, who had been supported with money and arms from the American government. -
2nd October 1951
Sting is born
Gordon Sumner (better known as the musician Sting) is born on this day in Newcastle, England. -
3rd Oct 1932
Iraq wins independence
With the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, Britain terminates its mandate over the Arab nation, making Iraq independent after 17 years of British rule and centuries of Ottoman rule. -
4th October 1957
World's first artificial satellite launched
The Soviet Union inaugurates the "Space Age" with its launch of Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for "satellite," was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic. -
5th October 1989
The Dalai Lama wins Nobel Peace Prize
The Dalai Lama, the exiled religious and political leader of Tibet, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his nonviolent campaign to end the Chinese domination of Tibet. -
6th October 1961
Kennedy urges Americans to build bomb shelters
President John F. Kennedy, speaking on civil defense, advises American families to build bomb shelters to protect them from atomic fallout in the event of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union. -
7th October 1949
East Germany created
Less than five months after Great Britain, the United States, and France established the Federal Republic of Germany in West Germany, the Democratic Republic of Germany is proclaimed within the Soviet occupation zone. Criticized by the West as an un-autonomous Soviet creation, Wilhelm Pieck was named East Germany's first president, with Otto Grotewohl as prime minister. -
8th October 1981
The Great Fire destroys much of Chicago
On this night in 1871, fire breaks out in a barn behind the Chicago cottage of Patrick O'Leary. Winds blowing off the prairie fed the flames, and the fire spread rapidly, eventually consuming a four-mile-long and two-third-mile-wide swath of Chicago. When the Great Fire was finally over two days later, nearly 300 people were dead, one hundred thousand were homeless, and Chicago's booming downtown was in ashes. Despite the devastation, Chicago would rise again and continue to be the economic center of the American West for decades to come. -
9th October 1967
Professional revolutionary "Che" Guevara is executed in Bolivia
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, better known to the world as "Che" Guevara, is executed by Bolivian armed forces on this day in 1967. 9th October 1940
John Lennon is born
John Lennon is born in Liverpool, England. As part of the Beatles and as a solo artist, Lennon became one of the most influential musicians in rock history.