Take a look at these important events in the month of September, that changed world history.
September 1
1715 – King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years—the longest of any major European monarch.
1763 – Catherine II of Russia endorses Ivan Betskoy's plans for a Foundling Home in Moscow
1772 – The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is founded in San Luis Obispo, California.
1774 – Massachusetts Bay colonists rise up in the bloodless Powder Alarm.
1804 – Juno, one of the four largest asteroids in the Main Belt, is discovered by the German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding.
1831 – The high honor of Order of St. Gregory the Great is established by Pope Gregory XVI of the Vatican State to recognize high support for the Vatican or for the Pope, by a man or a woman, and not necessarily a Roman Catholic.
1836 – Narcissa Whitman, one of the first English-speaking white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington.
September 2
1752 – Great Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.
1789 – The United States Department of the Treasury is founded.
1792 – During what became known as the September Massacres of the French Revolution, rampaging mobs slaughter three Roman Catholic Church bishops, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers.
1806 – A massive landslide destroys the town of Goldau, Switzerland, killing 457.
1807 – The Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
1811 – The University of Oslo is founded as The Royal Fredericks University, after Frederick VI of Denmark and Norway.
1833 – Oberlin College is founded by John Jay Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart in Oberlin, Ohio.
September 3
1777 – American Revolutionary War: During the Battle of Cooch's Bridge, the Flag of the United States is flown in battle for the first time.
1783 – American Revolutionary War: The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1798 – The week-long battle of St. George's Caye begins between Spain and Britain off the coast of Belize.
1802 – William Wordsworth composes the sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802.
1812 – Twenty-four settlers are killed in the Pigeon Roost Massacre in Indiana.
1838 – Future abolitionist Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery.
September 4
1774 – New Caledonia is first sighted by Europeans, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook.
1781 – Los Angeles is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola) by 44 Spanish settlers.
1797 – Coup of 18 Fructidor in France.
1800 – The French garrison in Valletta surrenders to British troops who had been called at the invitation of the Maltese. The islands of Malta and Gozo become the Malta Protectorate.
1812 – War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Harrison begins when the fort is set on fire.
September 5
1697 – War of the Grand Alliance: A French warship commanded by Captain Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville defeated an English squadron at the Battle of Hudson's Bay.
1698 – In an effort to Westernize his nobility, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a tax on beards for all men except the clergy and peasantry.
1725 – Wedding of Louis XV and Maria Leszczyńska.
1774 – First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia.
1781 – Battle of the Chesapeake in the American Revolutionary War: The British Navy is repelled by the French Navy, contributing to the British surrender at Yorktown.
1793 – French Revolution: The French National Convention initiates the Reign of Terror.
1798 – Conscription is made mandatory in France by the Jourdan law.
1812 – War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Wayne begins when Chief Winamac's forces attack two soldiers returning from the fort's outhouses.
1816 – Louis XVIII has to dissolve the Chambre introuvable ("Unobtainable Chamber").
1836 – Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
1839 – The United Kingdom declares war on the Qing dynasty of China.
September 6
1781 – The Battle of Groton Heights takes place, resulting in a British victory.
1803 – British scientist John Dalton begins using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements.
September 7
1695 – Henry Every perpetrates one of the most profitable pirate raids in history with the capture of the Grand Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai. In response, Emperor Aurangzeb threatens to end all English trading in India.
1706 – War of the Spanish Succession: Siege of Turin ends, leading to the withdrawal of French forces from North Italy.
1764 – Election of Stanislaw August Poniatowski as the last ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1776 – According to American colonial reports, Ezra Lee makes the world's first submarine attack in the Turtle, attempting to attach a time bomb to the hull of HMS Eagle in New York Harbor (no British records of this attack exist).
1778 – American Revolutionary War: France invades Dominica in the British West Indies before Britain is even aware of France's involvement in the war.
1812 – French invasion of Russia: The Battle of Borodino, the bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, was fought near Moscow and resulted in a French victory.
1818 – Carl III of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Norway, in Trondheim.
1822 – Dom Pedro I declares Brazil independent from Portugal on the shores of the Ipiranga Brook in São Paulo.
September 8
1727 – A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children.
1755 – French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George.
1756 – French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition.
1761 – King George III of the United Kingdom married to Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina, the war's last significant battle in the Southern theater, ends in a narrow British tactical victory.
1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Hondschoote.
1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano: French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa.
1810 – The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board. After a six-month journey around the tip of South America, the ship arrives at the mouth of the Columbia River and Astor's men establish the fur-trading town of Astoria, Oregon.
1831 – William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1831 – November Uprising: Battle of Warsaw ends, effectively ending the Insurrection.
September 9
1739 – Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in Britain's mainland North American colonies prior to the American Revolution, erupts near Charleston, South Carolina.
1776 – The Continental Congress officially names its new union of sovereign states the United States.
1791 – Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington.
1801 – Alexander I of Russia confirms the privileges of the Baltic provinces.
1839 – John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph.
September 10
1776 – American Revolutionary War: Nathan Hale volunteers to spy for the Continental Army.
1798 – At the Battle of St. George's Caye, British Honduras defeats Spain.
1813 – The United States defeats the British Fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.
1823 – Simón Bolívar is named President of Peru.
September 11
1697 – Battle of Zenta.
1708 – Charles XII of Sweden stops his march to conquer Moscow outside Smolensk, marking the turning point in the Great Northern War. The army is defeated nine months later in the Battle of Poltava, and the Swedish Empire ceases to be a major power.
1709 – Battle of Malplaquet: Great Britain, Netherlands, and Austria fight against France.
1714 – Siege of Barcelona: Barcelona, the capital city of Catalonia, surrenders to Spanish and French Bourbon armies in the War of the Spanish Succession.
1758 – Battle of Saint Cast: France repels British invasion during the Seven Years' War.
1775 – Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec leaves Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1776 – British–American peace conference on Staten Island fails to stop the nascent American Revolutionary War.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Brandywine: The British celebrate a major victory in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
1786 – The beginning of the Annapolis Convention.
1789 – Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.
1792 – The Hope Diamond is stolen along with other French crown jewels when six men break into the house where they are stored.
1802 – France annexes the Kingdom of Piedmont.
1803 – Battle of Delhi, during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, between British troops under General Lake, and Marathas of Scindia's army under General Louis Bourquin.
1813 – War of 1812: British troops arrive in Mount Vernon and prepare to march to and invade Washington, D.C..
1814 – War of 1812: The climax of the Battle of Plattsburgh, a major United States victory in the war.
1826 – Captain William Morgan is arrested in Batavia, New York for debt. This sets into motion the events that lead to his mysterious disappearance.
1829 – Surrender of the expedition led by Isidro Barradas at Tampico, sent by the Spanish crown in order to retake Mexico. This was the consummation of Mexico's campaign for independence.
1830 – Anti-Masonic Party convention; one of the first American political party conventions.
September 12
1683 – Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna – several European armies join forces to defeat the Ottoman Empire.
1762 – The Sultanate of Sulu ceded Balambangan Island to the British East India Company.
1814 – Battle of North Point: an American detachment halts the British land advance to Baltimore in the War of 1812.
September 13
1743 – Great Britain, Austria, and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Worms.
1759 – Battle of the Plains of Abraham: the British defeated the French near Quebec City in the Seven Years' War, known in the United States as the French and Indian War.
1782 – American Revolutionary War: Franco-Spanish troops launch the unsuccessful "grand assault" during the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
1788 – The Philadelphia Convention sets the date for the first presidential election in the United States, and New York City becomes the country's temporary capital.
1791 – King Louis XVI of France accepts the new constitution.
1808 – Finnish War: In the Battle of Jutas, Swedish forces under Lieutenant General Georg Carl von Döbeln beat the Russians, making von Döbeln a Swedish war hero.
1812 – War of 1812: A supply wagon sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.
1814 – In a turning point in the War of 1812, the British fail to capture Baltimore. During the battle, Francis Scott Key composes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", which is later set to music and becomes the United States national anthem.
September 14
1682 – Bishop Gore School, one of the oldest schools in Wales, is founded.
1741 – George Frideric Handel completes his oratorio Messiah
1752 – The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2).
1763 – Seneca warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Devil's Hole during Pontiac's War.
1791 – The Papal States lose Avignon to the French Empire.
1808 – Finnish War: Russians defeat the Swedes in the bloody Battle of Oravais.
1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Grande Armée enters Moscow. The Fire of Moscow begins as soon as Russian troops leave the city.
1814 – The poem Defence of Fort McHenry is written by Francis Scott Key. The poem is later used as the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner.
1829 – The Ottoman Empire signs the Treaty of Adrianople with Russia, thus ending the Russo-Turkish War.
September 15
1762 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Signal Hill.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces land at Kip's Bay during the New York Campaign.
1789 – The United States "Department of Foreign Affairs", established by law in July, is renamed the Department of State and given a variety of domestic duties.
1812 – The French army under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow.
1812 – War of 1812: A second supply train sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.
1816 – HMS Whiting runs aground on the Doom Bar
1820 – Constitutionalist revolution in Lisbon, Portugal.
1821 – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica jointly declare independence from Spain.
1830 – The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens.
1831 – The locomotive John Bull operates for the first time in New Jersey on the Camden and Amboy Railroad.
1835 – HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands. The ship lands at Chatham or San Cristobal, the easternmost of the archipelago.
September 16
1701 – James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
1795 – The first occupation by the United Kingdom of Cape Colony, South Africa with the Battle of Hout Bay, after successive victories at the Battle of Muizenberg and Wynberg, after William V requested protection against revolutionary France's occupation of the Netherlands.
1810 – With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.
1812 – The Fire of Moscow begins shortly after midnight and destroys three-quarters of the city days later.
September 17
1683 – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules": the first known description of protozoa.
1716 – Jean Thurel enlists in the Touraine Regiment at the age of 18, the first day of a military career that would span for over 90 years.
1761 – The Battle of Kosabroma is fought.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Invasion of Canada begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean.
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.
1793 – The Battle of Peyrestortes is fought.
1794 – The Battle of Sprimont is fought.
1809 – Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
1813 – The Second Battle of Kulm is fought.
1814 – Francis Scott Key finishes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", later to be the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner".
September 18
1679 – New Hampshire becomes a county of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1714 – George I arrives in Great Britain for the first time since becoming king on August 1st.
1739 – The Treaty of Belgrade is signed, ceding Belgrade to the Ottoman Empire.
1759 – Seven Years' War: The British capture Quebec City.
1793 – The first cornerstone of the Capitol building is laid by George Washington.
1809 – The Royal Opera House in London opens.
1810 – First Government Junta in Chile. Though supposed to rule only in the absence of the king, it is in fact the first step towards independence from Spain and is commemorated as such.
1812 – The 1812 Fire of Moscow dies down after destroying more than three-quarters of the city. Napoleon returns from the Petrovsky Palace to the Moscow Kremlin, spared from the fire.
1837 – Tiffany and Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City. The store is called a "stationery and fancy goods emporium".
1838 – The Anti-Corn Law League is established by Richard Cobden.
September 19
1676 – Jamestown is burned to the ground by the forces of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon's Rebellion.
1692 – Giles Corey is pressed to death after refusing to plead in the Salem witch trials.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: British forces win a tactically expensive victory over the Continental Army in the First Battle of Saratoga (Bemis Heights).
1778 – The Continental Congress passes the first United States federal budget.
1796 – George Washington's Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public.
1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: French-Dutch victory against the Russians and British in the Battle of Bergen.
September 20
1697 – The Treaty of Ryswick is signed by France, England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Dutch Republic ending the Nine Years' War (1688–97).
1737 – The finish of the Walking Purchase which forces the cession of 1.2 million acres (4,860 km²) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony.
1792 – French troops stop the allied invasion of France, during the War of the First Coalition at Valmy.
1835 – Ragamuffin rebels capture Porto Alegre, then capital of the Brazilian imperial province of Rio Grande do Sul, triggering the start of a ten-year-long Ragamuffin War.
September 21
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 for West Point.
1792 – French Revolution: the National Convention declares France a republic and abolishes the absolute monarchy.
September 22
1692 – The last people hanged for witchcraft in England's North American colonies takes place.
1711 – The Tuscarora War begins in present-day North Carolina.
1761 – George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz are crowned King and Queen, respectively, of the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1776 – Nathan Hale is hanged for spying during American Revolution.
1789 – The office of the United States Postmaster General is established.
1789 – The battle of Rymnik establishes Alexander Suvorov as a pre-eminent Russian military commander after his allied army defeated superior Ottoman Empire forces.
1792 – Primidi Vendémiaire of year one of the French Republican Calendar as the French First Republic comes into being.
1823 – Joseph Smith states he found the Golden plates on this date after being directed by God through the Angel Moroni to the place where they were buried.
September 23
1779 – American Revolution: John Paul Jones on board the USS Bonhomme Richard wins the Battle of Flamborough Head.
1780 – American Revolution: British Major John André is arrested as a spy by American soldiers exposing Benedict Arnold's change of sides.
1803 – Second Anglo-Maratha War: Battle of Assaye between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.
1806 – Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis after exploring the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
1821 – Tripolitsa, Greece, is captured by Greek rebels during the Greek War of Independence.
September 24
1664 – The Dutch Republic surrenders New Amsterdam to England.
1674 – Second Tantrik Coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
1780 – Benedict Arnold flees to British Army lines when the arrest of British Major John André exposes Arnold's plot to surrender West Point.
1789 – The United States Congress passed the Judiciary Act which creates the office of the United States Attorney General and the federal judiciary system, and orders the composition of the Supreme Court of the United States.
1830 – Belgian Revolution: A revolutionary committee of notables forms the Provisional Government of Belgium.
September 25
1690 – Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick, the first newspaper to appear in the Americas, is published for the first and only time.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Ethan Allen surrenders to British forces after attempting to capture Montreal during the Battle of Longue-Pointe. Benedict Arnold and his expeditionary company set off from Fort Western, bound for Quebec City.
1789 – The United States Congress passes twelve amendments to the United States Constitution: The Congressional Apportionment Amendment (which was never ratified), the Congressional Compensation Amendment, and the ten that are known as the Bill of Rights.
1790 – Peking opera is born when the Four Great Anhui Troupes introduce Anhui opera to Beijing in honor of the Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday.
1804 – The Teton Sioux (a subdivision of the Lakota) demand one of the boats from the Lewis and Clark Expedition as a toll for allowing the expedition to move further upriver.
September 26
1687 – The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.
1687 – The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.
1777 – American Revolution: British troops occupy Philadelphia.
1786 – Protesters shut down the court in Springfield, Massachusetts in a military standoff that begins Shays' Rebellion.
1789 – Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first United States Secretary of State, John Jay is appointed the first Chief Justice of the United States, Samuel Osgood is appointed the first United States Postmaster General, and Edmund Randolph is appointed the first United States Attorney General.
1792 – Marc-David Lasource begins accusing Maximilien Robespierre of wanting a dictatorship for France.
1810 – A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.
September 27
1669 – The Venetians surrender the fortress of Candia to the Ottomans, thus ending the 21-year-long Siege of Candia.
1777 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the capital of the United States, for one day.
1821 – Mexico gains its independence from Spain.
1822 – Jean-François Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta stone.
1825 – The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, is ceremonially opened.
September 28
1779 – American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.
1781 – American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War.
1787 – The newly completed United States Constitution is voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the state legislatures for approval.
1791 – France becomes the first country to emancipate its Jewish population.
September 29
1717 – An earthquake strikes Antigua Guatemala, destroying much of the city's architecture and making authorities consider moving the capital to a different city.
1789 – The United States Department of War first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.
1789 – The 1st United States Congress adjourns.
1829 – The Metropolitan Police of London, later also known as the Met, is founded.
September 30
1744 – France and Spain defeat the Kingdom of Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo.
1791 – The first performance of The Magic Flute, the last opera by Mozart to make its debut, took place at Freihaus-Theater Auf der Wieden in Vienna, Austria.
1791 – The National Constituent Assembly in Paris is dissolved; Parisians hail Maximilien Robespierre and Jérôme Pétion as "incorruptible patriots".
1813 – Battle of Bárbula: Simón Bolívar defeats Santiago Bobadilla.
