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October brims with upheaval and milestones. Alexander the Great triumphs at Gaugamela, William the Conqueror wins at Hastings, and Martin Luther nails his Ninety-five Theses. A massive quake and tsunami level Lima and Callao, while women march on Versailles, igniting the French Revolution. The Haiphong cyclone claims hundreds of thousands of lives. Yet October also brings symbols of hope: the Statue of Liberty is dedicated, the United Nations is born, and Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk share the Nobel Peace Prize. Discover what happened in October and explore the history of our world.

From the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 to Lincoln’s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, and even Google’s founding in 1998, September has shaped history in remarkable ways. Each day reveals milestones that influenced our world. Explore our insightful list of historical events in September.

Discover when nations were founded, battles were fought, groundbreaking scientific discoveries took place, and moments of tragedy and courage that defined generations. Find major historical events from September — or any day in history — on Kudos 365.

Cecilia Payne's work on the nature of variable stars showed that the wide variation in stellar spectra is due mainly to the different ionization states of the atoms and hence different surface temperatures of the stars, not to different amounts of the elements. Concluding that stars were composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Her groundbreaking work from almost 100 years ago, was initially rejected because it contradicted the scientific wisdom of the time, which held that there were no significant elemental differences between the Sun and Earth. Independent observations eventually proved she was correct. More

Memorial Day honors all service members who lost their lives while in service to the United States, during peace and war. It is a time to reflect on those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

    "Soldiers Memorial Day"
   Hymn by Mary B. C. Slade

When flow’ry Summer is at hand,
And Spring has gemm’d the earth with bloom,
We hither bring, with loving hand,
Bright flow’rs to deck our soldier’s tomb.

                  (Chorus)
Gentle birds above are sweetly singing
O’er the graves of heroes brave and true;
While the sweetest flow’rs we are bringing,
Wreath’d in garlands of red, white and blue.

They died our country to redeem,
And from the loving earth we bring
The wealth of hill, and vale, and stream,
Our grateful land’s best offering

                 (Chorus)
With snowy hawthorn, clusters white,
Fair violets of heav’nly blue,
And early roses, fresh and bright,
We wreathe the red, and white, and blue.

But purer than the fairest flowers,
We strew above the honored dead,
The tender changeless love of ours,
That decks the soldier’s lowly bed.

                   (Chorus)
We bend and kiss the precious sod,
Swift fall our tears the graves above
Oh! Brothers! from the hills of God,
Look down and see our changeless love.

Written by Mary B. C. Slade in 1870, two years after Gen. John A. Logan first declared May 30th a Memorial Day for decorating the graves of fallen soldiers. Music to her words was written by Perkins, W. O. (William Oscar). In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May. The change went into effect in 1971. Read about the Origins of Memorial Day

I would read novels,
tales of western yore,
about Billy the Kid,
the Dalton Gang, and more.

The early days, in the West,
travelling before rail,
when covered wagons,
used the Oregon Trail.

Imagine the adventure,
as you travelled along,
miles after miles,
toward your new home.

I remember some stories,
told when on their way.
He wrote many novels,
about the West, Zane Grey

Westward, he rode,
over mountain and plain,
crossing many valleys,
of the lands domain.

Travelling on horseback,
he was doing his best,
pursuing the journey
of the first Pony Express.

"For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

Excerpt from Yale University Commencement Address delivered 11 June 1962, New Haven, Connecticut by President John F Kennedy. Read more

Seventy years ago, on February 28.1953, Cambridge University scientists James D. Watson and Francis Crick announced  that they had determined the double-helix structure of DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA was discovered in 1869 but its significant genetic inheritance role was not demonstrated until 1943. Many other Scientists were working on figuring out the structure of DNA. Read more

Source: NIH National Library of Medicine

“Worried that technology is ‘breaking your brain’? Fears about attention spans and focus are as old as writing itself."  Read more

A team of archaeologists in London recently uncovered a stunning 1300-year-old gold and gemstone necklace. This necklace is believed to have been crafted in the Anglo-Saxon period and is said to be a "once-in-a-lifetime" find. It is thought to have been a symbol of high status and wealth. It probably belonged to an elite woman who wanted to “show off” her new Christian identity"........ Read more

"The aroma of fried chicken and biscuits roused my appetite as the country sounds of Alison Krauss, Alan Jackson and Johnny Cash played over the loudspeakers.... I was ... in rural Brazil, at the "Festa Confederada" – the “Confederate Party” – an annual celebration of southern U.S. heritage held each April in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, in São Paulo state. Read more

"The newly discovered Nazca lines depict humans, cats, killer whales, birds, and snakes and date between 100 BCE and 300 CE" Read more

Photo courtesy of Yamagata University