Browse Historical Events by Month:
Battles, deaths, and monumental religious moments. Explore significant events from September that helped shape the world. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
Note: Sources for the historical content shown, include research and reviews of relevant Online History Resources or printed material. When possible, we show a link to a source which provides additional or unique perspective about the event.
We do our best to provide accurate information but would appreciate being notified if any incorrect information is found. You may do so by using our Feedback link.
Joseph Smith's vision of Moroni. According to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Moroni was an angel or resurrected being who appeared to Joseph Smith on this day in 1823 and instructed him to restore God's church on earth. More
The London Metropolitan police established by Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel, begins operating at Scotland Yard on September 29, 1829 with 1,000 officers.
Charles Darwin on board the HMS Beagle, reaches the Galápagos Islands on September 15, 1835, while in a five-year exploration voyage. He was 26 at the time. More
English chemist, Michael Faraday discovers the influence of a magnetic field on polarized light during an experiment on September 13, 1845, when he observed that when the electromagnet was turned on, the polarization of the light changed.
His discover came to be known as the "Faraday effect". Among his many interests, Faraday was also active in what would now be called environmental science, or engineering. He investigated industrial pollution at Swansea and was consulted on air pollution at the Royal Mint. In July 1855, Faraday wrote a letter to The Times on the subject of the foul condition of the River Thames,. More
Phineas Wilcox is stabbed to death in Nauvoo, Illinois, by fellow Mormons, as they were called, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), because he was believed to be a spy. Wilcox was one of the first victims of "blood atonement," a since abandoned Mormon doctrine, that certain sins were so serious as to put the sinner "beyond the reach of the atoning blood of Christ" For these fallen sinners, their "only hope" lay in having "their own blood shed to atone." More
The Vesuvius Observatory (the Osservatorio Vesuviano), officially opens as a surveillance center on September 28, 1845. It was founded in Naples, Italy in 1841 at the behest of King Ferdinand II of Bourbon, then the ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
The observatory, constructed on the western slopes of Mount Vesuvius is widely recognized as the world's first institution dedicated to the study of volcanoes. It now serves as the Naples section of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and continues to monitor Mount Vesuvius, the Phlegrean Fields, and the island of Ischia.
American inventor Elias Howe was granted a patent on September 10, 1846, for his sewing machine. An invention which revolutionized garment manufacturing and help change people's life and the Country economies.
The invention process of the sewing machine involved several men over a number of years, however, Elias Howe, Jr. is ultimately considered the inventor of the sewing machine. He received Four patents were actually issued prior to Howe's, but none of those inventors was successful. Howe's innovation, in addition to the mechanical improvements to his machine, was in putting together all of the work of his predecessors, and producing a sewing machine used around the world, making him wealthy and famous in the process. More
Astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle is the first to identify Neptune as the eighth planet orbiting around the Sun. The discovery was made possible by mathematical calculations of its predicted position due to observed perturbations in the orbit of the planet Uranus. A telescope was then used since Neptune is too faint and distant to be visible to the naked eye.
Astronomers soon discovered a moon orbiting Neptune, but it took more than a century to discover a second one. Our knowledge of distant Neptune greatly increased from the scientific observations made during Voyager 2’s flyby in 1989, including the discovery of five additional moons and confirmation of dark rings orbiting the planet. More
American dentist Dr. William Morton uses the anesthetic diethyl ether to extract a tooth in his Boston office. On October 16, 1846 he gave a successful public demonstration of surgical anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is credited with being instrumental in gaining the world’s acceptance of surgical anesthesia.
During the Mexican-American War, General Winfield Scott captures Mexico City after a successful attack on the port city of Veracruz and a series of victories. More
American railroad foreman Phineas Gage suffers a traumatic brain injury on September 13, 1848, when an iron rod shot through his left cheek, trough his skull and out his cranial vault, obliterating the greater part of the left frontal lobe of his brain. He survived with limited physical damage, although personality changes were observed and reported. More
California is admitted into the Union becoming the 31st State on September 9, 1850, as a free, non-slavery state, which sparked immense debate in Congress and escalated tensions leading up to the American Civil War. View list of Admission
Two ships collided about fifty miles off the coast of Newfoundland, killing at least 322 people of the 400 who were onboard. The collision was caused by a sudden, heavy fog that obscured the view of both ships' Captains. The larger ship was the wood hulled paddle steamer called SS Arctic. The smaller ship was called the SS Vesta, an iron hulled, propeller driven French ship. More
A Mormon militia in southern Utah seized a wagon train from Arkansas and brutally murdered 120 people, on September 11, 1857. Soon after the event, known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre, records of the event were destroyed and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) attempted a cover-up. still troubles the descendants of both the attackers and victims.
The French conquest of Cochinchina (Vietnam) begins.
The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history. It was associated with a very bright solar flare and it created strong auroral displays that were reported globally and caused sparking and even fires in multiple telegraph stations. The geomagnetic storm was most likely the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun colliding with Earth's magnetosphere.
A geomagnetic storm of this magnitude occurring today would cause widespread electrical disruptions, blackouts, and could cause an internet apocalypse, sending large numbers of people and businesses offline due to extended outages of the electrical power grid. More
The Battle of Antietam takes place during the American Civil War, resulting in the bloodiest single day of battle in U.S. history. It showed that the Union could stand against the Confederate army in the Eastern theater. It also gave President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. More
President Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863 "all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." More
Confederate forces evacuated Atlanta under the command of General John Bell Hood, following a prolonged siege by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, leading to the city's surrender to Union forces the following day.
The evacuation and subsequent fall of Atlanta were crucial to the Union war effort, ensuring President Lincoln's reelection and paving the way for Sherman's destructive March to the Sea.
The Wyoming legislators write the first state constitution granting women the right to vote. It was signed into law on December 10, 1869, by Territorial Governor John Allen Campbell. On September 6, 1870, Louisa Ann Swain of Laramie, Wyoming became the first woman to cast a vote in a general election.
In 1890, when the U.S. Congress demanded Wyoming rescind the right of women to vote as a condition of becoming a State. Wyoming, with a Republican governor and Democratic legislature, insisted it would not become a state without keeping women's suffrage. Congress gave in, and Wyoming became the 44th State and the first U.S. State in which women could vote on July 10, 1890.
