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.
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Guinea-Bissau Independence from Portugal is formally recognized. Their Independence Day is celebrated on September 24, the day in 1973, when they declared their independence, during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence from Portugal. Guinea-Bissau is a tropical country on West Africa’s Atlantic coast that’s known for national parks and wildlife.
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a member of the Manson Family, attempts to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California. Fromme pointed a .45-caliber pistol at Ford but was immediately restrained by Secret Service agent Larry Buendorf before she could fire.
Her gun failed to fire because she had deliberately not chambered a round, though she had loaded the magazine. After Fromme’s assassination attempt, Ford went on to speak before the California legislature. The main topic of his speech was crime. Fromme was sentenced to life in prison for the crime and was eventually paroled in 2009 after serving 34 years.
Elizabeth Ann Seton is canonized by Pope Paul VI in St. Peter's Square in Rome, becoming the first native-born saint of the United States. More
Papua New Guinea Independence Day from Australia. Officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia. Its 2021 official estimated population was 12 million, estimates using satellite data put the number closer to 17 million.
Sara Jane Moore attempts to assassinate US President Gerald Ford after he had made an address to the World Affairs Council in San Francisco. Moore fired two shots at the President with a .38 Special revolver, both of which missed.
Ford had survived a previous assassination attempt 17 days earlier;On January 15, 1976, Moore was sentenced to life in prison for the attempt, . On January 15, 1976, Sara Jane Moore was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford. She was released on parole on December 31, 2007.
The Indonesian province of East Timor declares its independence from Portugal, leading to an Indonesian invasion and subsequent occupation that lasted until 1999.
Viking 2 lands on Mars at Utopia Planitia Mars after a nearly year long journey and begins relaying information about the planet's atmosphere and soil as well as color photographs of the rocky surface.
Like its predecessor, the Viking 2 mission consisted of a lander and an orbiter designed to take high-resolution images and study the Martian surface and atmosphere. The Viking Orbiter 2 functioned until July 25, 1978. The last data from Viking Lander 2 arrived at Earth on April 11, 1980. More
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Mao Zedong dies in Beijing at age 82 (1893 - 1976). Mao's CCP-flag-draped body lay in state at the Great Hall of the People for one week where an estimated one million people, including diplomatic envoys, leaders of foreign communist parties, and foreign nationals in China paid their final respects.
A three-minute moment of silence was observed in honor of the leader at the start of the 30-minute public funeral in Tiananmen Square, with reports that nearly all of China’s 800 million residents stood in silent tribute.
NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise makes its Public Debut as it rolls out from its manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California. Enterprise was a test vehicle, built without engines or heat shields, specifically for atmospheric and landing tests. The program collected valuable data to prepare for future space flights for other operational shuttle vehicles. More
The Voyager 1 spacecraft is launched by NASA to explore the outer solar system and later becomes the first human-made object to reach interstellar space. No spacecraft has gone farther than NASA's Voyager 1; it crossed into interstellar space in August 2012 and continues to collect data.
The United States and Panama sign the Torrijos-Carter Treaties which provided for the gradual transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama, culminating in the official handover of control on December 31, 1999, under President Jimmy Carter's administration.
These treaties, including the Panama Canal Treaty and the Neutrality Treaty, established the framework for the eventual transfer of the waterway's operation and management to Panamanian hands. A companion treaty stated that the U.S. could use its military to defend the Panama Canal against any threat to its neutrality. It took more than six months before the Senate voted. More
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Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant convicted of the torture and murder of his former girlfriend, becomes the last person to be executed by guillotine. The guillotine was France's legal method of execution for nearly 200 years. France officially abolished the death penalty in 1981.
The Camp David Accords are signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, leading to a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. More
A Boeing 727-214 airliner, operated by Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) as Flight 182, collides with a Cessna 172 during the landing approach at Lindbergh Field (SAN), today known as San Diego International Airport and crashes into a residential neighborhood.
All 135 persons aboard the 727, both persons on the Cessna, and seven persons on the ground were killed. Another nine persons on the ground were injured. Twenty-two homes in a four-block area were destroyed or damaged. More
The Soviet Union launches the space probe Venera 12, which successfully lands on Venus and transmits data back to Earth.
A military coup takes effect effect in Turkey headed by General Kenan Evren. The event and following actions created a climate of fear in Turkey with widespread repression, mass arrests of over 600,000 people, torture, and executions.
The Turkish Armed Forces ruled the country before democracy was restored with the 1983 Turkish general election. This period saw an intensification of the Turkish nationalism of the state, including banning the Kurdish language. Turkey partially returned to democracy in 1983 and fully in 1989.
The Iraq - Iran war begins on September 22, 1980 as Iraq invades western Iran along the countries join border. The war resulted in significant loss of life and economic damage. lasting for eight years when a cease fire was declared on September, 5 1988. More
The Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox in collaboration with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation. Manufacturers had been skeptical of building LAN connections into their products because the lack of industrywide standards meant the networks may not work with equipment from other companies. The Ethernet standard created a uniform network protocol companies could share. More
Pablo Picasso’s 1937 masterpiece “Guernica” arrives in Spain, after more than 40 years of being in the custody of New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Picasso had strongly requested that Guernica remains at the Met until Spain re-established a democratic republic. It would not be until 1981, after both the artist's and Franco's deaths, that Spanish negotiators were finally able to bring the mural home.
The painting was a tribute and a memorial to the city of Guernica and to those who perished during the massive bombing and destruction by warplanes of the Nazi Germany Condor Legion. The bombing too place during the Spanish Civil War in support of the Nationalist rebels led by general Francisco Franco. The painting was kept out of Spain per Picasso's wishes "until the “reestablishment of public liberties” in Spain. More
Saint Kitts and Nevis Independence Day from the UK. Officially the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is an island country located in the Caribbean consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles.
With 261 square kilometers (101 sq mi) of territory, and roughly 48,000 inhabitants, The country is a Commonwealth realm, with Charles III as king and head of state. The capital city is Basseterre, located on the larger island of Saint Kitts.
