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Note: Sources for the historical content shown, include research and reviews of relevant Online History Resources or printed material.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.
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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.
Belize Independence day from the UK (Effective day of the Belize Act of 1981). Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It's northern border is with Mexico, Guatemala to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Caribbean Commonwealth (the historical British West Indies). It has an estimated 2024 population of 400,000
The massacre of Sabra and Shatila, during the Lebanese Civil War takes place in Beirut, Lebanon, where Lebanese Christian militia, supported by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that had surrounded Beirut's Sabra neighborhood and the adjacent Shatila refugee camp, killed between 1,300 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shias between the 16–18 September 1982.
Korean Air Flight 007 is shot down by Soviet Union forces after it strays significantly into restricted Soviet airspace due to navigation errors where it was mistakenly identified as a hostile reconnaissance aircraft during a period of high Cold War tension. The South Korean airliner eventually crashed in in the Sea of Japan killing all 269 passengers and crew on board. More
An 8.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Mexico City, causing widespread devastation and resulting in the deaths of 10,000 people, 30,000 injured and thousands left homeless. More
The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act is passed by the United States Congress, imposing economic sanctions against South Africa in protest against its apartheid policies.
The "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series premieres, becoming a highly successful continuation of the Star Trek franchise.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is signed, aiming to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of ozone-depleting substances.
United Farm Workers Vice President Dolores Huerta, 58 years old, is beaten by San Francisco Police, in front of the St. Francis Hotel in Union Square during a peaceful and lawful protest of the policies/platform of then candidate George H. W. Bush, who was holding a fundraiser in the hotel.
The baton-beating caused significant internal injuries to her torso, resulting in broken ribs and the loss of her spleen in emergency surgery. The beating was caught on videotape and broadcasted on television news. Later, Huerta won a large judgment against the SFPD and the City of San Francisco for the attack, the proceeds of which she used for the benefit of farm workers. As a result of this assault and the suit, the SFPD was pressured to change its crowd control policies and its process of officer discipline. Huerta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on May 29, 2012. More
Hungary opens its border with Austria, allowing thousands of East German refugees to flee to the West. This event contributed to the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany.
