September 3
The American Revolution officially comes to an end when representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Spain, and France sign the Treaty of Paris. – 1783.
A three-day hostage crisis at a Russian school comes to a violent conclusion after a gun battle erupts between the 32 hostage-takers and Russian security forces. In the end, 331 were killed, 186 of them children, and more than 700 were injured. – 2004.
September 4
Apache chief Geronimo surrenders to U.S. government troops. For 30 years, the mighty Native American warrior had battled to protect his tribe’s homeland; however, by 1886 the Apaches were exhausted and hopelessly outnumbered. General Nelson Miles accepted Geronimo’s surrender to make him the last Indian warrior to formally give in to U.S. forces and signaling the end of the Indian Wars in the Southwest. – 1886.
Arkansas governor Orval Faubus enlists the National Guard to prevent nine African American students from entering Central High School in Little Rock while an angry crowd of some 400 whites jeered, booed, and threatened to lynch the African American teenagers. Faubus took the action in violation of a federal order to integrate the school. September 24 president Dwight Eisenhower sent 1,000 U.S. troops to Little Rock. The next day, the African American students entered under heavily-armed guard. – 1957.
September 5
Between 20,000 to 30,000 marchers participate in New York’s first Labor Day parade with the demand for an eight-hour work day. – 1882.
In the early morning hours of September 5, six members of the Arab terrorist group known as Black September, dressed in the Olympic sweat suits of Arab nations, entered the Olympic village in Munich, Germany. Twenty hours after Black September had begun their attack, a German police official, five Palestinian terrorists, and 11 Israeli athletes lay dead. – 1972.
In Sacramento, Calif., an assassination attempt against U.S. president Gerald Ford is foiled when a Secret Service agent wrests a semi-automatic .45-caliber pistol from a follower of incarcerated cult leader Charles Manson. – 1975.
September 6
One of Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships, the Vittoria, arrives at SanlÚcar de Barrameda in Spain to complete the first circumnavigation of the world. – 1522.
U.S. president William McKinley is shaking hands at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, N.Y., when a 28-year-old anarchist approaches him and fires two shots into his chest. The unrepentant killer’s last words were “I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people—the working people.” President McKinley dies September 14 and vice president Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as president. – 1901.
September 7
The United States gets its nickname, Uncle Sam. The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, N.Y., who supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army during the War of 1812. Wilson, 1766-1854, stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States, but soldiers began referring to the grub as “Uncle Sam’s.” The local newspaper picked up on the story and Uncle Sam eventually gained widespread acceptance as the nickname for the U.S. federal government. – 1813.
More than 300 German bombers raid London, in the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing. This bombing blitzkrieg (lightning war) would continue until May 1941. – 1940.
September 8
One of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history hits Galveston, Texas and kills more than 6,000 persons. The storm caused so much destruction on the Texas coast that reliable estimates of the number of victims are difficult to make. Some think that as many as 12,000 perished, which would make it the most deadly day in American history. – 1900.
In a controversial executive action, U.S. president Gerald Ford pardons his disgraced predecessor, Richard Nixon, for any crimes he may have committed or participated in while in office. Ford later defended this action by explaining that he wanted to end the National divisions created by the Watergate scandal. – 1974.
Queen Elizabeth II, the United Kingdoms’s longest-serving monarch, dies at age 96, after reigning for 70 years. – 2022
September 9
A Japanese floatplane drops incendiary bombs on an Oregon state forest, the only air attack on the U.S. mainland in World War II. President Franklin Roosevelt immediately called for a news blackout for the sake of morale. – 1942.