September 14 is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 108 days remaining until the end of the year.
Holidays
- Battle of San Jacinto (Nicaragua)
- Christian feast day:
- Aelia Flaccilla (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Crescentius of Rome
- Feast of the Cross (Christianity)
- Formerly, the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following 14 September were observed as one of the four sets of Ember days. In the Irish calendar they were known as Quarter tense. (Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches)
- Louis Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (one of Martyr Saints of China)
- Maternus of Cologne
- Notburga
- September 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
History
In 81, Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus.
In 326, Helena of Constantinople discovers the True Cross and the Holy Sepulchre (Jesus‘s tomb) in Jerusalem.
In 629, Emperor Heraclius enters Constantinople in triumph after his victory over the Persian Empire.
In 786, “Night of the three Caliphs”: Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother al-Hadi. Birth of Harun’s son al-Ma’mun.
In 1180, Battle of Ishibashiyama in Japan.
In 1402, Battle of Homildon Hill results in an English victory over Scotland.
In 1607, Flight of the Earls from Lough Swilly, Donegal, Ireland.
In 1638, John Harvard, English-American minister and philanthropist (b. 1607) dies. He was an English minister in America, “a godly gentleman and a lover of learning”, whose deathbed bequest to the “schoale or Colledge” recently undertaken by the Massachusetts Bay Colony was so gratefully received that it was consequently ordered “that the College agreed upon formerly to be built at Cambridge shall bee called Harvard Colledge.”
In 1682, Bishop Gore School, one of the oldest schools in Wales, is founded.
In 1712, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Italian-French mathematician, astronomer, and engineer (b. 1625) dies at the age of 87. He was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and engineer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo, near Imperia, at that time in the County of Nice, part of the Duchy of Savoy. Cassini is known for his work in the fields of astronomy and engineering. Cassini most notably discovered four satellites of the planet Saturn and noted the division of the rings of Saturn (with the Cassini Division becoming named after him). Giovanni Domenico Cassini was also the first of his family to begin work on the project of creating a topographic map of France. Launched in 1997, the Cassini spaceprobe was named after him and became the fourth to visit Saturn and the first to orbit the planet.
In 1716, The first American lighthouse lights up in the Boston Harbor in Massachusetts.
In 1741, George Frideric Handel completes his oratorio Messiah
In 1752, The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2).
In 1759, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French general (b. 1712) dies during the Battle of Quebec from a musket ball. He was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years’ War (whose North American theatre is called the French and Indian War in the United States).
Montcalm was born near Nîmes in France to a noble family, and entered military service early in life. He saw service in the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession, where his distinguished service led to promotion to brigadier general. In 1756 King Louis XV sent him and his aide-de-camp Chevalier de Levis to New France to lead its defence against the British in the Seven Years’ War. Montcalm met with notable successes in 1756, 1757 and 1758, but British mobilisation of large numbers of troops against New France led to military setbacks in 1758 and 1759 (when, in January, he was promoted to lieutenant general), culminating in Montcalm’s death at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
Montcalm’s service in New France was marked by conflict between himself and the Governor General of the colony, Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial. These men were the leaders of the war effort in New France during the Seven Years’ War.
Montcalm is a controversial figure among military historians, some of whom have strongly criticized his decisions at Quebec. But he has also been much memorialized, especially in France, Quebec and parts of New York.
In 1763, Seneca warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Devil’s Hole during Pontiac’s War.
In 1776, The British Army entered New York City after defeating the Americans at the Battle of Long Island. General George Washington led the retreat.
In 1791, The Papal States lose Avignon to the French Empire.
In 1807, Former Vice President Aaron Burr was acquitted of a misdemeanor charge two weeks after he was found innocent of treason.
In 1808, Finnish War: Russians defeat the Swedes in the bloody Battle of Oravais.
In 1812, Napoleonic Wars: The French Grande Armée enters Moscow. The Fire of Moscow begins as soon as Russian troops leave the city.
In 1814, The poem Defence of Fort McHenry is written by Francis Scott Key. The poem is later used as the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner.
In 1829, The Ottoman Empire signs the Treaty of Adrianople with Russia, thus ending the Russo-Turkish War.
In 1836, Aaron Burr, American colonel and politician, 3rd Vice President of the United States (b. 1756) dies on Staten Island in the village of Port Richmond, in a boardinghouse. This was later adapted and operated as the St. James Hotel. He was buried near his father in Princeton, New Jersey. He was an American politician. He was the third Vice President of the United States (1801–1805); he served during President Thomas Jefferson‘s first term.
After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician. He was elected twice to the New York State Assembly (1784–1785, 1798–1799), was appointed New York State Attorney General (1789–1791), was chosen as a United States Senator (1791–1797) from the state of New York, and reached the apex of his career as Vice President.
The highlight of Burr’s tenure as President of the Senate (one of his few official duties as Vice President) was the Senate’s first impeachment trial, of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase. In 1804, the last full year of his single term as Vice President, Burr killed his political rival Alexander Hamilton in a famous duel. Burr was never tried for the illegal duel, and all charges against him were eventually dropped, but Hamilton’s death ended Burr’s political career.
After leaving Washington, Burr traveled west seeking new opportunities, both economic and political. His activities eventually led to his arrest on charges of treason in 1807. Although the subsequent trial resulted in acquittal, Burr’s western schemes left him with large debts and few influential friends. In a final quest for grand opportunities, he left the United States for Europe. He remained overseas until 1812, when he returned to the United States to practice law in New York City. There he spent the remainder of his life in relative obscurity.
In 1846, Jang Bahadur and his brothers massacre about 40 members of the Nepalese palace court.
In 1847, Mexican–American War: Winfield Scott captures Mexico City.
In 1851, James Fenimore Cooper, American soldier and author (b. 1789) dies of dropsy on September 14, 1851, the day before his 62nd birthday. His interment was in Christ Episcopal Churchyard, where his father, William Cooper, was buried. Cooper’s wife Susan survived her husband only by a few months and was buried by his side at Cooperstown. He was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature. He lived most of his life in Cooperstown, New York, which was founded by his father William on property he owned. Cooper was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church and in his later years contributed generously to it. He attended Yale University for three years, where he was a member of the Linonian Society, but was expelled for misbehavior.
Before embarking on his career as a writer he served in the U.S. Navy as a Midshipman, which greatly influenced many of his novels and other writings. The novel that launched his career was The Spy, a tale about counterespionage set during the Revolutionary War and published in 1821. He also wrote numerous sea stories and his best known works are five historical novels of the frontier period known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Among naval historians Cooper’s works on the early U.S. Navy have been well received, but they were sometimes criticized by his contemporaries. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, often regarded as his masterpiece.
In 1862, American Civil War: The Battle of South Mountain, part of the Maryland Campaign, is fought.
In 1901, U.S. President William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6, and is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.
In 1914, HMAS AE1, the Royal Australian Navy‘s first submarine, was lost at sea with all hands near East New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
In 1917, Russia is officially proclaimed a republic.
In 1939, World War II: The Estonian military boards the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł in Tallinn, sparking a diplomatic incident that the Soviet Union will later use to justify the annexation of Estonia.
In 1940, Ip massacre: The Hungarian Army, supported by local Hungarians, kill 158 Romanian civilians in Ip, Sălaj, a village in Northern Transylvania, an act of ethnic cleansing.
In 1943, World War II: The Wehrmacht starts a three-day retaliatory operation targeting several Greek villages in Viannos, whose death toll would exceeded 500 persons.
In 1944, World War II: Maastricht becomes the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces.
In 1954, In a top secret nuclear test, a Soviet Tu-4 bomber drops a 40 kiloton atomic weapon just north of Totskoye village.
In 1958, The first two German post-war rockets, designed by the German engineer Ernst Mohr, reach the upper atmosphere.
In 1959, The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it.
In 1960, The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded.
In 1960, Congo Crisis: With CIA help, Mobutu Sese Seko seizes power in a military coup, suspending parliament and the constitution.
In 1969, The US Selective Service selects September 14 as the First Draft Lottery date.
In 1975, The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, is canonized by Pope Paul VI.
In 1979, Afghan President Nur Muhammad Taraki is assassinated upon the order of Hafizullah Amin, who becomes the new president.
In 1982, President-elect of Lebanon, Bachir Gemayel, is assassinated.
In 1984, Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1985, Penang Bridge, the longest bridge in Malaysia, connecting the island of Penang to the mainland, opens to traffic.
In 1985, The Golden Girls a television sitcom premieres on NBC
In 1987, The Toronto Blue Jays set a record for the most home runs in a single game, hitting 10 of them.
In 1992, The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declares the breakaway Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia to be illegal.
In 1994, The Major League Baseball season is canceled because of a strike.
In 1995, Body Worlds opens in Tokyo, Japan
In 1998, Telecommunications companies MCI Communications and WorldCom complete their $37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom.
In 1999, Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations.
In 2000, Microsoft releases Windows ME.
In 2001, Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation’s capital.
In 2003, In a referendum, Estonia approves joining the European Union.
In 2007, Late-2000s financial crisis: The Northern Rock bank experiences the first bank run in the United Kingdom in 150 years.
In 2008, All 88 people on board Aeroflot Flight 821 are killed when the plane crashes on approach to Perm Airport.
In 2015, The first observation of gravitational waves was made, announced by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations on 11 February 2016.
In 2016, Knoxville Police captain promises to arrest violators of gun ban at Tennessee Valley Fair.
In 2019, Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim responsibility for an attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.
May God Bless and Keep You This Day Till Tomorrow
