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September 21

Events

*1217 – Livonian Crusade: The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu and Livonian leader Kaupo are killed in Battle of St. Matthew's Day.
*1435 – An agreement between Charles VII of France and Philip the Good ends the partnership between the English and Burgundy in Hundred Years' War.
*1745 – Battle of Prestonpans: A Hanoverian army under the command of Sir John Cope is defeated, in ten minutes, by the Jacobite forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart
*1780 – American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point.
*1792 – The National Convention declares France a republic and abolishes the monarchy.
*1827 – Joseph Smith, Jr. is reportedly visited by the angel Moroni, who gave him a record of gold plates, one-third of which Smith has translated into ''The Book of Mormon''.
*1860 – In the Second Opium War, an Anglo-French force defeats Chinese troops at the Battle of Baliqiao.
*1896 – British force under Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola in the Sudan.
*1897 – The "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial is published in the ''New York Sun.''
*1898 – Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China.
*1921 – A storage silo in Oppau, Germany, explodes, killing 500-600 people.
*1934 – A large typhoon hits western Honshū, Japan, killing 3,036 people.
*1937 – J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Hobbit'' is published.
*1938 – The Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island in New York. The death toll is estimated at 500-700 people.
*1939 – Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu is assassinated by ultranationalist members of the Iron Guard.
*1942 – On the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Nazis sent over 1,000 Jews of Pidhaytsi (west Ukraine) to Belzec extermination camp.
*1942 – At the end of Yom Kippur, the Germans ordered Konstantynów Jews (Poland) to permanently evacuate Konstantynów and move to the Ghetto – established in Biała Podlaska, meant to assemble Jews from nearby 7 towns among them: Konstantynów, Janów Podlaski, Rossosz, Terespol, and 3 more.
* 1942 – In Dunaivtsi, Ukraine, Nazis murder 2,588 Jews.
* 1942 – The B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight.
*1961 – Maiden flight of the CH-47 Chinook transportation helicopter.
*1964 – Malta becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
* 1964 – The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world's first Mach 3 bomber, makes its maiden flight from Palmdale, California.
*1965 – Gambia, Maldives and Singapore are admitted as members of the United Nations.
*1971 – Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations.
*1972 – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos signs Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire country under martial law.
*1976 – Orlando Letelier is assassinated in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Chilean socialist government of Salvador Allende, overthrown in 1973 by Augusto Pinochet.
*1976 – Seychelles joins the United Nations.
*1981 – Belize is granted full independence from the United Kingdom.
* 1981 – Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice.
*1984 – Brunei joins the United Nations.
*1989 – Hurricane Hugo makes landfall in the U.S. state of South Carolina.
*1991 – Armenia is granted independence from Soviet Union.
*1993 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspends parliament and scraps the then-functioning constitution, thus triggering the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993.
*1999 – Chi-Chi earthquake occurs in central Taiwan, leaving about 2,400 people dead.
*2001 – Deep Space 1 flies within 2,200�km of Comet Borrelly.
* 2001 – AZF chemical plant explodes in Toulouse, France, killing 31 people
*2003 – ''Galileo'' mission is terminated by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it is crushed by the pressure at the lower altitudes.
*2004 – The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India merge to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
* 2004 – Construction of the Burj Dubai starts.
*2008 – Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the two last remaining independent investment banks on Wall Street, become bank holding companies as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.
*2009 – Chennai - New Delhi Duronto service inaugurated

Births

*1051 – Bertha of Savoy, German queen and Holy Roman Empire Empress (d. 1087)
*1328 – Hongwu Emperor of China (d. 1398)
*1411 – Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, claimant to the English throne (d. 1460)
*1415 – Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1493)
*1428 – Jingtai Emperor of China (d. 1457)
*1452 – Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican priest and ruler of Florence (d. 1498)
*1559 – Cigoli, Florentine painter, architect, and sculptor (d. 1613)
*1629 – Philip Cardinal Howard, English Catholic cardinal (d. 1694)
*1645 – Louis Joliet, Canadian explorer (d. 1700)
*1706 – Polyxena Christina of Hesse-Rotenburg, queen of Sardinia (d. 1735)
*1756 – John MacAdam, Scottish engineer and road-builder (d. 1836)
*1758 – Christopher Gore, 8th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1827)
*1760 – Ivan Dmitriev, Russian statesman (d. 1837)
*1819 – Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France (d. 1864)
*1840 – Murad V, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1904)
*1842 – Abd-ul-Hamid II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1918)
*1849 – Maurice Barrymore, Indian-born patriarch of the Barrymore family (d. 1905)
*1853 – Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)
*1862 – James E. Talmage, LDS apostle and author (d. 1933)
*1863 – John Bunny, American film comedian (d. 1915)
*1866 – H. G. Wells, English writer (d. 1946)
*1866 – Charles Nicolle, French bacteriologist, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1936)
*1873 – Papa Jack Laine, American musician (d. 1966)
*1874 – Gustav Holst, English composer (d. 1934)
*1895 – Sergei Yesenin, Russian poet (d. 1925)
*1896 – Walter Breuning, American supercentenarian
*1899 – Frederick Coutts, the 8th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1986)
*1902 – Luis Cernuda, Spanish poet (d. 1963)
* 1902 – Sir Allen Lane, British founder of Penguin Books (d. 1970)
*1905 – Robert Lebel, French Canadian ice hockey executive (d. 1999)
*1906 – Henry Beachell, American plant breeder (d. 2006)
*1909 – Kwame Nkrumah, 1st President of Ghana (d. 1972)
*1912 – Chuck Jones, American animator (d. 2002)
* 1912 – György Sándor, Hungarian pianist (d. 2005)
*1916 – Françoise Giroud, French journalist and politician (d. 2003)
*1917 – Phyllis Nicolson, British mathematician (d. 1968)
*1918 – John Gofman, American Manhattan Project scientist and advocate (d. 2007)
*1919 – Mario Bunge, Argentine philosopher and physicist
* 1919 – Fazlur Rahman, Pakistani scholar (d. 1988)
*1924 – Hermann Buhl, Austrian mountaineer (d. 1957)
*1926 – Donald A. Glaser, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
* 1926 – Noor Jehan, Pakistani singer and actress (d. 2000)
*1929 – Sándor Kocsis, Hungarian footballer (d. 1979)
* 1929 – Bernard Williams, English philosopher (d. 2003)
*1931 – Larry Hagman, American actor
*1933 – Dick Simon, American racing driver
*1934 – Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer and songwriter
*1935 – Jimmy Armfield, English footballer and manager
* 1935 – Henry Gibson, American actor (d. 2009)
*1936 – Dickey Lee, American singer and songwriter
* 1936 – Yuriy Luzhkov, Russian politician, mayor of Moscow
* 1936 – Diane Rehm, American radio talk show host for National Public Radio
*1938 – Doug Moe, American basketball player and coach
*1940 – Hermann Knoflacher, Austrian civil engineer
* 1940 – Bill Kurtis, American television journalist
*1941 – Jack Brisco, American professional wrestler
* 1941 – R. James Woolsey, Jr., Central Intelligence Agency director
*1944 – Fannie Flagg, American actress and novelist
* 1944 – Hamilton Jordan, U.S. President Jimmy Carter's original chief of staff (d. 2008)
* 1944 – Steve Beshear, Democratic Governor of Kentucky.
*1945 – Jerry Bruckheimer, American film and television producer
* 1945 – Richard Childress, NASCAR team owner
* 1945 – Shaw Clifton, the 18th General of The Salvation Army
*1946 – Moritz Leuenberger, Swiss Federal Councilor
*1947 – Stephen King, American author
* 1947 – Marsha Norman, American playwright
* 1947 – Don Felder, American guitarist (Eagles)
*1949 – Artis Gilmore, American basketball player
*1950 – Charles Clarke, British politician
* 1950 – Bill Murray, American comedian and actor
*1951 – Bruce Arena, American soccer coach
* 1951 – Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen rebel leader (d. 2005)
*1952 – Dave Gregory, English guitar and keyboard player (XTC)
* 1952 – Anneliese Michel, German exorcism victim (d. 1976)
*1953 – Arie Luyendyk, Dutch race car driver
*1954 – Shinzo Abe, Japanese politician
* 1954 – Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, British musician (Motörhead)
*1955 – Mika Kaurismäki, Finnish director
* 1955 – Richard Hieb, American astronaut
*1956 – Jack Givens, American basketball player
* 1956 – Marta Kauffman, American television producer
* 1956 – Ricky Morton, American professional wrestler
*1957 – Ethan Coen, American film director
* 1957 – Sidney Moncrief, American basketball player
* 1957 – Kevin Rudd, 26th Prime Minister of Australia
* 1957 – Penny Smith, English television presenter
*1958 – Bruno Fitoussi, French poker player
* 1958 – Rick Mahorn, American basketball player
*1959 – Dave Coulier, American actor
* 1959 – Danny Cox, American baseball player
* 1959 – Corinne Drewery, British singer (Swing Out Sister)
*1960 – David James Elliott, Canadian actor
* 1961 – Nancy Travis, American actress
*1962 – Rob Morrow, American actor
*1963 – Curtly Ambrose, Antiguan West Indies cricketer
* 1963 – Cecil Fielder, American baseball player
* 1963 – Angus Macfadyen, Scottish actor
*1964 – Jorge Drexler, Uruguayan singer and composer
*1965 – Cheryl Hines, American actress
* 1965 – David Wenham, Australian actor
* 1965 – Johanna Vuoksenmaa, Finnish film director
*1967 – Glen Benton, American musician (Deicide)
* 1967 – Faith Hill, American singer
* 1967 – Tyler Stewart, Canadian drummer (Barenaked Ladies)
*1968 – Ricki Lake, American actress and talk show hostess
*1969 – Jason Christiansen, American baseball player
*1970 – John Cudia, American actor
*1971 – John Crawley, English cricketer
* 1971 – Alfonso Ribeiro, American actor
* 1971 – Luke Wilson, American actor
*1972 – Liam Gallagher, English singer (Oasis)
* 1972 – Jon Kitna, American football player
* 1972 – David Silveria, American drummer (KoЯn)
* 1972 – Scott Spiezio, American baseball player
*1973 – Vanessa Grigoriadis, American journalist
* 1973 – Oswaldo Sanchez, Mexican footballer
*1974 – Bryce Drew, American basketball player
* 1974 – Taral Hicks, American musician
* 1974 – Jana Kandarr, German tennis player
* 1974 – Andy Todd, English footballer
*1975 – Doug Davis, American baseball player
*1976 – Jonas Bjerre, Danish singer and guitarist (Mew)
* 1976 – Poul Hübertz, Danish footballer
*1977 – Brian Tallet, American baseball player
*1978 – Doug Howlett, New Zealand rugby union footballer
* 1978 – Luke Godden, Australian rules footballer
*1979 – Richard Dunne, Irish footballer
* 1979 – Chris Gayle, Jamaican West Indies cricketer
* 1979 – Julian Gray, English footballer
* 1979 – Jaymee Ong, Chinese-Australian model
* 1979 – James Allan, Scottish singer (Glasvegas)
*1980 – Robert Hoffman, American actor
* 1980 – Kareena Kapoor, Indian actress
* 1980 – Nyree Lewis, British Paralympic swimmer
* 1980 – Aleksa Palladino, American actress
* 1980 – Autumn Reeser, American actress
* 1980 – Tomas Scheckter, South African racing driver
*1981 – Nicole Richie, American socialite
* 1981 – Rimi Sen, Indian actress
* 1981 – Meilinda Soerjoko, Indonesian-Australian actress
*1982 – Eduardo Azevedo, Brazilian racing driver
* 1982 – Danny Kass, American snowboarder
* 1982 – Marat Izmailov, Russian footballer
* 1982 – Parvati Shallow, American reality show contestant
* 1982 – Christos Tapoutos, Greek footballer
* 1982 – Rowan Vine, English footballer
*1983 – Fernando Cavenaghi, Argentinian footballer
* 1983 – Maggie Grace, American actress
* 1983 – Joseph Mazzello, American actor
* 1983 – Anna Meares, Australian cyclist
*1984 – Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner, American swimmer
*1985 – Maryam Hassouni, Dutch actor
*1987 – Jimmy Clausen, American football player
* 1987 – Ashley Paris, American basketball player
* 1987 – Courtney Paris, American basketball player
*1988 – Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistani politician

Deaths

*19 BC – Virgil, Roman poet (b. 70 BC)
* 454 – Aëtius, Roman general (b. c.396)
*1217 – Caupo of Turaida, Livonian military leader
* 1217 – Lembitu of Lehola, Estonian military leader
*1327 – King Edward II of England (b. 1284)
*1397 – Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel, English military leader (executed) (b. 1346)
*1542 – Juan Boscán Almogáver, Spanish poet
*1558 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1500)
*1576 – Gerolamo Cardano, Italian mathematician (b. 1501)
*1586 – Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, French church leader (b. 1517)
*1626 – François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières, Constable of France (b. 1543)
*1719 – Johann Heinrich Acker, German writer (b. 1647)
*1743 – Jai Singh II, King of Amber-Juiper (b. 1688)
*1748 – John Balguy, English philosopher (b. 1686)
*1796 – François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French general (b. 1769)
*1798 – George Read, American lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1733)
*1832 – Sir Walter Scott, Scottish writer (b. 1771)
*1860 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (b. 1788)
*1874 – Jean-Baptiste Élie de Beaumont, French geologist (b. 1794)
*1897 – Wilhelm Wattenbach, German historian (b. 1819)
*1904 – Chief Joseph, Nez Perce leader (b. 1840)
*1906 – Samuel Arnold, Lincoln conspirator (b. 1838)
*1926 – Leon Charles Thevenin, French telegraph engineer (b. 1857)
*1938 – Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic, Croatian writer (b. 1874)
*1939 – Armand Călinescu, Romanian prime-minister (assassinated) (b. 1893)
*1944 – Artur Phleps, German Waffen-SS officer (b. 1881)
*1946 – Olga Engl, Austrian actress (b. 1871)
*1948 – Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan (b. 1876)
*1954 – Kokichi Mikimoto, Japanese inventor (b. 1858)
*1957 – King Haakon VII of Norway (b. 1872)
*1963 – Paulino Masip, Spanish playwright (b. 1899)
*1966 – Paul Reynaud, French politician (b. 1878)
*1971 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentine physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
*1972 – Henry de Montherlant, French writer (b. 1896)
*1974 – Walter Brennan, American actor (b. 1894)
* 1974 – Jacqueline Susann, American novelist (b. 1918)
*1976 – Orlando Letelier, Chilean diplomat (b. 1932)
*1982 – Hovhannes Bagramyan, Soviet general (b. 1897)
*1985 – Gu Long, Taiwanese writer of wuxia novels (b. 1937)
*1987 – Jaco Pastorius, American bassist (b. 1951)
*1988 – Glenn Robert Davis, member of United States Congress (b. 1914)
*1990 – Takis Kanellopoulos, Greek film director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
*1995 – Rudy Perpich, American politician (b. 1928)
*1997 – Jennifer Holt, American actress (b. 1920)
*1998 – Florence Griffith Joyner, American athlete (b. 1959)
*2000 – Bryan Smith, Man who ran over Stephen King (b. 1957)
*2002 – Robert L. Forward, American physicist and writer (b. 1932)
*2004 – Barry Noble Wakeman, American naturalist and educator (b. 1939)
* 2004 – Bob Mason, British actor (b. 1952)
*2006 – Tasos Athanasiadis, Greek writer (b. 1913)
* 2006 – Boz Burrell, English rock musician (b. 1946)
*2007 – Hallgeir Brenden, Norwegian Olympic gold medalist (b. 1929)
* 2007 – Alice Ghostley, American actress (b. 1926)
* 2007 – Rex Humbard, American television evangelist (b. 1919)

Holidays and observances

*International Day of Peace
*Roman Catholic Saints – Matthew the Evangelist
*The Nativity of the Theotokos in Russia. Also see September 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
*Independence Day in Malta (1964), Belize (1981) & Armenia (1991)
*Mabon – Neopagan festival of Mabon
*In ancient Greece, the eighth day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the secret rites in the Telesterion finish and the feast, Pannychis, begins

Source: Wikipedia