September 14 - Events

Events

• 81 – Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus.
• 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.
• 1180 – Battle of Ishibashiyama in Japan.
• 1607 – Flight of the Earls from Lough Swilly, Donegal, Ireland.
• 1682 – Bishop Gore School, one of the oldest schools in Wales, is founded.
• 1741 – George Frideric Handel completes his oratorio Messiah
• 1752 – The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2).
• 1763 – Seneca warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Devil's Hole during Pontiac's War.
• 1808 – Finnish War: Russians defeat the Swedes in the bloody Battle of Oravais.
• 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Grande Armée enters Moscow. The Fire of Moscow begins as soon as Russian troops leave the city.
• 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.
• 1829 – The Ottoman Empire signs the Treaty of Adrianople with Russia, thus ending the Russo-Turkish War.
• 1846 – Jang Bahadur and his brothers massacre about 40 members of the Nepalese palace court.
• 1847 – Mexican-American War: Winfield Scott captures Mexico City.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of South Mountain, part of the Maryland Campaign, is fought.
• 1901 – President of the United States William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6, and is succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt.
• 1917 – Russia is officially proclaimed a republic.
• 1923 – Miguel Primo de Rivera becomes dictator of Spain.
• 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.
• 1944 – World War II: Maastricht becomes the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces.
• 1954 – In a top secret nuclear test, a Soviet Tu-4 bomber drops a 40 kiloton atomic weapon just north of Totskoye village.
• 1958 – The first two German post-war rockets, designed by the German engineer Ernst Mohr, reach the upper atmosphere.
• 1959 – The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it.
• 1960 – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded.
• 1960 – Congo Crisis: With CIA help, Mobutu Sese Seko seizes power in a military coup, suspending parliament and the constitution.
• 1969 – The US Selective Service selects September 14 as the First Draft Lottery Date.
• 1975 – The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, is canonized by Pope Paul VI.
• 1979 – Afghan President Nur Muhammad Taraki is assassinated upon the order of Hafizullah Amin, who becomes the new president.
• 1982 – President-elect of Lebanon, Bachir Gemayel, is assassinated.
• 1984 – Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1985 – Penang Bridge, the longest bridge in Malaysia, connecting the island of Penang to the mainland, opens to traffic.
• 1987 – The Toronto Blue Jays set a record for the most home runs in a single game, hitting 10 of them.
• 1992 – The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declares the breakaway Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia to be illegal.
• 1994 – The Major League Baseball season is canceled because of a strike.
• 1995 – Body Worlds opens in Tokyo, Japan
• 1998 – Telecommunications companies MCI Communications and WorldCom complete their $37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom.
• 1999 – Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations.
• 2000 – Microsoft releases Windows Me.
• 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.
• 2003 – In a referendum, Estonia approves joining the European Union.
• 2007 – Late-2000s financial crisis: The Northern Rock bank experiences the first bank run in the United Kingdom in 150 years.
• 2008 – All 88 people on board Aeroflot Flight 821 are killed when the plane crashes on approach to Perm Airport.