September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 114 days remaining until the end of the year.
Today in history
70 – Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem.
1264 – The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing Jews safety and personal liberties and giving battei din jurisdiction over Jewish matters, is promulgated by Boleslaus the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland.
1331 – Stefan Dušan declares himself king of Serbia
1380 – Battle of Kulikovo – Russian forces defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance.
1449 – Battle of Tumu Fortress – Mongolians capture the Chinese emperor.
1504 – Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Florence.
1514 – Battle of Orsha – in one of the biggest battles of the century, Lithuanians and Poles defeat the Russian army.
1565 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés settles St. Augustine, Florida.
1565 – The Knights of Malta lift the Turkish siege of Malta that started on May 18.
1727 – A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children.
1755 – French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George.
1756 – French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition.
1761 – Marriage of George III of the United Kingdom to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Hondschoote.
1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano – French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa.
1810 – The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board. After a six-month journey around the tip of South America, the ship arrives at the mouth of the Columbia River and Astor's men establish the fur-trading town of Astoria, Oregon.
1831 – William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Sabine Pass – on the Texas-Louisiana border at the mouth of the Sabine River, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.
1888 – In London, the body of Jack the Ripper's second murder victim, Annie Chapman, is found.
1888 – In England the first six Football League matches ever are played.
1900 – Galveston Hurricane of 1900: a powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
1914 – World War I: Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first British soldier to be executed for desertion during the war.
1921 – 16-year-old Margaret Gorman wins the Atlantic City Pageant's Golden Mermaid trophy; pageant officials later dubbed her the first Miss America.
1923 – Honda Point Disaster: nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast. Seven are lost.
1926 – Germany is admitted to the League of Nations.
1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch transparent tape.
1934 – Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger liner SS Morro Castle kills 135 people.
1935 – US Senator from Louisiana, Huey Long, nicknamed "Kingfish", is fatally shot in the Louisiana capitol building.
1941 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins. German forces begin a siege against the Soviet Union's second-largest city, Leningrad.
1943 – World War II: The O.B.S. (German General Headquarters for the Mediterranean zone) in Frascati is bombed by USAAF.
1943 – World War II: United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly announces the Allied armistice with Italy.
1944 – World War II: London is hit by a V2 rocket for the first time.
1944 – World War II: Menton is liberated from Germany.
1945 – Cold War: United States troops arrive to partition the southern part of Korea in response to Soviet troops occupying the northern part of the peninsula a month earlier.
1951 – Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, California, 48 nations sign a peace treaty with Japan in formal recognition of the end of the Pacific War.
1954 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established.
1959 – The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) is established.
1960 – In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1).
1962 – Newly independent Algeria, by referendum, adopts a Constitution.
1962 – Last run of the famous Pines Express over the Somerset and Dorset Railway line (UK) fittingly using the last steam locomotive built by British Railways, 9F locomotive 92220 'Evening Star'
1966 – The Severn Bridge is officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
1966 – The first Star Trek series premieres on NBC.
1967 – The formal end of steam traction in the North East of England by British Railways.
1968 – The Beatles perform their last live TV performance on the David Frost show. They perform their new hit Hey Jude.
1970 – Hijacking (and subsequent destruction) of three airliners to Jordan by Palestinians; the events to follow would later become known as Black September
1971 – In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
1974 – Watergate Scandal: US President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.
1975 – Gays in the military: US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline "I Am A Homosexual". He is later given a general discharge.
1991 – Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.
1994 – A USAir Boeing 737 crashes in Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania, near the city of Aliquippa.
1998 – Mark McGwire hits his 62nd home run of the season off of Steve Trachsel (Chicago Cubs), breaking Roger Maris' long standing record of 61.
1999 – United States Attorney General Janet Reno names former Senator John Danforth to head an independent investigation of the 1993 fire at the Branch Davidian church near Waco, Texas in response to revelations in the film Waco: The Rules of Engagement contradicting the official government stories.
2004 – The NASA unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-lands when its parachute fails to open.
2005 – Two EMERCOM Il-76 aircraft land at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock Air Force Base; the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.
Births
801 – Ansgar, German Christian archbishop (d. 865)
828 – Ali al-Hadi, Shia Imam (d. 868)
1157 – King Richard I of England (d. 1199)
1207 – King Sancho II of Portugal (d. 1248)
1271 – Charles Martel d'Anjou, son of Charles II of Naples (d. 1295)
1380 – Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (d. 1444)
1474 – Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet (d. 1533)
1515 – Alfonso Salmeron, Spanish Jesuit biblical scholar (d. 1585)
1588 – Marin Mersenne, French mathematician (d. 1648)
1611 – Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German classical scholar (d. 1671)
1621 – Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, French general (d. 1686)
1633 – Ferdinand IV of Germany (d. 1654)
1672 – Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer (d. 1703)
1742 – Ozias Humphrey, English artist (d. 1810)
1749 – Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac, French aristocrat (d. 1793)
1749 – Marie-Louise, princesse de Lamballe, Italian-born French aristocrat (d. 1792)
1778 – Clemens Brentano, German poet (d. 1842)
1783 – Nicolai Grundtvig, Danish writer and philosopher (d. 1872)
1804 – Eduard Mörike, German poet (d. 1875)
1814 – Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French writer and historian (d. 1874)
1824 – Jaime Nunó, Spanish composer (d. 1908)
1828 – Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, American Civil War soldier (d. 1914)
1828 – Clarence Cook, American writer and art critic (d. 1900)
1830 – Frédéric Mistral, French poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
1841 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (d. 1904)
1841 – Charles J. Guiteau, American assassin of James A. Garfield (d. 1882)
1852 – Emperor Gwangmu of Korea (d. 1919)
1857 – Georg Michaelis, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1936)
1873 – Alfred Jarry, French playwright (d. 1907)
1873 – David O. McKay, ninth president of The Church of of Latter-day Saints (d. 1970)
1881 – Harry Hillman, American athlete (d. 1945)
1884 – Théodore Pilette, Belgian racing driver (d. 1921)
1886 – Siegfried Sassoon, English poet (d. 1967)
1887 – Prince George of Yugoslavia (d. 1972)
1889 – Robert Alphonso Taft, American politician (d. 1953)
1895 – Sara García, Mexican actress (d. 1980)
1896 – Howard Dietz, American lyricist and librettist (d. 1983)
1897 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer and composer (d. 1933)
1901 – Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, South African politician (d. 1966)
1910 – Jean-Louis Barrault, French actor and director (d. 1994)
1914 – Sir Denys Lasdun, English architect (d. 2001)
1915 – Frank Cady, American actor
1915 – Frank Pullen, English businessman and racehorse owner (d. 1992)
1918 – Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1919 – Gianni Brera, Italian journalist and writer (d. 1992)
1921 – Harry Secombe, Welsh entertainer (d. 2001)
1922 – Sid Caesar, American comedian
1922 – Lyndon LaRouche, American politician
1924 – Mimi Parent, Canadian painter (d. 2005)
1924 – Marie-Claire Kirkland, Quebec politician
1924 – Grace Metalious, American novelist (d. 1964)
1925 – Peter Sellers, English actor (d. 1980)
1927 – Harlan Howard, American country music songwriter (d. 2002)
1929 – Christoph von Dohnanyi, German conductor
1929 – Roger Byrne, English footballer (d. 1958)
1930 – Nguyen Cao Ky, South Vietnamese politician
1930 – Mario Adorf, Swiss-born German actor
1931 – John Garrett, British politician (d. 2007)
1932 – Patsy Cline, American singer (d. 1963)
1933 – Asha Bhosle, Indian singer
1933 – Paul M. Fleiss, American pediatrician; father of Heidi Fleiss
1933 – Michael Frayn, British playwright
1933 – Eric Salzman, American composer
1934 – Rodrigue Biron, Canadian politician
1934 – Peter Maxwell Davies, British composer
1937 – Barbara Frum, Canadian news anchor (d. 1992)
1937 – Virna Lisi, Italian actress
1937 – Sam Nunn, American politician
1938 – Kenichi Horie, Japanese adventurer
1939 – Carsten Keller, German field hockey player
1939 – Guitar Shorty, American musician
1940 – Quentin L. Cook, LDS apostle
1941 – Bernie Sanders, American politician
1942 – Brian Cole, American musician (The Association) (d. 1972)
1943 – Adelaide C. Eckardt, American politician
1944 – Terry Jenner, Australian cricketer
1945 – Ron Pigpen McKernan, American musician (Grateful Dead) (d. 1973)
1945 – Rogie Vachon, Canadian ice hockey player
1946 – L.C. Greenwood, American football player
1947 – Ann Beattie, American writer
1947 – Valery Afanassiev, Russian pianist
1947 – Benjamin Orr, American bassist and singer (The Cars) (d. 2000)
1947 – Halldor Asgrimsson, former Prime Minister of Iceland
1948 – Jean-Pierre Monseré, Belgian cyclist (d. 1971)
1948 – Great Kabuki, Japanese professional wrestler
1950 – Zachary Richard, American singer and songwriter
1950 – Mike Simpson, American politician
1951 – Nikos Karvelas, Greek composer
1953 – Stu Ungar, American Legendary Gambler, 3 Time World Series Of Poker Main Event Winner (d. 1998)
1954 – Anne Diamond, English television presenter
1954 – Mark Foley, American politician
1954 – Michael Shermer, American science writer
1955 – Terry Tempest Williams, American author and environmentalist
1956 – Frank Tovey, British musician (d. 2002)
1956 – Maurice Cheeks, American basketball player and coach
1957 – Heather Thomas, American actress
1958 – Michael Lardie, American musician
1958 – Mitsuru Miyamoto, Japanese voice actor
1959 – Daler Nazarov, Tajik composer and actor
1960 – Aimee Mann, American musician
1960 – Stefano Casiraghi, Italian businessman; husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco (d. 1990)
1960 – David Steele, English musician
1960 – Aguri Suzuki, Japanese racing driver
1961 – Paul Zanetti, Australian political cartoonist
1962 – Sergio Casal, Spanish tennis player
1962 – Christopher Klim, American novelist
1962 – Thomas Kretschmann, German actor
1963 – Li Ning, Chinese gymnast
1963 – Brad Silberling, American television and film director
1963 – Hitoshi Matsumoto, Japanese comedian
1964 – Michael Johns, American business executive
1964 – Scott Levy, American professional wrestler
1964 – Joachim Nielsen, Norwegian musician (d. 2000)
1965 – Darlene Zschech, Australian Christian Singer
1966 – Carola, Swedish singer
1966 – Peter Furler, Australian musician (Newsboys)
1967 – Kimberly Peirce, American film director
1969 – Gary Speed, Welsh footballer
1969 – Oswaldo Ibarra, Ecuadorian footballer
1969 – Lars Bohinen, Norwegian footballer
1970 – Neko Case, American musician
1970 – Latrell Sprewell, American basketball player
1970 – Yuji Nishizawa, Japanese hijacker
1970 – Andy Ward, Irish rugby player
1971 – Brooke Burke, American model
1971 – Daniel Petrov, Bulgarian boxer
1971 – David Arquette, American actor
1971 – Martin Freeman, English actor
1971 – Pierre Sévigny, French-Canadian ice hockey player
1971 – Dustin O'Halloran, American pianist and composer
1971 – Vico C (Luis Armando Lozada Cruz), American (Puerto Rican) musician
1972 – Markus Babbel, German footballer
1972 – Os du Randt, South African rugby player
1972 – Giovanni Frezza, Italian actor
1972 – Lisa Kennedy, American television personality
1972 – Tomokazu Seki, Japanese voice actor
1972 – Phil Laak, Irish-born American professional poker player
1973 – Khamis Al-Owairan, Saudi Arabian footballer
1974 – Braulio Luna, Mexican footballer
1974 – Tanaz Eshaghian, Iranian-born American documentarian
1975 – Richard Hughes, English musician (Keane)
1975 – Elena Likhovtseva, Russian tennis player
1975 – Larenz Tate, American actor
1975 – Lee Eul-Yong, South Korean footballer
1975 – Chris Latham, Australian rugby player
1976 – Sjeng Schalken, Dutch tennis player
1976 – Gerald Drummond and Jervis Drummond, Costa Rican footballers
1976 – Brendan Kelly, American musician (The Lawrence Arms)
1976 – Sarah Kucserka, American screenwriter
1977 – Jay McKee, Canadian hockey player
1978 – Gerard Autet, Spanish footballer
1978 – Gil Meche, American baseball player
1978 – Angela Rawlings, Canadian-American author and performer
1979 – Pink, American singer
1980 – Teruyuki Moniwa, Japanese footballer
1980 – Slim Thug, American rapper
1981 – Morten Gamst Pedersen, Norwegian footballer
1981 – Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
1983 – Wali Lundy, American football player
1983 – Diego Benaglio, Swiss footballer
1983 – Will Blalock, American basketball player
1983 – Chris Judd, Australian football player
1983 – Lewis Roberts-Thompson, Australian footballer
1984 – Vitaly Petrov, Russian racing driver
1984 – Peter Whittingham, English footballer
1984 – Bobby Parnell, Pitcher for the New York Mets
1985 – Yendi Phillips, Jamaican beauty pageant contestant
1986 – João Moutinho, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Matt Grothe, American football player
1987 – Wiz Khalifa, American hip-hop artist
1988 – Caitlin Hill, Australian internet personality
1988 – Arrelious Benn, American football player
1988 – Chantal Jones, American fashion model
1990 – Matt Barkley, American football player
1996 – Krystal Reyes, Filipina actress
1997 – Kimberlea Berg, English actress
Deaths
701 – Pope Sergius I
780 – Leo IV, Byzantine Emperor
1397 – Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester.
1425 – King Charles III of Navarre (b. 1361)
1539 – John Stokesley, English churchman
1560 – Amy Robsart, English noblewoman (b. 1534)
1601 – John Shakespeare, father of William Shakespeare (b. 1530)
1603 – George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, English politician (b. 1547)
1613 – Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer (b. 1566)
1637 – Robert Fludd, English mystic (b. 1574)
1644 – Francis Quarles, English poet (b. 1592)
1644 – John Coke, English politician (b. 1563)
1645 – Francisco de Quevedo, Spanish writer (b. 1580)
1656 – Joseph Hall, English bishop and writer (b. 1574)
1675 – Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, countess of Solms-Braunfels (b. 1602)
1682 – Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish writer (b. 1606)
1721 – Michael Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1686)
1739 – Yuri Troubetzkoy, Governor of Belgorod (b. 1668)
1755 – Ephraim Williams, American philanthropist (b. 1715)
1761 – Bernard Forest de Bélidor, French engineer (b. 1698)
1780 – Enoch Poor, American Continental Army general (b. 1736)
1784 – Ann Lee, American religious leader (b. 1736)
1811 – Peter Simon Pallas, German zoologist (b. 1741)
1831 – John Aitken, Scottish-born music publisher (b. 1745)
1853 – Frédéric Ozanam, founder of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (b. 1813)
1882 – Joseph Liouville, French mathematician (b. 1809)
1888 – Annie Chapman, widely believed to be the second victim of Jack the Ripper (b. 1841)
1894 – Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician (b. 1821)
1933 – King Faysal I of Iraq (b. 1883)
1943 – Julius Fucik, Czech journalist (executed) (b. 1903)
1944 – Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (b.1881)
1948 – Thomas Mofolo, Lesotho writer (b. 1876)
1949 – Richard Strauss, German composer (b. 1864)
1965 – Dorothy Dandridge, American actress (b. 1922)
1965 – Hermann Staudinger, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
1969 – Bud Collyer, American television game show host (b. 1908)
1969 – Alexandra David-Néel, French explorer and writer (b. 1868)
1970 – Percy Spencer, inventor of the microwave oven, (b. 1894)
1977 – Zero Mostel, American actor (b. 1915)
1979 – Jean Seberg, American actress (b. 1938)
1980 – Willard Libby, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
1981 – Roy Wilkins, American civil rights activist (b. 1901)
1981 – Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
1983 – Antonin Magne, French cyclist (b. 1904)
1985 – John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1887)
1991 – Alex North, American composer (b. 1910)
1999 – Moondog, American composer, musician and poet (b. 1916)
2002 – Laurie Williams, West Indian cricketer (b. 1968)
2003 – Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian voice actress (b. 1986)
2003 – Leni Riefenstahl, German film director (b. 1902)
2004 – Frank Thomas, American animator (b. 1913)
2005 – Noel Cantwell, Irish cricketer and footballer (b. 1932)
2006 – Hilda Bernstein, English-born South African author, artist, and activist (b. 1915)
2006 – Peter Brock, Australian racecar driver (b. 1945)
2006 – Frank Middlemass, actor (b. 1919)
2006 – Erk Russell, American football coach (b. 1923)
2007 – Ramón Cardemil, Chilean huaso (b. 1917)
2008 – Evan Tanner, UFC Champion (b. 1971)
2008 – Ahn Jae-hwan, South Korean actor (b. 1972)
Holidays and observances
1551 – The foundation day in Vitória, Brazil
Andorra – National day: Mare de Deu de Meritxell.
Bahá'í Faith – Feast of 'Izzat (Might) – First day of the tenth month of the Bahá'í calendar.
Macedonia – Independence day (from Yugoslavia, 1991).
Malta – Feast of Our Lady of Victories (il-Vittorja); anniversary of the 1565 victory of the Knights of Malta over the Ottoman Empire; anniversary of the 1943 surrender of Italy to the Allied forces, marking the end of World War II hostilities on Malta.
Fiestas de Santa Fe in New Mexico, USA.
International Literacy Day
Rhodri Day in Jersey, Channel Islands
Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia
Birth of Mary (mother of Jesus)
Feastday of Our Lady of Charity
Pope Sergius I
National Day in North Korea
