On This Day In History
16 September 1959. The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, was introduced during a demonstration on live television from the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in New York City, USA. pic.twitter.com/yaB0qYBtBz
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 16, 2022
16 September 2021. Entrepreneur and inventor, Clive Sinclair, died (aged 81). He was a pioneer the computing industry, but is probably best known for launching, on 10 January 1985, the Sinclair C5, an electrically assisted pedal cycle, which proved a huge commercial failure. pic.twitter.com/SmhN2HAuqR
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 16, 2022
September 17th
642 Arab forces under Amr ibn al-'As conquer Alexandria
1683 Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is the first to report the existence of bacteria
1787 The US Constitution is signed by delegates at the Philadelphia Convention
1862 Battle of Antietam [Battle of Sharpsburg], bloodiest day in the American Civil War: 22,000 dead, wounded or missing in first battle on Union soil
1916 WWI flying ace The Red Baron of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France
1940 Adolf Hitler indefinitely postpones Operation Sealion, the planned German invasion of Great Britain
1978 Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Camp David Accords, frameworks for peace in the Middle East and between Egypt and Israel
Would You Believe?
Joshua Abraham Norton, English-born resident of San Francisco, proclaims himself his Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, Emperor of the United States of America
Today in History in 1859
This day 72 years ago – 17 September 1948 – the body of W.B. Yeats was taken from Roquebrune, France, where he was buried in 1939, and moved to Drumcliffe, Co Sligo.
His epitaph is taken from the poem Under Ben Bulben.
“Cast a cold Eye
On Life, on Death.
Horseman, pass by!” pic.twitter.com/r8BQnIm5YQ— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) September 17, 2020
#OTD in 1757, US merchant Mary Alexander sent a letter to a customer, settling accounts and discussing an order of milled stockings. Alexander was one of colonial New York's most important merchants, building a fortune through savvy business dealings. https://t.co/7TahoawNSQ pic.twitter.com/9v5KAQFe0E
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) September 17, 2022
On this day in 1630, the Virginia Assembly sentenced Hugh Davis, a white man, to be whipped for having a relationship with a Black person. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/5DpYfudf86
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) September 17, 2022
17 September 1994. Karl Popper died (aged 92). He was one of the most influential philosophers of science in the 20th century. According to Popper, a theory in the empirical sciences can never be proven, but it can be falsified and should be constantly reexamined. pic.twitter.com/yickzR58YO
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 17, 2022
17 September 2000. TV presenter, Paula Yates (aged 40), the former wife of pop star Bob Geldof, was found dead in her home due to a drug overdose. She had also been in a relationship with musician Michael Hutchence from the mid-1990s until Hutchence’s death in 1997. pic.twitter.com/7pBgLdWYcH
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 17, 2022
September 18th
1811 British East India Company force led by Baron Minto conquers Java, part of the Dutch East Indies, Stamford Raffles appointed lieutenant governor
1812 Great Fire of Moscow burns out after 5 days, 75% of the city destroyed and 12,000 killed
1873 Government bond agent Jay Cooke & Co collapses, causing panic on Wall St, the start of the panic of 1873 and the Long depression
1914 Irish Home Rule bill receives Royal assent
1931 To create a pretext for the invasion of Manchuria, China, a railway explosion is faked by the Japanese
1947 The Central Intelligence Agency officially comes into existence after being established by President Truman in July
1976 Mao Zedong's funeral takes place in Beijing
Did You Know?
US President George Washington lays the cornerstone of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Today in History in 1793
Would You Believe?
Government of Uttar Pradesh, India, confirms 2.3 million people applied for 238 menial office jobs
Today in History in 2015
This day 106 years ago – 18 September 1914 – the Government of Ireland Act was given royal assent, writing Irish Home Rule into law 44 years after Isaac Butt founded the Home Government Association.
However, its enactment was postponed until after “the end of the present war.” pic.twitter.com/oBuSwwCKw4
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) September 18, 2020
#OTD in 2012, police officers Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes were killed in an ambush in Manchester, UK by a man using a pistol and hand grenade. Around 30% of the UK police force is female. https://t.co/NcdW5fNaEk pic.twitter.com/rXCxPZnQ4l
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) September 18, 2022
On this day in 1923, the NAACP denounced remarks by Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Mayor Joseph Cauffiel who had threatened Black and Mexican migrants, telling them to leave town or risk violence. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/QJorTXB0HZ
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) September 18, 2022
18 September 53. Roman Emperor, Trajan, was born In what is now Seville, Spain. He was a successful soldier-emperor who presided over a huge military expansion which saw the empire attain its maximum territorial extent. He also invented the Beatles hairstyle. pic.twitter.com/J6n9NORY2D
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 18, 2022
18 September 1809. The 2nd Theatre Royal (now Royal Opera House), opened in Covent Garden, London. The first building was destroyed in a fire in 1808. The second building was also destroyed in a fire in 1856, and was replaced by the current building. pic.twitter.com/ZOFR4kX8S0
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 18, 2022
18 September 1851. The first issue of, The New York Daily Times, was published. It later became, The New York Times. It was established as a penny paper to avoid sensationalism and it gained a reputation for reporting the news in a restrained and objective manner. pic.twitter.com/sBqw4b42s3
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 18, 2022
18 September 1919. Fritz Pollard became the first black person to play professional American football for a major team, the Akron Pros. Pollard and 9 other black players in the NFL were removed from the league at the end of the 1926 season. pic.twitter.com/JvNbD336WG
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 18, 2022
12 September 1977. South African anti-apartheid activist, Steve Biko (aged 30), died while in police custody. Biko has been called the “anti-apartheid movement’s first icon”. Nelson Mandela described him as “the spark that lit a veld fire across South Africa”. pic.twitter.com/l4dCRWM3nV
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 18, 2022
18 September 1879. The Blackpool Illuminations were switched on for the first time. Blackpool Council spent £5000 (now £330,000), to experiment with electric street lighting. In a time when people lit their homes with gas and candles, they were called “artificial sunshine”. pic.twitter.com/YzGOfmXkTf
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) September 18, 2022