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1982–Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, dies in a car crash at age 52. One of America’s most beautiful and talented movie actresses, she gave up her successful career in 1956, to marry into the royal family of Prince Ranier III. She appeared in the films Fourteen Hours, High Noon, Mogambo, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, The Country Girl, To Catch a Thief, The Swan, and High Society.


81–Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother, Titus.

208–Roman Emperor, Diadumenian, is born Marcus Opellius Antoninus Diadumenianus in Rome.

585–Emperor Bidatsu of Japan dies of smallpox at age 47.

619–Emperor Gongdi of Sui dies at age 14.

629–Emperor Heraclius enters Constantinople in triumph after his victory over the Persian Empire.

775–Byzantine Emperor, Constantine V, dies at age 57.

786–Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother, Al-Hadi. And Harun's son, al-Ma'mun is born.

953–Emperor Guo Zongxun of China is born. He was the third and last emperor of ancient China's short-lived Later Zhou, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

1032–Emperor Dao Zong of the Liao Dynasty is born Chala in China.

1164–Emperor Sutoku of Japan dies at age 45.

1180–Battle of Ishibashiyama takes place in Japan.

1321–Writer, Dante Alighieri, dies of malaria in Ravenna, Italy, at age 56. He is best known for his Divine Comedy, which is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.

1402–The Battle of Homildon Hill results in an English victory over Scotland.

1486–Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, magician, astrologer, and theologian, is born in Cologne, Electorate of Cologne, Holy Roman Empire. In Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, Agrippa’s writings, along with those of Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus, are listed as influences on a young Victor Frankenstein. Both of the games "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" feature a collectible card of Cornelius Agrippa with his real birth and death years.

1495–English Princess, Elizabeth Tudor, dies after suffering from atrophy at Eltham Palace in Kent, England, at age 3. She was the second daughter and fourth child of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York.

1523–Pope Adrian VI dies in Rome, Papal States, at age 64. Pope Adrian VI and his eventual successor, Pope Marcellus II, are the only popes of the modern era to retain their baptismal names after their election.

1547–Statesman, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, is born in Amersfoort, Denmark. He played an important role in the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain.

1607–The Flight of the Earls from Lough Swilly, Donegal, Ireland, takes place as Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Donnell, 1st earl of Tyrconnell, and about 90 followers leave Ulster for mainland Europe.

1656–English antiquarian and author, Thomas Baker, is born in Lanchester, Durham, England. His manuscript collections on the history and antiquities of the university of Cambridge, amounting to 39 volumes in folio and three in quarto, were divided between the British Museum and the public library at Cambridge.

1682–Bishop Gore School, one of the oldest schools in Wales, is founded.

1723–Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena lays down the first stone of Fort Manoel in Malta.

1741–German composer George Friederic Händel, finishes composing his oratorio, The Messiah. He reportedly wrote the score, start-to-finish, in only 24 days, subsisting primarily on coffee.

1752–The British Empire and its colonies adopt the Gregorian calendar.

1763–Seneca warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Devil's Hole during Pontiac's War.

1788–Attorney, John Penn, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, dies in Granville County, North Carolina, at age 47.

1791–The Papal States lose Avignon to the revolutionary France.

1808–The Russians defeat the Swedes in the bloody Battle of Oravais in the Finnish War.

1812–During the Napoleonic Wars, the French Grande Armée enters Moscow, Russia. The Fire of Moscow begins as soon as Russian troops leave the city.

1814–Francis Scott Key writes The Star-Spangled Banner after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland. It became the U.S. national anthem in 1931.

1829–The Ottoman Empire signs the Treaty of Adrianople with Russia, ending the Russo-Turkish War.

1846–Jang Bahadur and his brothers massacre about 40 members of the Nepalese palace court.

1852–Politician, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, dies from the after effects of a stroke at Walmer Castle in Kent, England, at age 83. His defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, put him in the top rank of Britain's military heroes. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He continued as one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement and remained Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death.

1879–Margaret Sanger, nurse, educator, and activist, is born Margaret Louise Higgins in Corning, New York. She popularized the term "birth control," opened the first birth control clinic in America, and established organizations that evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Sanger, who has been criticized for supporting negative eugenics, remains a recognizable figure in the American reproductive rights movement.

1889–Super-centenarian, María Capovilla, is born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She will live to the age of 116 (and 347 days). At the time of her death in 2006, Capovilla was the fifth-oldest verified person to have ever lived.

1898–Film producer, Hal Wallis, is born Aaron Blum Wolowicz in Chicago, Illinois. His films include Little Caesar, The Petrified Forest, Dark Victory, Sergeant York, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Fountainhead, The Rainmaker, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Loving You, King Creole, G.I. Blues, Blue Hawaii, Girls! Girls! Girls!, Fun in Acapulco, Barefoot in the Park, and True Grit. He was married to actress, Martha Hyer.

1901–President William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6th, and is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

1914–HMAS AE1, the Royal Australian Navy's first submarine, is lost at sea near East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, killing all on board.

1914–Singer-songwriter, Mae Boren Axton, is born in Bardwell, Texas. She was known in the music industry as the “Queen Mother of Nashville.” She co-wrote, with Tommy Durden, the Elvis Presley hit single Heartbreak Hotel. During her career, he worked with Mel Tillis, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Tanya Tucker, Johnny Tillotson, and Blake Shelton. Her son was singer-songwriter, Hoyt Axton.

1914–Actor, Clayton Moore, is born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for the starring role on the Western TV series The Lone Ranger from 1949-1951 and 1954-1957.

1916–Drama critic, Eric Bentley, is born in Bolton, Lancashire, England. He is best known for his advocacy of the plays of Bertolt Brecht, which he also translated from German.

1917–Russia is officially proclaimed a republic.

1917–Chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur, Joyce Chen, is born in Beijing, China. She is credited with popularizing Northern Chinese cuisine in America. Starting in the late 1950s, Chen opened several Chinese restaurants in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She offered an all-you-can-eat Chinese dinner buffet to allow customers to try unfamiliar dishes, as well as to boost sales on the traditionally slow nights of Tuesday and Wednesday. Chen expanded on her restaurant business, creating a line of cooking utensils and a food line, including the first bottled Chinese sauces available in America. She wrote The Joyce Chen Cookbook in 1962, and in 1967, was given her own cooking show on PBS, which was filmed on the same set as Julia Child's The French Chef.

1927–Modern dance pioneer, Isadora Duncan, dies when her scarf becomes entangled in a wheel of her sports car in Nice, France at age 50. She was pulled from the car and her neck was broken. Breaking with convention, Duncan imagined she had traced the art of dance back to its roots as a sacred art.

1933–Actor-singer, Harve Presnell, is born George Harvey Presnell in Modesto, California. He appeared in the films The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Glory Guys, When the Boys Meet the Girls, Paint Your Wagon, Blood Bath, Fargo, Larger Than Life, Face/Off, Saving Private Ryan, Patch Adams, The Family Man, Old School, Flags of Our Fathers, and Evan Almighty.

1936–Raoul Villain, assassin of French Socialist Jean Jaures, is killed by Spanish Republicans in Ibiza.

1936–Irving Thalberg, film producer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM), dies of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California, at age 37. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth, innate commercial instincts, and keen administrative skill. During his 12 years with MGM, he produced 400 films, most of which bore his imprint. He introduced horror films to audiences and co-authored the “Production Code,” guidelines for morality followed by all studios.

1937–Architect, Renzo Piano, is born in Genoa, Italy. He became well known for his museum commissions, which included the Morgan Library in New York, the NEMO science museum in Amsterdam, and the Modern Wing addition to the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. More recently, Piano was commissioned to design the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, The New York Times Building, The Shard in London, and additional buildings for the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Harvard Art Museums, and The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

1937–Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, sociologist and politician, dies in Lány, Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic), at age 87. He was first President of Czechoslovakia.

1940–The U.S. Congress passes the Selective Service Act, providing for the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.

1940–The Hungarian Army, supported by local Hungarians, kill 158 Romanian civilians in Ip, Salaj, a village in Northern Transylvania, as an act of ethnic cleansing.

1943–During World War II, the Wehrmacht begins a three-day retaliatory operation targeting several Greek villages in the region of Viannos, with death toll eventually exceeding 500 people.

1944–In World War II, Maastricht becomes the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces.

1944–Actress-singer, Joey Heatherton, is born Davenie Johanna Heatherton in Rockville Centre, New York. A sex symbol of the 1960s and 1970s, she is best known for her many television appearances during that time, particularly as a frequent variety show performer. She appeared in the films Twilight of Honor, Where Love Has Gone, My Blood Runs Cold, The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington, and Cry-Baby. She was married to football player, Lance Rentzel.

1947–Jon Bauman, of Sha Na Na, is born in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known as the character, Bowzer, a gangly, slender-armed greaser in a muscle shirt. Bauman tours extensively with his group, “Bowzer and the Stingrays,” at fairs, amusement parks, cruise ships, malt shop and conventions all over the world.

1948–A groundbreaking ceremony takes place in New York at the site of the United Nations world headquarters.

1954–In a top secret nuclear test, a Soviet Tu-4 bomber drops a 40-kiloton atomic weapon just north of Totskoye village.

1956–A chart topper: The Flying Saucer (Parts 1 & 2) by Buchanan & Goodman.

1958–The first two German post-war rockets, designed by 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–Actress, Melissa Chessington Leo, is born in Manhattan, New York. She is best known for the role of Detective Sgt. Kay Howard on the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street. Most recently, she won the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award. and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Alice Ward in The Fighter.

1964–The Beatles, on their tour of America, perform for 12,603 screaming fans at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1964–The press reports that a Beatles record and other contemporary objects currently in fashion will be buried under the New York Universal Exposition for future civilizations.

1966–George Harrison and his wife, Pattie, vacation in India. It is here that George meets sitar master, Ravi Shankar, and begins taking sitar lessons from him. George’s interest in the sitar and Indian culture will ultimately become a major creative influence upon The Beatles.

1968–Pete Townshend, of The Who, tells Rolling Stone that he's working on a rock opera about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy.

1968–Forty overseas officials of the U.S. Information Agency are required to attend a Blood, Sweat & Tears concert in Washington, D.C. It's part of the USIA's program to acquaint its overseas staff with cultural developments in the homeland.

1969–The U.S. Selective Service chooses September 14 as the First Draft Lottery date.

1975–The first American Saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, is canonized by Pope Paul VI.

1975–In Amsterdam, Rembrandt's priceless painting, The Nightwatch, is slashed with a knife by an unemployed teacher.

1978–The Grateful Dead play a concert at the foot of Egypt's Great Pyramid. Using King Cheops' tomb as an echo chamber, they play with a team of Nubian drummers in excessive heat that ends up welding their speaker cabinets together. Accompanist, Ken Kesey, later said that the audience of 700 “government operatives and spoiled Saudis” enjoyed the show.

1979–Afghan President Nur Muhammad Taraki is assassinated upon the order of Hafizullah Amin, who becomes the new president.

1981–Film director, Alan Parker, begins production on Pink Floyd's The Wall. The film was originally intended to include live footage of the band performing at Earls Court, but instead tells the story of a confused rocker portrayed by singer, Bob Geldof.

1982–President-elect of Lebanon, Bachir Gemayel, is assassinated.

1982–Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, dies in a car crash at age 52. One of America’s most beautiful and talented movie actresses, she gave up her successful career in 1956, to marry into the royal family of Prince Ranier III. She appeared in the films Fourteen Hours, High Noon, Mogambo, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, The Country Girl, To Catch a Thief, The Swan, and High Society.

1984–Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon.

1984–Actress, Janet Gaynor, dies of pneumonia in Palm Springs, California, at age 77. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox) in 1926, she rose to fame and became one of the biggest box office draws of the era. She appeared in the films 7th Heaven, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humansl Street Angel, State Fair, The Farmer Takes a Wife, A Star Is Born, The Young in Heart, and Bernardine.

1985–Penang Bridge, the longest bridge in Malaysia, connecting the island of Penang to the mainland, opens to traffic.

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.

1996–Actress and dancer, Juliet Prowse, dies of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles, California, at age 59. She appeared in the films Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, G.I. Blues, Can-Can, The Second Time Around, The Right Approach, and Who Killed Teddy Bear? She appeared on stage in Kismet, The Boy Friend, Sweet Charity, Mame, The Pjama Game, I Do! I Do!, Funny Girl, Chicago, and Sugar Babies.

1997–Eighty-one people are killed as five bogies of the Ahmedabad-Howrah Express plunge into a river in the Bilaspur district of Madhya Pradesh, India.

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.

1999–A compilation album by The Beatles, Yellow Submarine Songtrack, is released in the U.S. and the U.K. The remastered CD differs from the original soundtrack album in that it does not contain the George Martin score, but instead includes all Beatles songs featured in the movie. The improvement in sound on this CD will lead to the eventual remastering of the entire Beatles music library.

2000–Microsoft releases Windows ME.

2000–Actress, Bea Richards, dies of emphysema in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at age 80. She appeared in the films Take a Giant Step, The Miracle Worker, Hurry Sundown, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Great White Hope, The Biscuit Eater, Mahogany, Big Shots, and Drugstore Cowboy.

2001–An historic National Prayer Service is 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.

2002–Actress, LaWanda Page, dies of complications from diabetes in Hollywood, California, at age 81. She is best known for the role of Aunt Esther in the 1970s TV sitcom Sanford and Son.

2003–In a referendum, Estonia approves joining the European Union.

2005–Film director, Robert Wise, dies of a heart attack in Westwood, California, at age 91. His films include Of Human Bondage, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, My Favorite Wife, Citizen Kane, The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Magnificient Ambersons, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Until They Sail, I Want to Live!, West Side Story, Two for the Seasaw, The Haunting, The Sound of Music, The Sand Pebbles, The Andromeda Strain, and Audrey Rose.

2006–Bodybuilder, Mickey Hargitay, dies of multiple myeloma in Los Angeles, California, at age 80. He became the NABBA “Mr. Universe” in 1955. He appeared in the films Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, The Loves of Hercules, and Promises! Promises!

2007–The Northern Rock bank at Regent Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, experiences the first bank run in the United Kingdom in 150 years.

2008–Aeroflot Flight 821 crashes on approach to Perm International Airport, in in Perm Krai, Russia, killing all 88 people on board.

2008–Businessman, Hyman Golden, dies of complications from a stroke in Great Neck, New York, at age 85. He was co-founder of the Snapple Beverage Corporation (now part of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group) and was the company's chairman when the firm's juice drinks and teas attained national attention in the late 1980s.

2009–Actor, Henry Gibson, dies of cancer in Malibu, California, at age 73. He is best known as a cast member of the TV sketch-comedy series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1971. He appeared in the films The Nutty Professor, Kiss Me, Stupid, The Long Goodbye, Nashville, The Kentucky Fried Movie, The Blues Brothers, Innerspace, and Wedding Crashers.

2009–Actor and dancer, Patrick Swayze, dies of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles, California, at age 57. He appeared in the films Skatetown U.S.A., The Outsiders, Red Dawn, Grandview, U.S.A, Youngblood, Dirty Dancing, Steel Dawn, Road House, Ghost, Point Break, City of Joy, Three Wishes, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, and Donnie Darko.

2015–Businessman, Fred DeLuca, dies of leukemia in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, at age 67. He co-founded the popular Subway sandwich shops. The first shop opened on August 28, 1965, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. As of June 2013, the company has 39,500 franchised locations worldwide and produces $9.05 billion in sales every year.

2017–The origin of the “zero” (0) may have been in South Asia, according to a Sanskrit script housed in the United Kingdom since 1902, and recently discovered in Bakhshali near Peshawar, Pakistan.

2017–After floating in the Solar System for 20 years, the Cassini-Huygens probe makes its way towards the atmosphere of Saturn in the final leg of its voyage.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Roman Emperor, Diadumenian; Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa; George Friederic Händel; Margaret Sanger; Clayton Moore; Harve Presnell; the United Nations building in New York City; George and Pattie Harrison in India in 1966; Alan Parker during the filming of Pink Floyd's The Wall; The Beatles Yellow Submarine Songtrack; Robert Wise; and Patrick Swayze.
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