On September 23rd...

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1642 Harvard College held its first commencement.

1713 King Ferdinand VI of Spain was born.

1745 John Sevier, the first Governor of Tennessee, was born.

1779 John Paul Jones, commanding the Bonhomme Richard, defeated the British ship Serapis.

1780 British Major John Andre revealed Benedict Arnold's plot to betray West Point.

1781 British diplomat Charles Bagot was born.

1800 William McGuffey, publisher of McGuffey readers, was born.

1806 The Lewis and Clark Expedition returned to St. Louis, Missouri.

1828 Shaka Zulu, King of the Zulu, was assassinated.

1830 Elizabeth Monroe, wife of former President James Monroe, died.

1834 Explorer John Wesley Powell was born.

1835 Composer Vincenzo Bellini died.

1838 Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for President of the United States, was born.

1845 The New York Knickerbockers became the first organized baseball team.

1859 Thomas Osborne, American prison reformer, was born.

1863 The Confederate siege of Chattanooga began.

1868 Grito de Lares proclaimed Puerto Rico's independence from Spain.

1879 Richard Rhodes invented a hearing aid called the Audiophone.

1883 The Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen was founded in Oneonta, New York.

1884 Herman Hollerith patented a mechanical tabulating machine..

1889 Nintendo Koppai was founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.
1889 Writer Walter Lippmann was born.

1892 Union Army General John Pope died.

1897 The world's first professional rodeo was held in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
1897 Actor Walter Pidgeon was born.

1900 Businessman Fred C. Koch was born.

1902 Explorer John Wesley Powell died.

1908 The University of Alberta (Canada) opened.

1911 Earl Ovington became the first air mail pilot.

1912 The first Mack Sennett "Keystone Comedy" movie was released.

1916 Italian politician Aldo Moro was born.

1920 Actor Mickey Rooney was born.

1926 Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane was born.

1930 Singer Ray Charles was born.

1932 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed.

1939 Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud died.

1941 French General Charles de Gaulle formed a government in exile in London.

1943 Singer Julio Iglesias was born.

1947 Actress Mary Kay Place was born.

1949 Singer Bruce Springsteen was born.

1950 U. S. Air Force Mustangs accidentally bombed British troops on Hill 282 in Korea; 17 were killed.

1959 Actor Jason Alexander was born.

1969 "Marcus Welby, M.D." premiered on ABC-TV.

1974 Wrestler Matt Hardy was born.

1978 Actor Jay Adler died.

1987 Choreographer Bob Fosse died.

1998 Actress Mary Frann died.

2000 Columnist Carl Rowan died.

2006 Composer Malcolm Arnold died.

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This page was last updated on September 23, 2018.