September 15

September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 107 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Sunday or Monday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Wednesday or Friday (56).

Events

• 668 – Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse, Italy.
• 921 – At Tetin, Saint Ludmila is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law.
• 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.
• 1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by the Jean de Malestroit, Bishop of Nantes.
• 1556 – Departing from Vlissingen, ex-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V returns to Spain.
• 1616 – The first non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy.
• 1762 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Signal Hill.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces land at Kip's Bay during the New York Campaign.
• 1789 – The United States "Department of Foreign Affairs", established by law in July, is renamed the Department of State and given a variety of domestic duties.
• 1794 – French Revolutionary War Arthur Wesley (later Duke of Wellington) sees his first combat at the Battle of Boxtel during the Flanders Campaign.
• 1812 – The French army under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow.
• 1812 – War of 1812: A second supply train sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.
• 1816 – HMS Whiting runs aground on the Doom Bar
• 1820 – Constitutionalist revolution in Lisbon, Portugal.
• 1821 – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica jointly declare independence from Spain.
• 1830 – The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens.
• 1831 – The locomotive John Bull operates for the first time in New Jersey on the Camden and Amboy Railroad.
• 1835 – HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands. The ship lands at Chatham or San Cristobal, the easternmost of the archipelago.
• 1851 – Saint Joseph's University is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
• 1873 – Franco-Prussian War: The last German troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity.
• 1894 – First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats Qing dynasty China in the Battle of Pyongyang.
• 1915 – The Empire Picture Theatre (now The New Empire Cinema), the oldest running Cinema in Mainland Australia, opens in Bowral, New South Wales.
• 1916 – World War I: Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme.
• 1918 – World War I:The Battle of Dobro Pole is fought, Entente troops break through the Bulgarian defenses on the Macedonian Front eventually liberating Vardar Macedonia and forcing Bulgaria to sign the Armistice of Salonica.
• 1935 – The Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of citizenship.
• 1935 – Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag bearing the swastika.
• 1940 – World War II: The climax of the Battle of Britain, when the Royal Air Force shoots down large numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft.
• 1942 – World War II: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp is sunk by a Japanese torpedo at Guadalcanal.
• 1944 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.
• 1944 – Battle of Peleliu begins as the United States Marine Corps' 1st Marine Division and the United States Army's 81st Infantry Division hit White and Orange beaches under heavy fire from Japanese infantry and artillery.
• 1945 – A hurricane in southern Florida and the Bahamas destroys 366 planes and 25 blimps at Naval Air Station Richmond.
• 1947 – RCA releases the 12AX7 vacuum tube.
• 1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hit the Kanto Region in Japan killing 1,077.
• 1948 – The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h).
• 1950 – Korean War: United States forces land at Inchon
• 1952 – The United Nations cedes Eritrea to Ethiopia.
• 1958 – A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 48.
• 1959 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.
• 1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 miles per hour.
• 1962 – The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• 1963 – 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: Four children killed at an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States
• 1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to a sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin, writes a letter to Congress urging the enactment of gun control legislation.
• 1968 – The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
• 1971 – The first Greenpeace ship set sail to protest against nuclear testing.
• 1972 – A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö Bulltofta Airport.
• 1974 – Air Vietnam Flight 706 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.
• 1975 – The French department of "Corse" (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica)
• 1978 – Muhammad Ali outpointed Leon Spinks in a rematch to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title three times at the Superdome in New Orleans.
• 1981 – The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• 1981 – The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.
• 1981 – Vanuatu becomes a member of the United Nations.
• 1983 – Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.
• 1987 – United States Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign a treaty to establish centers to reduce the risk of nuclear war.
• 1990 – France announces it will send 4,000 troops to the Persian Gulf.
• 2004 – National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces lockout of the players' union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.
• 2008 – Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
• 2012 – Muslim protesters shouting anti-American slogans clash with police, injuring 19 people, outside the US embassy in Sydney, Australia.

Births

• 767 – Saichō, Japanese monk (d. 822)
• 786 – Al-Ma'mun, Iraqi caliph (d. 833)
• 1254 – Marco Polo, Italian merchant and explorer (d. 1324)
• 1533 – Catherine of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1572)
• 1580 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer and author (d. 1659)
• 1613 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French soldier and author (d. 1680)
• 1649 – Titus Oates, English minister, fabricated the Popish Plot (d. 1705)
• 1666 – Sophia Dorothea of Celle (d. 1726)
• 1690 – Ignazio Prota, Italian composer and educator (d. 1748)
• 1715 – Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French general and engineer (d. 1789)
• 1736 – Jean Sylvain Bailly, French astronomer, mathematician, and politician, 1st Mayor of Paris (d. 1793)
• 1759 – Cornelio Saavedra, Argentinean general and politician (d. 1829)
• 1760 – Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien, Prussian general (d. 1824)
• 1765 – Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage, Portuguese poet and author (d. 1805)
• 1789 – James Fenimore Cooper, American historian and author (d. 1851)
• 1815 – Halfdan Kjerulf, Norwegian journalist and composer (d. 1868)
• 1819 – Cyprien Tanguay, Canadian priest and historian (d. 1902)
• 1828 – Alexander Butlerov, Russian chemist and academic (d. 1886)
• 1830 – Porfirio Díaz, Mexican general and politician, 29th President of Mexico (d. 1915)
• 1857 – William Howard Taft, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, 27th President of the United States (d. 1930)
• 1857 – Anna Winlock, American astronomer and academic (d. 1904)
• 1858 – Charles de Foucauld, French priest and martyr (d. 1916)
• 1858 – Jenő Hubay, Hungarian violinist, composer, and educator (d. 1937)
• 1860 – M. Visvesvaraya, Indian engineer, scholar, and Bharat Ratna Laureate, Diwan of the Mysore Kingdom (d. 1962)
• 1863 – Horatio Parker, American organist, composer, and educator (d. 1919)
• 1864 – Prince Sigismund of Prussia (d. 1866)
• 1867 – Vladimir May-Mayevsky, Russian general (d. 1920)
• 1876 – Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian author (d. 1938)
• 1876 – Bruno Walter, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1962)
• 1877 – Jakob Ehrlich, Czech-Austrian politician (d. 1938)
• 1877 – Yente Serdatzky, Lithuanian-American author and playwright (d. 1962)
• 1879 – Joseph Lyons, Australian educator and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1939)
• 1880 – Chujiro Hayashi, Japanese physician (d. 1940)
• 1881 – Ettore Bugatti, Italian-French businessman, founded Bugatti (d. 1947)
• 1883 – Esteban Terradas i Illa, Spanish mathematician and engineer (d. 1950)
• 1886 – Paul Lévy, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1971)
• 1887 – Carlos Dávila, Chilean journalist and politician, President of Chile (d. 1955)
• 1888 – Antonio Ascari, Italian race car driver (d. 1925)
• 1889 – Robert Benchley, American actor, screenwriter, and critic (d. 1945)
• 1889 – Claude McKay, Jamaican-American poet and author (d. 1948)
• 1890 – Ernest Bullock, English organist and composer (d. 1979)
• 1890 – Agatha Christie, English author and playwright (d. 1976)
• 1890 – Frank Martin, Swiss-Dutch pianist and composer (d. 1974)
• 1892 – Silpa Bhirasri, Italian sculptor and educator (d. 1962)
• 1894 – Chic Harley, American football player (d. 1974)
• 1894 – Oskar Klein, Swedish physicist and academic (d. 1977)
• 1894 – Jean Renoir, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1979)
• 1897 – Merle Curti, American historian and author (d. 1997)
• 1898 – J. Slauerhoff, Dutch poet and author (d. 1936)
• 1901 – Donald Bailey, English engineer, designed Bailey bridge (d. 1985)
• 1903 – Roy Acuff, American singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 1992)
• 1904 – Umberto II of Italy (d. 1983)
• 1904 – Sheilah Graham Westbrook, English-American actress, journalist, and author (d. 1988)
• 1906 – Jacques Becker, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1960)
• 1906 – Walter E. Rollins, American songwriter (d. 1973)
• 1907 – Gunnar Ekelöf, Swedish poet and author (d. 1968)
• 1907 – Fay Wray, Canadian-American actress (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Kid Sheik, American trumpet player (d. 1996)
• 1908 – Penny Singleton, American actress and singer (d. 2003)
• 1909 – C. N. Annadurai, Indian educator and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 1969)
• 1909 – Phil Arnold, American actor (d. 1968)
• 1910 – Betty Neels, English nurse and author (d. 2001)
• 1911 – Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-American businessman, founded PING (d. 2000)
• 1911 – Luther Terry, American physician and academic, 9th Surgeon General of the United States (d. 1985)
• 1913 – Henry Brant, Canadian-American composer and conductor (d. 2008)
• 1913 – Bruno Hoffmann, German glass harp player (d. 1991)
• 1913 – John N. Mitchell, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 67th United States Attorney General (d. 1988)
• 1913 – Johannes Steinhoff, German general and pilot (d. 1994)
• 1914 – Creighton Abrams, American general (d. 1974)
• 1914 – Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinian journalist and author (d. 1999)
• 1914 – Orhan Kemal, Turkish author (d. 1970)
• 1914 – Robert McCloskey, American author and illustrator (d. 2003)
• 1915 – Fawn M. Brodie, American historian and author (d. 1981)
• 1915 – Al Casey, American guitarist and composer (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Albert Whitlock, English-American special effects designer (d. 1999)
• 1915 – Ismail Yassine, Egyptian actor (d. 1972)
• 1916 – Margaret Lockwood, Pakistani-English actress and singer (d. 1990)
• 1916 – Frederick C. Weyand, American general (d. 2010)
• 1917 – Hilde Gueden, Austrian soprano (d. 1988)
• 1918 – Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., American historian and academic (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Phil Lamason, New Zealand soldier and pilot (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Margot Loyola, Chilean singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
• 1918 – Nipsey Russell, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
• 1919 – Fausto Coppi, Italian cyclist and soldier (d. 1960)
• 1919 – Nelson Gidding, American author and screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Heda Margolius Kovály, Czech author and translator (d. 2010)
• 1920 – Kym Bonython, Australian race car driver, drummer, and radio host (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Richard Gordon, English surgeon and author
• 1921 – Norma MacMillan, Canadian actress (d. 2001)
• 1921 – Snooky Pryor, American harmonica player (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Gene Roland, American pianist and composer (d. 1982)
• 1922 – Bob Anderson, English fencer and choreographer (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Jackie Cooper, American actor, singer, director, and producer (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Gaetano Cozzi, Italian historian and academic (d. 2001)
• 1922 – Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, English author (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Anton Heiller, Austrian organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1979)
• 1924 – Lucebert, Dutch poet and painter (d. 1994)
• 1924 – György Lázár, Hungarian politician, 50th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Bobby Short, American singer and pianist (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Stanley Chapman, English architect and author (d. 2009)
• 1925 – Carlo Rambaldi, Italian special effects artist (d. 2012)
• 1925 – Helle Virkner, Danish actress and singer (d. 2009)
• 1926 – Shohei Imamura, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
• 1926 – Jean-Pierre Serre, French mathematician and academic
• 1927 – Norm Crosby, American comedian and actor
• 1927 – Erika Köth, German soprano (d. 1981)
• 1927 – David Stove, Australian philosopher and academic (d. 1994)
• 1928 – Cannonball Adderley, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1975)
• 1929 – Eva Burrows, Australian 13th General of The Salvation Army (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Murray Gell-Mann, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1929 – Stan Kelly-Bootle, English singer-songwriter, computer scientist, and author (d. 2014)
• 1929 – Dick Latessa, American actor
• 1929 – John Julius Norwich, English historian and author
• 1929 – Mümtaz Soysal, Turkish academic and politician, 30th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1930 – Endel Lippmaa, Estonian physicist and academic (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Brian Henderson, New Zealand-Australian journalist, actor, and producer
• 1932 – Neil Bartlett, English-American chemist and academic (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Spanish conductor and composer (d. 2014)
• 1933 – Petra Schürmann, German actress, model, TV announcer, beauty queen and Miss World 1956 (d. 2010)
• 1934 – Tomie dePaola, American author and illustrator
• 1934 – Fred Nile, Australian soldier, minister, and politician
• 1935 – Dinkha IV, Iraqi patriarch (d. 2015)
• 1936 – Ashley Cooper, Australian tennis player
• 1936 – Sara Henderson, Australian farmer and author (d. 2005)
• 1937 – Fernando de la Rúa, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 51st President of Argentina
• 1937 – Robert Lucas, Jr., American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1937 – Pino Puglisi, Italian priest and martyr (d. 1993)
• 1938 – Gaylord Perry, American baseball player and coach
• 1939 – Subramanian Swamy, Indian economist, academic, and politician, Indian Minister of Law and Justice
• 1939 – George Walden, English journalist and politician
• 1940 – Merlin Olsen, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (d. 2010)
• 1940 – Norman Spinrad, American author and critic
• 1941 – Flórián Albert, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2011)
• 1941 – Mirosław Hermaszewski, Polish general, pilot, and astronaut
• 1941 – Yuriy Norshteyn, Russian animator, director, and screenwriter
• 1941 – Viktor Zubkov, Russian businessman and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Russia
• 1942 – Lee Dorman, American bass player (Iron Butterfly and Captain Beyond) (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Philip Harris, Baron Harris of Peckham, English businessman and politician
• 1942 – Ksenia Milicevic, French painter and architect
• 1944 – Mauro Piacenza, Italian cardinal
• 1944 – Graham Taylor, English footballer and manager
• 1945 – Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince
• 1945 – Carmen Maura, Spanish actress
• 1945 – Jessye Norman, American soprano
• 1945 – Hans-Gert Pöttering, German lawyer and politician, 23rd President of the European Parliament
• 1945 – Ron Shelton, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1946 – Tommy Lee Jones, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1946 – Mike Procter, South African cricketer, coach, and referee
• 1946 – Oliver Stone, American director, screenwriter, and producer
• 1946 – Howard Waldrop, American author and critic
• 1947 – Viggo Jensen, Danish footballer and manager
• 1947 – Diane E. Levin, American educator and author
• 1947 – Theodore Long, American wrestling referee and manager
• 1947 – Charles "Bobo" Shaw, American drummer
• 1949 – Joe Barton, American lawyer and politician
• 1950 – Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Pakistani-English caliph and scholar
• 1951 – Pete Carroll, American football player and coach
• 1951 – Johan Neeskens, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1952 – Richard Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1952 – Paula Duncan, Australian actress
• 1952 – Ratnajeevan Hoole, Sri Lankan engineer and academic
• 1952 – Kelly Keagy, American singer and drummer
• 1953 – Patricia Rhomberg, Austrian porn actress
• 1953 – Keiko Takeshita, Japanese actress
• 1954 – Hrant Dink, Turkish journalist (d. 2007)
• 1955 – Željka Antunović, Croatian politician, 9th Croatian Minister of Defence
• 1955 – Brendan O'Carroll, Irish actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1955 – Abdul Qadir, Pakistani cricketer
• 1955 – Bruce Reitherman, American voice actor, singer, cinematographer, and producer
• 1955 – Renzo Rosso, Italian fashion designer and businessman, co-founded Diesel Clothing
• 1956 – Ross J. Anderson, Professor of Security Engineering at the University of Cambridge
• 1956 – Maggie Reilly, Scottish singer-songwriter
• 1956 – Ned Rothenberg, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer
• 1958 – Anne Davies, English television presenter and newsreader
• 1958 – Dr. Know, American guitarist
• 1958 – Joel Quenneville, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1958 – Wendie Jo Sperber, American actress (d. 2005)
• 1959 – Mark Kirk, American commander, lawyer, and politician
• 1960 – Kevin Allen, Welsh actor and director
• 1960 – Ed Solomon, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1961 – Terry Lamb, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1961 – Helen Margetts, British political scientist
• 1961 – Dan Marino, American football player and sportscaster
• 1961 – Patrick Patterson, Jamaican cricketer
• 1962 – Dina Lohan, American dancer, actress, and manager
• 1962 – Scott McNeil, Australian-Canadian actor and singer
• 1962 – Amanda Wakeley, English fashion designer
• 1963 – Pete Myers, American basketball player and coach
• 1963 – Stephen C. Spiteri, Maltese military historian
• 1964 – Robert Fico, Slovak academic and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Slovakia
• 1964 – Steve Watkin, Welsh cricketer
• 1964 – Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1966 – Sherman Douglas, American basketball player
• 1967 – Paul Abbott, American baseball player and coach
• 1969 – Revaz Arveladze, Georgian footballer
• 1969 – Allen Shellenberger, American drummer (d. 2009)
• 1970 – Ramya Krishnan, Indian actress
• 1971 – Nathan Astle, New Zealand cricketer and coach
• 1971 – Josh Charles, American actor and director
• 1971 – Wayne Ferreira, South African tennis player
• 1971 – Ben Wallers, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1972 – Jimmy Carr, English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1972 – Queen Letizia of Spain
• 1974 – Arata Iura, Japanese actor, model, and fashion designer
• 1975 – Tom Dolan, American swimmer
• 1975 – Martina Krupičková, Czech painter
• 1976 – Brett Kimmorley, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
• 1976 – Paul Thomson, Scottish drummer
• 1976 – Matt Thornton, American baseball player
• 1977 – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian author, poet, and playwright
• 1977 – Angela Aki, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1977 – Sophie Dahl, English model and author
• 1977 – Tom Hardy, English actor
• 1977 – Leander Jordan, American football player
• 1977 – Jason Terry, American basketball player
• 1978 – Zach Filkins, American guitarist
• 1978 – Eiður Guðjohnsen, Icelandic footballer
• 1979 – Dave Annable, American actor
• 1979 – Patrick Marleau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Carlos Ruiz, Guatemalan footballer
• 1980 – David Diehl, American football player and sportscaster
• 1980 – Mike Dunleavy, Jr., American basketball player
• 1983 – Yuka Hirata, Japanese actress and model
• 1983 – Luke Hochevar, American baseball player
• 1984 – Prince Harry of Wales
• 1984 – Loek van Mil, Dutch baseball player
• 1984 – Cyhi the Prynce, American rapper and producer
• 1985 – François-Olivier Roberge, Canadian speed skater
• 1986 – Jenna Marbles, American actress and blogger
• 1986 – George Watsky, American rapper and producer
• 1987 – Aly Cissokho, French footballer
• 1987 – Clare Maguire, English singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Chelsea Kane, American actress and singer
• 1988 – Tim Moltzen, Australian rugby player
• 1989 – Salah Abdeslam, Belgian-French criminal
• 1989 – Kris Chetan Ramlu, New Zealand tabla player
• 1990 – Oliver Gill, English footballer
• 1991 – Lee Jung-shin, South Korean rapper and bass player
• 1991 – Phil Ofosu-Ayeh, German-Ghanaian footballer
• 1996 – Nao Furuhata, Japanese singer

Deaths

• 668 – Constans II, Byzantine emperor (b. 630)
• 921 – Ludmila of Bohemia, Czech martyr and saint (b. 860)
• 1146 – Alan, 1st Earl of Richmond, English soldier (b. 1100)
• 1231 – Louis I, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1173)
• 1326 – Dmitry of Tver (b. 1299)
• 1352 – Ewostatewos, Ethiopian monk and saint (b. 1273)
• 1408 – Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent, English politician (b. 1384)
• 1500 – John Morton, English cardinal and academic (b. 1420)
• 1596 – Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist (b. 1535)
• 1613 – Thomas Overbury, English poet and author (b. 1581)
• 1643 – Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, English-Irish politician, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (b. 1566)
• 1649 – John Floyd, English priest and educator (b. 1572)
• 1700 – André Le Nôtre, French gardener (b. 1613)
• 1701 – Edmé Boursault, French author and playwright (b. 1638)
• 1707 – George Stepney, English poet and diplomat (b. 1663)
• 1712 – Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1645)
• 1750 – Charles Theodore Pachelbel, German organist and composer (b. 1690)
• 1794 – Abraham Clark, American police officer and politician (b. 1725)
• 1803 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (b. 1719)
• 1813 – Antoine Étienne de Tousard, French general and engineer (b. 1752)
• 1821 – Maria Branwell, English mother of the Brontë siblings (b. 1783)
• 1830 – François Baillairgé, Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1759)
• 1830 – William Huskisson, English financier and politician, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (b. 1770)
• 1835 – Sarah Knox Taylor, American wife of Jefferson Davis (b. 1814)
• 1841 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1757)
• 1842 – Pierre Baillot, French violinist and composer (b. 1771)
• 1842 – Francisco Morazán, Guatemalan general, lawyer, and politician, President of Central American Federation (b. 1792)
• 1852 – Johann Karl Simon Morgenstern, German-Estonian philologist and academic (b. 1770)
• 1859 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, English architect and engineer, designed the Great Western Railway (b. 1806)
• 1864 – John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer (b. 1827)
• 1883 – Joseph Plateau, Belgian physicist and academic (b. 1801)
• 1885 – Jumbo, Sudanese-Canadian elephant (b. 1861)
• 1893 – Thomas Hawksley, English engineer (b. 1807)
• 1915 – Ernest Gagnon, Canadian organist and composer (b. 1834)
• 1921 – Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, Austrian-Russian general (b. 1886)
• 1926 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1846)
• 1930 – Milton Sills, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1882)
• 1938 – Thomas Wolfe, American novelist (b. 1900)
• 1940 – William B. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician, 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1874)
• 1945 – André Tardieu, French journalist and politician, 97th Prime Minister of France (b. 1876)
• 1945 – Anton Webern, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1883)
• 1945 – Linnie Marsh Wolfe, American librarian and author (b. 1881)
• 1952 – Hugo Raudsepp, Estonian author and playwright (b. 1883)
• 1965 – Steve Brown, American bassist (b. 1890)
• 1972 – Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1906)
• 1972 – Baki Süha Ediboğlu, Turkish poet and author (b. 1915)
• 1972 – Geoffrey Fisher, English archbishop and academic (b. 1887)
• 1973 – Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (b. 1882)
• 1973 – Víctor Jara, Chilean singer-songwriter, poet, and director (b. 1932)
• 1975 – Franco Bordoni, Italian race car driver and pilot (b. 1913)
• 1978 – Robert Cliche, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1921)
• 1978 – Willy Messerschmitt, German engineer and academic, designed the Messerschmitt Bf 109 (b. 1898)
• 1979 – Tommy Leonetti, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1929)
• 1980 – Bill Evans, American pianist and composer (b. 1929)
• 1981 – Rafael Méndez, Mexican trumpet player and composer (b. 1906)
• 1983 – Prince Far I, Jamaican DJ and producer (b. 1944)
• 1985 – Cootie Williams, American trumpet player (b. 1910)
• 1989 – Jan DeGaetani, American soprano (b. 1933)
• 1989 – Olga Erteszek, Polish-American fashion designer (b. 1916)
• 1989 – Robert Penn Warren, American novelist, poet, and literary critic (b. 1905)
• 1991 – John Hoyt, American actor (b. 1904)
• 1991 – Warner Troyer, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1932)
• 1993 – Pino Puglisi, Italian priest and martyr (b. 1937)
• 1995 – Harry Calder, South African cricketer (b. 1901)
• 1995 – Gunnar Nordahl, Swedish footballer and manager (b. 1921)
• 1998 – Louis Rasminsky, Canadian economist, 3rd Governor of the Bank of Canada (b. 1908)
• 2001 – June Salter, Australian actress and author (b. 1932)
• 2003 – Garner Ted Armstrong, American evangelist and author (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Jack Brymer, English clarinet player and educator (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Josef Hiršal, Czech author and poet (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Johnny Ramone, American guitarist and songwriter (The Ramones) (b. 1948)
• 2004 – Walter Stewart, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1931)
• 2005 – Guy Green, English director and cinematographer (b. 1913)
• 2005 – Sidney Luft, American manager and producer (b. 1915)
• 2006 – Raymond Baxter, English television host and author (b. 1922)
• 2006 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist and author (b. 1929)
• 2006 – Pablo Santos, Mexican-American actor (b. 1987)
• 2007 – Colin McRae, Scottish race car driver (b. 1968)
• 2007 – Jeremy Moore, English general (b. 1928)
• 2007 – Aldemaro Romero, Venezuelan pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1928)
• 2007 – Brett Somers, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1924)
• 2008 – Richard Wright, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Troy Kennedy Martin, Scottish-English screenwriter (b. 1932)
• 2010 – Arrow, Caribbean singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
• 2011 – Frances Bay, Canadian-American actress (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Tibor Antalpéter, Hungarian volleyball player and diplomat, Hungarian Ambassador of Hungary to the United Kingdom (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Nevin Spence, Northern Irish rugby player (b. 1990)
• 2013 – Habib Munzir Al-Musawa, Indonesian cleric and scholar (b. 1973)
• 2013 – Jerry G. Bishop, American radio and television host (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Gerard Cafesjian, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Jackie Lomax, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
• 2013 – Tomás Ó Canainn, Irish singer-songwriter and pipe player (b. 1930)
• 2014 – John Anderson, Jr., American lawyer and politician, 36th Governor of Kansas (b. 1917)
• 2014 – Jackie Cain, American singer (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Eugene I. Gordon, American physicist and engineer (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Jürg Schubiger, Swiss psychotherapist and author (b. 1936)
• 2014 – Wayne Tefs, Canadian anthologist, author, and critic (b. 1947)
• 2015 – Harry J. Lipkin, Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Meir Pa'il, Israeli commander, historian, and politician (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Bernard Van de Kerckhove, Belgian cyclist (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

• Battle of Britain Day (United Kingdom)
• Christian feast day:
  • Catherine of Genoa
  • James Chisholm (Episcopal Church)
  • Joseph Abibos
  • Nicomedes
  • Our Lady of Sorrows
  • September 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
• Grito de Dolores, celebrated on the eve of Independence Day (Mexico).
• Earliest day on which Father's Day can fall, while September 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in September. (Ukraine)
• Earliest day on which German-American Steuben Parade can fall, while September 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Saturday in September. (United States, especially New York City)
• Earliest day on which POW/MIA Recognition Day can fall, while September 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Friday in September. (United States)
• Earliest day on which Prinsjesdag can fall, while September 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Tuesday in September. (Netherlands)
• Earliest day on which Respect for the Aged Day can fall, while September 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in September. (Japan)
• Engineer's Day (India)
• Free Money Day (International)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guatemala (a Patriotic Day), El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica from Spain in 1821.
• International Day of Democracy (International)
• Knowledge Day (Azerbaijan)
• Restoration of Primorska to the Motherland Day (Slovenia)
• Silpa Bhirasri Day (Thailand).
• The beginning of German American Heritage Month, celebrated until October 15
• The beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated until October 15 (United States)
• World Lymphoma Awareness Day (International)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada