September 12, 1990 - The four victorious allies of World War II (WWII) and the two Germanys formally ended the war, signing a treaty that cleared way for a united Germany on 3 October.

September 12th

1988: Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica with 170 m.p.h. winds and a 12 ft. storm surge.

1983: The Soviet Union vetoes a UN resolution condeming its shooting down without warning of a civilian 747, Korean Airlines flight 07.

1972: During "The Cod War" Icelandic gunboats open fire on and sink 2 unarmed British trawlers in the North Sea.

1965: Hurricane Betsy slams into Florida and Louisiana killing 75 and leaving several hundred million dollars damage in her wake.

1961: NASA pilot Joseph Walker takes the X-15 to 113,230 ft.

1959: Ben, Adam, Hoss and Little Joe Cartwright ride onto the small screen as "Bonanza" premieres on NBC-TV.

1958: The US Supreme Court orders Little Rock, Arkansas high school to integrate.

1956: Black students enter and are immediately barred from Clay, Kentucky elementary school.

1953: Massachusetts Senator John F Kennedy (36) marries Jacqueline Bouvier (24).

1942: Decisive "Battle of Edson's Ridge" begins at Guadalcanal.

1940: 4 teens, following their dog down a hole near Lascaux France, discover 17,000-year-old drawings now known as the "Lascaux Cave Paintings".

1938: Adolph Hitler demands self-determination for Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.

1928: In Florida, an unexpected hurricane kills more than 6,000.

1918: World War I -- US forces launch a successful attack on German occupied St. Mihiel.

1908: Winston Churchill marries Clementine Hozier.

1907: The pride of the Cunard Lines, "HMRMS Lusitania" arrives in New York Harbor on her maiden voyage after a record setting 5 day crossing of Atlantic.

And just to back a lot further...

1015: Henry I becomes the Earl of Leuven.

September 13th

1988: At a barometric pressure reading of 26.13, category 5 "Hurricane Gilbert" is declared the most powerful ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.

1983: The US mint begins to strike the "Olympic Eagle", the first gold coin in 50 years.

1978: The first flight of McDonnell Douglas' new F-18A Hornet takes place over the Mojave desert in Southern California.

1974: NBC-TV's "The Rockford Files" premiers.

1965: The Beatles release "Yesterday".

1939: The age of the helicopter arrives as Igor Sikorsky's new flying machine takes to the air for the first time.

September 13, 1997 - The funeral of Mother Teresa took place in Calcutta.

1985 - The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Aids a worldwide epidemic.

1982 - Died this day, Princess Grace of Monaco, at 52 in a car crash.

September 14, 1741 - Handel finished his Messiah having worked nonstop for 24 days, living on coffee. His manuscript shares a British Museum case with a draft of Paul McCartney's Yesterday.

1814 - On this date in 1814, Francis Scott Key composed the lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner after witnessing the massive British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812.
Key, an American lawyer, watched the siege while under detainment on a British ship, and penned the famous words after observing that the US flag over Fort McHenry had survived the 1,800-bomb assault. After circulating as a handbill, the patriotic lyrics were published in a Baltimore newspaper on 20 September 1814. Key's words were later set to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven," a popular English song.

Throughout the nineteenth century, "The Star-Spangled Banner" was regarded as the national anthem by the US armed forces and other groups, but it was not until 1916, and the signing of an executive order by President Woodrow Wilson, that it was formally designated as such. In 1931, the US Congress passed an act confirming Wilson's presidential order, and on 3 March President Hoover signed it into law.

1886 - The typewriter ribbon was patented by George Anderson.

1968 - While on tour in the UK, Roy Orbison's house in Hendersonville, Tennessee burnt down, his two eldest sons both died in the blaze.

September 14, 2004

As lights went out in bedrooms throughout America, voices were heard repeating the good-night routine performed on this, the first performance of The Waltons on CBS-TV in 1972. “Good night, John Boy”, “Good night, Jim-Bob”, “Good night, Elizabeth”,Good night, La Juliette, Good night, Flutterbug, Good night Galatea, and so on...

September 15, 1890 Agatha Christie is born, Mary Clarissa Agatha Miller, later known as Agatha Christie, on this day in Torquay, Devon, England

September 15, 1950 - United Nations (UN) Forces, lead by the US Marine Corps, invaded occupied Korea at the port of Inchon. Considered the greatest amphibious attack in history, it was the zenith of General Douglas MacArthur's career. In 1950, as US Marines tried to fight their way out of a Chinese trap, Korea suffered its worst winter of the century.

September15th

1983: In New York City, members of the NYPD beat to death Michael Stewart for graffiting a subway station.

1982: The first issue of "USA Today" is published by the Gannett Co.

1982: Israeli forces began pouring into west Beirut to attack the PLO. Meanwhile Pope John Paul II receives Yasser Arafat at the Vatican.

1978: Muhammad Ali beats Leon Spinks by unanimous decision in 15 rounds to win his third and final heavyweight boxing title.

1973: Triple Crown winner Secretariat wins the Marlboro Cup in world record, 1:45 2/5 for 1 mile.

1970: PLO leader Arafat threatens to make a cemetery of Jordan. (Isn't he just the the sweetest, most peace lovin' guy...?)

1963: 4 children are killed in the bombing of a black Baptist church in Birmingham Alabama.

1958: 48 people die in a train wreck at Elizabethport, New Jersey.

1949: Six-shooters erupt and a masked man on a white stallion rides onto the small screen as "The Lone Ranger" premieres on ABC-TV.

1948: An F-86 Sabre sets a new world aircraft speed record of 671 mph.

September 16th

1630 - The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston.

1857 - The typesetting machine was patented.

1920 - Thirty people were killed in a terrorist bombing in New York's Wall Street financial district.

1966 - The Metropolitan Opera opened at New York's Lincoln Center.

1968 - Richard Nixon appeared on Laugh-in.

1975 - Administrators for Rhodes Scholarships announce the decision to begin offering fellowships to women.

1994 - A federal court jury in Anchorage, Alaska, ordered Exxon to pay $5 billion dollars to the fishermen and natives whose lives were affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. It was the second largest assessment for punitive damages ever directed at one company, and the largest ever in a pollution case.

September 16th

1992: More than 900 people die in Pakistan due to a sudden flood.

1991: The US trial of deposed Panamanian leader Noriega begins.

1990: 101 year old Sam Ackerman weds 95 year old Eva Knowles in New Rochelle New York.

1986: Following a lengthy general strike in the South African mines, accumulated gases explode at re-opening of Kinross gold mine in Transvaal, South Africa. 177 black miners are killed.

1984 It's time to lose the socks and razor as NBC's "Miami Vice" premieres on the small screen.

1982: Massacre of more than 1000 Palestinians takes place at Chatila and Sabra refugee camps.

1978: With the Great Pyramids of Giza as a backdrop, Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead perform a sold out benefit concert in Egypt.

1974: President Ford announces a conditional amnesty for US Vietnam War draft dodgers and deserters.

1971: The FBI arrests 6 members of the Ku Klux Klan in connection with the bombing of 10 school buses. (Nice guys, huh?)

1941: Hitler orders that for every German Occupation soldier killed by the resistance movement, 100 Yugoslavian civilians are to be executed.

1940: As war clouds begin to gather on the horizon Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the "Selective Training & Service Act". It is the first peacetime draft ever in the US.

1940: In the largest and most fierce bombing raid of "The Battle of Britain" the Luftwaffe attacks the center of London in mass formations.

1908: Carriage maker William Durant, founds a small motor-car enterprise which he names "General Motors Corporation". This is bought out in 1914 by "Chevrolet Automobiles Ltd".

1862: The bloodiest day in the American Civil War as the Battle of Antietam takes place in Sharpsburg Maryland.

September 16,1893
Settlers race to claim the land nobody wanted. The largest land run in history begins with more than 100,000 people pouring into the Cherokee Strip of Oklahoma to claim valuable land that had once belonged to Native Americans.

September 17th

1787: The U.S. Constitution was completed and signed.

1920: The American Professional Football Association, which eventually became the National Football League, was formed.

1994: Heather Whitestone became the first deaf woman to be crowned Miss America.

September 17th

1796 - President George Washington delivered his "Farewell Address" to Congress before concluding his second term in office. When George Washington announced that he would retire from office he set the stage for the nation's first two party presidential campaign.

1872 - Phillip W. Pratt patented the sprinkler system.

1911 - The first transcontinental US airplane flight took place from New York to Pasadena in 82 hrs 4 min.

1928 - A hurricane hit Lake Okeechobee, Florida drowning between 1,800 and 2500 people.

1931 - The first long-playing record, a 33 1/3 rpm recording, was demonstrated in New York by RCA-Victor. It was Beethoven's 5th. The venture failed however, due to the high price of the record players and wasn't revived until 1948.

1953 - The first operation to separate Siamese twins, was carried out successfully today.

1964 - Bewitched premiered on ABC TV.

1972 - M*A*S*H premiered on US TV.

1980 - Died this day, Anastasio Somoza, former Nicaraguan President was assassinated in Paraguay.

September 18th

1997: Ted Turner gives $1 billion to the UN. (Better than letting Jane get her hands on it)

1990: Under armed guard a 500 lb. 6 ft. "Hershey Kiss" is displayed at Times Square in New York.

1989: Hurricane Hugo causes extensive damage in Puerto Rico.

1987: The US and Soviet Union sign a landmark accord to remove all mid range missiles from Europe.

1984: Joe Kittinger completes the first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic.

1982: A Christian militia enters a Lebanon refugee camp and massacres more than 600 Palestinians. (All in the name of God, of course!)

1977: NASA's Voyager I space probe takes the first ever space photograph of the Earth and Moon together.

1975: Newspaper heiress turned bank robber Patty Hearst is captured by the FBI in San Francisco.

1974: Hurricane Fifi slams into the Honduras with 110 mph winds. More than 5,000 die.

1969: Tiny Tim tiptoes through the tulips to place an engagement ring on the finger of Miss Vicky. (What in hell was she thinking?)

1965: KAOS reigns supreme as "Get Smart" premieres on the small screen. Sunbeam's "Tiger" sells out all across America in the next 3 weeks.

1957: In the truest of Hollywood fashion "Wagon Train" premieres on televisions across North America. Depicting glamor and glory it leaves out the harsh realities endured by pioneers (1840's) on the real Oregon Trail.

1947: The "USAF" (US Air Force) is born as the aviation branch is removed from army control and made into a stand alone military division.

1944: 5,600 die in the worst maritime disaster of the Second World War with the sinking of the Junyo Maru by a British submarine. She was carrying slaves and POW's.

1931: Japan's invasion forces complete their conquest of Manchuria. It is renamed Manchukuo.

1926: A hurricane hits Miami Fla. and kills 250.

1919: A hurricane storm surge, 16 feet above normal, drowns more than 280 people along the Gulf Coast.

1914: Battle of Aisne ends with a total German victory and the French in full retreat. (WW I)

1914: General von Hindenburg is named commander of all German armies on the Eastern Front.

1904: Japanese warships open fire with the fiercest shelling of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) against Port Arthur.

1895: Booker T Washington delivers his famous "Atlanta Compromise" address.

1873: Government bond agent "Jay Cooke & Co" collapses causing a panic on Wall Street.

1851: The New York Times publishes its very first issue.

1811: The English Expeditionary Army eleiminates the last pockets of resistance and completes their conquest of the Dutch Indies.

1810: Chile declares its independence from Spain.

1809: London's world renowned Royal Opera House opens its doors for the first time.

1793: President George Washington lays the cornerstone of the Capitol building.

1759: The Battle of Quebec ends with the French's unconditional surrender to the British.

This post has been edited at member's request.Ron,

September 19th

1783 - The first hot-air balloon was sent aloft in Versailles, France with animal passengers including a sheep, rooster and a duck.

1846 - Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning eloped together.

1876 - American inventor, Melville Bissel, patented the first carpet sweeper.

1881 - Died this day, James A. Garfield, US president, died in Elberon, New Jersey, of gunshot wounds inflicted on 2 July by a disgruntled office-seeker. Vice President Chester Arthur was sworn in as his successor.

1893 - On this date in 1893, with the signing of the Electoral Bill by Governor Lord Glasgow, New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant national voting rights to women.

The bill was the outcome of years of suffragette meetings in towns and cities across the country, with women often traveling considerable distances to hear lectures and speeches, pass resolutions, and sign petitions. New Zealand women first went to the polls in the national elections of November 1893.

The United States granted women the right to vote in 1912, and Great Britain guaranteed full voting rights for women in 1928.

1928 - On this day American icon Mickey Mouse made his film debut at Colony Theatre, New York City. His voice and creator Walt Disney owed a debt to his wife, who advised him that Mickey Mouse was a better name than "Mortimer Mouse." Mickey became a star in Steamboat Willie, his first sound film, and appeared in over one hundred other movies, and later, in Disney's two popular theme parks.

Within ten years, Mickey Mouse was one of the most loved, most well-known figures in the world. In the time of the Great Depression, plucky Mickey became an all-time favourite. Among the leagues of fans were US President Franklin Roosevelt, Britain's King George V and Italy's Mussolini.

September 19th

1965: The muscle-car wars shift into high gear as Chrysler introduces the street version of its 426 Hemi to the masses. The first one is coupled to a Borg Warner 4 speed and installed at the factory into a production blue 1966 Dodge Coronet 500 2-door hardtop. It sold at Ranger Dodge-Chrysler in Lubbock, Texas 2 weeks later for $3,216.

1928: The very first of the legendary Chevrolet engine "The Stovebolt Six" is installed on the assembly line in Detroit into a 2-door roadster. The factory workers dub her "Annabelle". Retail price, $612.

1846: "The Great Gale of '46" scores a direct hit on Newfoundland. It is now known that The Great Gale was, in fact, a category 5 hurricane which arrived suddenly in the early predawn hours catching most people asleep. The destruction of Newfoundland's coast was almost total. There are no accurate records of the death toll (numbering in the thousands) as many fishing villages were washed out to sea by a 22 foot storm surge, leaving not a trace behind.

1796: President George Washington's farewell address was published.

1777: U.S. forces are victorious in "The First Battle of Saratoga".

This post has been edited at member's request.Ron,

September 19, 1959

Khrushchev barred from visiting Disneyland. In one of the more surreal moments in the history of the Cold War, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev explodes with anger when he learns that he cannot visit Disneyland.

September 20th

1990: Both East and West Germany ratify the reunification agreement.

1990: Saddam Hussein demands that all US networks broadcast his message.

1989: F.W. De Klerk is sworn in as the president of South Africa.

1989: The Musical "Miss Saigon," premieres in London.

1984: Suicide car bomber attacks the US Embassy annex in Beirut killing 23.

1979: A coup in Central African Republic sees David Dacko's overthrow of emperor Bokassa I. (One murderous dictator replaces another)

1977: NASA launches Voyager 2 on a mission to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

1967: Britain's Cunard Lines launches the "Queen Elizabeth II" at Clydebank Scotland.

1963: US President John F Kennedy proposes a joint US-Soviet voyage to the moon.

1954: Roger Bannister awarded Britain's Silver Pears Trophy for running the 4-minute mile.

1945: German rocket designers and engineers begin working in America for the US military.

1927: NY Yankee Babe Ruth hits a record 60th home run in a single season.

1917: A British assault on Polygon-forest in France is successful as German and Austrian troops fall back.

1881: Following the death of James Garfield, Chester A Arthur is sworn in as the 21st president of the United States.

1870: Italian army under Victor Emmanuel II delivers a crushing defeat to occupying French troops and retakes Rome.

1860: The Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII makes the first visit by British royalty to the US.

1854: With a death toll into the thousands on both sides British and French troops defeat the Russians at "The Battle of Alma" in the Crimean War.

1797: The US frigate 'Constitution', later known as "Old Ironsides" is launched in Boston Massachusetts.

1792: A French army defeats the Prussians at the "Battle of Valmy".

1746: "Bonnie Prince Charlie" flees to France from Scotland.

1519: Ferdinand Magellan begins the first successful circumnavigation of the world.

1378: Robert de GenŠve, "The Butcher of Cesena" is crowned anti-pope Clemens VII.

1258: One of the greatest architectural wonders of the middle ages, the Cathedral of Salisbury, is inaugurated.

451: General Aetius' army defeats the forces of Attila the Hun at the "Battle of Chalons-sur-Marne".

September 20th

1859 - A patent was granted on the electric range (cooker).

1877 - The Chase National Bank opened in New York City. It later merged into Chase Manhattan.

1878 - Born this day, Upton Sinclair, author best known today for The Jungle.

1884 - The Equal Rights Party nominated female candidates for President and Vice President.

1931 - Britain came off the gold standard to stop speculation against the pound.

1934 - Born this day, Sophia Loren, in Rome, actress, (Desire Under the Elms, Black Orchid).

1946 - The first Cannes film festival opened in the French resort on the French Riveria. It had been planned for 1939 but was held up by World War II (WWII).

1952 - Scientists confirmed that DNA holds hereditary data.

1969 - Based on the comic-book TV series Archie and his friends, The Archies started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Sugar Sugar. It became the longest running one hit wonder in the UK after spending eight weeks at the top of the charts.

1971 - Peter Frampton left Humble Pie to begin a solo career.

1973 - Died this day, Jim Croce, singer, songwriter, (Time In A Bottle, Bad Bad Leroy Brown), was killed with five others, on his way to perform his second concert of the day, when his chartered aircraft hit a tree on take off in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

1973 - Billy Jean King aged 29, beat Bobby Riggs, a pre-war 55-year old champion in a battle-of-sexes tennis match after Riggs claimed women athletes could never match men.

1979 - On this date in 1979, after being fired from the Ford presidency, Lee Iacocca was elected Chairman of the failing Chrysler Corporation. Despite dire predictions from his critics, Iacocca succeeded in rebuilding Chrysler through layoffs, cutbacks, hard-selling advertising, and a government loan guarantee.

He became the epitome of the 'can-do' executive, famous for his strong work ethic and no nonsense style. During Chrysler's crisis years, Iacocca reduced his salary to $1 per year to set an example for the rest of the company, explaining that everyone must be willing to sacrifice a little in order for Chrysler to survive. By 1983, Chrysler had moved from the verge of bankruptcy to a competitive force in the automobile market, paying back all of its government loans in less than four years.

"We at Chrysler borrow money the old fashioned way. We pay it back," said Iacocca. His autobiography Iacocca became a bestseller in 1984, breaking all records for a business book.

1985 - Walt Disney World admitted its 200-millionth guest.

1994 - The Temptations received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998 - A can of exhaust fumes from Michael Schumacher's Formula 1 racing car was sold for £10,600 at a charity auction.