Born On This Day:

• Francois VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld, 1613
• James Fennimore Cooper, 1789
• William Howard Taft, 1857
• Bruno Walter, 1876
• Robert Benchley, 1889
• Agatha Christie, 1890
• Jean Renoir, 1894
• Roy Acuff, 1903
• Umberto II Italy, 1904
• Fay Wray, 1907
• Margaret Lockwood, 1916
• Jackie Cooper, 1922
• Hank Williams, 1923
• Cannonball Adderley, 1926
• Bobby Short, 1926
• Norm Crosby, 1927
• Merlin Olsen, 1944
• Jessye Norman, 1945
• Oliver Stone, 1946
• Tommy Lee Jones, 1946
• Dan Marino, 1961
• Henry, (Harry) Prince of Wales, 1984

Died On This Day:

• Saint Ludmila, AD 921
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel, 1859
• Jumbo the Elephant, 1885
• William Seward Burroughs, 1898
• Thomas Wolfe, 1938
• Patrice Lamumba assassinated, 1960
• King Gustav VI of Sweden, 1973
• Willy Messerschmitt, 1978
• Robert Penn Warren, 1989
• Freddy de Cordova, 2001
• Johnny Ramone, 2004

Today's Events:

• 1571 - 200 Spanish & Italian ships sail to eastern Mediterranean to do battle against Ottomans. Attack 10/7
• 1776 - British occupy New York; George Washington withdraws to Harlem.
• 1784 - A year after Paris, first ascent in a hydrogen balloon in England made by Italian Vincenzo Lunardi.
• 1812 - Russians set fire to Moscow to keep out Napoleon and invading French troops
• 1821 - Central American republics proclaim independence from Spanish.
• 1830 - Liverpool-Manchester Railway opens in England; first railway death occurs-MP William Huskisson.
• 1835 - First sighting of Galapagos Archipelago by Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle.
• 1862 - Stonewall Jackson captures Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.
• 1916 - Tanks first used by the British in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Somme offensive. WWI.
• 1928 - Bacteriologist Alexander Fleming announces discovery of bacteria-killing compound, penicillin.
• 1938 - Hitler and Chamberlain meet at Berchtesgarden.
• 1940 - German Luftwaffe in biggest raid over London in the Battle of Britain.
• 1946 - Bulgarian People's Republic proclaimed.
• 1971 - Greenpeace founded in Vancouver, B.C.
• 1978 - Muhammad Ali regains title from Leon Spinks; is first to win heavyweight championship 3 times.
• 1982 - USA Today began appearing on newsstands and vending machines today across America.
• 2004 - 5 pro-hunting protestors breach security on House of Commons floor - first time since 17th Century.
• 2008 - Largest corporate bankruptcy in US history - Lehman Brothers goes bust owing $613 billion; Wall Street goes into meltdown; World markets collapse.
• 2008 - Dow Jones falls 504.48 points, 4.4%, biggest loss since terrorist attacks of 2001.

Feast Day of Saint:

• Nicetas the Goth
• Nicomedes
• John the Dwarf
• Katherine of Genoa

Holiday:

• Independence Day Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua & Guatemala (1821)
• Battle of Britain Day in England
• Mexican independence festivities begin
• Respect for the Aged Day in Japan

Non-Specific Holiday:

• JANAM (OR JANMA) ASHTAMI, Hindu Birthday Festival of Krishna
• ANANT CHATURDASI, Hindu Eternal Anniversary of 14th day of Month Bhaedra
• LABOR DAY (U.S. and Canada) First Monday in September.
• CH'UNG YANG, Festival of High Places in China (ninth day of the ninth moon)
• BIRTHDAY OF KRSNA. (Hindu)
• CHUSOK (Korea) on day of full moon of eighth lunar month.
• ROSH HASHANA (Jewish New Year) first and second days of lunar month Tishri.
• YOM KIPPUR (Jewish Day of Atonement) tenth day of lunar month Tishri.
• SUKKOTH (Jewish Feast of Tabernacles) 15th day of lunar month Tishri - five days after Yom Kippur
• SIMCHAT TORAH (Jewish Rejoicing of the Law) 23rd day of Tishri
• DURGA-PUJA (Hindu festival of Goddess Durga)
• PITRA PASKSHA and AMAVASYA, Hindu Feast of the Dead.
• LAKSHMI PUJA, Hindu Festival of the Goddess of Fortune
• CHUNG CH'IU CHIEH (Chinese mid-autumn festival) 15th day of 8th lunar month.
• OWARA KAZE NO BON, HACHIMAN & DOBUROKU MATSURI harvest festivals in Japan
• NATIONAL GRANDPARENTS' DAY - first Sunday after Labor Day in USA
• NATIVE AMERICAN DAY - fourth Friday in September in US
• RAMADAN, Muslim Holy Month