September 14: What Happened on This Day in History (High_school Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1752 - The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2).
2. 1814 - The poem Defence of Fort McHenry is written by Francis Scott Key. The poem is later used as the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner.
3. 1958 - The first two German post-war rockets, designed by the German engineer Ernst Mohr, reach the upper atmosphere.
4. 1959 - The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it.
5. 1960 - The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded.
6. 1975 - The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, is canonized by Pope Paul VI.
7. 1984 - Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean.
8. 1985 - Penang Bridge, the longest bridge in Malaysia, connecting the island of Penang to the mainland, opens to traffic.
9. 1987 - The Toronto Blue Jays set a record for the most home runs in a single game, hitting 10 of them.
10. 1995 - Body Worlds opens in Tokyo, Japan
11. Famous Birthdays: Alexander von Humboldt (German naturalist and explorer), Gil Langley (Australian cricketer, footballer and politician), Nicholas Georgiadis (Greek painter, stage and costume designer), Kostas Karamanlis (Greek prime-minister), Wendy Thomas (namesake of the eponymous restaurant- Wendy's)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: September 13

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: September 15

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.