September 11

September 11 in recent years
2024 (Wednesday)
2023 (Monday)
2022 (Sunday)
2021 (Saturday)
2020 (Friday)
2019 (Wednesday)
2018 (Tuesday)
2017 (Monday)
2016 (Sunday)
2015 (Friday)

September 11 is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 111 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

9 – The Battle of Teutoburg Forest finishes.
1041 – Fire destroys most of Bremen's Old Town.
1297 – Led by William Wallace, the Scots defeat the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
1390 – The Teutonic Knights besiege Vilnius.
1541 – Santiago, Chile, is destroyed by indigenous warriors led by Michimalonko.
1565 – Ottoman Empire forces retreat from Malta, ending the Great Siege of Malta.
1609 – Henry Hudson arrives at the island of Manhattan.
1649 – Under orders from Oliver Cromwell, the Drogheda Massacre is committed in Ireland.
1708 – King Charles XII of Sweden stops his march to Moscow, by halting outside Smolensk, marking a turning point in the Great Northern War.
1714 – Siege of Barcelona: Barcelona, capital city of Catalonia, surrenders to French and Spanish Bourbon armies in the War of the Spanish Succession.
1758 – Seven Years' War: In the Battle of Saint Cast, France holds off a British invasion.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold's expedition leaves Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of the invasion of Quebec.
1776 – A British–American peace conference on Staten Island fails to stop the already started American Revolutionary War.
1789 – Alexander Hamilton becomes the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.
1802 – France annexes the Kingdom of Piedmont.
1813 – War of 1812: British troops arrive in Mount Vernon and prepare to march and invade Washington, DC.
1814 – War of 1812: Climax of the Battle of Plattsburgh, a major US victory in the war.
1852 – The State of Buenos Aires separates from the Argentine federal government, before re–joining on September 17, 1861.
1857 – Mountain Meadows massacre: Mormon settlers and Paiutes massacre 120 pioneers at Mountain Meadows, Utah.
1877 – British three–mast sailing boat collides with another vessel off the Isle of Portland, sinking shortly after, killing 106 people.
1897 – After months of pursuit, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last King of Kaffa, bringing the ancient kingdom of Kaffa to an end.

1901 – 2000

1906 – Mahatma Gandhi coins the term Satyagraha for the non–violent rights movement in South Africa.
1914 – World War I: Australia invades the island of New Britain, defeating a German contingent at the Battle of Bita Paka.
1914 – World War I: A battle at what is now Lviv, results in a Russian victory over Austria-Hungary, a defeat that the Habsburg monarchy never fully recovers from.
1916 – The Quebec Bridge collapses, killing 11 people.
1918 – The Boston Red Sox win their fifth World Series title, defeating the Chicago Cubs in six games. This was their last title until 2004.
1919 – US Marines invade Honduras.
1922 – The Treaty of Kars is ratified in Yerevan, Armenia.
1922 – The British Mandate for Palestine begins.
1930 – The biggest–recorded eruption of the Stromboli volcano in Italy takes place.
1931 – Salvatore Maranzano is murdered by Lucky Luciano's hitmen.
1941 – Ground is broken for the construction of the Pentagon building.
1943 – Holocaust: Start of the liquidation of the Ghettos in Minsk and Lida by the Nazis.
1944 – An RAF bombing raid destroys the city of Darmstadt in Germany killing around 11,500 people.
1954 – Hurricane Edna strikes New England, killing 29 people.
1961 – Hurricane Carla hits Texas.
1961 – The World Wide Fund for Nature is founded.
1962 – The Beatles record their first single, Love Me Do.
1968 – An Air France plane crashes in Nice, France, killing 95 people.
1971 – The Egyptian Constitution becomes official.
1972 – The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system has its opening day of passenger service.
1973 – A military coup in Chile removes President Salvador Allende, who is subsequently killed in the event, from office. General Augusto Pinochet is installed in his place, and remains in power until March 11, 1990.
1974 – An Eastern Airlines plane crashes in Charlotte in North Carolina, killing 69 people.
1974 – Charles T. Kowal discovers Jupiter's moon Leda.
1978 – Janet Parker becomes the last person to die of smallpox.
1978 – Georgi Markov dies four days after being attacked in London.
1985 – Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's baseball record of most career hits when he hits his 4,192nd hit.
1989 – Hungary opens the Iron Curtain for refugees from East Germany to travel to the West.
1990 – US President George H. W. Bush proclaims a "New World Order".
1992 – Hurricane Iniki hits the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai.
1997 – In a referendum, the people of Scotland vote in favour of a new Scottish Parliament.
1997 – NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars.
1997 – Fourteen Estonian soldiers die in the Kurkse Tragedy, drowning in the Baltic Sea.
1998 – Beginning of the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the first time these games are held in Asia.
1999 – Tennis player Serena Williams wins her first Grand Slam, at the US Open.

From 2001

2001 – In the September 11 attacks, Islamic extremists destroy the World Trade Center in New York City and part of The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia by crashing passenger planes into them. Another airliner crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 were killed. The term "9/11" is often used to refer to these attacks.
2003 – Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh dies aged 46, following a knife attack the previous day. After Olof Palme in 1986, she is the second high–profile Swedish politician to be murdered.
2004 – A helicopter crashes in the Aegean Sea, killing 17 people, including Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria.
2006 – George Tupou V becomes king of Tonga, after the death of his father Taufa'ahau Tupou IV.
2007 – Russia tests a thermobaric weapon.
2012 – The US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt and Consulate in Benghazi, Libya are targeted in terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists. 4 Americans are killed in the attacks, including US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens.
2012 – A total of 315 people are killed in two garment factory fires in Pakistan.
2015 – A crane collapse at Mecca's Central Mosque kills over 100 people.
2017 – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says that a security operation targeting Rohingya people in Myanmar is a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

Births

Up to 1900

1182 – Minamoto na Yoriie, Japanese shogun (d. 1204).
1470 – Martin Waldseemüller, German cartographer (d. 1520).
1476 – Louise of Savoy (d. 1531).
1522 – Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian physician and naturalist (d. 1605).
1524 – Pierre de Ronsard, French poet (d. 1585).
1525 – John George, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1598).
1611 – Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, Marshal of France (d. 1675).
1656 – Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, consort of Sweden (d. 1693).
1700 – James Thomson, Scottish poet (d. 1748).
1711 – William Boyce, English composer (d. 1779).
1724 – Johann Bernhard Basedow, German educational reformer (d. 1790).
1743 – Nicolai Abildgaard, Danish painter, sculptor and architect (d. 1809).
1749 – Justus Perthes, German publisher (d. 1816).
1764 – Valentino Fioravanti, Italian composer (d. 1837).
1771 – Mungo Park, Scottish explorer (d. 1806).
1786 – Friedrich Kuhlau, German composer (d. 1832).
1798 – Franz Ernst Neumann, German physicist (d. 1895).
1816 – Carl Zeiss, German lens maker (d. 1888).
1825 – Eduard Hanslick, Austrian composer (d. 1904).
1838 – John Ireland, American archbishop (d. 1918).
1845 – Emile Baudot, French engineer and inventor (d. 1903).
1847 – Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer (d. 1921).
1853 – Katharina Schratt, Austrian actress (d. 1940).
1860 – James Allan, New Zealand rugby (d. 1934).
1862 – O. Henry, American writer (d. 1910).
1862 – Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, British field marshal and Governor–General of Canada (d. 1936).
1862 – Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, British noblewoman (d. 1938)
1862 – Hawley Harvey Crippen, American physician and murder suspect (d. 1910)
1865 – Rainis, Latvian writer and politician (d. 1929).
1871 – Scipione Borghese, 1st Prince of Sulmona, Italian racing driver, mountaineer and politician (d. 1927)
1877 – Felix Dzerzhinsky, Polish–born Bolshevik revolutionary (d. 1926).
1877 – James Hopwood Jeans, English physicist, astronomer and mathematician (d. 1946).
1881 – Asta Nielsen, Danish actress (d. 1972)
1885 – D. H. Lawrence, English novelist (d. 1930).
1892 – Pinto Colvig, American actor and cartoonist (d. 1967).
1892 – Lucien Buysse, Belgian cyclist (d. 1980).
1895 – Vinobe Bhave, Indian activist (d. 1982).
1895 – Nur Ali Elahi, Iranian philosopher and musician (d. 1974).
1896 – Robert S. Kerr, 12th Governor of Oklahoma (d. 1963).
1899 – Jimmie Davis, American country music singer–songwriter and politician, Governor of Louisiana (d. 2000).
1900 – Semyon Lavochkin, Russian aircraft engineer (d. 1960).

1901 – 1950

1903 – Theodor W. Adorno, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1969).
1904 – Ludwik Gross, Polish–American cancer researcher and virologist (d. 1999)
1910 – Gerhard Schröder, German politician (d. 1989).
1913 – Jacinto Convit, Venezuelan physician and scientist (d. 2014).
1913 – Bear Bryant, American football coach (d. 1983).
1914 – Pavle, Serbian Patriarch (d. 2009).
1915 – Raul Alberto Lastiri, Argentine politician and interim President (d. 1978).
1917 – Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines (d. 1989).
1917 – Herbert Lom, Czech–born British actor (d. 2012).
1917 – Jessica Mitford, British writer (d. 1996).
1921 – Yidnekatchew Tessema, Ethiopian footballer (d. 1987).
1924 – Daniel Akaka, American politician. (d. 2018)
1924 – Tom Landry, American football coach (d. 2000).
1928 – Reubin Askew, 37th Governor of Florida (d. 2014).
1928 – Earl Holliman, American actor.
1928 – William X. Kienzle, American priest and writer (d. 2001).
1929 – Patrick Mayhew, English lawyer and politician.
1930 – Saleh Salim, Egyptian footballer, manager and actor (d. 2002).
1931 – Hans-Ulrich Wehler, German historian and academic (d. 2014).
1932 – Gavril Dejeu, Romanian politician.
1933 – Rachid Sfar, former Prime Minister of Tunisia.
1935 – Arvo Part, Estonian composer.
1935 – Gherman Titov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2000).
1937 – Queen Paola of Belgium.
1937 – Robert Crippen, American astronaut.
1937 – Joseph Kobzon, Soviet–Ukrainian singer.
1940 – Theodore Olsen, American politician.
1940 – Nong Duc Manh, Vietnamese Communist politician.
1940 – Brian De Palma, American director.
1943 – Mickey Hart, American musician.
1943 – Jack Ely, American guitarist and singer (d. 2015).
1944 – Serge Haroche, French physicist.
1944 – Everaldo, Brazilian footballer (d. 1974).
1944 – Freddy Thielemans, Belgian politician.
1945 – Franz Beckenbauer, German footballer (d. 2014).
1948 – John Martyn, British musician (d. 2009).
1950 – Amy Madigan, American actress.
1950 – Eijun Kiyokumo, Japanese footballer.

1951 – 1975

1951 – Miroslav Dvorak, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2008).
1953 – Tommy Shaw, American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
1955 – Enzo Ghinazzi, Italian singer, presenter, actor and writer.
1956 – Tony Gilroy, American screenwriter and director.
1957 – Brad Bird, American actor, animator, director and screenwriter.
1957 – Jon Moss, English drummer
1960 – Hiroshi Amano, Japanese physicist.
1960 – Predrag Nikolic, chess player from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1961 – Virginia Madsen, American actress.
1962 – Julio Salinas, Spanish footballer.
1962 – Kristy McNichol, American actress.
1963 – Pietro Ferrero Jr., Italian businessman (d. 2011).
1965 – Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria.
1965 – Moby, American musician.
1965 – Graeme Obree, British cyclist.
1965 – Paul Heyman, American wrestling manager and promoter.
1966 – Princess Akishino of Japan.
1967 – Harry Connick, Jr., American singer.
1967 – Sung Jae-gi, South Korean activist (d. 2013).
1968 – Slaven Bilic, Croatian footballer.
1969 – Gidget Gein, American musician (d. 2008).
1970 – Taraji P. Henson, American actress and singer.
1970 – Aaron Dworkin, American violinist.
1971 – Richard Ashcroft, English musician.
1971 – Johnny Vegas, English comedian.
1972 – Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh, Iranian footballer.

From 1976

1977 – Matthew Stevens, Welsh snooker player.
1977 – Ludacris, American rapper, producer and actor.
1977 – Jonny Buckland, English guitarist (Coldplay)
1978 – Dejan Stankovic, Serbian footballer.
1978 – Pablo Contreras, Chilean footballer.
1979 – Eric Abidal, French footballer.
1979 – David Pizarro, Chilean footballer.
1979 – Ariana Richards, American actress.
1979 – Cameron Richardson, American actress.
1981 – Andrea Dossena, Italian footballer.
1981 – Charles Kelley, American country music singer (Lady Antebellum).
1981 – Dylan Klebold, shooter in the Columbine massacre (d. 1999).
1983 – Lauryn Williams, American athlete.
1985 – Shaun Livingston, American basketball player.
1987 – Mai Oshima, Japanese singer (AKB48).
1987 – Susianna Kentikian, Armenian–German boxer.
1987 – Tyler Hoechlin, American actor.
1988 – Lee Yong Dae, South Korean badminton player.
1989 – Asuka Kuramochi, Japanese singer (AKB48).
1990 – Jo Inge Berget, Norwegian footballer.
1991 – Anastasia Rybachenko, Russian activist.
1992 – Jordan Ayew, Ghanaian footballer.
1993 – Lena Lotzen, German footballer.

Deaths

Up to 1900

1063 – King Bela I of Hungary.
1161 – Queen Melisende of Jerusalem (b. 1105).
1298 – Philip of Artois (b. 1269).
1349 – Bonne of Bohemia (b. 1315).
1380 – King Haakon VI of Norway (b. 1040).
1677 – James Harrington, English political philosopher (b. 1611).
1680 – Emperor Go-Mizunoo of Japan (b. 1596).
1721 – Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (b. 1665).
1733 – Francois Couperin, French composer (b. 1868).
1760 – Louis Godin, French astronomer (b. 1704).
1788 – José, Prince of Brazil (b. 1761).
1823 – David Ricardo, English economist (b. 1772).
1843 – Joseph Nicollet, French mathematician and explorer (b. 1786).
1865 – Louis Juchault de Lamoriciere, French general and statesman (b. 1806).
1876 – Nathaniel B. Baker, 24th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1818).
1888 – Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, President of Argentina (b. 1811).

1901 – 2000

1911 – Louis Henri Boussenard, French explorer (b. 1847).
1915 – William Sprague, Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1830).
1917 – Georges Guynemer, French pilot (b. 1894).
1931 – Salvatore Maranzano, Italian–American crime figure (b. 1886).
1932 – Stanislaw Wigura, Polish pilot (b. 1901).
1932 – Franciszek Zwirko, Polish pilot (b. 1895).
1939 – Konstantin Korovin, Russian painter (b. 1861).
1941 – Christian Rakovsky, Bulgarian–born socialist revolutionary (b. 1873).
1947 – Alice Keppel, English socialite and mistress to Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1868).
1948 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan (b. 1876).
1949 – Henri Rabaud, French composer and conductor (b. 1873).
1950 – Jan Smuts, South African politician (b. 1870).
1950 – Alvaro Figueroa, 1st Count of Romanones, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1863).
1956 – Herminio Masantonio, Argentine footballer (b. 1910).
1958 – Robert W. Service, Scottish–Canadian poet (b. 1874).
1958 – Camillien Houde, Canadian politician, 34th Mayor of Montreal (b. 1889).
1971 – Nikita Krushchev, Soviet political leader (b. 1894).
1973 – Salvador Allende, President of Chile (b. 1908).
1973 – E. E. Evans-Pritchard, British anthropologist (b. 1902).
1978 – Ronnie Peterson, Swedish racing driver (b. 1944).
1978 – Georgi Markov, Bulgarian dissident (b. 1929).
1978 – Janet Parker, British smallpox victim (b. 1938).
1986 – Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Greek politician and academic (b. 1902).
1987 – Peter Tosh, Jamaican musician (b. 1944).
1988 – Roger Hargreaves, English writer (The Mr. Men) (b. 1934).
1994 – Jessica Tandy, English–American actress (b. 1909).
1997 – Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1933).

Deaths in the September 11 attacks

2001 – People killed in the September 11 attacks, including:
- David Angell, American sitcom creator (b. 1946).
- Berry Berenson, widow of the actor Anthony Perkins (b. 1948).
- Daniel M. Lewin, American technician (b. 1970).
- Mychal Judge, American priest (b. 1933).
- Garnet Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1948).
- Carolyn Beug, American movie maker (b. 1953).
- Charles Burlingame, American pilot (b. 1949).
- William M. Feeham, American firefighter (b. 1929).
- Peter J. Ganci, American firefighter (b. 1946).
- Timothy Maude, American military officer (b. 1947).
- Barbara Olson, American political commentator (b. 1955).
- Mohamed Atta, Egyptian terrorist (b. 1968).
- Wail al-Shehri, Saudi terrorist (b. 1973).
- Nawaf al-Hazmi, Saudi terrorist (b. 1973).
- Majed Moqed, Saudi terrorist (b. 1977).
- Abdulaziz al-Omari, Saudi terrorist (b. 1979).

After 2001

2002 – Kim Hunter, American actress (b. 1922).
2002 – Johnny Unitas, American football player (b. 1933).
2003 – Anna Lindh, Swedish foreign minister (b. 1957).
2003 – John Ritter, American actor (b. 1948).
2004 – Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa (b. 1949).
2006 – Joachim Fest, German historian (b. 1926).
2007 – Ian Porterfield, British footballer (b. 1945).
2009 – Yoshito Usui, Japanese manga artist (b. 1958).
2009 – Juan Almeida Bosque, Cuban revolutionary (b. 1927).
2009 – Gertrude Baines, American supercentenarian and oldest person in the world at the time of her death (b. 1894).
2010 – Kevin McCarthy, American actor (b. 1914).
2011 – Andy Whitfield, Welsh actor (b. 1972).
2012 – Sergio Livingstone, Chilean footballer (b. 1920).
2012 – Sean Smith, American diplomat.
2012 – J. Christopher Stevens, American diplomat (b. 1960).
2014 – Joachim Fuchsberger, German actor and entertainer (b. 1927).
2014 – Donald Sinden, English actor (b. 1923).
2014 – Antoine Duhamel, French composer (b. 1925).
2014 – Bob Crewe, American songwriter and record producer (b. 1931).
2014 – Rudolf Kortokraks, German–Austrian painter (b. 1928).
2014 – Kendall Francois, American serial killer (b. 1971).
2014 – Hamish McHamish, Scottish celebrity cat (b. 1999).
2015 – Alan Purwin, American helicopter pilot and aerial film operator (b. 1961).
2016 – Alexis Arquette, American actress (b. 1969).
2016 – Ben Idrissa Dermé, Burkinabe footballer (b. 1982).
2017 – Abdul Halim of Kedah, former King of Malaysia (b. 1927).
2017 – J. P. Donleavy, Irish–American writer (b. 1926).
2017 – Alfred Gadenne, Belgian politician (b. 1946).
2017 – Peter Hall, English theatre and film director (b. 1930).

Observances

National Day of Catalonia.
Patriot Day in the US.
Ethiopian New Year.