09 September History
- 337 - Constantine's three sons, already Caesars, each take the title of Augustus. Constantine II and Constans share the west while Constantius II takes control of the east.
- 1087 - William the Conquerer, Duke of Normandy and King of England, dies in Rouen while conducting a war which began when the French king made fun of him for being fat.
- 1513 - King James IV of Scotland is defeated and killed by English at Flodden.
- 1585 - Pope Sixtus V deprives Henry of Navarre of his rights to the French crown.
- 1776 - The term "United States" is adopted by the Continental Congress to be used instead of the "United Colonies."
- 1786 - George Washington calls for the abolition of slavery.
- 1791 - French Royalists take control of Arles and barricade themselves inside the town.
- 1834 - Parliament passes the Municipal Corporations Act, reforming city and town governments in England.
- 1850 - California, in the midst of a gold rush, enters the Union as the 31st state.
- 1863 - The Union Army of the Cumberland passes through Chattanooga as they chase after the retreating Confederates. The Union troops will soon be repulsed at the Battle of Chickamauga.
- 1886 - The Berne International Copyright Convention takes place.
- 1911 - An airmail route opens between London and Windsor.
- 1915 - A German zeppelin bombs London for the first time, causing little damage.
- 1926 - The Radio Corporation of America creates the National Broadcasting Co.
- 1942 - A Japanese float plane, launched from a submarine, makes its first bombing run on a U.S. forest near Brookings, Oregon.
- 1943 - Allied troops land at Salerno, Italy and encounter strong resistance from German troops.
- 1970 - U.S. Marines launch Operation Dubois Square, a 10-day search for North Vietnamese troops near DaNang.
- 1976 - Communist Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung died in Beijing at age 82.
09 September Birthdays
- 1585 - Duc Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, French cardinal and statesman who helped build France into a world power under the leadership of King Louis XIII.
- 1828 - Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (War and Peace, Anna Karenina).
- 1887 - Alfred M. Landon, Republican governor of Kansas who carried only two states in his overwhelming defeat for the presidency by Franklin Roosevelt in 1936.
- 1890 - Colonel Harland Sanders, originator of Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food restaurants.
- 1900 - James Hilton, British novelist who authored Lost Horizon and Goodbye Mr. Chips and created the imaginary world of "Shangri-La."
- 1934 - Sonia Sanchez, poet.