September 1

The wheels of Confederation were set in motion as the Charlottetown conference opened 137 years ago today, in 1864. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island planned the conference to discuss a maritime union. But representatives from the province of Canada (Quebec and Ontario), who had asked to attend, persuaded the eastern colonies to work toward a general union of British North America.

1422 -- Henry VI, an infant, became king of England on the death of his father, Henry V.

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr was found innocent of treason.

September 2

In 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out, claiming thousands of homes, but only a few lives.

In 1789, the U.S. Treasury Department was established.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman's forces occupied Atlanta.

September 3

1879 -- The Toronto Industrial Exhibition, which became the Canadian National Exhibition, opened for the first time.

In 1189, England's King Richard I (the Lion-Hearted) was crowned in Westminster.

In 1658, Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, died.

September 4

Donald McKay, who designed and built great clipper ships that set long-standing records for fast passages, was born at Jordan Falls, N.S., 191 years ago today, in 1810. His ships included the Flying Cloud, the Great Republic and Sovereign of the Seas.

In 1781, Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers.

In 1888, George Eastman received a patent for his roll-film camera, and registered his trademark: Kodak.

September 5

1698 -- Peter the Great of Russia imposed a tax on beards.

1847 -- Outlaw Jesse James was born near Kearney, Mo.

1857 -- Charles Darwin first outlined his theory of natural selection and evolution.

In 1836, Sam Houston was elected president of the Republic of Texas.

In 1882, the nation's first Labor Day parade was held in New York.

September 6

U.S. President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y., 100 years ago today, in 1901. McKinley's wounds seemed to be healing but gangrene set in and he died on Sept. 14. Until the assassination, little security was provided for American presidents and anarchist Leon Czolgosz, carrying a concealed pistol, had lined up to shake McKinley's hand. 1952 -- The CBC opened the first TV broadcasting facilities in Canada, CBFT in Montreal.

In 1837, the Oberlin Collegiate Institute of Ohio went co-educational.

September 7

In 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution, bade farewell to President John Quincy Adams at the White House.

In 1901, the Peace of Beijing ended the Boxer Rebellion in China.

September 8

In 1664, the Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who renamed it New York.

In 1900, Galveston, Texas, was struck by a hurricane that killed about 6,000 people.

September 9

In 1776, the second Continental Congress made the term "United States" official, replacing "United Colonies."

In 1850, California became the 31st state of the union.

September 10

On Sept. 10, 1813, an American naval force commanded by Oliver H. Perry defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812.

In 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.

In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.

September 11

On September 11, 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

In 1814, an American fleet scored a decisive victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Champlain in the War of 1812.

In 1850, Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale," gave her first concert in the United States, at Castle Garden in New York.

In 1885, author D.H. Lawrence was born in Eastwood, England.

September 12

In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river that now bears his name.

In 1880, author and journalist H.L. Mencken was born in Baltimore.

September 13

In 1759, during the final French and Indian War, the British defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham overlooking Quebec City.

In 1788, the Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election, and declared New York City the temporary national capital.

In 1803, Commodore John Barry, considered by many the father of the American Navy, died in Philadelphia.

In 1851, American medical pioneer Walter Reed was born in Gloucester County, Va.

September 14

One-hundred years ago, on Sept. 14, 1901, President McKinley died in Buffalo, N.Y., of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him.

In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner" after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland.

In 1847, U.S. forces under General Winfield Scott took control of Mexico City.

September 15

Edward, Prince of Wales, visited Niagara Falls, 141 years ago today, in 1860, as part of the first official "royal tour" of Canada. The two-month visit by Edward, later Edward VII, also included stops in the Maritimes and Montreal. The prince, the son of Queen Victoria, was honoured as a visible symbol of monarchy and empire.

On Sept. 15, 1821, independence was proclaimed for Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

In 1776, British forces occupied New York City during the American Revolution.

In 1789, the U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs was renamed the Department of State.

In 1857, William Howard Taft, who served as president of the United States and as chief justice, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

September 16

In 1638, France's King Louis XIV was born.

In 1810, Mexico began its revolt against Spanish rule.

In 1893, hundreds of thousands of settlers swarmed onto a section of land in Oklahoma known as the "Cherokee Strip."

September 17

1844 -- The first suspension bridge in Canada, a 74-metre bridge spanning the Ottawa River, was opened for traffic. In 1859, Victoria Bridge at Montreal was completed. The first bridge over the St. Lawrence, it was opened in 1860.

On Sept. 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the constitutional convention in Philadelphia.

In 1862, Union forces hurled back a Confederate invasion of Maryland in the Civil War Battle of Antietam.

September 18

1841 -- An act was passed to establish and maintain public schools in Canada..

1875 -- Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government established the Supreme Court of Canada.

One hundred and 50 years ago, on Sept. 18, 1851, the first edition of The New York Times was published.

In 1759, the French formally surrendered Quebec to the British.

In 1793, President Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.

In 1810, Chile declared its independence from Spain.

In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed slaveowners to reclaim slaves who had escaped to other states.

September 19

1648 -- Jacques Boisdon opened Canada's first tavern in Quebec.

On Sept. 19, 1777, during the Revolutionary War, American soldiers won the first Battle of Saratoga.

In 1796, President Washington's farewell address was published.

In 1881, the 20th president of the United States, James A. Garfield, died of wounds inflicted by an assassin.

September 20

On Sept. 20, 1519, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set out from Spain on a voyage to find a western passage to the Spice Islands in Indonesia. (Magellan was killed en route, but one of his ships eventually circled the world.)

In 1870, Italian troops took control of the Papal States, leading to the unification of Italy.

In 1881, Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as the 21st president of the United States, succeeding the assassinated James A. Garfield.

September 21

In 1792, the French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy.

In 1897, the New York Sun ran its famous editorial that declared, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

September 22

1851 -- The capital of Canada was moved from Toronto to Quebec City.

On Sept. 22, 1776, Nathan Hale was hanged as a spy by the British during the Revolutionary War.

In 1789, Congress authorized the office of Postmaster-General.

In 1792, the French Republic was proclaimed.

In 1862, President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of January 1, 1863.

September 23

Neptune, the eighth planet from the sun, was discovered by German astronomer Johann Galle 155 years ago today, in 1846. Galle found the planet within one degree of a position predicted earlier by two scientists from France and Britain. Neptune was the first planet discovered through theoretical calculations.

In 1578, English explorer Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed from Plymouth, England, in search of the Northwest Passage.

On Sept. 23, 1779, during the Revolutionary War, the American warship Bon Homme Richard defeated the HMS Serapis after the American commander, John Paul Jones, is said to have declared: "I have not yet begun to fight!"

In 63 B.C., Caesar Augustus was born in Rome.

In 1642, Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., held its first commencement.

In 1780, British spy John Andre was captured along with papers revealing Benedict Arnold's plot to surrender West Point to the British.

In 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition returned to St. Louis from the Pacific Northwest.

In 1846, the planet Neptune was discovered by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.

September 24

In 1788, Canada made its first shipment of furs to China.

On Sept. 24, 1789, Congress passed the First Judiciary Act, which provided for an Attorney General and a Supreme Court.

In 1869, thousands of businessmen were ruined in a Wall Street panic after financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market.

In 1896, author F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minn.

September 25

In 1690, Publick Occurrences, the first American newspaper, published its first, and last, edition in Boston.

In 1726, Acadians signed a British oath of allegiance on condition that they did not have to fight against the French.

On Sept. 25, 1789, the first Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. (Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.)

In 1690, one of the earliest American newspapers, Publick Occurrences, published its first -- and last -- edition in Boston.

In 1775, American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen was captured by the British as he led an attack on Montreal.

In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed a measure establishing Sequoia National Park.

In 1890, Wilford Woodruff, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, issued a Manifesto formally renouncing the practice of polygamy.

In 1897, American author William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Miss.

September 26

In 1751, Some 1,000 immigrants from Wurtemberg, Germany, arrived in Halifax.

In 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution.

In 1789, Thomas Jefferson was appointed America's first secretary of state.

In 1898, American composer George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

September 27

The U.S. steamship Arctic collided with a French steamer Vesta in thick fog in the Atlantic 147 years ago today, in 1854. The Arctic sank near Cape Race, Nfld., with 300 people on board. As a result of the disaster, safety features such as side lighting on ships were made compulsory.

In 1779, John Adams was named to negotiate the Revolutionary War's peace terms with Britain.

In 1854, the first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean liner occurred when the steamship Arctic sank with 300 people aboard.

September 28

In 1793, The Upper Canada legislature decreed that all slave children born in Canada after Sept. 28 would become free at age 25.

In 1066, William the Conqueror invaded England to claim the English throne.

In 1542, Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived at present-day San Diego.

In 1781, American forces in the Revolutionary War, backed by a French fleet, began their siege of Yorktown Heights, Va.

In 1787, Congress voted to send the just-completed Constitution of the United States to state legislatures for their approval.

In 1850, flogging was abolished as a form of punishment in the U.S. Navy.

September 29

In 1788, The first ship built on the Pacific coast, the North West America, was completed by Capt. Meares at Nootka, Vancouver Island.

On Sept. 29, 1829, London's reorganized police force, which became known as Scotland Yard, went on duty.

In 1758, English Admiral Horatio Nelson was born.

In 1789, the U.S. War Department established a regular Army with a strength of several hundred men.

September 30

On Sept. 30, 1791, Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" premiered in Vienna, Austria.

In 1777, the Congress of the United States -- forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces -- moved to York, Pa.

In 1846, dentist William Morton used ether as an anesthetic for the first time on a patient in his Boston office.