September
8
Independence
Day
Macedonia, Republic of : September 8 1991
September
8 : International Literacy Day
The United
Nations' (UN) International Literacy Day annually falls on September
8 to raise people's awareness of and concern for literacy issues
in the world.
The United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
and its partners promote the day to underline the significance
of literacy for healthy societies, with a strong emphasis on
epidemics and communicable diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis
and malaria.
In countries
all over the world, including the United States and the United
Kingdom, the day raises people's awareness of and concern for
literacy problems within their own communities. Activities such
as letters to the editor in newspapers, as well as news reports
about the concerns for low literacy levels, have occurred as
a result of this increased awareness. Other activities include
literacy day projects, particularly with regard to technology
and literature, which are promoted by various organizations
including reading associations.
September
8
Andorra
Our Lady of Meritxell Day, patron saint of Andorra
Events
70 – Roman
forces under Titus sack Jerusalem.
1264 – The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing Jews safety and personal
liberties and giving battei din jurisdiction over Jewish matters,
is promulgated by Boleslaus the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland.
1331 – Stephen Uroš IV Dušan declares himself king of Serbia
1380 – Battle of Kulikovo – Russian forces defeat a mixed army
of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance.
1449 – Battle of Tumu Fortress – Mongolians capture the Chinese
emperor.
1504 – Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Florence.
1514 – Battle of Orsha – in one of the biggest battles of the
century, Lithuanians and Poles defeat the Russian army.
1551 – The foundation day in Vitória, Brazil
1565 – The Knights of Malta lift the Turkish siege of Malta
that began on May 18.
1727 – A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell
in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are
children.
1755 – French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George.
1756 – French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition.
1761 – Marriage of King George III of the United Kingdom to
Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Hondschoote.
1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano – French
forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa.
1810 – The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees
of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board.
After a six-month journey around the tip of South America, the
ship arrives at the mouth of the Columbia River and Astor's
men establish the fur-trading town of Astoria, Oregon.
1831 – William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen are crowned
King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1860 – The Steamship Lady Elgin sinks on Lake Michigan, with
the loss of around 300 lives.
1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Sabine Pass – on
the Texas-Louisiana border at the mouth of the Sabine River,
a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.
1888 – In London, the body of Jack the Ripper's second murder
victim, Annie Chapman, is found.
1888 – In England the first six Football League matches are
played.
1892 – The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited.
1900 – Galveston Hurricane of 1900: a powerful hurricane hits
Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
1914 – World War I: Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first
British soldier to be executed for desertion during the war.
1921 – 16-year-old Margaret Gorman wins the Atlantic City Pageant's
Golden Mermaid trophy; pageant officials later dubbed her the
first Miss America.
1923 – Honda Point Disaster: nine US Navy destroyers run aground
off the California coast. Seven are lost, and twenty-three sailors
killed.
1926 – Germany is admitted to the League of Nations.
1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch transparent tape.
1934 – Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger
liner SS Morro Castle kills 135 people.
1935 – US Senator from Louisiana, Huey Long, nicknamed "Kingfish",
is fatally shot in the Louisiana capitol building.
1941 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins. German forces
begin a siege against the Soviet Union's second-largest city,
Leningrad.
1943 – World War II: The O.B.S. (German General Headquarters
for the Mediterranean zone) in Frascati is bombed by USAAF.
1943 – World War II: United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower
publicly announces the Allied armistice with Italy.
1944 – World War II: London is hit by a V2 rocket for the first
time.
1944 – World War II: Menton is liberated from Germany.
1945 – Cold War: United States troops arrive to partition the
southern part of Korea in response to Soviet troops occupying
the northern part of the peninsula a month earlier.
1951 – Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, California,
48 nations sign a peace treaty with Japan in formal recognition
of the end of the Pacific War.
1952 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation makes its first
televised broadcast on the second escape of the Boyd Gang.
1954 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established.
1959 – The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) is established.
1960 – In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower
formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had
already activated the facility on July 1).
1962 – Newly independent Algeria, by referendum, adopts a constitution.
1962 – Last run of the famous Pines Express over the Somerset
and Dorset Railway line (UK) fittingly using the last steam
locomotive built by British Railways, 9F locomotive 92220 Evening
Star.
1965 – Pakistan Navy raids Indian coasts without any resistance
in Operation Dwarka, Pakistan celebrates Victory Day annually.
1966 – The Severn Bridge is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth
II.
1966 – The first Star Trek series premieres on NBC.
1967 – The formal end of steam traction in the North East of
England by British Railways.
1971 – In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being
the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
1974 – Watergate Scandal: US President Gerald Ford pardons former
President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed
while in office.
1975 – Gays in the military: US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard
Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in
his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the
headline "I Am A Homosexual". He is given a general
discharge, which was later upgraded to honorable.
1988 – Yellowstone National Park is closed for the first time
in U.S. history due to ongoing fires.
1991 – The Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.
1994 – USAir Flight 427, on approach to Pittsburgh International
Airport, suddenly crashes in clear weather killing all 132 aboard;
resulting in the most extensive aviation investigation in world
history and altering manufacturing practices in the industry.
2004 – NASA's unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-lands when its
parachute fails to open.
2005 – Two EMERCOM Il-76 aircraft land at a disaster aid staging
area at Little Rock Air Force Base; the first time Russia has
flown such a mission to North America.
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia (Roman Catholic Church)
Nativity of Mary (Roman Catholic Church)
Our Lady of Charity
Pope Sergius I
September 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Auditor's Day can fall, while September
14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Sunday in September.
(Church of Scientology)
Feast of 'Izzat (Might) – First day of the tenth month of the
Bahá'í calendar. (Bahá'í Faith)
Independence day, celebrates the independence of Macedonia from
Yugoslavia in 1991.
International Literacy Day (International)
National day, also the feast of Our Lady of Meritxell. (Andorra)
Navy Day (Pakistan)
The first day of Fiestas de Santa Fe, marked by the burning
of the Zozobra (New Mexico)
Victory Day, also the feast of Our Lady of Victories or il-Vittorja
(Malta)
For details, contact Datacentre
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