history

1227 -– Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades. (That must have been back when Popes knew how to keep the politicians in line!)

1650 — Londoner Henry Robinson opens his Office of Addresses and Encounters — the first historically documented dating service. (eHarmony is still green behind the ears!)

1789 — The first US Congress adjourns. (Were they a “do nothing” Congress?)

1938 — In an effort to appease Adolf Hitler, British, French, German and Italian leaders signed the Munich Agreement, allowing
German annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. (Will there be a similar agreement signed regarding…Jerusalem, for instance?)

1966 — General Motors (yeah, that GM) introduces the Chevrolet Camaro, originally named Panther.

1982 — The Chicago Tylenol murders begin when the first of seven individuals die. (Can you believe we used to buy pills in relatively-unsealed bottles??!!)

2008 — The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history. (And that, my friend, was just last year.)

Before any other September 17 notes, a very short trip backward through time, noting September 17 in Polish history:

2009 — The United States announces it is scrapping its missile shield for Poland and Czech Republic.

1993 — The last Russian troops leave Poland.

1980 — The independent trade union Solidarity is established in Gdansk.

1939 — The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland.

1924 — The Border Defense Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defense against local bandits as well as armed Soviet raids.

OK, so much for that brief introduction to Polish history. I’ll conclude this post with a few highlights from regular world history.

1630 — Puritans led by John Winthrop establish a settlement on the Shawmut Peninsula in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The settlement is later named Boston.

1787 — The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia.

1796 — President George Washington gives his Farewell Address. He declines to run for a third term as President and warns against foreign entanglements.

1814 -– Francis Scott Key finishes writing The Star-Spangled Banner.

1859 -– Joshua A. Norton declares himself “Emperor Norton I” of the United States.

1976 -– NASA unveils its space shuttle, Enterprise.

1978 -– The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt and the United States.

2003 — Ohio re-ratifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

14 — Augustus died.

1692 — For five people, the witch hunt ends in Salem, MA.

1812 — The Constitution defeats her adversary.

1848 — Rush tops the news on the East Coast.

1902 — The author of Fleas was born. I think.

1919 — Afghanistan gains full independence from the Mother Country.

1934 — The creation of the position Führer is allegedly approved by the German electorate with allegedly 89.9% of the allegedly-popular vote.

1943 — President Thompson was born. (Sorry, folks, the crystal ball malfunctioned.)

1945 — Ho Chi Minh takes power in Hanoi.

1946 — President Clinton was born, but he wasn’t called that yet (unless it was by God).

1948 — Al Gore’s other half was born. She wasn’t called Mrs. Gore then. Nor Tipper.

1953 — The Iranian military (or was it the CIA? Or both? Or neither?) overthrows the government of Premier Mohammed Mosaddeq and reinstates the Shah of Iran.

1989 -– Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist Prime Minister in 42 years.

1991 — Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Crimea. There goes the Soviet Union.

2005 — The first-ever Russian-Chinese joint military exercise begins. They called it Peace Mission 2005. They forgot to include People’s in there somewhere.

2009 — A series of blasts in Baghadad kills at least 75 and wounds at least 300.

So there you are. Enjoy National Aviation Day while you’re at it. Stimulate the economy; buy an airplane.

Most of this I first posted at WorldMagBlog a few minutes ago.