Americanism

Sept 2022

The month of September is full of interesting tidbits of American History.

On September 2, 1789, the third Presidential cabinet department, the U.S. Treasury was established by Congress. Also on 

this date, in 1864, Atlanta was captured by Sherman’s Army. In 1945, President Harry Truman declared V-J Day (Victory 

over Japan Day) commemorating the formal Japanese surrender to the Allies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

September 4, 1609, the island of Manhattan was discovered by navigator Henry Hudson. September 5, 1774 the First Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia with 56 delegates representing every colony except Georgia. September 8, 

1565, the first Catholic settlement in America was founded by Spaniard Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles at St. Augustine, 

Florida. September 8, 1900 was the day a hurricane struck Galveston, Texas creating the worst natural disaster in U.S. 

history.

September 9, 1776 the United States came into existence as the Continental Congress changes the name of the new 

American nation from the United Colonies.

September 11, 2001 was the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. Nearly 3000 Americans lost their lives to Mideast terrorists.

September 16, 1908, General Motors was founded by entrepreneur William Crapo “Billy” Durant. September 17, 1908 was 

the first fatality involving powered flight as a plane piloted by Orville Wright crashed, killing the passenger. September 18, 

1947 the U.S. Air Force was established as a separate military service. September 20, was the first time the New York 

Stock Exchange was forced to close as a result of a banking crisis during the financial panic of 1873.

September 22, 1776 was the date Nathan Hale was executed, without a trial, after he was caught spying on British troops 

in New York. His last words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my Country.”

September 25, 1690 was the date the first American newspaper was published. A single edition of “Publick Occurrences 

Both Foreign and Domestick” appeared in Boston, Massachusetts. British authorities considered the paper offensive and 

ordered its immediate suppression. September 26, 1960 was the first-ever televised presidential debate between candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.

September 30, 1955 was the day actor James Dean was killed in a car crash in California.

September birthdays of note include: Astronaut Christa McAuliffe (born Sharon Christa Corrigan) on September 2, 1948, 

Wild West legend Jesse James on September 5, 1847, Athlete Jesse Owens on September 12, 1913, and American Army 

physician Walter Reed on the same date in 1851, General John J. Pershing on the 13th of 1860. American novelist and historian James Fenimore Cooper was born on September 15, 1789, September 23, 1889 brought us journalist Walter Lippman. American writer William Faulkner was born on the 25th in 1897 and folk legend Johnny Appleseed on the 26th in 

1774.

Fraternally,

Steve Gates