September 1
1715 – At the age of five, Louis XV became king of France in succession to his great-grandfather, King Louis XIV.
1763 – Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, endorses Ivan Betskoy's plans for a Foundling Home in Moscow.
1772 – The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is founded in San Luis Obispo, California.
1774 – Massachusetts Bay colonists rise in the bloodless Powder Alarm.
1804 – 3 Juno, one of the largest asteroids in the Main Belt, is discovered by the German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding.
September 2
1752 – Great Britain, along with its overseas possessions, adopts the Gregorian calendar.
1789 – The United States Department of the Treasury is founded.
1792 – During what became known as the September Massacres of the French Revolution, rampaging mobs slaughter three Roman Catholic bishops, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers.
1806 – A massive landslide destroys the town of Goldau, Switzerland, killing 457.
1807 – Napoleonic Wars: The British Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
September 3
1777 – American Revolutionary War: During the Battle of Cooch's Bridge, the Flag of the United States is flown in battle for the first time.
1783 – American Revolutionary War: The war ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1798 – The week-long battle of St. George's Caye begins between Spain and Britain off the coast of Belize.
1812 – Twenty-four settlers are killed in the Pigeon Roost Massacre in Indiana.
1838 – Future abolitionist Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery.
September 4
1774 – New Caledonia is first sighted by Europeans during the second voyage of Captain James Cook.
1781 – Los Angeles is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels) by 44 Spanish settlers.
1797 – Coup of 18 Fructidor in France.
1800 – The French garrison in Valletta surrenders to British troops who had been called at the invitation of the Maltese. The islands of Malta and Gozo became the Malta Protectorate.
1812 – War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Harrison begins when the fort is set on fire.
1827 – The Great Fire of Turku almost destroyed Finland's former capital city.
September 5
1697 – War of the Grand Alliance: A French warship commanded by Captain Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville defeated an English squadron at the Battle of Hudson's Bay.
1698 – In an effort to Westernize his nobility, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposed a tax on beards for all men except the clergy and peasantry.
1725 – Wedding of Louis XV and Maria Leszczynska.
1774 – First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia.
1781 – Battle of the Chesapeake in the American Revolutionary War: The British Navy is repelled by the French Navy, contributing to the British surrender at Yorktown.
1791 – Olympe de Gouges writes the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen.
1793 – French Revolution: The French National Convention initiates the Reign of Terror.
1798 – Conscription is made mandatory in France by the Jourdan law.
1812 – War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Wayne begins when Chief Winamac's forces attack two soldiers returning from the fort's outhouses.
1816 – Louis XVIII of France had to dissolve the Chambre introuvable ("Unobtainable Chamber").
1836 – Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
September 6
1781 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Groton Heights takes place, resulting in a British victory.
1803 – British scientist John Dalton begins using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements.
September 7
1695 – Henry Every perpetrates one of the most profitable pirate raids in history with the capture of the Grand Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai. In response, Emperor Aurangzeb threatens to end all English trading in India.
1706 – War of the Spanish Succession: Siege of Turin ends, leading to the withdrawal of French forces from Northern Italy.
1764 – Election of Stanislaw August Poniatowski as the last ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1776 – According to American colonial reports, Ezra Lee makes the world's first submarine attack in the Turtle, attempting to attach a time bomb to the hull of HMS Eagle in New York Harbor (no British records of this attack exist).
1778 – American Revolutionary War: France invades Dominica in the British West Indies, before Britain is even aware of France's involvement in the war.
1812 – French invasion of Russia: The Battle of Borodino, the bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, is fought near Moscow and results in a French victory.
1818 – Carl III of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Norway in Trondheim.
1822 – Dom Pedro I declares Brazil independent from Portugal on the shores of the Ipiranga Brook in São Paulo.
September 8
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.
1760 – French and Indian War: The French surrender Montreal to the British, completing the latter's conquest of New France.
1761 – Marriage of King George III of the United Kingdom to Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
1775 – The unsuccessful Rising of the Priests in Malta.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina, the war's last significant battle in the Southern theater, ends in a narrow British tactical victory.
1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Hondschoote.
1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano: French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa.
1808 – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the French military occupation of Prussia.
1810 – The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board.
1813 – At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British-Portuguese troops capture the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián), resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town.
1819 – 1819 Balloon riot occurred at Vauxhall Gardens in Philadelphia, PA, and resulted in the destruction of the amusement park.
September 9
1739 – Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in Britain's mainland North American colonies before the American Revolution, erupts near Charleston, South Carolina.
1776 – The Continental Congress officially names its union of states the United States.
1791 – Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington.
1796 – Grenelle camp affair, a failed uprising by supporters of Gracchus Babeuf against the French Directory.
1801 – Alexander I of Russia confirms the privileges of the Baltic provinces.
1839 – John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph.
September 10
1724 – Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of Jesu, der du meine Seele, BWV 78, a chorale cantata based on a passion hymn by Johann Rist.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: Nathan Hale volunteers to spy for the Continental Army.
1798 – At the Battle of St. George's Caye, British Honduras defeats Spain.
1813 – The United States defeats a British Fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.
September 11
1697 – Battle of Zenta: a major engagement in the Great Turkish War (1683–1699) and one of the most decisive defeats in Ottoman history.
1708 – Charles XII of Sweden stops his march to conquer Moscow outside Smolensk, marking the turning point in the Great Northern War. The army is defeated nine months later in the Battle of Poltava, and the Swedish Empire ceases to be a major power.
1709 – Battle of Malplaquet: Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Austria fight against France.
1714 – Siege of Barcelona: Barcelona, capital city of the Principality of Catalonia, surrenders to Spanish and French Bourbon armies in the War of the Catalans, the last phase of the War of the Spanish Succession.
1758 – Battle of Saint Cast: France repels British invasion during the Seven Years' War.
1775 – Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec leaves Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1776 – British–British-American peace conference on Staten Island fails to stop the nascent American Revolutionary War.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Brandywine: The British celebrate a major victory in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
1780 – American Revolutionary War: Sugarloaf massacre: A small detachment of militia from Northampton County, Pennsylvania, is attacked by Native Americans and Loyalists near Little Nescopeck Creek.
1786 – The beginning of the Annapolis Convention.
1789 – Alexander Hamilton is appointed the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.
1792 – The Hope Diamond is stolen along with other French crown jewels when six men break into the house where they are stored.
1800 – The Maltese National Congress Battalions are disbanded by British Civil Commissioner Alexander Ball.
1802 – France annexes the Kingdom of Piedmont.
1803 – The Battle of Delhi, during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, between British troops under General Lake and Maratha of Scindia's forces under General Louis Bourquin, ends in a British victory.
1813 – War of 1812: British troops arrive in Mount Vernon and prepare to march to and invade Washington, D.C.
1814 – War of 1812: The climax of the Battle of Plattsburgh, a major United States victory in the war.
1829 – An expedition led by Isidro Barradas at Tampico, sent by the Spanish crown to retake Mexico, surrenders at the Battle of Tampico, marking the effective end of Spain's resistance to Mexico's campaign for independence.
September 12
1683 – Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna: Several European armies join forces to defeat the Ottoman Empire.
1814 – Battle of North Point: an American detachment halts the British land advance to Baltimore in the War of 1812.
September 13
1743 – Great Britain, Austria, and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Worms.
1759 – Battle of the Plains of Abraham: the British defeat the French near Quebec City in the Seven Years' War, known in the United States as the French and Indian War.
1782 – American Revolutionary War: Franco-Spanish troops launch the unsuccessful "grand assault" during the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
1788 – The Congress of the Confederation sets the date for the first presidential election in the United States, and New York City becomes the country's temporary capital.
1791 – King Louis XVI accepts the new French constitution.
1807 – Beethoven's Mass in C major, Op. 86, was premiered, commissioned by Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy, and displeasing him.
1808 – Finnish War: In the Battle of Jutas, Swedish forces under Lieutenant General Georg Carl von Döbeln beat the Russians, making von Döbeln a Swedish war hero.
1812 – War of 1812: A supply wagon sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.
1814 – In a turning point in the War of 1812, the British fail to capture Baltimore. During the battle, Francis Scott Key composed his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", which was later set to music and became the United States' national anthem.
September 14
1723 – Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena lays down the first stone of Fort Manoel in Malta.
1741 – George Frideric Handel completes his oratorio Messiah.
1752 – The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2).
1763 – Seneca warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Devil's Hole during Pontiac's War.
1782 – American Revolutionary War: Review of the French troops under General Rochambeau by General George Washington at Verplanck's Point, New York.
1791 – The Papal States lose Avignon to Revolutionary France.
1808 – Finnish War: Russians defeat the Swedes at the Battle of Oravais.
1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Grande Armée enters Moscow. The Fire of Moscow begins as soon as Russian troops leave the city.
1814 – Battle of Baltimore: The poem Defence of Fort McHenry is written by Francis Scott Key. The poem is later used as the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner.
1829 – The Ottoman Empire signs the Treaty of Adrianople with Russia, thus ending the Russo-Turkish War.
September 15
1762 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Signal Hill.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces land at Kip's Bay during the New York Campaign.
1789 – The United States "Department of Foreign Affairs", established by law in July, is renamed the Department of State and given a variety of domestic duties.
1794 – French Revolutionary Wars: Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) sees his first combat at the Battle of Boxtel during the Flanders Campaign.
1795 – Britain seizes the Dutch Cape Colony in southern Africa to prevent its use by the Batavian Republic.
1812 – The Grande Armée under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow during the failed French invasion of Russia.
1812 – War of 1812: A second supply train sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.
1813 – Followers of the Eight Trigram Sect loyal to Lin Qing attack the Forbidden City in a failed attempt to oust the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing dynasty.
September 16
1701 – James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father, James II.
1732 – In Campo Maior, Portugal, a storm hits the Armory, and an explosion ensues, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
1810 – With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo began Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.
September 17
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The invasion of Quebec by the Continental Army begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean.
1776 – The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
1778 – The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe.
1787 – The United States Constitution is signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, bringing the Constitutional Convention to an end.
1793 – War of the Pyrenees: France defeats a Spanish force at the Battle of Peyrestortes.
1794 – Flanders Campaign: France completes its conquest of the Austrian Netherlands at the Battle of Sprimont.
1809 – Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War; the territory that will become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
September 18
1714 – George I arrives in Great Britain after becoming king on August 1.
1739 – The Treaty of Belgrade is signed, whereby Austria cedes lands south of the Sava and Danube rivers to the Ottoman Empire.
1759 – French and Indian War: The Articles of Capitulation of Quebec are signed.
1793 – The first cornerstone of the United States Capitol is laid by George Washington.
1809 – The Royal Opera House in London opens.
1810 – First Government Junta in Chile. Though supposed to rule only during the Peninsular War in Spain, it is in fact the first step towards independence from Spain, and is commemorated as such.
1812 – The 1812 Fire of Moscow dies down after destroying more than three-quarters of the city. Napoleon returns from the Petrovsky Palace to the Moscow Kremlin, spared from the fire.
1837 – Tiffany & Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City. The store is called a "stationery and fancy goods emporium".
1838 – The Anti-Corn Law League is established by Richard Cobden.
September 19
1676 – Jamestown is burned to the ground by the forces of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon's Rebellion.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: British forces win a tactically expensive victory over the Continental Army in the First Battle of Saratoga.
1778 – The Continental Congress passes the first United States federal budget.
1796 – George Washington's Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public.
1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: French-Dutch victory against the Russians and British in the Battle of Bergen.
September 20
1697 – The Treaty of Ryswick is signed by France, England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Dutch Republic, ending the Nine Years' War.
1737 – The Walking Purchase concludes, which forces the cession of 1.2 million acres (4,900 km2) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony.
1792 – French troops stop an allied invasion of France at the Battle of Valmy.
September 21
1745 – A British government army led by Sir John Cope is defeated in less than 15 minutes by the Jacobite forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart.
1776 – Part of New York City is burned shortly after being occupied by British forces.
1780 – American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point.
1792 – French Revolution: The National Convention abolishes the monarchy.
1809 – British Secretary of War Lord Castlereagh and Foreign Secretary George Canning meet in a duel on Putney Heath, with Castlereagh wounding Canning in the thigh.
1814 – War of 1812: British forces abandon their unsuccessful siege of Fort Erie.
September 22
1692 – Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Alice Parker, Mary Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmot Redd, Margaret Scott, and Samuel Wardwell are hanged, the last of those to be executed in the Salem witch trials.
1711 – The first attacks of the Tuscarora War begin in present-day North Carolina.
1761 – George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz are crowned King and Queen, respectively, of the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1776 – Nathan Hale is hanged for spying during the American Revolution.
1789 – The office of United States Postmaster General is established.
1789 – Battle of Rymnik: Alexander Suvorov's Russian and allied army defeats superior Ottoman Empire forces.
1792 – Primidi Vendémiaire of year one of the French Republican Calendar as the French First Republic comes into being.
1823 – Joseph Smith claims to have found the golden plates after being directed by God through the Angel Moroni to the place where they were buried.
September 23
1779 – American Revolutionary War: John Paul Jones, naval commander of the United States, on board the USS Bonhomme Richard, wins the Battle of Flamborough Head.
1803 – Second Anglo-Maratha War: The Battle of Assaye is fought between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.
1821 – Tripolitsa, Greece, is captured by Greek rebels during the Greek War of Independence.
September 24
1789 – The United States Congress passes the Judiciary Act, creating the office of the Attorney General and the federal judiciary system and ordering the composition of the Supreme Court.
1830 – A revolutionary committee of notables forms the Provisional Government of Belgium.
September 25
1690 – Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, the first newspaper to appear in the Americas, is published for the first and only time.
1768 – Unification of Nepal
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Ethan Allen surrenders to British forces after attempting to capture Montreal in the Battle of Longue-Pointe during the invasion of Quebec.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec sets off to join the American invasion.
1786 – The mine of Huancavelica in the Peruvian Andes collapses, killing more than a hundred people. The event was a major setback for quicksilver production in the Spanish Empire.
1789 – The United States Congress passes twelve constitutional amendments: the ten known as the Bill of Rights, the (unratified) Congressional Apportionment Amendment, and the Congressional Compensation Amendment.
1790 – Four Great Anhui Troupes introduce Anhui opera to Beijing in honor of the Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday.
1804 – The Teton Sioux (a subdivision of the Lakota) demand one of the boats from the Lewis and Clark Expedition as a toll for allowing the expedition to move further upriver.
September 26
1777 – American Revolutionary War: British troops capture and begin the occupation of Philadelphia, which had been serving as the American capital city, during the Philadelphia campaign.
1789 – George Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State.
1799 – War of the 2nd Coalition: French troops defeat Austro-Russian forces, leading to the collapse of Suvorov's campaign.
1810 – A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates, and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.
September 27
1777 – American Revolution: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, becomes the capital of the United States for one day after Congress evacuates Philadelphia.
1791 – The National Assembly of France votes to award full citizenship to Jews.
1821 – The Army of the Three Guarantees triumphantly enters Mexico City, led by Agustín de Iturbide. The following day, Mexico is declared independent.
1822 – Jean-François Champollion officially informs the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in France that he has deciphered the Rosetta Stone.
1825 – The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, is ceremonially opened with the engine Locomotion pulling wagons with coal and passengers from Shildon to Darlington to Stockton.
September 28
1779 – American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.
1781 – American Revolution: French and American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown.
1787 – The Congress of the Confederation votes to send the newly written United States Constitution to the state legislatures for approval.
1821 – The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire is drafted. It will be made public on 13 October.
September 29
1714 – The Cossacks of the Tsardom of Russia kill about 800 people overnight in Hailuoto during the Great Wrath.
1717 – An earthquake strikes Antigua Guatemala, destroying much of the city's architecture.
1724 – J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130, for the feast of Archangel Michael, based on Paul Eber's hymn in twelve stanzas.
1789 – The United States Department of War first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.
1829 – The Metropolitan Police of London, later also known as the Met, is founded.
September 30
1736 – The Lebanese Council of 1736 begins, a major turning point in the reform of the Maronite Church. In the following three days, the assembled Maronite and Latin clergy presided by Yusuf ibn Siman as-Simani discuss various reforms and elaborate rules and canons.
1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: France and Spain defeat Sardinia at the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo, but soon have to withdraw from Sardinia.
1791 – The first performance of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute takes place two months before his death.
1791 – France's National Constituent Assembly is dissolved, to be replaced the next day by the National Legislative Assembly.