1394 – In France, Charles VI published an ordinance that expelled all Jews from France.

1778 – The United States signed its first treaty with a Native American tribe, the Delaware Nation. 

1787 – The Constitution of the United States of America was signed by delegates at the Constitutional Convention. 

1796 – U.S. President George Washington’s Farewell Address was read before the U.S. Congress. 

1862 – The Battle of Antietam took place during the American Civil War. More than 23,000 men were killed, wounded, or missing. The Rebel advance was ended with heavy losses to both armies.

1872 – Phillip W. Pratt patented a version of the sprinkler system.

1911 – The first transcontinental airplane flight started. It took C.P. Rogers 82 hours to fly from New York City to Pasadena, CA.

1920 – The American Professional Football Association was formed in Canton, OH. It was the precursor to the National Football League (NFL).

1930 – Construction on Boulder Dam, later renamed Hoover Dam, began in Black Canyon, near Las Vegas, NV.

1932 – Sir Malcolm Campbell set a speed record when he reached 276.27 mph over a half mile.

1937 – At Mount Rushmore, Abraham Lincoln’s face was dedicated.

1939 – The Soviet Union invaded Poland. Germany had invaded Poland on September 1.

1944 – Operation “Market Garden” was launched by Allied paratroopers during World War II. The landing point was behind German lines in the Netherlands.

1947 – The first U.S. Secretary of Defense, James V. Forrestal, was sworn in to office.

1953 – Ernie Banks became the first black baseball player to wear a Chicago Cubs uniform. He retired in 1971 known as ‘Mr. Cub’.

1953 – The Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans, LA, successfully separated Siamese twins. Carolyn Anne and Catherine Anne Mouton were connected at the waist when born.

1955 – “The Perry Como Show” moved to Saturday nights on NBC-TV.

1961 – The Minnesota Vikings were debuted as the new National Football League (NFL) team.

1962 – U.S. space officials announced the selection of Neil A. Armstrong and eight others as new astronauts.

1963 – “The Fugitive” premiered on ABC-TV. The show starred David Janssen.

1964 – “Bewitched” premiered on ABC-TV.

1965 – “Hogan’s Heroes” debuted on CBS-TV.

1966 – “Mission Impossible” premiered on CBS-TV.

1972 – “M*A*S*H” premiered on CBS-TV.

1976 – NASA unveiled the space shuttle Enterprise in Palmdale, CA.

1983 – Vanessa Williams, as Miss New York, became the first black woman to be crowned Miss America.

1983 – Johnny Bench (Cincinnati Reds) retired after 16 years as a catcher.

1983 – Carl Yastrzemski (Boston Red Sox) broke Hank Aaron’s major league record for games played when he started his 3,299th game. (MLB)

1984 – 9,706 immigrants became naturalized citizens when they were sworn in by U.S. Vice-President George Bush in Miami, FL. It was the largest group to become U.S. citizens. 

1984 – Gordon P. Getty was named the richest person in the U.S. His fortune was $4.1 billion.

1984 – Reggie Jackson hit his 500th career home run. It was exactly 17 years from the day he hit his first major league home run.

1988 – Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril declared himself president of Haiti after President Henri Hamphy was ousted.

1991 – The United Nations General Assembly opened its 46th session. The new members were Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North and South Korea, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.

1992 – Lawrence Walsh called a halt to his probe of the Iran-Contra scandal. The investigation had lasted 5 1/2 years.

1995 – Hong Kong held its last legislative election before being taken over by China in 1997.

1997 – Northern Ireland’s main Protestant party joined in peace talks. It was the first time that all of the major players had come together.

1998 – The United States government offered a reward for the capture of Haroun Fazil for his role in the U.S. bombing in Kenya on August 7, 1998.

1998 – The U.S. announced a plan that would compensate victims in the Kenya and Tanzania U.S. Embassy bombings on August 7, 1998.

2014 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at an all time high of 17,156.