Historic September
by Ben Johnson
Among many other events, September saw the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III, lead the English to victory over the French at the Battle of Poitiers (pictured above).
| 1 Sept. | 1159 | The death of the only English Pope Adrian IV (Nicholas Breakspeare). | |
| 2 Sept. | 1666 | The Great Fire of London begins in Pudding Lane and rages for 5 days, but kills only 9 people. | |
| 3 Sept. | 1939 | Britain and France declare war on Germany. | |
| 4 Sept. | 1962 | The Beatles start their first recording session at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios, London | |
| 5 Sept. | 1800 | The end of the Siege of Malta, as Napoleon’s forces surrender to the British following a two year long naval blockade. | |
| 6 Sept. | 1620 | The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Devon, carrying the Pilgrim Fathers to America. | |
| 7 Sept. | 1533 | Birth of Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. | |
| 8 Sept. | 1944 | The first V2 flying bombs kill 3 people in London. | |
| 9 Sept. | 1513 | James IV of Scotland is killed at the Battle of Flodden. | |
| 10 Sept. | 1771 | Birth of Mungo Park, Scottish explorer who published his ‘Travels in the Interior of Africa’ in 1799. | |
| 11 Sept. | 1915 | Britain’s first Womens Institute opens in Wales. | |
| 12 Sept. | 1908 | Marriage of Winston Churchill to Clementine Hozier. | |
| 13 Sept | 1902 | Harry Jackson becomes the first person in Britain to be convicted on fingerprint evidence. | |
| 14 Sept. | 1752 | The first day of the Gregorian calendar in Britain. | |
| 15 Sept. | 1830 | MP William Huskisson becomes the first rail fatality at the opening of the Liverpool Manchester Railway. | |
| 16 Sept. | 1400 | Owain Glyndwr proclaimed Prince of Wales. | |
| 17 Sept. | 1701 | King James II of England died whilst in exile in France. | |
| 18 Sept. | 1709 | Birth of Samuel Johnson, compiler of the first English dictionary. | |
| 19 Sept. | 1356 | The Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III, leads the English to victory over the French at the Battle of Poitiers. | |
| 20 Sept. | 1258 | Consecration of Salisbury Cathedral. | |
| 21 Sept. | 1327 | Death of Edward II, murdered with a red hot poker by his jailers. | |
| 22 Sept. | 1735 | Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole moves in to 10 Downing Street. | |
| 23 Sept. | 1848 | Chewing gum is produced commercially for the first time. | |
| 24 Sept. | 1776 | The first St. Leger horserace is run at Doncaster, Yorkshire. | |
| 25 Sept. | 1818 | First transfusion of human blood is performed at Guy’s Hospital, London. | |
| 26 Sept. | 1580 | The Golden Hind arrives in Plymouth harbour having sailed round the world under the captaincy of Sir Francis Drake. Drake plundered a few Spanish ships en-route to keep morale high! | |
| 27 Sept. | 1888 | First use of the name, ‘Jack the Ripper‘ in an anonymous letter to the central news agency. | |
| 28 Sept. | 1745 | ‘God Save the King’ is sung for the first time at London’s Drury Lane Theatre. | |
| 29 Sept. | 1758 | Birth of Horatio Nelson. | |
| 30 Sept. | 1938 | Misguided British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain says, after meeting Hitler in Munich, ‘I believe it is peace for our time‘. | |
