A lone gunman fatally shot twelve people and injured three others at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C.
Source16 September 1864
A Friday in history
Weekday
Friday
Season
Autumn (N. Hemisphere)
Century
19th century
Records
454
2013
1992The British pound (coin pictured) was forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism on Black Wednesday and suffered a major devaluation.
Source
1990Construction of the Northern Xinjiang railway (terminus pictured) was completed between Ürümqi South and Alashankou, linking the railway lines of China and Kazakhstan and adding a sizeable portion to the Eurasian Land Bridge.
Source
1989During a tour of the United States, Soviet politician Boris Yeltsin visited a grocery store in Texas that had a major impact on his views regarding the Soviet Union's economic system.
Source
1982A Lebanese militia under the direct command of Elie Hobeika carried out a massacre in the Palestinian refugee camp of Sabra and Shatila, killing at least 460 civilians.
Source
1975The prototype of the Soviet Mikoyan MiG-31, one of the fastest combat jets in the world, made its maiden flight.
Source
1963Malaysia was formed as an independent nation from the Federation of Malaya, the Colony of Singapore, the Crown Colony of North Borneo, and the Crown Colony of Sarawak.
Source- 1961
Typhoon Nancy, which possibly had the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, made landfall in Muroto, Japan.
Source
1961The U.S. National Hurricane Research Project sought to weaken Hurricane Esther by seeding it with silver iodide, leading to the establishment of Project Stormfury.
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1940Second World War: Italian forces captured the town of Sidi Barrani, but their invasion of Egypt progressed no further.
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1920A bomb in a horse-drawn wagon exploded in front of 23 Wall Street in New York City, killing 38 people and injuring several hundred others.
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1776American Revolutionary War: American colonists defeated British troops at the Battle of Harlem Heights (depicted) on the island of Manhattan.
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1400Owain Glyndŵr proclaimed himself Prince of Wales, declaring that he could save the Welsh from English invasions.
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681At the Third Council of Constantinople, Pope Honorius I was posthumously excommunicated, with his support for monothelitism deemed to be heretical.
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Photo archive
24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.
What was life like?
Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.
Sources & fact check
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