September
(Sep.) is the ninth
month
of the
year
in the
Gregorian calendar
, coming between
August
and
October
. It has 30
days
. Its name comes from the
Latin
word
sept
for "seven" (it was the seventh month of the year, before
January
and
February
were added to the beginning of the year.)
September always begins on the same day of the week as
December
, but never ends on the same day of the week as any other month.
In the old
Roman calendar
, September was the
seventh
month, which is where it got its name ("Septem" means "seventh"). The ninth month at the time was
November
("Novem" means "ninth"). With
Julius Caesar
's
calendar
reform, September became the ninth month, with 30 days. September comes after
August
and before
October
.
September begins on the same day of the week as
December
every year, as each other's first days are 13 weeks (91
days
) apart. No other month of any year ends on the same day of the week as September: this month and May are the only two months with this property.
In common years, September starts on the same day of the week as
April
and
July
of the previous year, and in leap years,
October
of the previous year. In common years, September finishes on the same day of the week as April and
December
of the previous year, and in leap years, July of the previous year. In leap years and years immediately after that, September starts on the same day of the week as
January
of the previous year.
In years immediately before common years, September starts on the same day of the week as
June
of the following year, and in years immediately before leap years,
March
and
November
of the following year. In years immediately before common years, September finishes on the same day of the week as March and June of the following year, and in years immediately before leap years,
August
and November of the following year.
September is one of two months to have an
equinox
(the other is
March
, its seasonal equivalent in both hemispheres), where both day and night are roughly of equal length, occurring either on the
22nd
or
23rd
, halfway between the
June
and
December
solstices
. In the
Northern Hemisphere
,
Autumn
(Fall) begins in this month, while in the
Southern Hemisphere
, this is the beginning of
Spring
. For
meteorologists
, the people who study the
weather
, these seasons begin on
September 1
in those
hemispheres
. In most Northern Hemisphere countries,
school
starts in this month, following the
summer
holidays.
In
Ancient Greece
, September was called
Boedromion
. The
Anglo-Saxons
called it
Gerstmonath
, meaning "
Barley
month", referring to the
harvest
. In other countries, it is referred to as
Autumn Month
, such as in
Finland
(Syyskuu) and German-speaking parts of
Switzerland
(Herbstmonat).
Ethiopian
New Year
occurs in September.
Jewish
New Year also often occurs in this month.
- September 1
? Independence Day (
Uzbekistan
)
- September 1
? Armed Struggle for Independence (
Eritrea
)
- September 1
?
Constitution
Day (
Slovakia
)
- September 2
? Independence Day (
Vietnam
)
- September 3
? National Day of
San Marino
- September 3
? Independence Day (
Qatar
)
- September 3
? Flag Day (
Australia
)
- September 3
?
Levy Mwanawasa
Day (
Zambia
)
- September 3
? Merchant
Navy
Day (
United Kingdom
)
- September 5
? Teacher's Day (
India
)
- September 6
? Independence Day (
Swaziland
)
- September 6
? Unification Day (
Bulgaria
)
- September 7
? Independence Day (
Brazil
)
- September 7
? National Threatened Species Day (
Australia
)
- September 7
? Victory Day (
Mozambique
)
- September 8
? National Day of
Andorra
- September 8
? Independence Day (
Republic of Macedonia
)
- September 8
? Nativity of the Blessed Virgin (feast day in
Christianity
)
- September 9
? Admission Day (
California
)
- September 9
? National Day of
North Korea
- September 9
? Independence Day (
Tajikistan
)
- September 11
? National Day of
Catalonia
- September 11
? Patriot Day (
United States
)
- September 11
/
12
?
Ethiopian
New Year
- September 12
? National Day of
Cape Verde
- September 13
? World
Chocolate
Day
- September 14
? Exaltation of the Holy Cross (
Roman Catholicism
)
- September 15
?
Battle of Britain
Day (
United Kingdom
)
- September 15
? National Day of
Costa Rica
,
El Salvador
,
Guatemala
,
Honduras
and
Nicaragua
- September 16
? Independence Day (
Mexico
)
- September 16
? Independence Day (
Papua New Guinea
)
- September 16
?
Malaysia
Day
- September 17
?
Constitution
Day (
United States
)
- September 18
? Independence Day (
Chile
)
- September 19
? Armed Forces Day (
Chile
)
- September 19
? Independence Day (
Saint Kitts and Nevis
)
- September 19
? International Talk Like a
Pirate
Day
- September 21
? Independence Day (
Malta
)
- September 21
? Independence Day (
Belize
)
- September 21
? World
Freedom
Day/International
Peace
Day
- September 21
? World
Alzheimer's
Day, raising awareness of Alzheimer's disease.
- September 22
? Independence Day (
Bulgaria
)
- September 22
? Independence Day (
Mali
)
- September 23
?
Equinox
,
Autumn
(Fall) in the North,
Spring
in the South, can occur on
September 22
.
- September 23
? National Day of
Saudi Arabia
- September 24
? National Day of
Guinea-Bissau
- September 24
? Heritage Day (
South Africa
)
- September 25
? Revolution Day (
Mozambique
)
- September 26
?
European
Day of
Languages
- September 27
? End of Independence War Day (
Mexico
)
- September 27
? Holiday for the
French-speaking
community in
Belgium
- September 28
? World
Heart
Day
- September 28
? World
Rabies
Day
- September 28
? Ask a Stupid Question Day (
United States
)
- September 29
? Inventors' Day (
Argentina
), honouring
Laszlo Biro
- September 29
? Christian feast day of Michaelmas, honouring St. Michael the Archangel
- September 29
? Christian feast day of the three Archangels, honouring St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael.
- September 29
? International
Coffee
Day
- September 29
? Victory of Boqueron Day (
Paraguay
)
- September 30
? Independence Day (
Botswana
)
- September 1
?
1715
: The reign of
Louis XIV of France
ends with his death after 72 years on the throne.
- September 1
?
1914
: Martha, the last Passenger
Pigeon
, dies, making her
species
extinct.
- September 1
?
1939
:
Nazi
Germany
invades
Poland
, starting
World War II
.
- September 1
?
1969
:
Muammar al-Gaddafi
takes power in
Libya
, in a coup.
- September 1
?
1983
: Korean Air Flight KAL-007 is shot down by a
Soviet
jet fighter, near
Sakhalin
Island, killing all 269 on board.
- September 1
?
1991
:
Uzbekistan
becomes independent from the
Soviet Union
.
- September 2
?
1838
:
Liliuokalani
, the last
Hawaiian
monarch
, is born.
- September 2
?
1945
:
Japan
signs the final surrender at the end of
World War II
.
- September 2
?
1945
:
Vietnam
becomes independent, with
Ho Chi Minh
as leader.
- September 3
?
301
:
San Marino
is founded.
- September 3
?
1939
: The
United Kingdom
and
France
declare war on
Germany
, following its invasion of
Poland
.
- September 3
?
1950
:
Giuseppe Farina
becomes the first
Formula One
racing champion.
- September 3
?
1967
: Road traffic in
Sweden
is moved from the left to the right.
- September 3
?
1971
:
Qatar
becomes independent.
- September 5
?
1972
: Several members of the
Israeli
Olympic
team are kidnapped at the
1972 Summer Olympics
in
Munich
. They are killed the next day.
- September 6
?
1901
:
US
President
William McKinley
is shot by
Leon Czolgosz
, dying over a week later.
- September 6
?
1968
:
Swaziland
becomes independent.
- September 6
?
1997
: The funeral of
Diana, Princess of Wales
takes place in
London
.
- September 7
?
1533
: Queen
Elizabeth I of England
is born.
- September 7
?
1822
:
Brazil
declares independence from
Portugal
- September 7
?
1940
: The
World War II
Battle of Britain
begins.
- September 7
?
2011
: All members of the
Russian
ice hockey
team
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
are killed in a plane crash.
- September 8
?
1943
: US General
Dwight D. Eisenhower
announces the
allied
armistice with
Italy
during
World War II
.
- September 8
?
1991
: The
Republic of Macedonia
declares independence from
Yugoslavia
.
- September 9
?
1850
:
California
becomes the 31st State of the
US
.
- September 9
?
1991
:
Tajikistan
becomes independent from the
Soviet Union
.
- September 10
?
1898
:
Elisabeth of Bavaria
, Empress of
Austria
is stabbed to death by Italian
anarchist
Luigi Lucheni at Lake
Geneva
,
Switzerland
.
- September 10
?
1974
:
Guinea-Bissau
officially becomes independent.
- September 10
?
2008
:
Scientists
at
CERN
switch the
Large Hadron Collider
on for the first time.
- September 11
?
1973
:
Augusto Pinochet
takes power in a military coup in
Chile
. President
Salvador Allende
dies during the coup.
- September 11
?
1997
: Voters in
Scotland
approve the creation of a new
Scottish Parliament
.
- September 11
?
2001
: The
September 11 attacks
occur, as
Islamist
terrorists crash airplanes into the
World Trade Center
in
New York City
and
the Pentagon
.
- September 12
?
1977
: Anti-
Apartheid
activist
Steve Biko
dies in police custody.
- September 13
?
1759
:
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
:
British
forces defeat
French
forces near
Quebec City
in the
Seven Years' War
.
- September 14
?
1752
:
Great Britain
switches from the
Julian calendar
to the
Gregorian calendar
.
- September 14
?
1982
:
Grace Kelly
dies after a car crash the previous day.
- September 15
?
1821
:
Costa Rica
,
El Salvador
,
Guatemala
,
Honduras
and
Nicaragua
declare independence from
Spain
.
- September 16
?
1810
:
Mexico
declares independence from
Spain
.
- September 16
?
1975
:
Papua New Guinea
becomes independent from
Australia
.
- September 17
?
1787
: The
United States
Constitution
is signed in
Philadelphia
,
Pennsylvania
.
- September 17
?
2011
: The
Occupy Wall Street
movement begins in
New York City
.
- September 18
?
1810
:
Chile
declares independence.
- September 18
?
1970
: Musician
Jimi Hendrix
dies in
London
, aged 27.
- September 19
?
1983
:
Saint Kitts and Nevis
becomes independent.
- September 19
?
1985
: Southern and Central
Mexico
are struck by a strong
earthquake
.
Mexico City
is among the places affected.
- September 21
?
1964
:
Malta
gains independence from the
UK
.
- September 21
?
1981
:
Belize
gains independence from the
UK
.
- September 21
?
1989
:
Hurricane Hugo
slams
South Carolina
.
- September 21
?
1991
:
Armenia
regains its independence from the
Soviet Union
.
- September 22
?
1908
:
Bulgarian
independence is recognised.
- September 22
?
1960
:
Mali
becomes independent.
- September 23
?
63 BC
: Roman Emperor
Augustus Caesar
is born.
- September 23
?
1846
: The planet
Neptune
is discovered.
- September 23
?
1932
: The
Kingdom
of
Saudi Arabia
is formed.
- September 23
?
2009
: A major dust
storm
affects southeastern
Australia
, including
Sydney
.
- September 24
?
1853
:
France
takes control of
New Caledonia
.
- September 24
?
1973
:
Guinea-Bissau
declares independence from
Portugal
.
- September 26
?
1907
:
New Zealand
and
Newfoundland
are given Dominion status within the
British Empire
.
- September 27
?
1821
:
Mexico
gains independence from
Spain
.
- September 27
?
1905
: The equation E=mc
squared
is introduced.
- September 28
?
1978
:
Pope John Paul I
dies just 33 days after being elected.
- September 28
?
1994
: The car and passenger
ferry
Estonia
sinks during stormy weather in the
Baltic Sea
.
- September 29
?
1829
:
London
's
Metropolitan Police
Force is founded.
- September 29
?
1990
:
Washington National Cathedral
is completed.
- September 29
?
2009
: An
earthquake
and
tsunamis
off
Samoa
,
American Samoa
and
Tonga
kill 189 people.
- September 30
?
1938
: The
Munich
Pact is signed.
- September 30
?
1955
: American film star
James Dean
dies aged 24 in a car crash.
- September 30
?
1966
: Bechuanaland becomes independent from the
UK
and changes its name to
Botswana
.
- September 30
?
2009
: A strong
earthquake
off western
Sumatra
kills over 1,000 people.
- September is one of two months that never ends on the same day of the week as any other months within any calendar year. (
May
is the other)
- The birth stone for September is the
sapphire
, symbolising clear thinking. The birth flowers for the month are the
forget-me-not
,
morning glory
and
aster
.
- The Zodiac signs for September are Virgo (
August 22
?
September 21
) and Libra (
September 22
?
October 21
).
- If the months of the
year
were arranged in
alphabetical
order in the
English language
, September would come last.
- Also in the English language, September has the longest
name
of all the
months
of the year, with nine letters. Coincidentally, it is also the ninth month. September is the only month of the year in the English language to have as many letters in its name as its numeric calendar position.
- September is the first of four months in-a-row to have a name ending in "ber". (
October
,
November
and
December
are the other three)
- September 1
is the only day in September during a
common year
to start within the second third of the
calendar
year.
- It is the least common
month
for
birthdays
among
US Presidents
, with one,
William Howard Taft
(
September 15
).
- Among
Prime Ministers of Australia
, September is the most common month for birthdays, with seven.