September 30th. 1888 — Jack the Ripper commits two more murders. The bodies of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes are found in the early morning hours of the 30th. From April, 1888 to February 1891, there were 11 murders in the Whitechapel district of East London. This was an area…

September 28th 1961 — I remember the sky being a dull grey that day. Appropriately so, because although I didn’t know it yet, where I was going everything would be painted a dull grey. I can’t say I was frightened, at seventeen I was too dumb for that. I had…

September 27th 1821 — Mexico declared its independence from Spain and the revolutionary forces occupied Mexico City. I found no mention of anybody suggesting the need for a wall. 1881–12 fans attend a Chicago Cubs victory. If the Twins continue their abysmal play next year, perhaps they will challenge this…

September 26th 1815 — Signing of the Holy Alliance. The Holy Alliance was a treaty signed by the monarchs of Russia, Prussia, and Austria. It was a peace treaty, much welcomed after the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars. The primary mover of this treaty was Alexander I, the Tsar of…

September 25th 1775 — Ethan Allen captured by the British. Allan led a poorly planned attack on the city of Montreal leading to his capture. Allen, leader of the Green Mountain Boys, earlier in the year was victorious in the taking of Ft. Ticonderoga. Allen was shipped to England and…

September 20th 1963 — St. Cloud State College. Beginning of fall quarter. I was back home in Minnesota, on military leave, having just spent 13 months on Kodiak Island. Two of my hometown friends, Dale and Rick, were students at St. Cloud. Dale was starting his 3rd year in college…

September 19th 1676 — Bacon’s Rebellion. The first uprising against the colonial government in North America. Although this one was less than noble. 300 to 500 rebels, led by Nathaniel Bacon, burned Jamestown, Virginia, the capital, to the ground. Earlier they had razed an Indian village, killing most of the…

September 15th 1835 Charles Darwin, aboard the HMS Beagle, reached the Galapagos Island. Not quite as famously, Gary Jenneke reached those same islands 179 years later. 1959 Nikita Khrushchev landed in Washington, DC to begin his U.S. tour. I was a junior in high school at the time. For a…

September 13th 533 — Battle of Ad Decimum. This battle took place in North Africa between an army of Vandals and forces of the Roman Empire. The Vandals were a Germanic people who ruled in what is now Poland and then expanded to establish kingdoms in Spain, other parts of…