On this day: September 17
The U.S. Constitution is signed, the Civil War sees the bloodiest battle in American history, the prototype space shuttle Enterprise is unveiled, and the Camp David Accords bring peace between Egypt and Israel, all on this day.
1683: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules," the first known description of protozoa.
1683: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules," the first known description of protozoa.
1787: The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia.
1858: Dred Scott, an American slave who unsuccessfully sued for citizenship, dies from tuberculosis at the age of 62 or 63 in St. Louis.
1862: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history. The Union had 12,401 casualties with 2,108 dead. Confederate casualties were 10,318 with 1,546 dead.
1862: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion near Pittsburgh results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war, leaving 78 workers dead. Pictured is a painting of the arsenal from 1814.
1872: The first U.S. patent for an automatic sprinkler system is issued to Philip W. Pratt, of Abington, Mass. The system was operated by means of a valve to which cords and fuses were attached. The cords held the valve closed with a spring-loaded lever. In case of a fire, when the fuses ignited, the cords burned, and the valve opened releasing a stream of water. Water then flowed through overhead pivoted pipes that would revolve rapidly, throwing water in all directions, wetting ceiling, walls and floor.
1907: Warren Burger, who would go on to become the 15th chief justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1969 to 1986, is born in St. Paul, Minn.
1908: The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lt. Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes during a demonstration at Fort Myer in Arlington County, Va. Selfridge is thrown against one of the wooden uprights of the plane's framework in the crash, and his skull is fractured. He undergoes neurosurgery but dies that evening without regaining consciousness, making him the first person to die in a crash of a powered airplane. Wright suffers severe injuries, including a broken left thigh, several broken ribs and a damaged hip, and is hospitalized for seven weeks.
1916: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France. Richthofen would end up being considered the top ace of World War I, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories, more than any other pilot, before dying in combat less than two years later.
1923: Country music star Hank Williams, best known for such songs as "Lovesick Blues," "Honky Tonkin'" and "Your Cheatin' Heart," is born in Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama.
1928: The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upward of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
1931: Actress Anne Bancroft ("The Miracle Worker," "The Graduate") is born in The Bronx, New York.
1937: At Mount Rushmore, Abraham Lincoln's face is dedicated.
1939: German U-boat U-29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous off the coast of Ireland in the opening weeks of World War II. The ship capsizes and sinks in 20 minutes with the loss of 519 of her crew, including her captain.
1939: David Souter, who would go on to become a Supreme Court justice from 1990 to 2009, is born in Melrose, Mass.
1945: NBA coach Phil Jackson, who led the Chicago Bulls to six world championships and won five more with the Los Angeles Lakers, is born in Deer Lodge, Mont.
1947: Jackie Robinson, who broke the MLB color barrier earlier in the season when he began playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, is named Rookie of the Year by the Sporting News.
1949: The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of more than 118 lives.
1951: Actress Cassandra Peterson, best known for her on-screen horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, is born in Manhattan, Kan.
1961: The world's first retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh. The arena featured a stainless steel dome, divided into eight sections, that could slide open in just three minutes. The main tenant of the arena, which was demolished over nine months in 2011-2012, was the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.
1963: "The Fugitive," starring David Janssen as the falsely convicted Dr. Richard Kimble, premieres. The show, which followed Dr. Kimble's search for the "one-armed man" who actually killed his wife, would last for 120 episodes over four seasons, with the second part of a two-part finale in 1967 becoming the most-watched television series episode at that time.
1964: The TV sitcom "Bewitched" premieres. The show, which starred Elizabeth Montgomery as a witch who marries an ordinary man and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife, would finish its first season as the No. 2 show in America and would run for eight seasons in total.
1965: The sitcom "Hogan's Heroes" debuts. The show, starring Bob Crane as Col. Robert E. Hogan, was set in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II and lasted six seasons.
1966: The espionage-themed TV show "Mission Impossible" premieres. The show would last seven seasons and in the 1990s inspire the movie franchise starring Tom Cruise.
1972: The sitcom "M*A*S*H" premieres on TV. The show, which follows a team of doctors and support staff stationed at the "4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" in Uijeongbu, South Korea, during the Korean War, struggled in its first season, but found an audience the following year and would last 11 seasons, nearly eight years longer than the actual war.
1976: The prototype space shuttle Enterprise is rolled out of its assembly facility in Southern California and displayed before a crowd of several thousand people. The Enterprise was built to perform test flights in the atmosphere and was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight.
1978: The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt following 13 days of secret negotiations.
1983: Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America. However, she would end up relinquishing her title early due to a scandal caused by Penthouse purchasing and publishing nude photos of her.
1984: Reggie Jackson of the California Angels hits his 500th career home run at Anaheim Stadium off Bud Black of the Royals, exactly 17 years from the day he hit his first major league home run.
1991: The albums "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" are released simultaneously by Guns N' Roses.
1997: Actor and comedian Red Skelton dies from pneumonia at the age of 84 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
2001: The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression. Professional sporting events also resume following a six-day hiatus after the attacks.
2002: Kelly Clarkson's first single "A Moment Like This" is released (as a double-A side single with "Before Your Love"). The song, which also appeared on Clarkson's first album, "Thankful," eventually tops the Billboard Hot 100.
2004: San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hits his 700th career home run, joining Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755) as the only players to reach the milestone. He would finish his career in 2007 with a total of 762 home runs.
2006: Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years.
2011: The Occupy Wall Street movement begins in New York City's Zucotti Park, with activists using the plaza as a campground and staging area for their protests throughout the Manhattan Financial District.
