On September 14…
“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
~Haile Selassie
1814 – Francis Scott Key wrote a poem which was later set to music and in 1931 became America’s national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. The poem, originally titled The Defence of Fort McHenry, was written after Key, an American lawyer and amateur poet being held by the British on a truce ship in the Patapsco River, witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812.
The flag (shown above) was flown over the fort when 5,000 British soldiers and a fleet of 19 ships attacked Baltimore on September 12, 1814. The bombardment turned to Fort McHenry on the evening of September 13, and continuous shelling occurred for 25 hours under heavy rain. When the British ships were unable to pass the fort and penetrate the harbor, the attack was ended, and on the morning of September 14, when the battered flag still flew above the ramparts, it was clear that Fort McHenry remained in American hands. This revelation was famously captured in poetry by Key.
1862 – General Robert E. Lee’s exhausted Confederate forces held off the pursuing Yankees by closing two passes through Maryland’s South Mountain, allowing Lee time to gather his forces further west along Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg.
Union troops drove the Confederates away at Crampton’s Gap, but were initially unable to expel the Confederates from Turner’s Gap. Eventually, the Rebels did retreat but Union losses for the day amounted to 2,300 dead and wounded, including the death of Major General Jesse Reno. The Confederates lost 2,700.
1901 – President William McKinley died eight days after being shot by Leon Czolgosz, a deranged anarchist, during the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Czolgosz was convicted of murder and executed soon after the shooting.
1944 – The U.S. 1st Marine Division landed on the island of Peleliu, one of the Palau Islands in the Pacific, as part of a larger operation to provide support for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was preparing to invade the Philippines. The cost in American lives would prove historic.
Within one week of the invasion, the Marines lost 4,000 men. By the time it was all over, that number would surpass 9,000. The Japanese lost more than 13,000 men. Flamethrowers and bombs finally subdued the island for the Americans, In the end, MacArthur invaded the Philippines without need of Army or Marine protection from Peleliu so the loss of American lives proved pointless.
1955 – Little Richard recorded Tutti Frutti. During a lunch break, Richard had played the piano in a bar, singing a loud and lewd version of a song which was part of his live act. Producer Bumps Blackwell recognized the song had hit potential but also knew the lyrics had to be changed. He contacted local songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie to revise the lyrics and with only fifteen minutes left in the session, Richard recorded the song in three takes.
1975 – Elizabeth Ann Seton – founder of the United States’ first religious order (The Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph) was canonized by Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in Rome, becoming the first American-born Catholic saint.
1982 – Princess Grace of Monaco – the American-born former film star Grace Kelly, whose movie credits included Rear Window, To Catch A Thief, Dial M For Murder and The Country Girl (which won her a Best Actress Oscar) – died at the age of 52 from injuries suffered after her car plunged off a mountain road near Monte Carlo.
2001 – Within minutes of the September 11 attacks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had opened the largest FBI investigation in United States history, On this date, just three days after the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, and United Airlines Flight 93, the FBI announced the names of the 19 people they declared were the hijackers involved.
2001 – President George Bush flew to New York City, and stood at Ground Zero where the ruins of the twin towers of the World Trade Center were still smoldering. As he conducted his tour, Bush suddenly climbed on top of some rubble and put his arm around a firefighter. The president grabbed a bullhorn and started thanking the fire fighters and other first responders at the scene, telling them that they were in the country’s prayers.
Someone in the crowd shouted that he couldn’t hear the president, and Bush replied: “I can hear you!” The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” The crowd reacted with loud, prolonged chants of “USA! USA!”
2009 – Actor Patrick Swayze died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. Swayze starred in Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Road House, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, North And South, and many others.
2009 – Bobby Graham (British session drummer) died of cancer at the age of 69.Graham did more than play a part in recording over 1,500 songs; he also replaced many of his more famous contemporaries on their records. Check out just a few examples:
‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘All Day And All Of The Night’ (Kinks), ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ (Animals), ‘Here Comes The Night’ (Them), ‘Glad All Over’, ‘Any Way You Want It’ and ‘Can’t You See That She’s Mine’ (Dave Clark Five), ‘Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat’ (Herman’s Hermits), ‘You’ve Got Your Troubles’ (Fortunes) and ‘Tobacco Road’ (Nashville Teens).
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2016 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.