1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme River, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. Don’t get peckish. The term “Norman” comes from “Norseman”, the Vikings who’d carved out a chunk of France for themselves already.

1777 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the capital of the United States, for one day. For one brief day the population becomes example of large number of self-serving… nah… THAT’S Washington today. It took Washington a while to get that way, but they’ve got the act down pat now….

1821 – Mexico gains its independence from Spain. Freed of the despotic rule of European interlopers, the country goes on to enjoy decades of peace, justice and prosperity. Today, thousands of Americans cross its boarder seeking opportunity not found here.

1854 – The steamship SS Arctic sinks with 400 people on board – 250 passengers, 150 crew. 24 male passengers and 61 crew survived; all the women and children died. This marks the first great disaster in the Atlantic Ocean.

1903 – Wreck of the Old 97, a train crash made famous by the song of the same name. “They gave him his orders in Monroe, Virginia, said “Steve, you’re ‘way behind time…”(Yes, YES, I know that’s NOT an American locomotive. Ours have ‘cattle-catchers’ on the front.)

1908 – The first production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan. You could have any color you wanted, as long as it was black.

1941 – The SS Patrick Henry is launched becoming the first of more than 2,700 Liberty ships. America’s might produced ships like cupcakes…

1942 Last day of the September Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marine Corps troops barely escape after being surrounded by Japanese forces near the Matanikau River. A Coastie by the name of Douglas Munro gave his life to rescue a group of Marines trapped by the Japanese. His last words were, ”Did they all get off?” His medal was awarded by the Navy for his work with the Marines. He is the ONLY member of the Coast Guard to ever receive the Medal of Honor.

1962 – Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring is published, inspiring an environmental movement and the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The book is poorly researched, the rush to ban DDT resulted in millions of lives lost in the resurgence of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria.

1964 – The Warren Commission releases its report, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated President John F. Kennedy. It is widely debated and viewed as a cover-up.

1979 – The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency. Public education is fast becoming equivalent in quality to public housing and public toilets.

1998 – The Google internet search engine retrospectively claims this as its birthday.