Did you know
The Bulgarian Communist Party played a dominant role in the Fatherland Front, which seized power in a coup on 9 September 1944.
September 8 in History
1946 — A referendum abolishes the monarchy in Bulgaria
September 8 spans 82 recorded events across recorded history, from 70 to 2025. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
82 events
70 – 2025
Today in history
More major events on September 8
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 617 Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path to his capture of the imperial capital Chang'an and the eventual establishment of the Tang dynasty. Source
- 2016 NASA launches OSIRIS-REx, its first asteroid sample return mission. The probe visited 101955 Bennu and returned with samples in September 2023. Source
- 1756 French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition. Source
Did you know
Tsar Simeon II was the head of state at the time of the coup, with a regency council acting on his behalf due to his young age.
Did you know
The regency council was replaced by a new council composed entirely of Bulgarian Communist Party members after the coup.
Did you know
Voter turnout for the 1946 referendum was reported to be 92%, with 96% of voters supporting the abolition of the monarchy.
Did you know
The Fatherland Front's seizure of power on 9 September 1944 marked the effective end of the monarchy in Bulgaria, two years before the referendum.
70
After the capture of Herod's Palace the previous day, a Roman army under Titus secures and plunders the city of Jerusalem.
Calendar year
617
Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path to his capture of the imperial capital Chang'an and the eventual establishment of the Tang dynasty.
Part of Tang expansion in 617
1100
1198
Philip of Swabia, Prince of Hohenstaufen, is crowned King of Germany (King of the Romans)
King of Germany from 1198 to 1208
1253
Pope Innocent IV canonises Stanislaus of Szczepanów, who was killed by King Bolesław II.
Head of the Catholic Church from 1243 to 1254
1264
The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing Jews safety and personal liberties and giving battei din jurisdiction over Jewish matters, is promulgated by Bolesław the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland.
1264 decree by the Duke of Greater Poland
1331
Stefan Dušan declares himself king of Serbia.
14th-century Serbian king and emperor
1334
The Battle of Adramyttion begins in which a Christian naval league defeats a Turkish fleet in several encounters.
Part of the Crusades
1380
Battle of Kulikovo: Russian forces defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance.
Battle between Russian principalities and Mongol forces
1504
Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
Renaissance statue in Florence, Italy
1514
Battle of Orsha: In one of the biggest battles of the century, Lithuanians and Poles defeat the Russian army.
Part of the fourth Muscovite–Lithuanian War (1514)
1522
Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation: Victoria arrives at Seville, completing the first circumnavigation.
16th-century Spanish maritime expedition
1565
St.
Augustine, Florida is founded by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.
1655
Warsaw falls without resistance to a small force under the command of Charles X Gustav of Sweden during The Deluge, making it the first time the city is captured by a foreign army.
Capital and largest city of Poland
1727
A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children.
Village in Cambridgeshire, England
1755
French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George.
North American theater of the Seven Years' War
1756
French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition.
1756 battle of the French and Indian War
1760
French and Indian War: French surrender Montreal to the British, completing the latter's conquest of New France.
1760 British offensive in New France during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War)
1761
Marriage of King George III of the United Kingdom to Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820
1775
The unsuccessful Rising of the Priests in Malta.
1775 Maltese uprising against the Knights Hospitaller
1781
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina, the war's last significant battle in the Southern theater, ends in a narrow British tactical victory.
1775–1783 conflict in North America
1796
French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano: French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa.
1796 battle during the War of the First Coalition
1808
The Treaty of Paris is signed ending the French military occupation of Prussia.
1808 treaty between France and Prussia
1810
The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board.
19th-century American merchant ship
1813
At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British-Portuguese troops capture the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián), resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town.
1807–1814 war against Napoleon in Iberia
1819
1819 Balloon riot occurred at Vauxhall Garden in Philadelphia, PA and resulted in the destruction of the amusement park.
Event description
1831
William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
King of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1837
1831
November uprising: The Battle of Warsaw effectively ends the Polish insurrection.
Anti-Russian uprising in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1830–31)
1855
Crimean War: The French assault the tower of Malakoff, leading to the capture of Sevastopol.
Tenth conflict of the Russo-Turkish wars (1853–1856)
1860
The steamship PS Lady Elgin sinks on Lake Michigan, with the loss of around 300 lives.
Type of steam-powered vessel
1862
Millennium of Russia monument is unveiled in Novgorod.
Bronze monument in Novgorod Oblast, Russia
1863
American Civil War: In the Second Battle of Sabine Pass, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.
1861–1865 conflict in the United States
1883
The Northern Pacific Railway (reporting mark NP) was completed in a ceremony at Gold Creek, Montana.
Former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in an event attended by rail and political luminaries.
1888
Isaac Peral's submarine is first tested.
First battery-powered naval submarine (1888)
1888
The Great Herding (Spanish: El Gran Arreo) begins with thousands of sheep being herded from the Argentine outpost of Fortín Conesa to Santa Cruz near the Strait of Magellan.
19th- and 20th-century South American agricultural movement
1888
In London, the body of Jack the Ripper's second murder victim, Annie Chapman, is found.
Whitechapel murder victim (1840–1888)
1888
In England, the first six Football League matches are played.
Association football league
1892
The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited.
Loyalty oath to the flag and republic of the U.S.
1898
Seven hundred Greek civilians, 17 British guards and the British Consul of Crete are killed by a Turkish mob.
1898 massacre of civilians in Crete
1900
Galveston hurricane: A powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
Category 4 Atlantic hurricane
1905
The 7.2 Mw Calabria earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 557 and 2,500 people.
Extreme earthquake in southern Italy
1914
World War I: Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first British soldier to be executed for desertion during the war.
Global conflict from 1914 to 1918
1916
In a bid to prove that women were capable of serving as military dispatch riders, Augusta and Adeline Van Buren arrive in Los Angeles, completing a 60-day, 5,500 mile cross-country trip on motorcycles.
Pioneering female motorcyclists (1884–1959)
1921
Margaret Gorman, a 16-year-old, wins the Atlantic City Pageant's Golden Mermaid trophy; pageant officials later dubbed her the first Miss America.
First Miss America winner
1923
Honda Point disaster: Nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast.
Seven are lost, and twenty-three sailors killed.
1925
Rif War: Spanish forces including troops from the Foreign Legion under Colonel Francisco Franco landing at Al Hoceima, Morocco.
1921–1926 war between Spain and Riffian tribes of Morocco
1934
Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger liner SS Morro Castle kills 137 people.
American ocean liner
1935
US Senator from Louisiana Huey Long is fatally shot in the Louisiana State Capitol building.
American politician (1893–1935)
1941
World War II: German forces begin the Siege of Leningrad.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1943
World War II: The Armistice of Cassibile is proclaimed by radio.
OB Süd immediately implements plans to disarm the Italian forces.
1944
World War II: London is hit by a V-2 rocket for the first time.
German long-range ballistic missile
1945
The division of Korea begins when United States troops arrive to partition the southern part of Korea in response to Soviet troops occupying the northern part of the peninsula a month earlier.
Separation of North and South Korea
1948
The flag of North Korea is adopted with the passing of the country's first constitution by the Supreme People's Assembly.
1952
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation makes its first televised broadcast on the second escape of the Boyd Gang.
Canadian public broadcaster
1954
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established.
Collective defense organization (1955–1977)
1960
In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D.
Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1).
1962
Last run of the famous Pines Express over the Somerset and Dorset Railway line (UK) fittingly using the last steam locomotive built by British Railways, BR Standard Class 9F 92220 Evening Star.
Former passenger train between Manchester and Bournemouth, England (1910-67)
1966
The landmark American science fiction television series Star Trek premieres with its first-aired episode, "The Man Trap".
American sci-fi TV series (1966–1969)
1970
Trans International Airlines Flight 863 crashes during takeoff from John F.
Kennedy International Airport in New York City, killing all 11 aboard.
1971
In Washington, D.C., the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
1973
World Airways Flight 802 crashes into Mount Dutton in King Cove, Alaska, killing six people.
1973 aviation accident in Alaska
1974
Watergate scandal: US President Gerald Ford signs the pardon of Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.
1970s political scandal in the U.S.
1975
Gays in the military: US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline "I Am A Homosexual".
He is given a general discharge, later upgraded to honorable.
1978
Black Friday, a massacre by soldiers against protesters in Tehran, results in 88 deaths, it marks the beginning of the end of the monarchy in Iran.
Mass shooting of protesters in Pahlavi Iran on 8 September 1978
1986
Nicholas Daniloff, a correspondent for U.S.
News & World Report, is indicted on charges of espionage by the Soviet Union.
1988
Yellowstone National Park is closed for the first time in U.S.
history due to ongoing fires.
1989
Partnair Flight 394 dives into the North Sea, killing 55 people.
The investigation showed that the tail of the plane vibrated loose in flight due to sub-standard connecting bolts that had been fraudulently sold as aircraft-grade.
1994
USAir Flight 427, on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport, suddenly crashes in clear weather killing all 132 aboard, resulting in the most extensive aviation investigation in world history and altering manufacturing practices in the industry.
1994 aviation accident in Pennsylvania
2000
NASA launches Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-106 to resupply the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle orbiter (1985–2011)
2004
NASA's uncrewed spacecraft Genesis crash-lands when its parachute fails to open.
NASA sample return probe
2005
Two Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft from EMERCOM land at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock Air Force Base; the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.
Russian heavy four-engined military transport jet aircraft
2016
NASA launches OSIRIS-REx, its first asteroid sample return mission.
The probe visited 101955 Bennu and returned with samples in September 2023.
2017
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announce the beginning of the Deir ez-Zor campaign, with the stated aim of eliminating the Islamic State (IS) from all areas north and east of the Euphrates.
2011–2024 armed conflict in Syria
2022
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom dies at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after reigning for 70 years.
Her son Charles, Prince of Wales, ascends the throne upon her death as Charles III.
2023
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes Morocco, killing nearly 3,000 people and damaging historic sites in Marrakesh.
Earthquake in Morocco
2023
The 2023 Rugby World Cup, the tenth men's Rugby World Cup is held in France.
The opening ceremony, directed and written by Jean Dujardin, Olivier Ferracci and Nora Matthey, took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, before the opening match between France and New Zealand, which saw the host nation winning 27 to 13.
2025
Balçova police station shooting: 4 people, including the perpetrator are killed an attack on a police station in Turkey.
Conflict since 2013