130 Fun Facts About September

September's name comes from the Latin word for which number?

It was the seventh month of the old Roman calendar, which began in March; when January and February were added it slid to ninth but kept the name.

How many days does September have?

It had 29 in the early Roman calendar until Julius Caesar's reform added one.

What is September's birthstone?

The name comes via Latin from a Greek word that originally referred to lapis lazuli, a different blue stone entirely.

Which of these is one of September's birth flowers?

The morning glory and forget-me-not share the honour; the marigold belongs to October.

Someone born on September 25 falls under which zodiac sign?

Virgo runs to September 22, and Libra takes over on the 23rd.

In the Northern Hemisphere, meteorological autumn begins on which day of the month?

Astronomers wait for the equinox around the 22nd; meteorologists prefer whole calendar months, so their seasons start on the first.

The autumn equinox can fall on any date within which range of the month?

The drift comes from the mismatch between the calendar year and the tropical year, corrected by leap years.

The Harvest Moon is defined as the full moon that occurs when?

It can land up to two weeks either side of the equinox, so some years the Harvest Moon is actually in October, and the next full moon is the Hunter's Moon.

When Britain went Gregorian in 1752, the 2nd of the month was immediately followed by which day?

Eleven days vanished; the same act moved New Year's Day from March 25 to January 1.

The Anglo-Saxons called September Gerstmonath, after which crop that was harvested then?

Charlemagne's calendar simply called it harvest month, and it is still Herbstmonat in Switzerland.

Per US birth statistics from 1994 to 2014, the most common birthday falls on which day of the month?

Nine of the ten most common birthdays are in September, roughly nine months after the winter holidays; September 1 is the least common date in the month.

In which year did the 'Eternal September' begin, when commercial providers flooded Usenet with new users?

Before that, the only yearly surge of newcomers came each September when university students got their first accounts.

In the United States, Labor Day is celebrated on which day of the month?

The Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor organised the first parade in New York City; it became a federal holiday in 1894.

US National Grandparents Day is celebrated on which day?

A nine-year-old named Russell Capper wrote to President Nixon in 1969 suggesting the day; the reply politely declined.

US Constitution Day falls on the 17th because of what event on that date in 1787?

Thirty-nine delegates signed at Independence Hall; Rhode Island had refused to send anyone at all.

In which year was the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American military history?

Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and McClellan's Army of the Potomac met at Sharpsburg, Maryland, exactly 75 years after the Constitution was signed.

Francis Scott Key wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner' after watching the British bombard which Baltimore stronghold?

The flag he saw flying over the harbour had 15 stars and 15 stripes.

Patriot Day, observed in the US on September 11, remembers the victims of which year's attacks?

President Bush first proclaimed a Day of Prayer and Remembrance for September 14, 2001; Congress then fixed the annual observance on the 11th.

US National Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15 rather than the first of the month. Why?

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica all celebrate on the 15th, Mexico on the 16th and Chile on the 18th; the month runs to October 15.

Who gave the Grito de Dolores of 1810, marked by Mexico's Independence Day on September 16?

Every year the Mexican president re-enacts the cry from the National Palace balcony, ringing the same bell Hidalgo used.

Which South American country celebrates its independence on September 7, known as Sete de Setembro?

Chile's Fiestas Patrias follow on the 18th, giving the continent two of the biggest parties of the month.

Enkutatash, the New Year of Ethiopia and Eritrea, falls on September 11 and its name means what?

Tradition says the Queen of Sheba returned from visiting Solomon on that day and her followers greeted her with jewels.

What instrument is sounded during Rosh Hashanah?

Apples dipped in honey are eaten to wish for a sweet year, and the holiday opens the Ten Days of Repentance ending at Yom Kippur.

Munich's Oktoberfest, despite its name, opens in mid-September. The first one in 1810 celebrated what?

Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen and the meadow was named Theresienwiese, still called the Wiesn.

What did one of the Oregon founders of Talk Like a Pirate Day yell during a 1995 racquetball game?

The game was in June, but they picked September 19 as the date; the Pastafarian movement later adopted the holiday.

Hobbit Day, September 22, marks the shared birthday of which two characters?

The American Tolkien Society proclaimed it in 1978; The Hobbit itself was published on September 21, 1937.

According to Maurice White, why does Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September' name the 21st night?

His wife later revealed it was also the expected due date of their son, and comedian Demi Adejuyigbe turned the date into an annual internet event.

The United Nations International Day of Peace is observed on which day of the month?

The Peace Bell rung at UN headquarters was a gift from Japan, cast from coins donated by people on every continent except Africa.

Michaelmas, September 29, has traditionally been one of the four what in England and Ireland?

Rents fell due and university terms began on it; Oxford still calls its autumn term Michaelmas.

Japan's Respect for the Aged Day, once fixed on the 15th, has been held on which day since 2003?

The shift came under the Happy Monday System, which moved several holidays to create long weekends.

On Prinsjesdag, the third Tuesday of September, the Dutch monarch does what?

It is the Dutch equivalent of the State of the Union or Britain's State Opening of Parliament, and it is written into the constitution.

Australians wear a sprig of which plant on September 1, the first day of their spring?

The golden wattle is the national floral emblem, but any acacia will do; the date was settled by the Wattle Day League in 1910.

San Gennaro, honoured by Little Italy's September festival, is the patron saint of which Italian city?

His feast day is September 19, and his statue is carried through a fair that stretches for blocks.

Vendémiaire, the first month of the French Republican calendar, was named after what?

The revolutionaries renamed every month after weather or farm work; Vendémiaire was followed by Brumaire, the month of mist.

The Ludi Romani, Rome's chief September games, honoured which god?

They ran from September 12 to 14 from 366 BC and are credited with introducing Greek-style drama to Rome.

World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded which country?

The Soviet Union attacked from the east on September 17, and Poland's defence collapsed by early October.

Japan's WWII surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 aboard which US battleship?

The ceremony in Tokyo Bay took place around 9 a.m. local time, surrounded by roughly 250 Allied vessels.

Battle of Britain Day, September 15, marks the Luftwaffe's largest 1940 attack on which city?

Around 1,500 aircraft fought that day; the German failure led Hitler to shelve his invasion plan, Operation Sea Lion.

The Great Fire of 1666 began on September 2 in a bakery on which street of the English capital?

Samuel Pepys climbed the Tower of London that morning and watched an east wind turn it into a conflagration.

What happened to King Harold less than three weeks after crushing the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge in 1066?

Harald Hardrada and Harold's own brother Tostig both died at Stamford Bridge; the exhausted English army then marched south to meet William.

The 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham was fought outside the walls of which settlement?

The battlefield was named for a farmer, Abraham Martin, who had once owned the land.

Napoleon's Grande Armée fought the Russians at Borodino on September 7 of which year?

About a quarter of a million soldiers took part, and the road to Moscow lay open afterwards, though the city burned around the French.

Which Home Secretary founded the Metropolitan Police, whose first constables hit the streets in 1829?

British police officers are still nicknamed bobbies and, less kindly, peelers after him.

Which planet was first knowingly observed by Johann Galle in 1846, within a degree of its predicted position?

Urbain Le Verrier had calculated its position from wobbles in the orbit of Uranus; Galle found it the same evening he received the letter.

On September 1, 1878, Emma Nutt of Boston became the world's first what?

The company had hired teenage boys first, but they proved rude and prank-prone, and women took over the switchboards.

Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig's record with his 2,131st straight game in 1995. How long did his streak reach?

Gehrig's mark had stood for 56 years and was widely thought unbreakable; fans voted Ripken's night the most memorable moment in MLB history.

Which television series first aired on NBC on September 8, 1966?

NBC had rejected the first pilot, 'The Cage', before commissioning a second one with William Shatner.

Google was founded in September of which year by Larry Page and Sergey Brin?

An August 1998 cheque for $100,000 from Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim pushed them to incorporate so they could cash it.

Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8 of which year?

She had reigned since February 1952 and was monarch of 15 realms at her death.

Which children's author, born September 13, 1916, has his birthday celebrated each year in his honour?

Before writing Matilda and The BFG he was a wartime fighter ace with the RAF.

Which of these authors was born on September 21?

H. G. Wells was also born on September 21, in 1866; Christie was born on the 15th and Tolstoy on the 9th.

Which of these musicians was born on September 4, 1981?

Freddie Mercury (September 5) and Bruce Springsteen (September 23) are September babies too.

Which pioneer nurseryman, born September 26, 1774, has a US day named after him on his birthday?

John Chapman planted seed-grown orchards across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and was famous while still alive.

The Battle of Marathon, fought in September 490 BC, ended in victory for the citizens of which city?

The legend of the runner Pheidippides carrying news of the win gave the modern marathon race its name.

Which Southern Hemisphere month is the seasonal equivalent of a northern September?

South of the equator September 1 is the start of meteorological spring, which is why Australia celebrates Wattle Day then.

September opens the ecclesiastical year for which branch of Christianity?

It is also the start of the academic year in much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Whose deification added an extra day to the Ludi Romani on 4 September?

The games originally ran September 12 to 14 before being extended.

What was September called in Charlemagne's calendar?

The Swiss still call it Herbstmonat, harvest month.

Which US state was the first to make Labor Day an official public holiday, in 1887?

By 1894, when it became federal, thirty states already celebrated it.

Which president signed the bill making Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894?

It came shortly after the Pullman Strike.

Which country besides the US celebrates its Labour Day on the first Monday of September?

More than 150 other countries mark International Workers' Day on May 1.

Chuseok, Korea's autumn harvest festival, falls on the 15th day of which lunisolar month?

It coincides with the full moon; in South Korea the holiday lasts three days.

Which rice cakes are a traditional Chuseok food?

Families also perform charye, ancestor memorial services at home.

Which Moon goddess is the Mid-Autumn Festival based on?

Mooncakes filled with sweet-bean or lotus-seed paste are eaten.

Yom Kippur falls on the 10th day of which Hebrew month?

It is the last of the Ten Days of Repentance that begin with Rosh Hashanah.

Which Palestinian group attacked the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich Olympics?

Two Israeli team members were killed in the Village and nine hostages died in a failed rescue.

At which airbase did the failed rescue of the Munich hostages take place?

The plan was to pretend to fly the terrorists and hostages to Cairo.

Which two leaders signed the Camp David Accords on 17 September 1978?

Both received the shared 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.

Roughly how many prisoners were killed in the Paris September Massacres of 1792?

More than 1,000 died within the first 20 hours, starting at Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Which French emperor was captured at the Battle of Sedan on 2 September 1870?

Some 104,000 French troops passed into German captivity along with 558 guns.

Which anarchist assassinated William McKinley?

He had lost his job in the Panic of 1893 and turned to anarchism.

Which Arkansas governor blocked the Little Rock Nine from Central High in 1957?

President Eisenhower eventually sent federal troops to escort the students.

How many passengers were aboard the Mayflower when it left Plymouth on 16 September 1620?

The crew numbered 25 to 30, bringing the total to about 130.

Which US oceanographer co-led the team that found the Titanic wreck on 1 September 1985?

Debris first appeared on the ship Knorr's screens at 12:48 am.

On what date in 2008 did Lehman Brothers file for bankruptcy?

It remains the largest bankruptcy filing in US history, involving over $600 billion in assets.

Which Soviet probe became the first spacecraft to hit the Moon, on 13 September 1959?

It was the first human-made object to contact another celestial body.

Which 18-year-old discovered the Lascaux cave entrance on 12 September 1940?

His dog had investigated a hole left by an uprooted tree.

Freddie Mercury, born on 5 September 1946, was born on which island?

His family fled the Zanzibar Revolution to England in 1964.

Agatha Christie, born 15 September 1890, was born in which English town?

She wrote 66 detective novels and has sold more than two billion books.

Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends is about whose death in September 1982?

It was the fourth single from American Idiot.

September's birthstone, sapphire, is a variety of which mineral?

Red corundum is called ruby rather than sapphire.

Chile's 18 September holiday commemorates the first governing junta of which year?

Chileans simply call the celebration the Dieciocho.

Which Indian state officially declared Onam its national festival in 1961?

The festival celebrates the annual return of the mythical King Mahabali.

Who turned Ganesh Chaturthi into a public festival in Maharashtra in 1893?

Around 150,000 idols are immersed in Mumbai alone.

Where was the US Open tennis tournament held from its 1881 inception until 1914?

It moved to Flushing Meadows hardcourts in 1978.

The first official Ryder Cup was held in 1927 at a country club in which US city?

Samuel Ryder, an English businessman, donated the trophy.

Oktoberfest is held on which Munich meadow, named after a princess?

Locals still call the site the Wiesn.

Saudi National Day, 23 September, marks the 1932 renaming of which state?

King Abdulaziz ibn Saud issued the royal decree.

Which Reykjavík hall hosted the 1972 Fischer–Spassky chess match that ended in September?

It was dubbed the Match of the Century.

Near which Pennsylvania town did United Airlines Flight 93 crash on September 11, 2001?

Passengers revolted after learning of the earlier attacks.

How many people were killed in the September 11 attacks?

Nineteen hijackers took control of four airliners that day.

Where was Diana, Princess of Wales, buried after her 6 September 1997 funeral?

Her Westminster Abbey funeral drew an estimated 3 million mourners to London.

Mother Teresa, who died on 5 September 1997, was born in which city?

She won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiered on September 13, 1969, on which network?

Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created it for Hanna-Barbera.

Bruce Springsteen, born September 23, 1949, was born in which New Jersey town?

He was born at Monmouth Medical Center.

Sophia Loren, born 20 September 1934, won a Best Actress Oscar for which film?

It was the first Oscar ever won for a non-English-language performance.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, born September 24, 1896, was named after a cousin who wrote what?

He was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Michael Faraday, born 22 September 1791, apprenticed at 14 in what trade?

He was born in Newington Butts, now part of Southwark.

Leo Tolstoy, born 9 September 1828, was born on which family estate?

It lies about 12 kilometres southwest of Tula.

Which album did Nirvana's Nevermind, released September 24, 1991, replace at No. 1?

It reached number one in January 1992.

Which sprinter won the 100 m at the September 1988 Seoul Olympics only to be disqualified?

He tested positive for stanozolol after clocking 9.79 seconds.

On which date did the Sydney 2000 Olympics open?

They ran until 1 October and were nicknamed the Games of the New Millennium.

How many ships left Spain with Magellan on 20 September 1519?

The fleet carried about 270 men and was called the Armada del Maluco.

Which Norwegian king was killed at Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066?

Harold Godwinson's own brother Tostig also died there.

The Nativity of Mary is celebrated on 8 September, nine months after which feast?

Some Eastern Christians observe an eight-day abstinence beforehand.

Which 14 September feast, also called Roodmas, honours a relic found by Saint Helena?

It recalls the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena.

Which treaty to protect the ozone layer was agreed on 16 September 1987?

It entered into force on 1 January 1989.

International Translation Day, 30 September, is the feast day of which saint?

Jerome, the Bible translator, is the patron saint of translators.

Operation Market Garden in September 1944 failed to take the bridge in which Dutch city?

Planners expected to cover 100 km to the bridge in 48 hours.

The first production Ford Model T left which Detroit factory on September 27, 1908?

Only 11 cars were built there in the first full month.

Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on which 1862 date?

It followed the Battle of Antietam five days earlier.

Which war began with a full-scale invasion on 22 September 1980?

A dispute over the Shatt al-Arab waterway was a flashpoint.

James Dean died on September 30, 1955, driving which car?

The car was nicknamed Little Bastard.

In which city did Jimi Hendrix die on September 18, 1970?

He was 27.

Which Chinese leader died on 9 September 1976?

He was 82.

Off which Cubs pitcher did Mark McGwire hit his 62nd home run on September 8, 1998?

Sammy Sosa was chasing the same record that summer.

Alexander Fleming returned to his lab on 3 September 1928 after a holiday where?

He then noticed the mould that led to penicillin.

M*A*S*H premiered on CBS on September 17 of which year?

Its finale in 1983 remains the most-watched episode of a scripted series.

How many viewers watched The X-Files pilot when it premiered on September 10, 1993?

The show ran nine seasons on Fox.

On which 1994 date did Friends premiere on NBC?

It ran ten seasons until May 2004.

Which Vietnamese leader died on 2 September 1969?

He had founded the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945.

Which Egyptian president died on 28 September 1970?

He had led Egypt since 1954.

Off which pitcher did Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run on September 30, 1927?

It came in the eighth inning to break a 2–2 tie.

In which year did the UN designate 15 September the International Day of Democracy?

The date marks the Universal Declaration on Democracy.

Which Athenian general ordered the attack at Marathon in September 490 BC?

The Persian force was commanded by Datis and Artaphernes.

Which general led the coup that overthrew Chile's Salvador Allende on 11 September 1973?

Allende is often described as the first Marxist democratically elected president in a Latin American liberal democracy.

On 26 September 1983, Soviet officer Stanislav Petrov judged what to be a false alarm?

The Oko satellite system showed one missile then four more; Petrov waited for confirmation that never came, three weeks after the KAL 007 shootdown.

The Munich Agreement of 30 September 1938 let Germany annex which region of Czechoslovakia?

Germany, Britain, France and Italy signed it without Czechoslovakia at the table; some three million mainly ethnic Germans lived in the ceded borderlands.

Which railway, the world's first public line to use steam locomotives, opened on 27 September 1825?

Coal wagons were steam-hauled from the start, but passengers rode in horse-drawn coaches; the line was soon extended to a new port at Middlesbrough.

What was the moment magnitude of the earthquake that devastated Mexico City on 19 September 1985?

It struck at 7:17 a.m. local time and killed at least 5,000 people, with a magnitude 7.5 aftershock the very next day.