September 30, 2021
Another month comes to a close today, and is our habit, let’s take a look back at things which happened in September.
On September 1, 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates fielded the first all-black and Latino lineup: Rennie Stennett (second base), Gene Clines (center field), Roberto Clemente (right field), Willie Stargell (left field), Manny Sanguillen (catcher), Dave Cash (third base), Al Oliver (first base), Jackie Hernandez (shortstop), Dock Ellis (pitcher). “When it comes to making out the lineup, I'm colorblind, and the athletes know it,” Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh said. “The best men in our organization are the ones who are here.”
On Sunday, September 2, 1945, more than 250 Allied warships lay at anchor in Tokyo Bay. On board the Missouri, Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the surrender documents on behalf of the Japanese government, and General Yoshijiro Umezu then signed for the Japanese armed forces. Unconditional surrender. Supreme Commander MacArthur next signed, declaring, “It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past.”
The American flag was flown in battle for the first time on September 3, 1777, during a Revolutionary War skirmish at Cooch’s Bridge, Delaware. Patriot General William Maxwell ordered the stars and stripes banner raised as a detachment of his infantry and cavalry met an advance guard of British and Hessian troops.
On September 4, 1886, Apache leader Geronimo surrendered to U.S. government troops. For 30 years, the First Nation warrior had battled to protect his tribe’s homeland; however, by 1886 the Apaches were exhausted and outnumbered. He was the last of his people to formally give in to U.S. forces.
In the early morning of September 5, 1972, a group of Palestinian terrorists stormed the Munich Olympic Village apartment of the Israeli athletes, killing two and taking nine others hostage. In an ensuing shootout at the Munich airport, the nine Israeli hostages were killed along with five terrorists and one West German policeman.
On September 6, 1522, one of Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships – the Victoria – arrived in Spain, thus completing the first circumnavigation of the world. The Victoria was commanded Juan de Elcano, who took charge of the vessel after the murder of Magellan in the Philippines in April 1521. Only Elcano and 21 other passengers survived to reach Spain in September 1522. On September 20, 1519, Magellan had set sail from Spain with five ships and 270 men in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia.
One of the world’s most beloved works art, “David,” the 17-foot-tall, 12,000-pound marble masterpiece by Michelangelo Buonarroti, was unveiled to the public in Florence, Italy’s Piazza della Signoria, on September 8, 1504. Carved from a single block of white Italian Carrara marble that had been rejected by other artists for being flawed, the massive statue depicts a nude David, the shepherd who became king of Israel.
The King of Rock and Roll teamed up with TV’s reigning variety program, as Elvis Presley appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” for the first time on September 9, 1956. After earning big ratings for “The Steve Allen Show,” the Dorsey Brothers “Stage Show” and “The Milton Berle Show,” Sullivan finally reneged on his Presley ban, signing the singing star to an unprecedented $50,000 contract for three appearances.
On September 10, 1897, a 25-year-old London taxi driver named George Smith became the first person ever arrested for drunk driving after slamming his cab into a building. Smith later pleaded guilty and was fined 25 shillings. In the United States, the first laws against operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol went into effect in New York in 1910. Editorial comment: Judges who let convicted drunk drivers off with no penalty after the first offense should be removed from the bench – it may have been the first offense, but research shows it was not the first time the convicted had been driving drunk!
At approximately 8:46 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact instantly killed hundreds of people and trap hundreds more in higher floors. 17 minutes after the first plane hit, a second Boeing 767 appeared out of the sky, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center, and sliced into the south tower. 2,997 people died in the World Trade Center and its vicinity, including 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers who were struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the office workers trapped on higher floors. American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters at 9:37 a.m. 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon along with all 64 people aboard the airliner.
Meanwhile, a fourth California-bound plane, United Flight 93, was hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Because the plane had been delayed in taking off, passengers on board learned of events in New York and Washington via cell phone. Knowing that the aircraft was not returning to an airport as the hijackers claimed, a group of passengers and flight attendants planned an insurrection. One of the passengers, Thomas Burnett, Jr., told his wife over the phone that “I know we’re all going to die. There’s three of us who are going to do something about it. I love you, honey.” Another passenger, Todd Beamer, was heard saying “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.” Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and explained that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last words to him were “Everyone’s running to first class. I’ve got to go. I love you” The passengers fought the four hijackers and attacked the cockpit. The plane then flipped over and sped toward the ground at upwards of 500 miles per hour, crashing in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m. All 45 people aboard were killed.
On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key penned 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 Defense of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over the Fort at daybreak, as “the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”
On September 15, 1978, boxer Muhammad Ali defeated Leon Spinks to win the world heavyweight boxing title for the third time in his career, the first fighter ever to do so. Following his victory, Ali retired from boxing, only to make a brief comeback two years later. Ali, who once claimed he could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” left the sport permanently in 1981.
On September 17, 1976, NASA publicly unveiled its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, during a ceremony in Palmdale, California. Development of the spacecraft, named for the iconic starship in the TV series Star Trek, cost almost $10 billion and took nearly a decade. In 1977, the Enterprise became the first space shuttle to fly freely when it was lifted to a height of 25,000 feet by a Boeing 747 airplane and then released, gliding back to Edwards Air Force Base on its own accord.
Chester Arthur was inaugurated on September 20, 1881, becoming the third person to serve as POTUS in that year. The year 1881 began with Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in office. Hayes served out his only term and turned over the reins of government to James A. Garfield. On July 2, Garfield was shot by assassin, Charles Guiteau. Garfield sustained wounds to his back and abdomen and struggled to recover. Though it appeared he would pull through, the autopsy report revealed that one bullet wound contributed to an aneurism that killed Garfield on September 19. The next day, Vice President Chester Arthur was sworn in as president.
On September 21, 2008, the last game at historic Yankee Stadium was played. In the finale, the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-3, as future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera closed the game with a perfect ninth inning. “The way I feel emotionally right now and just physically so drained, it feels like a huge postseason win for us,” Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte told the New York Times. The game was ultimately meaningless in the standings for the 2008 Yankees, who would miss the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade.
Under escort from the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, on September 25, 1957, nine Black students entered all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Three weeks earlier, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had surrounded the school with National Guard troops to prevent its federal court-ordered racial integration. After a tense standoff, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent 1,000 army paratroopers to Little Rock to enforce the court order.
On September 26, 1957, West Side Story, composed by Leonard Bernstein, opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway. West Side Story, a reinterpretation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, was transposed onto New York’s West Side. It tells the tale of a love affair between Tony, a Polish American, and Maria, a Puerto Rican, set against an urban background of interracial warfare. With its gritty story and volatile dance sequences, West Side Story was the antithesis of traditional American musicals.
On the last day of the regular season, September 28, 1941, the Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams got six hits in eight at-bats during a doubleheader in Philadelphia, boosting his average to .406. He became the first player since 1930 to hit .400. “I guess I’ll be satisfied with that thrill out there today,” he told the Boston Globe. “I never wanted anything harder in my life.” In addition to his .406 batting average – no major league player since Williams has hit .400 – the left fielder led the big leagues with 37 homers, 135 runs and a slugging average of .735.
On September 30, 1927, Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run of the 1927 season and with it set a record that would stand for 34 years. Remembered more for his home runs than for his pitching, in 1914 Ruth was signed as a pitcher by the Baltimore Orioles. That same summer, Ruth’s contract was sold by the Orioles to the Boston Red Sox. He was recognized as the best pitcher on one of the great teams of the 1910s. He set a record between 1916 and 1918 with 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in World Series play, including a 14-inning game in 1916 in which he pitched every inning, giving up only a run in the first. Before the 1920 season, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold The Bambino to the New York Yankees where he switched to the outfield, and hit more home runs than the entire Red Sox team in 10 of the next 12 seasons. Here is one of his most famous home runs, the “called shot” in the 1932 World Series.
👉 Today’s close is from Praying with the Psalms by Eugene H. Peterson.
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?” (Psalm 42:2).
God is to the soul what water is to the body: an absolute need, felt intensely. The longing, at the same time that it witnesses to our need for God, is evidence of the reality of the God who is there to fulfill our being.
Prayer: “As pants the hart for cooling streams when heated in the chase, so longs my soul, O God, for Thee, and Thy refreshing grace.” In Jesus’ name (Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, “As Pants the Hart”). Amen.
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