September 1, 1939 – At 5.30 a.m., Hitler’s armies invaded Poland, starting World War II in Europe.

September 2, 1864 – During the American Civil War, Atlanta was captured by Sherman’s Army. “Atlanta is ours and fairly won,” General William T. Sherman telegraphed President Lincoln.

September 2, 1945 – President Harry Truman declared V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day)

September 3, 1783 – The Treaty of Paris was signed by John Adams, Ben Franklin and John Jay, formally ending the American Revolutionary War between Britain and the United States.

September 3, 1939 – Great Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany after it invaded Poland two days earlier.

September 4, 1886 – The last major U.S.-Indian war ended as Geronimo was captured. He died of natural causes in 1909 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

September 5, 1774 – The First Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia with 56 delegates representing every colony except Georgia.

September 8, 1883 – The Northern Pacific Railroad across the U.S. was completed.

September 9, 1776 – The United States came into existence as the Continental Congress changed the name of the new American nation from the United Colonies.

September 11, 2001 – The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history occurred as four large passenger jets were hijacked then crashed, killing nearly 3,000 persons.

September 13, 1814 – The Battle of Fort Henry in Baltimore Harbor occurred, observed by Francis Scott Key aboard a ship.

September 16, 1620 – The Mayflower ship departed from England, bound for America with 102 passengers and a small crew. The ship weathered dangerous Atlantic storms and reached Provincetown, Massachusetts, on November 21st. The Pilgrims disembarked at Plymouth on December 26th.

September 17, 1787 – At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, delegates from twelve states voted unanimously to approve the proposed U.S. Constitution.

September 17, 1862 – The bloodiest day in U.S. military history occurred as Confederate armies were stopped at Antietam in Maryland. By nightfall, 26,000 men were dead, wounded, or missing.

September 19, 1676 – Jamestown, Virginia, was attacked and burned during a rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against the Royal Governor, Sir William Berkeley.

September 25, 1789 – The first U.S. Congress proposed 12 Amendments to the Constitution, ten of which, comprising the Bill of Rights, were ratified.