September 1

September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in our current calendar with 121 days remaining. (If you have any old, left over new year's resolutions you had better get crackin')

Today...

• in 1715 King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years—the longest of any major European monarch.
• in 1752 the Liberty Bell arrives in Philadelphia.
• in 1807 former U.S. President Aaron Burr (of milk commercial fame) is acquitted of treason.
• in 1897 the Boston Subway opens becoming the first underground metro in North America.
• in 1905 Alberta and Saskatchewan join the Canadian Confederation.
• in 1914 the last passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, dies in a zoo in Cincinnati causing the species to go into extinction.
• in 1943 Ital accepts the armistice terms effectively closing one curtain in World War II.
• in 1979 the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, space probe Pioneer 11, passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km.
• in 1985 a joint American-French expedition locates the remains of the RMS Titanic.
• in 2001 the first orca (killer) whale was born from artificial insemination to Kasatka who resides in one of the national Sea World establishments.

It is also...

• the first day of spring in Australia and New Zealand.
• Uzbekistan Independence day.
• start of the season when oysters are fit to eat.
• the day in Judaic culture when Aaron, the brother of Moses, is remembered.