What Happened on September 10

Geneva Science Desk

2008 — Biggest Experiment in History Powers Up at CERN Near Geneva

The $10 billion particle accelerator beneath the Swiss-French border begins its search for the origins of mass.

Physicists sent the first proton beam coursing through the Large Hadron Collider beneath the Jura Mountains this morning. The 27-kilometer ring, straddling the Swiss-French border, is designed to smash particles at unprecedented energies. Engineers confirmed the first clockwise beam circulated at 10:28 a.m., with full collisions weeks away. The machine took 14 years and drew scientists from 85 countries to capture debris from proton crashes. European taxpayers funded most of the $10 billion project after Congress canceled the American competitor in 1993. CERN Director General Robert Aymar called the beam's first lap "a great day for science." Researchers from competing experiments at Fermilab in Illinois flew in to watch the startup. The control room erupted in applause when the signal registered on screens above the console banks.

• The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history, is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.

Source: Wikipedia — Large Hadron Collider

Keys Bureau

2017 — Irma's $77.2 Billion Toll Makes It Florida's Costliest Storm

The Category 4 hurricane killed 134 people after devastating the Caribbean and striking the Keys.

Hurricane Irma struck Cudjoe Key as a Category 4 early Sunday, completing a Caribbean rampage that left 134 dead and $77.2 billion in damage. The Florida Keys took the first blow: 130 mph winds stripped mobile homes to chassis and snapped concrete power poles. Seawater flooded neighborhoods built at sea level, leaving fish in living rooms. Irma had already erased Barbuda, devastated St. Martin, and flooded Havana before turning north. Miami escaped a direct hit but saw record storm surge on Brickell Avenue. The $77.2 billion toll exceeds Hurricane Andrew's 1992 destruction, straining insurance markets already weakened by Harvey. FEMA administrator Brock Long said federal crews had begun door-to-door searches for survivors in the Lower Keys. Monroe County officials placed the Keys under dusk-to-dawn curfew until debris clearing allows safe passage along U.S. 1.

• Hurricane Irma makes landfall on Cudjoe Key, Florida as a Category 4, after causing catastrophic damage throughout the Caribbean. Irma resulted in 134 deaths and $77.2 billion (2017 USD) in damage.

Source: Wikipedia — Hurricane Irma

Salt Lake Bureau

2025 — Kirk Killed by Sniper at Utah Valley University During TPUSA Event

Turning Point USA received 32,000 inquiries about new chapters after the 31-year-old founder was shot on September 10 at a debate event the group had promoted.

Political violence reached a new threshold September 10 when Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University in Orem. The 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA died while delivering a speech at a TPUSA debate event, struck by a sniper firing from a rooftop overlooking the stage. Kirk had built the organization from a 2012 dorm-room startup into the largest conservative youth group in the country, with chapters at more than 2,500 campuses. His confrontational brand of activism made him a fixture on Fox News and a target of coordinated opposition. TPUSA reported receiving 32,000 inquiries about starting new chapters in the days after his death. Almost 100,000 people attended his memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The memorial service drew attendees from 47 states, with security screening lines extending three miles from the stadium entrance. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs declared September 21 a day of mourning. TPUSA has named Kirk's sister, Courtney Kirk, interim executive director.

• On September 10, 2025, Kirk was fatally shot by a rooftop sniper while speaking at a TPUSA debate event at Utah Valley University.
• Almost 100,000 people attended his memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on September 21, 2025.
• TPUSA said it received 32,000 inquiries about starting new chapters in the days after Kirk's death.

Source: Wikipedia — Conservatism in the United States

Cape Canaveral Desk

2024 — Private Spacewalk Mission Launches from Florida

The Polaris Dawn crew, riding a Falcon 9, will attempt a spacewalk from the farthest orbit humans have reached since 1972.

Jared Isaacman, who chartered the first all-civilian orbital flight three years ago, returned to space this morning with plans to step outside. Polaris Dawn launched from Kennedy Space Center, becoming the first private crewed flight to include a spacewalk. The Falcon 9 carried four people into an elliptical orbit farther from Earth than any human since the last Apollo mission. The crew includes Isaacman, a retired Air Force pilot, and two SpaceX engineers. A planned extravehicular activity is scheduled for later this week.

• Polaris Dawn, the first private crewed spaceflight to involve a spacewalk, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Source: Wikipedia — Polaris Dawn

Continental Despatches

1898 — Empress Elisabeth of Austria Slain by Anarchist's Dagger in Geneva

An Italian anarchist's blow to the heart struck down the Empress as she walked with her lady-in-waiting toward a Geneva steamer, having traveled incognito and refused police protection.

One thrust of a sharpened file ended sixty years of imperial splendor.

Empress Elisabeth of Austria was assassinated upon the Geneva promenade this day by Luigi Lucheni, a twenty-five-year-old Italian anarchist who had lain in wait among the lakeside strollers. The blow struck her heart as she walked with her lady-in-waiting, Countess Irma Sztáray, bound for the steamer Deutschland. Witnesses said the assailant made no attempt to flee.

The Empress, known across Europe for her beauty and her restless flight from Vienna's court, had traveled under the incognito title of Countess of Hohenembs. She had rejected police protection.

• Empress Elisabeth of Austria is assassinated by Luigi Lucheni.

Source: Wikipedia — Empress Elisabeth of Austria

Rome Olympic Bureau

1960 — Barefoot Ethiopian Bikila Wins Marathon Gold in Record Time

Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, running without shoes, finished the marathon in 2:15:16.2 to claim the first Olympic title for sub-Saharan Africa.

Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the Olympic marathon tonight in bare feet, setting a world record of 2:15:16.2 and becoming the first sub-Saharan African to capture Olympic gold.

• Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Olympic marathon in Rome with a world record time of 2:15:16.2.
• Bikila ran barefoot after new running shoes gave him blisters, and he had trained barefoot prior to the Olympics.
• The marathon started late in the afternoon at the Capitoline Hill staircase and finished at night at the Arch of Constantine.
• Bikila defeated Moroccan Rhadi Ben Abdesselam by 25.4 seconds, with a winning margin of 25.4 seconds.
• He was the first sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal.

Source: Wikipedia — Abebe Bikila

Patent Office Reports

1846 — Cambridge Mechanic Howe Secures Patent for Sewing Machine

A grooved needle design from a Massachusetts mechanic received official seal at the Washington Patent Office this morning.

In the Patent Office at Washington, a Massachusetts mechanic's drawing of a grooved, eye-pointed needle received official seal this morning.

• Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine.

Source: Wikipedia — Elias Howe

Lisbon & African Affairs

1974 — Guinea-Bissau Gains Recognition as Independent State After Portuguese Rule

The 36,125-square-kilometer territory bordering Senegal and Guinea enters the community of nations with 2,080,000 citizens.

Guinea-Bissau formally received international recognition as independent in 1974. The West African territory had declared independence in 1973 after centuries of Portuguese rule. The capital Bissau was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with Guinea.

• Independence was declared in 1973 and recognized in 1974.
• The capital Bissau was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with Guinea (formerly French Guinea).
• Guinea-Bissau covers 36,125 square kilometres with an estimated population of 2,080,000.
• The country borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast.

Source: Wikipedia — Guinea-Bissau

Lake Dispatch

1813 — Perry's Squadron Smashes British Fleet on Lake Erie

Nine vessels captured in decisive blow to Crown naval power.

The second year of this second war with Britain has brought to the western lakes a victory that may reshape the western campaign. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, commanding the American squadron on Lake Erie, has this day defeated the British fleet in a running fight of three hours.

• The United States defeats a British Fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

Source: Wikipedia — Battle of Lake Erie

Thomaskirche Music

1724 — Cantor Bach Presents New Chorale Cantata for Purification Feast

Jesu, der du meine Seele, BWV 78, brings Johann Rist's passion hymn to the Nikolaikirche.

Johann Sebastian Bach, recently installed as Thomaskantor, led the first performance today of his newest composition, a chorale cantata for the feast of Mariae Reinigung.

The work, numbered 78 in his catalog, sets a passion hymn by the poet Johann Rist. It was heard at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, where Bach now directs music for the city's principal churches.

The cantata belongs to Bach's first cycle of Leipzig church works, undertaken in the opening months of his appointment. The Purification feast, falling forty days after the Nativity, provided occasion for this meditation on redemption.

• Bach wrote BWV 78 in 1724 in Leipzig for the feast Mariae Reinigung (Purification).
• The cantata BWV 78 was first performed on 2 February 1724.
• Bach composed BWV 78 in his first year in Leipzig for the feast Purification of Mary.

Source: Wikipedia — Johann Sebastian Bach

Geneva Bureau

2002 — Switzerland Ends Neutrality Exception, Joins UN as 190th Member State

The Alpine confederation, whose permanent neutrality was recognized in 1815, joined after voters backed the move by 54 percent.

Switzerland became today the 190th member state of the United Nations, abandoning decades of institutional neutrality. The Alpine confederation had declined membership in the League of Nations after World War I. Swiss voters approved the change in a March referendum by 54 percent. The government emphasized that UN membership does not alter military neutrality. Switzerland will not join NATO or participate in collective security operations. It will assume obligations under the UN Charter and contribute to peacekeeping budgets.

• Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, becomes a full member of the United Nations.

Source: Wikipedia — Foreign relations of Switzerland