What Happened on September 13

Home Entertainment

1985 — Miyamoto's Plumber Jumps Into Japanese Homes

Miyamoto directs and produces Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom, where Koji Kondo treats music as integral to design rather than atmospheric filler.

Shigeru Miyamoto guided a mustachioed Italian plumber onto television screens across Japan today, hoping this jumping man in red overalls could succeed where years of stale shooters failed.

The game designer, already known for Donkey Kong, directed and produced Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo's Family Computer alongside designer Takashi Tezuka. The cartridge hit shelves this morning for the Famicom, the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Industry watchers call it a gamble worth taking. The video game market crashed in 1983, with warehouses of unsold cartridges buried in New Mexico deserts. Miyamoto's creation offers side-scrolling action through eight worlds of mushroom kingdoms and fire-breathing turtles.

Composer Koji Kondo's score breaks new ground, treating music as integral to design rather than atmospheric filler. The bouncy theme accompanies every hop and power-up.

Nintendo has shipped initial units to Tokyo retailers. A player guides Mario across the television screen on the day of release.

• Super Mario Bros. was released in Japan on September 13, 1985, for the Famicom.
• The game was directed and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and designed by Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka.
• Super Mario Bros. has sold more than 58 million copies worldwide.
• The game is credited with helping to revive the video game industry after the 1983 crash.
• Koji Kondo's soundtrack is one of the earliest in video games to make music a centerpiece of design.

Source: Wikipedia — Super Mario Bros.

Middle East Diplomacy

1993 — Rabin and Arafat Shake Hands at White House

The Oslo Accords grant limited Palestinian autonomy in a historic first.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands on the South Lawn today after signing the Oslo Accords, granting limited Palestinian self-rule for the first time in history.

President Clinton stood between the two men who had spent decades as enemies. The agreement establishes Palestinian control over Gaza and Jericho, with elections to follow.

Rabin told the crowd of 3,000 that the handshake was not easy. Arafat spoke of peace for children on both sides. The PLO gains recognition in exchange for renouncing terrorism and amending its charter.

The White House ceremony caps secret talks in Norway that began last winter. Skeptics note settlements continue, and Jerusalem's status remains unresolved.

• Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shakes hands with Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House after signing the Oslo Accords granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

Source: Wikipedia — Yitzhak Rabin

Formula One

2007 — McLaren Fined Record $100 Million in Spy Scandal; Thrown Out of Constructors' Race

The team is found guilty of possessing confidential Ferrari data.

The McLaren Formula One team was fined $100 million and excluded from the constructors' championship today after being found guilty of possessing confidential Ferrari technical information.

The World Motor Sport Council delivered the verdict in Paris following a hearing into the spy scandal that has engulfed the sport.

• The McLaren F1 team are found guilty of possessing confidential information from the Ferrari team, fined $100 million, and excluded from the constructors' championship standings.

Source: Wikipedia — McLaren

War Dispatch from Mexico

1847 — Six Cadets Die at Chapultepec as Americans Storm Castle

Teenage military students choose death over surrender.

Six teenage cadets of the Mexican military academy died defending Chapultepec Castle this morning. The youths wrapped themselves in the national flag and leaped from the heights rather than yield. American troops under General Winfield Scott stormed the hilltop stronghold. The fall of the castle opened Mexico City to U.S. forces.

• Mexican–American War: Six teenage military cadets known as Niños Héroes die defending Chapultepec Castle in the Battle of Chapultepec. American troops under General Winfield Scott capture Mexico City in the Mexican–American War.

Source: Wikipedia — Mexican–American War

Cape Town Bureau

1989 — Tutu Leads Record March as Anti-Apartheid Tide Swells

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, guided 30,000 marchers through Cape Town in a peaceful protest stretching for miles.

The apartheid government faced its most defiant challenge yet as Archbishop Desmond Tutu led the largest anti-apartheid march in South African history through Cape Town's streets. More than 30,000 black and white demonstrators joined the Anglican prelate in a peaceful protest that stretched for miles along the city's main thoroughfares. Police stood by without intervening, a departure from past crackdowns on unauthorized gatherings. Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, has emerged as the most visible leader of the internal resistance to racial segregation laws. The march signals growing pressure on President P.W. Botha's government to negotiate with the banned African National Congress and dismantle the forty-year-old apartheid system.

• Largest anti-Apartheid march in South Africa, led by Desmond Tutu.

Source: Wikipedia — Apartheid

Congressional Affairs

1948 — Smith Wins Senate Seat, Enters History as First Woman in Both Chambers

Maine congresswoman claims unprecedented double service after House career spanning four terms.

Representative Margaret Chase Smith of Maine has been elected to the United States Senate. She becomes the first woman to serve in both congressional chambers. Her victory shatters another barrier in an era of limited political opportunity for women.

• Margaret Chase Smith is elected United States senator, and becomes the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

Source: Wikipedia — Margaret Chase Smith

Federal Courts

1962 — Meredith Wins Appeal, Ordered Admitted to Ole Miss

1962: Fifth Circuit directs segregated university to enroll Air Force veteran as first African-American student.

James Meredith has forced open the doors of the segregated South's most defiant university. A federal appeals court ordered the University of Mississippi to admit Meredith, an African-American Air Force veteran who has fought for admission since January.

• An appeals court orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, the first African-American student admitted to the segregated university.

Source: Wikipedia — James Meredith

War Dispatch

1814 — British Repulsed at Baltimore; Poet Witnesses Dawn's Early Light

A lawyer watches from a ship as the enemy fleet withdraws after a daylong bombardment of the fort fails.

Twenty-five hours of bombardment failed to reduce Fort McHenry, and the British fleet has abandoned its assault on Baltimore. Francis Scott Key, aboard a British truce ship throughout the night, began drafting verses as the flag appeared at dawn. The poem circulated quickly in Baltimore newspapers.

• In a turning point in the War of 1812, the British fail to capture Baltimore. During the battle, Francis Scott Key composes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", which is later set to music and becomes the United States' national anthem.

Source: Wikipedia — Baltimore

Aviation

1906 — Santos-Dumont Aircraft Scorns Earth in First European Powered Flight

Brazilian inventor's 14-bis biplane hops across French field, proving heavier-than-air craft can rise unaided.

Alberto Santos-Dumont sent his 14-bis biplane into the air for a brief hop today outside Paris, achieving the first flight of a fixed-wing aircraft in Europe.

The Brazilian aeronaut, already famed for his steerable balloons, guided the box-kite machine some 60 feet across the Bagatelle grounds. Witnesses said the craft rose to perhaps 10 feet, its Antoinette motor pushing it forward before settling back to grass.

Santos-Dumont's success follows the Wright brothers' American flights of 1903, but marks the first such demonstration on this continent. French aviators have pursued the prize for years.

• The Santos-Dumont 14-bis makes a short hop, the first flight of a fixed-wing aircraft in Europe.

Source: Wikipedia — Santos-Dumont 14-bis

Alternative Rock

1993 — Nirvana Unleashes Raw 'In Utero' as Third Studio Album

Seattle trio's Pachyderm Studios recording cost $24,000 in studio fees; producer Steve Albini took $100,000 flat.

The pine woods of Cannon Falls, Minnesota, still echo with the feedback. Nirvana released In Utero today, their third and final studio album, recorded in February at the secluded Pachyderm Studios.

The disc arrives deliberately abrasive, a counterstroke to the polish of Nevermind. Studio fees ran $24,000; producer Steve Albini, architect of the Pixies' thunder, claimed a flat $100,000 fee. The band then hired Scott Litt to remix singles 'All Apologies,' 'Heart-Shaped Box' and 'Pennyroyal Tea' for radio.

In Utero has already hit number one on both the US Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart.

• In Utero was recorded in February 1993 at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota.
• Studio fees for In Utero totaled $24,000, and producer Steve Albini took a flat fee of $100,000.
• In Utero reached number one on the US Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart.
• The album is certified 6× platinum in the US for 6 million sales and has sold 15 million copies worldwide.
• Nirvana hired producer Scott Litt to remix the singles 'All Apologies', 'Heart-Shaped Box' and 'Pennyroyal Tea'.

Source: Wikipedia — Nirvana (band)