What Happened on September 17

White House Diplomatic Desk

1978 — Egypt and Israel Sign Peace Framework at Camp David

After nearly two weeks of isolated negotiations in Maryland's mountains, the leaders committed to full peace after 30 years of hostility.

President Carter presided over the signing of the Camp David Accords, a pair of framework agreements promising peace between Egypt and Israel. Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat signed the accords at the presidential retreat after intensive negotiation. The first framework provides peace within three months, including Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. The second establishes a five-year transitional period for Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Carter, who shuttled between the leaders, called the outcome a victory for peace.

• The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.

Source: Wikipedia — Camp David Accords

Eastern Front War Desk

1939 — Red Army Crosses Polish Border; Moscow Moves Without Declaration of War as Two-Front War Opens

Soviet forces crossed into Poland on 17 September 1939 without declaring war, 16 days after the German invasion that the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 23 August 1939 had secretly enabled.

The age of aggression in Europe entered its decisive phase today as Soviet forces poured across Poland's eastern frontier, joining Nazi Germany in the dismemberment of a sovereign state. The Soviet Union invaded Poland on 17 September 1939, 16 days after Nazi Germany's attack from the country from the west, conducting the operation without a formal declaration of war.

The invasion was indirectly indicated in the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed on 23 August 1939, the non-aggression treaty between Moscow and Berlin that stunned observers with its revelation of shared aims.

• The Soviet Union invaded Poland on 17 September 1939, 16 days after Nazi Germany's attack from the west.
• The invasion was conducted without a formal declaration of war, as stated in the source.
• The Red Army vastly outnumbered Polish defenders and encountered only limited resistance.
• Some 320,000 Poles were made prisoners of war by the Soviet forces.
• The invasion was indirectly indicated in the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed on 23 August 1939.

Source: Wikipedia — Soviet invasion of Poland

Warsaw Labor Affairs

1980 — Walesa Unites Shipyard Committees as Solidarity Becomes National Force

Twenty Inter-factory Founding Committees merge into one organization, NSZZ Solidarność, creating the first independent labor union in an Eastern Bloc country.

Lech Walesa today presided over the consolidation of Poland's scattered strike committees into a single national movement, as over twenty Inter-factory Founding Committees merged into one national organization, NSZZ Solidarność. The shipyard electrician, who rose to prominence during the Gdańsk strikes, has become the recognized voice of Polish labor's unprecedented challenge to party control.

Solidarity, a Polish trade union, was founded as the first independent labor union in an Eastern Bloc country.

• Solidarity was founded on August 14, 1980, at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland.
• On September 17, 1980, over twenty Inter-factory Founding Committees merged into one national organization, NSZZ Solidarność.
• Solidarity's membership peaked at 10 million in September 1981, representing one-third of Poland's working-age population.
• The union was the first independent trade union in a Warsaw Pact country to be recognized by the state.
• Solidarity officially registered on November 10, 1980.

Source: Wikipedia — Solidarity (Polish trade union)

Philadelphia Federal Convention

1787 — Constitution Signed; Convention Closes After 116 Days

Thirty-nine delegates affix their names to a document establishing a federal republic, concluding four months of deliberation.

Thirty-nine names were inscribed this afternoon on a parchment that will govern, if ratified, a nation stretching from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. The United States Constitution was signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, bringing the Constitutional Convention to an end after 116 days of often contentious deliberation. George Washington, presiding officer, was first to sign; Benjamin Franklin, at 81 the eldest delegate, observed that the sun painted on the President's chair had grown brighter. The document creates a federal government of three branches with enumerated powers and replaces the Articles of Confederation. Three delegates present declined to sign; their objections will be tested in ratifying conventions where nine of thirteen states must approve. The delegates have dispersed, yet the parchment carried from the State House contains a frame of government founded on consent of the governed. Franklin told the delegates he had studied the sun on Washington's chair throughout the session, uncertain whether it depicted a rising or setting sun; he was now persuaded it was rising. The ink was barely dry when copies were ordered for transmission to the states.

• The United States Constitution is signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, bringing the Constitutional Convention to an end.

Source: Wikipedia — Signing of the United States Constitution

Maryland Correspondence

1849 — Harriet Tubman Flees Maryland Slavery for Northern Liberty

1849: A young woman follows the north star to Philadelphia, then turns back to rescue her kin.

Harriet Tubman, a slave of about thirty years, has escaped from bondage in Maryland and made her way to Philadelphia, aided by friends of both colors along the route.

Tubman fled this county in 1849, fearing she would be sold south. She guided herself by the north star through nights of travel. No sooner had she gained the free city than she resolved to return to Maryland. She means to bring out her family, and speaks of conducting others to liberty. Those who aided her passage report a woman of uncommon purpose.

• Tubman fled the area in 1849, believing she would be sold.
• She followed the 'north star' and was aided by white and black people to make her way north.
• In 1849 Tubman escaped to Philadelphia, only to return to Maryland to rescue her family soon after.

Source: Wikipedia — Harriet Tubman

Wall Street Desk

2001 — NYSE Reopens After Longest Shutdown Since Depression

The exchange resumed trading at 9:30 a.m. following a four-day halt after the September 11 attacks.

The New York Stock Exchange reopened for trading at 9:30 a.m. after its longest closure since the Great Depression. The four-day shutdown followed the September 11 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center two blocks away. Market makers and specialists returned to the floor in reduced numbers, some wearing photographs of missing colleagues. The opening bell was preceded by a moment of silence for the victims. The Nasdaq and American Stock Exchange opened simultaneously after testing systems Sunday.

• The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.

Source: Wikipedia — New York Stock Exchange

White House Beat

1985 — Reagan Breaks Four-Year Silence on AIDS Crisis

President Reagan publicly acknowledged AIDS for the first time since the disease emerged in the United States.

The death of actor Rock Hudson last month forced a reckoning that years of activist pressure could not: President Ronald Reagan today publicly acknowledged AIDS for the first time, four years after the disease emerged in the United States.

• Reagan publicly acknowledged AIDS for the first time on September 17, 1985, four years after the disease was first identified in the United States.
• The 1985 illness and death of actor Rock Hudson from AIDS marked a turning point in how Reagan and the American public viewed the disease.
• Reagan did not give an address on AIDS until 1987, two years after his first public acknowledgment.
• White House Press Secretary Larry Speakes jokingly insinuated reporter Lester Kinsolving was gay during a 1983 press briefing on AIDS.
• An estimated 300,000 people had been exposed to AIDS by December 1984, according to a question from reporter Lester Kinsolving.

Source: Wikipedia — HIV/AIDS

Cape Canaveral Bureau

1962 — NASA Names Nine Astronauts for Apollo Moon Landing Program

NASA expands its astronaut corps with new trainees joining the Mercury Seven to prepare for lunar missions.

In an era when the heavens themselves became contested ground between superpowers, NASA on this date announced the selection of nine astronauts who will train to walk upon the moon.

The Next Nine, chosen for the Apollo program, join the Mercury Seven in the astronaut corps.

• NASA announced the Next Nine astronauts on September 17, 1962.
• The Next Nine were selected for the Apollo program aimed at landing humans on the Moon.
• The first crewed Moon landing was Apollo 11 in 1969, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
• Six crewed Moon landings occurred between 1969 and 1972, all under the Apollo program.
• The last Apollo crewed landing was Apollo 17 in December 1972, with Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt.

Source: Wikipedia — NASA

War Bulletin

1862 — McClellan's 87,000 Meet Lee Near Sharpsburg; Carnage Unmatched

22,726 dead, wounded, or missing make this the bloodiest single day in American history.

Major General George B. McClellan, commanding the Army of the Potomac, has met Confederate General Robert E. Lee near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek in the day's terrible fighting. Lee's 55,000 held the field. The toll reached 22,726.

• The Battle of Antietam remains the bloodiest single day in American history, with 22,726 dead, wounded, or missing.
• Union soldiers Corporal Barton W. Mitchell and First Sergeant John M. Bloss discovered Lee's Special Order 191 wrapped around three cigars.
• Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia numbered about 55,000 men at Antietam.
• Union Major General George B. McClellan commanded an 87,000-man Army of the Potomac at the battle.
• The battle took place near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek on September 17, 1862.

Source: Wikipedia — American Civil War

Dissent Desk

2011 — Adbusters Email Sparks Plan to Occupy Wall Street

The Canadian anti-consumerist magazine proposed a peaceful occupation to protest corporate influence on democracy.

Adbusters Foundation proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street in mid-2011. Senior editor Micah White said the protest was suggested via their email list. The demand was a presidential commission to separate money from politics. A poster featuring a dancer atop the Charging Bull promoted the event. On July 13, 2011, staff created the #OCCUPYWALLSTREET hashtag on Twitter.

• In mid-2011, Adbusters Foundation proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street to protest corporate influence on democracy.
• Adbusters' senior editor Micah White said the protest was suggested via their email list and 'spontaneously taken up by all the people of the world.'
• Adbusters' website stated their demand was 'a presidential commission to separate money from politics.'
• Adbusters promoted the protest with a poster featuring a dancer atop Wall Street's iconic Charging Bull.
• On 13 July 2011, Adbusters staff created the #OCCUPYWALLSTREET hashtag on Twitter.

Source: Wikipedia — Adbusters

Personal Computing

1991 — Finnish Student Posts Linux Kernel 0.01 to Internet

Linus Torvalds releases first version of free Unix-like operating system source code.

The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet. Finnish computer science student Linus Torvalds has made the source code available for download, inviting programmers worldwide to test and improve the Unix-like operating system he began developing as a personal project.

• The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.

Source: Wikipedia — Linux

Space & Aeronautics

1976 — NASA Unveils Space Shuttle Enterprise in California Ceremony

First orbital vehicle named for television starship; test flights to begin next year.

Beneath the wide California sky at the Rockwell International plant in Palmdale, the Space Shuttle Enterprise is unveiled by NASA. The ceremony marks the public debut of the first orbital spacecraft built for the nation's reusable fleet.

• The Space Shuttle Enterprise is unveiled by NASA.

Source: Wikipedia — Space Shuttle Enterprise