10 stories from 1846 to 2022, written as the news broke.
The Yesterday Times front page for September 23.
On September 23, mathematical precision found Neptune while federal troops enforced integration at gunpoint, and a travel giant's collapse stranded half a million tourists worldwide.
September 23 in History
Royal Astronomical Society Intelligence
1846 — New Planet Discovered by Mathematical Prediction; Neptune Found
Le Verrier and Adams calculated Neptune's position from Uranus's perturbations; Galle sighted the eighth-magnitude disc at the Berlin Observatory on Sept. 23, confirming the 165-year orbit by calculation before observation.
BERLIN, Sept. 23 — The heavens have yielded to the compass of human reason. A new planet, hitherto unseen, now takes its place in the almanacs: Neptune, eighth wanderer of the solar system, was found this morning through the combined exertions of three savants who never met.
The achievement rests upon the mathematical labours of Urbain Le Verrier of Paris and John Couch Adams of Cambridge, each working independently to deduce where an unknown mass must lurk to account for perturbations in the orbit of Uranus. Their figures agreed. Le Verrier communicated his predicted coordinates to Johann Gottfried Galle, director of the Berlin Observatory. Galle, training his achromatic telescope upon the indicated point in the constellation Aquarius, identified within the hour a disc of eighth magnitude, not charted among the fixed stars. Observation on the following night confirmed motion.
The discovery marks the first celestial body located by calculation before direct observation. The method promises new power to astronomical science. Le Verrier and Adams, though separated by the Channel, share the theoretical honour; Galle claims the ocular verification. The planet completes its vast circuit in some 165 years. Its mass, distance, and satellites await determination.
The portrait accompanying this report shows Le Verrier and Adams with the celestial globe and armillary sphere, instruments of the old astronomy now surpassed by the Newtonian calculus that made this triumph possible.
Astronomers Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams and Johann Gottfried Galle collaborate on the discovery of Neptune.
1957 — Eisenhower Federalizes Guard, Sends 101st Airborne to Enforce School Integration at Little Rock
Eisenhower federalized 10,000 Arkansas National Guardsmen and dispatched the 101st Airborne to Little Rock after Faubus withdrew state troops, invoking authority unused since 1894 to secure the nine students' admission.
Federal troops in helmets and jeeps escort students to the high school — The U.S. Army
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — In an hour when the American experiment faces its severest test since Appomattox, President Dwight D. Eisenhower has crossed a constitutional threshold not traversed since the days of federal bayonets in Southern streets. The Chief Executive today federalized the Arkansas National Guard and dispatched the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, directing armed force to secure the admission of nine Negro pupils to Central High School.
The order came after Governor Orval Faubus withdrew state troops that had blocked the students Tuesday, only to see mob violence seize the streets. The President termed the situation "a matter of vital importance to the United States." By proclamation, he placed 10,000 Arkansas guardsmen under federal command, stripping the governor of military authority. Paratroopers of the 101st, veterans of Normandy and Korea, began deploying before dawn.
The nine students are expected to enter the school today under military escort. Eisenhower, addressing the nation by television, declared federal troops necessary "to prevent anarchy and violence." The action invokes powers unused since President Cleveland sent soldiers to quell the Pullman strike in 1894.
Photographs from Little Rock show federal troops in helmets and jeeps escorting students toward the high school, a spectacle unprecedented in the century since Reconstruction.
Little Rock schools integration crisis: President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, and federalizes the Arkansas National Guard, ordering both to support the integration of Little Rock Central High School.
A Thomas Cook travel agency with closed signs posted on windows and door — Gazamp
LONDON, Sept. 23 — Thomas Cook Group, the venerable British travel firm whose name once meant holidays to the masses, ceased operations with immediate effect this morning, triggering the largest peacetime repatriation in UK history.
Around 600,000 tourists were left stranded worldwide, including 150,000 from the United Kingdom. The collapse cost approximately 21,000 employees their jobs, 9,000 of them in Britain. The company's failure came after rescue talks collapsed when creditors demanded an additional £200 million that the firm could not secure.
The Civil Aviation Authority has launched Operation Matterhorn to fly home stranded passengers. Shops bearing the Thomas Cook name closed their doors; photographs show travel agencies with posted closure notices.
Approximately 21,000 worldwide employees lost their jobs, including 9,000 UK staff.
600,000 customers were left abroad, with 150,000 from the UK.
The collapse triggered the UK's largest peacetime repatriation.
Fosun International acquired the Thomas Cook brand and hotels for £11 million on 1 November 2019.
The rescue package fell through when creditors demanded an extra £200 million.
2004 — Hurricane Jeanne Kills Over 3,000 in Haiti Floods
Tropical storm's rains trigger catastrophic mudslides; death toll worst in island's modern history
Residents walk through flooded streets where a car lies overturned — Ernest Scott, U.S. Navy
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Sept. 23 — More than 3,000 people perished in Haiti as Hurricane Jeanne, having weakened to tropical storm force, unleashed torrential rains that transformed mountainsides into rivers of mud. The deluge struck the northern departments hardest, sweeping away villages and leaving thousands homeless.
The death toll, already staggering, may rise as rescue teams reach isolated communities.
Over 3,000 people die in Haiti after Hurricane Jeanne produces massive flooding and mudslides.
1947 — Iran Earthquake Kills Over 500 in South Khorasan Province
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck South Khorasan province on September 23, killing more than 500 people in one of Iran's most destructive recent temblors.
TEHRAN, September 23 — A powerful earthquake struck South Khorasan province in eastern Iran today, killing more than 500 persons and leaving widespread destruction across the region.
The tremor, measured at magnitude 6.9, struck with sudden violence. Villages in the mountainous area suffered severe damage. Reports from provincial officials indicate the death toll may rise as rescue parties reach isolated communities.
Iranian authorities have mobilized emergency relief. Medical supplies and food are being rushed to the stricken zone.
The disaster ranks among the most destructive quakes in recent Iranian history.
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes South Khorasan in Iran, killing over 500 people.
1955 — Mississippi Jury Acquits Two Men in Till Murder Trial
All-white panel finds Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam not guilty — verdict comes after 67 minutes of deliberation — teenager's slaying shocked the nation.
SUMNER, Miss., September 23 — The courtroom benches emptied in silence. An all-white jury in this Delta town acquitted Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam of murder today in the torture-slaying of 14-year-old Emmett Till.
The verdict followed 67 minutes of deliberation. Bryant and Milam, white half-brothers, faced charges of killing the African American youth from Chicago who allegedly whistled at Bryant's wife.
Till's body, recovered from the Tallahatchie River with a cotton gin fan wired to his neck, drew national attention to Mississippi justice. The boy had been visiting relatives in Money.
An all-white jury in Mississippi finds Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam not guilty in the torture-murder of 14-year-old African American boy Emmett Till.
2020 — Kentucky Grand Jury Declines to Indict Officers in Breonna Taylor Death; Protests Erupt Nationwide
A grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict three officers directly in the death of the 26-year-old Black woman, though one faces lesser charges for endangering neighbors.
Cities across the U.S. filled with demonstrators after a Kentucky grand jury declined to indict three police officers for killing Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman shot in her home during a flawed narcotics raid. The Jefferson County panel found insufficient evidence to charge the officers directly in Taylor's death. Prosecutors said the officers fired in self-defense after Taylor's boyfriend discharged his weapon, believing intruders had broken in. Only one officer faces lesser charges for endangering neighbors.
A grand jury in Kentucky declines to indict three police officers for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in a drug raid gone wrong, leading to nationwide protests in the U.S.
1932 — Saudi Arabia Proclaimed Unified Kingdom as Ibn Saud's Third State Takes Formal Shape
Crown Prince Faisal announces consolidation of Hejaz, Nejd and dependencies — new nation emerges from decades of conquest and diplomacy.
JEDDAH, September 23 — The long consolidation of Arabia reached its formal climax today as Crown Prince Faisal, acting for his father Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, proclaimed the unified Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, bringing the Hejaz, Nejd and their dependencies under one rule.
Saudi National Day: Crown Prince (later king) Faisal of Saudi Arabia, on behalf of Ibn Saud, proclaims the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the current iteration of the Third Saudi State.
2002 — Mozilla Coder Dave Hyatt Releases 'Phoenix' Browser, Betting on Speed Over Bloat
Hyatt and Ross built Phoenix from the m/b branch and released binaries for testing on September 23.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, September 23 — Dave Hyatt, a Mozilla engineer, has pushed the first public binaries of Phoenix, a stripped-down browser built to outrun the lumbering Mozilla Suite he helped maintain. Hyatt and fellow developer Blake Ross carved the project from an experimental branch called m/b, betting that surfers want speed, not kitchen-sink software.
Binaries appeared this month for testing.
Binaries for public testing appeared in September 2002 under the name Phoenix.
The project began as an experimental branch of the Mozilla Suite called m/b (or mozilla/browser).
Firefox was created by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross as an experimental branch of the Mozilla Application Suite.
The name Phoenix carried the implication of the mythical firebird rising from the ashes of Netscape Navigator.
Firefox was created in 2002 under the codename 'Phoenix' by members of the Mozilla community.
2022 — Russia Opens Five-Day Annexation Votes in Four Occupied Ukrainian Regions
Balloting begins in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia — the Kremlin prepares to absorb 15 percent of Ukraine's territory.
MOSCOW, September 23 — Voting opened today in four Russian-occupied oblasts on a five-day schedule to seal annexation by Moscow, a move that would transfer 15 percent of Ukrainian territory to the Kremlin. The referendums cover Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Western governments have dismissed the ballots as sham exercises staged at gunpoint. Ukrainian officials urge residents to resist.
Voting begins in the five-day sham annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine, leading to Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
