First Confidential

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - SEPTEMBER 11th

September 11 Attacks, Quote

“September 11 was, and remains, above all an immense human tragedy. But September 11 also posed a momentous and deliberate challenge not just to America but to the world at large. The target of the terrorists was not only New York and Washington but the very values of freedom, tolerance and decency which underpin our way of life.”

~ Tony Blair

Wikiquote (Tony Blair (Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007.)

This Day in History

September 11th, 1185

Byzantine Empire Collage

Byzantine Empire (East Roman Empire):
533 - Isaac II Angelus kills Stephanus Hagiochristophorites and then appeals to the people, resulting in the revolt that deposes Andronicus I Comnenus and places Isaac on the throne of the Byzantine Empire.

Wikipedia  Image: The Baptism of Constantine painted by Raphael's pupils (1520–1524, fresco, Vatican City, Apostolic Palace); Mural of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 19th century, Troyan Monastery, Bulgaria; Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna; The Greek fire was first used by the Byzantine Navy during the Byzantine-Arab Wars (from the Madrid Skylitzes, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid); Alexios I, founder of the Komnenos dynasty.

September 11th, 1526

Byzantine Empire Collage

Ottoman Empire (Turkish Empire or Turkey):
1526 - Battle of Mohács: Ottoman Turks led by Suleiman the Magnificent occupy Buda after the crushing Hungarian defeat.

Wikipedia  Image: Ottoman Empire Maximal extent with the vassal states of the Ottoman Empire in AD 1590s; Battle of Kosovo (1389); Fall of Constantinople (1453); Sultan Mehmed I Ottoman miniature, 1413-1421; Fall of Constantinople (1453); Siege of Rhodes (1522); Battle of Kosovo (1389); Battle of Mohács (1526).

September 11th, 1609

Expulsion order announced against the Moriscos of Valencia; beginning of the expulsion of all Spain's Moriscos

Expulsion order announced against the Moriscos of Valencia; beginning of the expulsion of all Spain's Moriscos.

Wikipedia  Painting: Expulsion of the Moriscos by Juan de Ribera 1638

September 11th, 1609

Henry Hudson discovers Manhattan Island and the indigenous people living there

Henry Hudson discovers Manhattan Island and the indigenous people living there.

Wikipedia  Painting: Henry Hudson's Ship, Halve Maen, Arriving at Manhattan Island, 1609 / 1625 the fortress town of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island was founded

September 11th, 1776

American Revolutionary War Collage American Revolutionary War: Battle of Brandywine; British celebrate a major victory in Chester County, Pennsylvania

American Revolutionary War:
1776 - British-American peace conference fails to stop nascent American Revolutionary War.
1777 - Battle of Brandywine; British celebrate a major victory in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Wikipedia  Paintings: Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Leutz; Battle of the Chesapeake, French (left) and British (right) lines; Battle of Bunker Hill, The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull; The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 13, 1782, by John Singleton Copley; Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown, 1781; "The surrender at Saratoga" shows General Daniel Morgan in front of a French de Vallière 4-pounder; Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown by (John Trumbull, 1797).
● Battle of Brandywine; Nation Makers depicts a scene from the battle, by Howard Pyle, a summer resident of Chadds Ford. The painting is displayed in the Brandywine River Museum.

September 11th, 1792

Hope Diamond is stolen along with other French crown jewels when six men break into the house used to store them

Hope Diamond is stolen along with other French crown jewels when six men break into the house used to store them.

Wikipedia  Photo: Hope Diamond, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

September 11th, 1813

War of 1812 collage

War of 1812:
1813 - British troops arrive in Mount Vernon and prepare to march to and invade Washington D.C.
1814 - Battle of Plattsburgh Bay; a major United States victory.

Wikipedia  Painting: Damage to the US Capitol after the Burning of Washington; HMS Shannon leading the captured American frigate USS Chesapeake into Halifax, Nova Scotia (1813); USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere; the death of Tecumseh at Moraviantown; Oliver Hazard Perry's message to William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie began with what would become one of the most famous sentences in American military history: "We have met the enemy and they are ours; "Andrew Jackson leads the defence of New Orleans; The mortally wounded Isaac Brock spurs troops on at the Queenston Heights.


September 11th, 1940

World War II: George Stibitz pioneers the first remote operation of a computer

World War II: George Stibitz pioneers the first remote operation of a computer.

Wikipedia  Photo: George Stibitz portrait, pioneers the first remote operation of a computer

September 11th, 1941

Charles Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) (nicknamed 'Slim', 'Lucky Lindy' and 'The Lone Eagle') was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist (Lindbergh emerged suddenly from virtual obscurity to instantaneous world fame as the result of his Orteig Prize-winning solo non-stop flight on May 20–21, 1927, from New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France, a distance of nearly 3,600 statute miles (5,800 km), in the single-seat, single-engine purpose built Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis)

Charles Lindbergh's Des Moines Speech accusing the British, Jews and the Roosevelt administration of pressing for war with Germany.

Wikipedia  Photo: Charles Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) (nicknamed 'Slim', 'Lucky Lindy' and 'The Lone Eagle') was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist. (Lindbergh emerged suddenly from virtual obscurity to instantaneous world fame as the result of his Orteig Prize-winning solo non-stop flight on May 20–21, 1927, from New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France, a distance of nearly 3,600 statute miles (5,800 km), in the single-seat, single-engine purpose built Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis.)

September 11th, 1943

World War II: German troops occupy Corsica and Kosovo-Metohija

World War II: German troops occupy Corsica and Kosovo - Metohija.

Wikipedia  Photo: Goebbels with German troops who had just returned from fighting on the Eastern Front, May 1943; in background: Lt. Col. Otto Benzin, Sgt. Otto Ude, Lt. Col. Hase. German Federal Archive (Bild 146-1978-118-24A).

September 11th, 1954

Hurricane Collage: (A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a low-pressure center surrounded by a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain)

1954 – Hurricane Edna hits New England as a Category 3 hurricane, causing significant damage and 29 deaths.
1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second strongest storm ever to hit the state.
1992 – Hurricane Iniki one of the most damaging hurricanes in United States history, devastates the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu.

Wikipedia  Image: Hurricane Andrew sequence, NASA ● Hurricane Mitch at peak intensity (formed October 22, 1998 - Dissipated November 5, 1998) ● Hurricane Katrina taken on August 28, 2005, at 11:45 AM EDT by NOAA when the storm was a Category Five hurricane ● Hurricane Jeanne September 23, 2004, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ● PDC Global Hazards Atlas displaying 3 hour precipitation accumulation, typhoon Evan (04P), with JTWC positions, segments, and winds...over the South Pacific Ocean ● Satellite imagery provided by NOAA and taken by the Japan Meteorological Agency's MTSAT weather satellite shows Typhoon Roke as it approaches Japan, September 20, 2011. Over 1.3 million ordered to evacuate in Japan ahead of Typhoon Roke.

September 11th, 1985

Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's baseball record for most career hits with his 4,192nd hit

Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's baseball record for most career hits with his 4,192nd hit.

Wikipedia  Photo: Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's baseball record

September 11th, 1997

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars.

Wikipedia  Photo: Pictures of Satellites - Landsat 7; Earth Observing System - EOS AM 1; Mars Global Surveyor - MGS; NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. credit NASA / JPL.

September 11th, 2012

List of modern conflicts in the Middle East Benghazi Hearings

Modern conflicts in the Middle East, social unrest and terrorist attacks:
2012 - Diplomatic missions attacks; 2012 Benghazi attack - The first day of a series of protests and attacks; in which the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya is attacked, resulting in four deaths, including J. Christopher Stevens, the United States Ambassador to Libya.

Wikipedia  Photo: Middle East satellite image, NASA. ● Camels are seen early morning on a beach in the Marina area of Dubai October 16, 2008. (Steve Crisp, Reuters) ● A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad burns during clashes between rebels and Syrian troops in Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012. (Bulent Kilic, AFP / GettyImages) ● Egyptians gather in their thousands in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the revolution on Jan. 25, 2012 in Cairo Egypt. Tens of thousands have gathered in the square on the first anniversary of the Arab uprising which toppled President Hosni Mubarak. (Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images) ● Black smoke rises above the Tehran skyline as supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi burn tires and other material in the streets as they fight running battles with police to protest the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (Ben Curtis, AP) ● The Iron Dome defense system fires to interecpt incoming missiles from Gaza in the port town of Ashdod, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (Tsafrir Abayov, AP)