In Calendar Form

September 7

1533 Birth: Queen Elizabeth I, at Greenwich Palace in London, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Question: How many servants, do you suppose, were required to maneuver Her Majesty into that dress? And isn't she standing on top of Poland? How many...er, never mind.

1664 New Amsterdam officially becomes New York. Without resistance, Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrenders New Amsterdam to a British naval force under Colonel Richard Nicolls, thus effectively ending Dutch colonial presence in the New World. With the departure of the Dutch, the name of the promising settlement on lower Manhattan is changed to New York, in honor of the Duke of York.

In 1624, the colony of New Netherland is established, with the town of New Amsterdam on Manhattan, a twenty-eight-square mile island along the Hudson River, as its key settlement. Peter Minuit is sent by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its holdings in America, and in 1626, he formally purchases Manhattan from the local tribe from which it derives it name. According to legend the Manhattans, Indians of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock, agreed to give up the island in exchange for trinkets valued at only twenty-four dollars. However, as they were ignorant of European customs of property and contract, it was not long before the Manhattans came into armed conflict with the rapidly expanding Dutch settlement at New Amsterdam. Beginning in 1640, a protracted war was fought between the colonists and the Manhattans, ending five years later with the tribe practically exterminated.

1752 Alberne Unsinn is sorely perplexed. On the fourth day of his eleven day mission, he finally succeeds in disallowing clothing to all the women of Lächerlicher, Pennsylvania, but the effect is exactly the opposite of what the encumbered eagle had implied. Means and ends will lead again to confrontation, he is certain of it. (See Sep 8)

1812 War of 1812: Napoleon defeats the Russian army of Alexander I at the battle of Borodino.

1838 Grace Darling, age 22,  and her father rescue the crew of the Forfarshire, a steamer wrecked off the Northumberland coast.

1901 The Peace of Beijing ends as the Boxer Rebellion begins in China.

1910 Marie Curie announces she has isolated pure radium.

1914 WW1: Sep 7-9 Kluck then turns his entire army westward in savage counterattacks, halting the French and forcing them to fall back. Only fresh reinforcements rushed from Paris, some in taxicabs, permits Maunoury to stem the German advance.

1931 Give Until It Hurts: George V announces he will be taking a £50,000 a year pay cut while the economic crisis continues.

1935 Sep 7-12 The New Zionist Organization (HA-ZACH) is officially founded at its first congress in Vienna. Jabotinsky presents a 10-year plan to settle 1.5 million Jews on both sides of the Jordan River. The Revisionist constitution is adopted.

1938 All Jews naturalized in Italy after January 1, 1919, lose their citizenship.

1938 Church and Reich: The apparent bug in his ear doesn't stop Pope Pius XI, during a reception for Catholic pilgrims from Belgium, from condemning the participation of Catholics in anti-Semitic movements and to have added that Christians, the spiritual descendants of the Patriarch Abraham, were "spiritually Semites." This statement was omitted by all the Italian papers, including "L'Osservatore Romano". (La Croix, no. 17060; Lewy)

1938 France announces a partial mobilization in response to Hitler's demands on Czechoslovakia.

1939 Holocaust: Heydrich tells his division heads that the Polish leadership must be "neutralized." The Einsatzgruppen already has lists of people considered to be hostile to Germany, which includes members of Polish patriotic organizations, communists, clergymen, noblemen, and Jews. (Architect)

1939 WW2: Sep 7-9 In an attempt to relieve Poland, as per treaty obligations, without actually opening up another front, French forces cross the German border at three different locations: near Saarbrücken, Saarlouis, and Zweibrücken. The French meet little resistance due to the fact that Hitler, who has no desire to open another front himself, has ordered German units near the border not to engage the French units unless they are attacked and forced to return fire. The transfer of troops to Poland has left only eleven regular divisions plus the equivalent of one division of fortress troops defending the western frontier. These are supported by 35 recently formed divisions of second, third, and fouth-line troops. There are no armored or motorized units facing west; they have all been transferred to the East. (Duffy)

1939 WW2: The BBC commences daily radio broadcasts in Polish.

1940 WW2: In the afternoon, 300 German bombers escorted by 600 fighters attack the London docks. This change in tactics surprises the RAF and the bombing is very effective. At night, 250 German bombers use the still blazing fires to guide in their attacks, and again, the damage is quite severe. Note: Once the initial surprise is over, and with its defense task somewhat simplified, the RAF soon begins to inflict heavy losses on the German bomber formations. For the next 57 nights London is attacked by an average force of 160 bombers. The RAF, employing the fast and maneuverable Spitfire fighter, and aided by radar, destroys 1,733 German aircraft, while losing 915 fighters.

1941-1942

1973 The crew of a Royal naval frigate is accused of throwing carrots at an Icelandic gunboat.

1977 The Panama Canal treaties are signed by US President Carter and General Omar Torrijos Herrera. The treaties call for the US to turn over control of the canal's waterway to Panama in the year 2000 and not dynamite the locks and fill the dirt back in before then.

1977 G. Gordon Liddy is released from prison. He had been incarcerated for more than four years for his involvement in the Watergate conspiracy, unlike his boss. (See Sep 8)

1995 US Senator Bob Packwood announces that he will resign after 27 years in the Senate.

1991 The Baltic states are recognized by Russia.

1999 The White House announces that 12 jailed members of the Puerto Rican independence group Armed Forces of National Liberation have accepted a clemency offer proposed by US President Clinton.

Flashbacks

2002 Blair and Bush meet at Camp David.

2002 A view of the West 90th Street Banner at Ground Zero.

2002 The West 90th Street Flag Banner covers damage from the collapse of the World Trade Center South Tower.

2003

2004