September 1, 1532: Anne Boleyn Becomes Marquess

Image: Anne Boleyn (Wikimedia Commons).

Lady Anne Boleyn is made marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII.

September 1, 1862 – The Battle of Chantilly

Image: Death of General Isaac Stevens (1818-62) during the attack on Chantilly, Virginia 1862 (Wikimedia Commons.)

During the American Civil War, Confederate troops defeat a group of retreating Union Army troops during the Battle of Chantilly. It is also where Phil Kearny, a major general in the Union Army, was out conducting his own reconnaissance. In a driving thunderstorm on the evening of Sept. 1, 1862, he and his escort rode into a Rebel ambush during the Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly), an abrupt encounter following the Confederate victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run. When Kearny cavalierly ignored an order to surrender and tried to ride away, a single bullet to the spine ended the life of a true fighting general.

September 1, 1864: Evacuation of Atlanta

Image: Ruins of Atlanta Union Depot after burning by Sherman’s troops, 1864. (Wikimedia Commons.)

Once again during the American Civil War, but this time in 1864: Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood orders the evacuation of Atlanta, ending a four-month siege by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who begins his infamous March to the Sea.

September 1, 1878: First Woman Telephone Operator

Image: Telephone switchboard in 1922. (Wikimedia Commons.)

Emma Nutt becomes the world’s first female telephone operator after being recruited by Alexander Graham Bell. 

September 1, 1897: America’s First Subway

Image: Streetcar number 1752, driven by the veteran motorman Jimmy Reed, is shown here after it became the first revenue car in the Boston subway system on September 1, 1897. This also marked the beginning of subway traffic in the United States. (Wikimedia Commons.)

The Tremont Street subway opens in Boston, making it the first underground transit system in North America. Take that, London Tube. 

September 1, 1939: George Marshall Becomes Chief of Staff

Image: General of the Army George Catlett Marshall, Chief of Staff. U.S. Army, 1 September 1939-18 November 1945. (Wikimedia Commons.)

In perhaps one of the best decisions of the war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints Gen. George C. Marshall chief of staff of the United States Army.

September 1, 1952: ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ is published.

Image: Original book cover (Wikimedia Commons.)

Ernest Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Old Man and the Sea” is published. “But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” 

September 1, 1961: 

TWA Flight 529 Crashes in Chicago

Image: A Lockheed L-049 Constellation of Trans World Airlines, similar to the accident aircraft. (Wikimedia Commons.)

Shortly after takeoff from Midway Airport in Chicago, TWA Flight 529 crashes, killing all 78 people on board. At the time, it was the deadliest commercial plane disaster in U.S. history.

September 1, 1985: The Titanic is Found

Image: The Wreck of the Titanic. (Wikimedia Commons.)

A joint American-French expedition locates the wreckage of the RMS Titanic.

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