September 17 in Pop Culture History

September 17th Fun Facts, Trivia and History

September 17th History Highlights

  • 1630 – The city of Boston, Massachusetts was founded.
  • 1787 – Representatives voted to approve the United States Constitution.
  • 1914 The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Women’s Auxiliary was organized.
  • 1916 – Manfred von Richthofen (“The Red Baron”), a flying ace of the German Air Force, won his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
  • 1954 – The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding was published.
  • 2011 – Occupy Wall Street movement began in Zuccotti Park, New York City.
  • 2013 – Grand Theft Auto V earned more than half a billion dollars on its first day of release.
  • If you were born on September 17th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… December 25th (prior year)

The Red Baron

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (May 2, 1892 – April 21, 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. Richthofen served in the German army for some time before switching to the Imperial Air Service. Only a year into his service here, he managed to terrorize the Western Front Skies and downed over fifteen enemy planes, including a British Hawker.

In 1917, Richthofen broke several flying-ace records when he used a Fokker triplane on each side of the Western Front. The plane was painted entirely red as a tribute to his cavalry regiment even though he had only used it in the last few months of his career. However, he was mostly associated with an aircraft that also eventually led to a new nickname for him, “Red Baron.”

By April 1918, Richthofen had around 80 victories to his record. This happens to be the same time he led the search for a British aircraft using his triplanes, which he took far into the French Allied territory. As a result, an Allied squadron led by Captain Arthur from Canada noticed the aircraft.

Hence, when Richthofen was going for the plane with Wilfred May (Brown’s compatriot) as a pilot in it, he flew way too close to the ground and far into the enemy’s territory. This was when Brown caught up to him, and the riflemen on the ground soon opened fire. The event caused Richthofen to be injured in his torso even though he successfully landed his aircraft next to a road that led to Bray from Corbie.

However, the events took a turn for the worse when Australian troops finally reached him and found him dead. There is, however, still conflicting information on who shot Richthofen after all. While some claim that it was Brown, others believe that it was an Australian gunman who shot him.

Richthofen was laid to rest in Bertangles, France, by the Allied in the presence of complete military honor. As per some sources, at the time of his death, Richthofen was 25 years old. His body was moved twice into two different cemeteries at the request of his brother, Karl Bolko. Richthofen also had a large state funeral later before being buried at Invaliden Cemetery and is there to date.

Red Baron was not just a regular pilot with a few victories to his record. Where many pilots had nothing more than 20 something victories to their name, Richthofen managed to down 80 enemy aircraft in only a year.

Today, his legendary status continues to thrive and serves as an example to those who come into the field. Hence, his place in history was defined long ago. If he had survived the fatal shot, who knows what he may have achieved after that. Nonetheless, he was undoubtedly one of the greatest pilots and heroes to have emerged from the First World War.

Constitution Week

The Congress, by a joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36 U.S.C. 106), designated September 17 as “Citizenship Day,” and by joint resolution of August 2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 108), requested that the President proclaim the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as “Constitution Week.”

September 17th is…

Apple Dumpling Day
Citizenship Day
Constitution Day
Country Music Day

September 17th Birthday Quotes

“I don’t blame you for writing of me as you have. You had to believe other stories, but then I don’t know if anyone would believe anything good of me anyway.”
– Billy the Kid

“Take good care of your employees, and they’ll take good care of your customers, and the customers will come back.”
– J. Willard Marriott

“I never panic when I get lost. I just change where it is I want to go.”
– Rita Rudner

“The challenge, whenever you create anything, is to persevere and push away the negative voices. And the more you accomplish, the louder they get. The key is to shut them off and trust in your heart where you’re going.”
– Anne Bancroft

“I always have a point of view. It may not be right, but it’s my own.”
– Baz Luhrmann

“You know the oxygen masks on airplanes? I don’t think there’s really any oxygen. I think they’re just to muffle the screams.”
– Rita Rudner

September 17th Birthdays

1859 – Billy the Kid, American gunman (died in1881)
1900 – J. Willard Marriott, American businessman, founded the Marriott Corporation (died in 1985)
1907 – Warren E. Burger, American lawyer, and judge, 15th Chief Justice of the United States (died in 1995)
1923 – Hank Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died in 1953)
1928 – Roddy McDowall, English-American actor (died in 1998)
1931 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (died in 2005)
1953 – Rita Rudner, American comedian
1962 – Baz Luhrmann, Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Kyle Chandler, American actor
1979 – Flo Rida, American rapper
1990 – Pixie Geldof, English model and singer

September 17th History

1303 (Earthquake) China

1849 – Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in Maryland.

1859 – Joshua Norton declared himself “Emperor of these United States” and subsequently “Protector of Mexico”, renaming himself Norton!

1895 – The second U.S. battleship, but first named after a state, the USS Maine was commissioned.

1908 – Thomas Selfridge, a passenger in a plane piloted by Orville Wright, became the first airplane fatality when the craft crashed.

1947Jackie Robinson was named Rookie of Year by The Sporting News.

1964 – Bewitched premiered on ABC.

1965 – The Wild, Wild West, and Hogan’s Heroes premiered on CBS.

1967 – Mission Impossible premiered on CBS.

1967 – The Doors appear on The Ed Sullivan Show and perform “Light My Fire”. Sullivan had requested that the line “Girl we couldn’t get much higher” be changed for the show, but Jim Morrison performed it the way it was written. The Doors never appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show again.

1972 – The first episode of M.A.S.H. aired on CBS.

1976NASA publicly unveiled the space shuttle Enterprise in Palmdale, California.

1978 – Battlestar Galactica premiered on ABC

1983 – Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America 1984.

1996- The O.J. Simpson civil trial began

2005 – #1 Hit September 17, 2005 – November 25, 2005: Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx – Gold Deggir

2009 – Archer premiered on FX

2009 – Community premiered on NBC

2011 – #1 Hit September 17, 2011 – November 11, 2011: Adele – Someone Like You

2011 – The Occupy Wall Street movement began in Zuccotti Park, New York City

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

“Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head” #songlyrics

To be called inconsistent, you have to be consistently inconsistent. Making you consistent.

Charlie Brown is a comic strip about a depressed and lonely 6-year-old that never has anything goes his way and we read it and laugh.

The NES, SNES, N64, and GameCube were all released for the same list price in North America: $199

People on Scooby-Doo always dressed up as monsters to show that people are the real monsters. #deepcartoonthoughts

There might be particles that do move faster than the speed of light, but we just wouldn’t be able to see them. #science

“Hello, gorgeous” – Fanny Brice (Barbra Streisand) #moviequotes

How is the letter “W” spelled out with more than one letter? Doubleyou? Dubalyoo?

The line “Luke, I am your father” is never spoken. The actual line is; “No, I am your father.”

<spoiler>In “The Sixth Sense”, do you remember the man in the hairpiece? That’s Bruce Willis, the whole movie!</spoiler>

On the other hand, you’ve got five fingers.

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