Born on This Day Singer, songwriter, guitarist and country’s first superstar thanks to hits “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Hey, Good Lookin’.” Danielle Brooks American actor best known for “Orange Is the New Black” and the 2023 musical “The Color Purple.” Patrick Mahomes Star quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs who led the NFL team to three Super Bowl victories in the 2020s. Harriet Tubman and her two brothers escape from slavery in Maryland. The brothers give up and turn back, while Tubman makes her way to Philadelphia and becomes a guiding force in the Underground Railroad. Also on This Day in History Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on September 17th U.S. Constitution signed The Constitution of the United States of America is signed by 39 delegates present at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Supporters of the document waged a hard-won battle to win ratification by the necessary nine out of 13 U.S. states. The Articles of Confederation, ratified several months before the British surrender at Yorktown […] George Washington prepares final draft of farewell address George Washington prepares a final draft of his presidential farewell address on September 17, 1796. Two days later, the carefully crafted words appeared in Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser, published in Philadelphia, officially notifying the American public that Washington would voluntarily step down as the nation’s first president. The decision was extraordinary: rarely, if ever, in […] The Allegheny Arsenal explodes, killing 78 people In the early afternoon on September 17, 1862, just about 200 miles from where the Battle of Antietam was taking place, another Civil War-era tragedy occurs: Three explosions rip through the Allegheny Arsenal and kill 78 workers, mostly young women and girls. At 2 p.m., the first explosion hits, followed shortly by two more; then, […] Cheyenne and Sioux battle frontiersmen at Beecher’s Island

Early in the morning on September 17, 1868, a large band of Cheyenne and Sioux stage a surprise attack on Major George A. Forsyth and a volunteer force of 50 frontiersmen in Colorado. Retreating to a small sandbar in the Arikaree River that thereafter became known as Beecher’s Island, Forsyth and his men succeeded in […] Soviet Union invades Poland On September 17, 1939, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov declares that the Polish government has ceased to exist, as the U.S.S.R. exercises the “fine print” of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact—the invasion and occupation of eastern Poland. Hitler’s troops were already wreaking havoc in Poland, having invaded on the first of the month. The Polish army […] The Who literally spark an explosion on national television On September 17, 1967, up-and-coming British Invasion rock band the Who—known for their high-energy, instrument-destroying antics—ended an already explosive, nationally televised performance of their hit “My Generation” with a literal bang. The blast, caused by fireworks drummer Keith Moon had packed into his bass drum, badly singed guitarist Pete Townshend’s hair, left shrapnel in Moon’s […] NASA unveils its first space shuttle, the Enterprise On September 17, 1976, NASA publicly unveils its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, during a ceremony in Palmdale, California. Development of the aircraft-like spacecraft cost almost $10 billion and took nearly a decade. In 1977, the Enterprise became the first space shuttle to fly freely when it was lifted to a height of 25,000 feet […] Camp David Accords signed At the White House in Washington, D.C., Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign the Camp David Accords, laying the groundwork for a permanent peace agreement between Egypt and Israel after three decades of hostilities. The accords were negotiated during 12 days of intensive talks at President Jimmy Carter’s Camp David […] Vanessa Williams becomes first Black Miss America On September 17, 1983, 20-year-old Vanessa Williams becomes the first Black woman to win the Miss America crown. Less than a year later, on July 23, 1984, Williams gave up her crown after nude photos of her surfaced. Despite the scandal, Williams later launched a successful singing and acting career, including a featured role on […] Oprah launches influential book club On September 17, 1996, daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey launches a television book club and announces “The Deep End of the Ocean” by Jacquelyn Mitchard as her first selection. Oprah’s Book Club quickly became a hugely influential force in the publishing world, with the popular TV host’s endorsement capable of catapulting a previously little-known […] Occupy Wall Street begins On September 17, 2011, hundreds of activists gather around Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan for the first day of the Occupy Wall Street Movement—a weeks-long sit-in in New York City’s Financial District protesting income inequality and corporate corruption. While the movement failed to see any of its goals or policy proposals come to fruition, years […]