What are the important events that happened on September 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

September 17: Facts & Myths About This Day

September 17 is the 260^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 105 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is September 4, 2025 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,758,067,200 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectahexacontagon’ day.

Virgo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Sapphire is the modern birthstone for this month. Agate is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 153 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,653 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

September 17 Historical Events

• 1778 –
  The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).
• 1809 –
  Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
• 1814 –
  Francis Scott Key finishes his poem “Defence of Fort McHenry”, later to be the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
• 1916 –
  World War I: Manfred von Richthofen (“The Red Baron”), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
• 1943 –
  World War II: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated from Nazis.
• 1974 –
  Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.
• 1976 –
  The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
• 1992 –
  An Iranian Kurdish leader and his two joiners are assassinated by political militants in Berlin, Germany.
• 2001 –
  The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 Attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.
• 2006 –
  An audio tape of a private speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is leaked to the public, in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006 election, sparking widespread protests across the country.

Who were born on September 17?

• 1739 –
  John Rutledge, 2nd (appointed) Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1800)
• 1914 –
  Thomas J. Bata, Canadian shoemaker (Bata Shoes) (d. 2008)
• 1938 –
  Perry Robinson, American jazz clarinetist and composer
• 1942 –
  Robert Graysmith, Zodiac killer researcher
• 1944 –
  Les Emmerson, Canadian vocalist and guitarist
• 1953 –
  Altaf Hussain, Pakistani politician and founder of MQM
• 1963 –
  Wendy Northcutt, Author of the Darwin Awards
• 1965 –
  Guy Picciotto, American musician (Rites of Spring, Fugazi)
• 1975 –
  Jade Esteban Estrada, Latin pop singer, comedian and activist
• 1978 –
  Shawn Horcoff, Canadian ice hockey player

Who died on September 17?

• 456 –
  Remistus, Roman general of Visigothic origin
• 1322 –
  Robert III of Flanders (b. 1249)
• 1630 –
  Thomas Lake, English statesman (b. 1567)
• 1665 –
  Philip IV of Spain (b. 1605)
• 1771 –
  Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist (b. 1721)
• 1878 –
  Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French adventurer in Araucania and Patagonia (b. 1825)
• 1938 –
  Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (b. 1901)
• 1985 –
  Laura Ashley, Welsh designer (b. 1925)
• 1992 –
  Roger Wagner, American choral conductor (b. 1914)
• 2000 –
  Paula Yates, British TV personality (b. 1959)