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17 September 1965 – The Battle of Chawinda is fought between Pakistan and India.

Battle of Chawinda

Battle in the Indo–Pakistani War of 1965

The Battle of Chawinda was a major engagement between Pakistan and India in the Second Kashmir War^[b] as part of the Sialkot campaign. It is well known as being one of the largest tank battles in history since the Battle of Kursk, which was fought between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in World War II.^[14]

The initial clashes in Chawinda coincided with the Battle of Phillora, and the fighting here intensified once the Pakistani forces at Phillora retreated. The battle came to an end shortly before the United Nations Security Council mandated an immediate ceasefire, which would formally end the hostilities of the 1965 war.^[15][16]

1. ^ Jogindar Singh (1993). Behind the Scene: An Analysis of India's Military Operations, 1947–1971. Lancer Publishers. pp. 217–219. ISBN 1-897829-20-5. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
2. ^ Chakravorty 1992a.
3. ^ Abrar Hussain (2005). Men of Steel: 6 Armored Division in the 1965 War. Army Education Publishing House. pp. 36–52. ISBN 969-8125-19-1.
4. ^ Nawaz 2008, pp. 227–230.
5. ^ Krishna Rao 1991.
6. ^ Sources assessing stalemate:
   • Manus I. Midlarsky (2011). Origins of Political Extremism: Mass Violence in the Twentieth Century and Beyond. Cambridge University Press. p. 256. ISBN 978-1139500777.: "Several major tank battles would be fought, one at Khem Karan in Punjab yielding a major Pakistani defeat, and another at Chawinda involving over 600 tanks, the outcome of which was inconclusive."
   • Clodfelter, Micheal (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015 (4th ed.). McFarland. p. 600. ISBN 978-1476625850.: "Up to 600 tanks were engaged in the battle, primarily fought around Phillora and Chawinda, September 11–12, but the results were indecisive, largely because neither side properly supported their armor with infantry units."
   • Hasan, Zubeida (Fourth Quarter 1965), "The India-Paktstan War – A summary account", Pakistan Horizon, 18 (4): 344–356, JSTOR 41393247: "After a few days of intense fighting, in which each side claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on the other, the war reached a stalemate on this front."
7. ^ Zaloga 1980, p. 19.
8. ^ Barua 2005, p. 191
9. ^ Philip, Snehesh Alex (12 August 2019). "How Pakistani Lt Col Nisar Ahmed won over Indian peers after stalling their advance in 1965". ThePrint. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
10. ^ Amin, Major A.H. "Battle of Chawinda Comedy of Higher Command Errors". Military historian. Defence journal(pakistan). Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
11. ^ ^{a b} Clodfelter, Micheal (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015 (4th ed.). McFarland. p. 600. ISBN 978-1476625850.
12. ^ ^{a b} Chakravorty 1992a, p. 221.
13. ^ ^{a b} Zaloga 1980, p. 35.
14. ^ Michael E. Haskew (2015). Tank: 100 Years of the World's Most Important Armored Military Vehicle. Voyageur Press. pp. 201–. ISBN 978-0-7603-4963-2.
15. ^ Pradhan 2007.
16. ^ "Indo-Pakistan War of 1965". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2 June 2012.

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18 September 1838 – The Anti-Corn Law League is established by Richard Cobden.

Anti–Corn Law League

Former political movement in Great Britain

The Anti–Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a time when factory-owners were trying to cut wages. The League was a middle-class nationwide organisation that held many well-attended rallies on the premise that a crusade was needed to convince parliament to repeal the corn laws. Its long-term goals included the removal of feudal privileges, which it denounced as impeding progress, lowering economic well-being, and restricting freedom. The League played little role in the final act in 1846, when Sir Robert Peel led the successful battle for repeal. However, its experience provided a model that was widely adopted in Britain and other democratic nations to demonstrate the organisation of a political pressure group with the popular base.

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19 September 1991 – Ötzi the Iceman is discovered in the Alps on the border between Italy and Austria.

Ötzi

Natural mummy of a man who lived c. 3300 BC

For other uses, see Ötzi (disambiguation).

Ötzi, also called the Iceman, is the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Ötzi's remains were discovered on 19 September 1991, in the Ötztal Alps (hence the nickname "Ötzi", German: [œtsi]) at the border between Austria and Italy. He is Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, offering an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Europeans.

Because of the presence of an arrowhead embedded in his left shoulder and various other wounds, researchers believe Ötzi was killed. The nature of his life and the circumstances of his death are the subject of much investigation and speculation. His remains and personal belongings are on exhibit at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy.

1. ^ Farid Chenoune (2005). Carried Away: All About Bags. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-86565-158-6.
2. ^ Joachim Chwaszcza; Brian Bell (1993). Italian Alps, South Tyrol. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-65772-0.

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20 September 2017 – Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, resulting in 2,975 deaths, US$90 billion in damage, and a major humanitarian crisis

Hurricane Maria

Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 2017

This article is about the Atlantic hurricane of 2017. For other storms of the same name, see List of storms named Maria.

Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths.^[1][2] It is the deadliest and costliest hurricane to strike the island of Puerto Rico, and is the deadliest hurricane in terms of category strength to strike the country of Dominica and the U.S. Virgin Islands territory.

The most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017, Maria was the thirteenth named storm, eighth consecutive hurricane, fourth major hurricane, second Category 5 hurricane, and deadliest storm of the extremely active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. Maria was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Mitch in 1998, and the tenth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. Total monetary losses are estimated at upwards of $91.61 billion (2017 USD), mostly in Puerto Rico, ranking it as the fourth-costliest tropical cyclone on record.

Maria became a tropical storm on September 16 east of the Lesser Antilles and rapidly intensified to Category 5 strength just before making landfall on Dominica on September 18. After crossing the island, Maria achieved its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (282 km/h) and a pressure of 908 mbar (hPa; 26.81 inHg). On September 20, an eyewall replacement cycle weakened Maria to a high-end Category 4 hurricane by the time it struck Puerto Rico. Passing north of The Bahamas, Maria gradually degraded and weakened, swinging eastward over the open Atlantic and dissipating by October 2.

Maria brought catastrophic devastation to the entirety of Dominica, destroying housing stock and infrastructure beyond repair, and practically eradicating the island's lush vegetation. The neighboring islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique endured widespread flooding, damaged roofs, and uprooted trees. Puerto Rico suffered catastrophic damage and a major humanitarian crisis; most of the island's population suffered from flooding and a lack of resources, compounded by a slow relief process. The storm caused the worst electrical blackout in US history, which persisted for several months.^[3] Maria also landed in the northeast Caribbean during relief efforts from another Category 5 hurricane, Irma, which crossed the region two weeks prior.

The total death toll is 3,059: an estimated 2,975 in Puerto Rico,^[4][5] 65 in Dominica, 5 in the Dominican Republic, 4 in Guadeloupe, 4 in the contiguous United States, 3 in the United States Virgin Islands, and 3 in Haiti. Maria was the deadliest hurricane in Dominica since the 1834 Padre Ruíz hurricane^[6] and the deadliest in Puerto Rico since the 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane.^[7] This makes it the deadliest named Atlantic hurricane of the 21st century to date.

Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Baldwin, Sarah Lynch; Begnaud, David. "Hurricane Maria caused an estimated 2,975 deaths in Puerto Rico, new study finds". CBS News. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
2. ^ Richard J. Pasch; Andrew B. Penny; Robbie Berg (April 5, 2018). Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Maria (PDF) (Report). Miami, Florida: National Hurricane Center. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
3. ^ Giusti, Carlos. "Puerto Rico issues new data on Hurricane Maria deaths". NBC News. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
4. ^ Baldwin, Sarah Lynch; Begnaud, David. "Hurricane Maria caused an estimated 2,975 deaths in Puerto Rico, new study finds". CBS News. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference TCR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Neely, Wayne (December 19, 2016). The Greatest and Deadliest Hurricanes of the Caribbean and the Americas: The Stories Behind the Great Storms of the North Atlantic. iUniverse. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-5320-1151-1. Archived from the original on September 2, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
7. ^ Sean Breslin (August 9, 2018). "Puerto Rican Government Admits Hurricane Maria Death Toll Was at Least 1,400". The Weather Company. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.

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21 September 1942 – The Boeing B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

"Superfortress" and "B-29" redirect here. For the derivate post-war-bomber, see Boeing B-50 Superfortress. For other uses, see B29 (disambiguation).

US heavy bomber aircraft with 4 piston engines, 1942

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.

One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $49 billion today),^[3] far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war.^[4][5] The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. A few were also used as flying television transmitters by the Stratovision company. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 with the service name Washington from 1950 to 1954 when the jet-powered Canberra entered service.

The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, transports, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft, and trainers. For example, the re-engined B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II became the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop, during a 94-hour flight in 1949. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter airlifter, which was first flown in 1944, was followed in 1947 by its commercial airliner variant, the Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser. This bomber-to-airliner derivation was similar to the B-17/Model 307 evolution. In 1948, Boeing introduced the KB-29 tanker, followed in 1950 by the Model 377-derivative KC-97. A line of outsized-cargo variants of the Stratocruiser is the Guppy / Mini Guppy / Super Guppy, which remain in service with NASA and other operators. The Soviet Union produced 847 Tupolev Tu-4s, an unlicensed reverse-engineered copy of the B-29. Twenty B-29s remain as static displays, but only two, FIFI and Doc, still fly.^[6]

1. ^ LeMay and Yenne 1988, p. 60.
2. ^ "Boeing B-29." Boeing. Retrieved: 5 August 2010.
3. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 28 May 2023.
4. ^ O'Brien, Phillips Payson (2015). How the War Was Won (First ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-1-107-01475-6.
5. ^ "B-29 Superfortress, U.S. Heavy Bomber". The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia. Kent G. Budge. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
6. ^ Waller, Staff Sgt. Rachel (17 July 2016). "B-29 'Doc' takes to the skies from McConnell". McConnell AFB. Retrieved 2 July 2017.

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22 September 1980 – Iraq invades Iran, sparking the nearly eight year Iran–Iraq War.

Iraqi invasion of Iran

1980 military event that sparked the Iran–Iraq War

The Iraqi invasion of Iran was the Iraqi military campaign against neighbouring Iran in 1980, when the Iraqi Armed Forces crossed the international border and invaded the country, sparking the protracted Iran–Iraq War. The initial invasion was launched on 22 September 1980 and lasted until 7 December of that same year. Contrary to Iraqi expectations of a disorganized and poor response from Iran in light of the turmoil caused by the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the invasion stalled severely in the face of fierce Iranian resistance, but not before Iraq had captured more than 25,900 km² of southern and central western Iranian territory.^[13]

On 10 September 1980, Iraq, hoping to take advantage of a weakened Iran following the Islamic Revolution one year prior, forcibly reclaimed territories in Zain al-Qaws and Saïf Saad that it had been promised under the terms of the 1975 Algiers Agreement but which had never been handed over by Iran, leading to both Iran and Iraq declaring the treaty null and void, on 14 September and 17 September, respectively. As a result, the only outstanding border dispute between Iran and Iraq at the time of the Iraqi invasion on 22 September 1980, was the question of whether Iranian ships would fly Iraqi flags and pay navigation fees to Iraq to sail through a stretch of the Shatt al-Arab river^{[note 1]} spanning several miles.^[14][15] On 22 September, Iraqi aircraft pre-emptively bombarded ten airfields within Iran to cripple the Iranian Air Force on the ground. Although this attack failed, Iraqi forces crossed the border in strength and advanced into Iran in three simultaneous thrusts along a front of some 644 km (400 mi) the next day. Of Iraq's six divisions that were invading by land, four were sent to oil-rich Khuzestan, which was located near the border's southern end, in order to cut off the Shatt al-Arab from the rest of Iran and establish a territorial security zone.^[16]

The invasion's purpose, per Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, was to blunt the edge of Iranian Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini's movement and thwart his attempts to export Iran's Islamic Revolution to Saddam's secular Iraq and the Persian Gulf states.^[17] Saddam's plan was to take control of the entire Shatt al-Arab waterway in a rapid and decisive campaign, by which he hoped would send such a blow to Iran's prestige that it would lead to the new government's downfall, or, at the very least, end Iran's calls for the Ba'athists' overthrow.^{[18][19][20][21]} He also wanted to consolidate his standing in the Arab world.^[21] He also aspired to sever the oil-rich Khuzestan Province from Iran, seeing the war as an opportunity to do so.^[22] Saddam expected the local Arabs of Khuzestan—amongst whom a pan-Arab separatist insurgency against Iran was already running—to rise against the Iranian government. However, these objectives failed to materialize, and the majority of local Iranian Arabs were indifferent to the Iraqi forces.^[18]

1. ^ Sloan, Stephen; Anderson, Sean K. (3 August 2009). Historical Dictionary of Terrorism. Scarecrow Press. pp. 145–146. ISBN 978-0-8108-6311-8.
2. ^ "روایت تنها بازمانده "دژ" خرمشهر از سقوط تا آزادی". Farda News. 23 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
3. ^ Murray, Williamson; Woods, Kevin M. (4 September 2014). The Iran-Iraq War: A Military and Strategic History. ISBN 9781107062290.
4. ^ Hiro, Dilip (1 February 2019). Cold War in the Islamic World: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Struggle for Supremacy. Oxford University Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-19-005022-1.
5. ^ Jafarzadeh, Alireza (2008). The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-0-230-60128-4.
6. ^ Pollack, p, 186
7. ^ Farrokh, Kaveh, 305 (2011)
8. ^ Pollack, p. 187
9. ^ Farrokh, Kaveh, 304 (2011)
10. ^ "The state of the air combat readiness of Iran ... • corporal_historian_23". Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
11. ^ Pollack, p. 186
12. ^ ^{a b} Razoux, Pierre (2015). The Iran-Iraq War. Harvard University Press, 2015. p. 147,149. ISBN 978-0674915718.
13. ^ Hiro, Dilip (1 February 2019). Cold War in the Islamic World: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Struggle for Supremacy. Oxford University Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-19-005022-1.
14. ^ Murray, Williamson; Woods, Kevin M. (2014). "A context of 'bitterness and anger'". The Iran–Iraq War, A Military and Strategic History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 62-63 (e-book, page numbers approximate). ISBN 9781107062290. On 7 September 1980, Iraq accused Iran of shelling Iraqi villages in the territories of Zain al-Qaws and Saif Saad on 4 September 1980. Iraq demanded that the Iranian forces in those territories evacuate and return the villages to Iraq. Tehran gave no reply. Iraqi forces then moved to 'liberate' the villages, and on 10 September announced that its forces had done so in a short, sharp military engagement. ... On 14 September 1980, Iran announced it would no longer abide by the 1975 Algiers Agreement. Given the scene that was set, it was no surprise that on 17 September, five days before the invasion, Iraq declared the accords null and void. ... On 22 September, Iraqi units crossed the frontier.
15. ^ Makiya, Kanan (1998). Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq, Updated Edition. University of California Press. p. 270. ISBN 9780520921245. There remains the issue of sovereignty over Shatt al-Arab. ... Granted that this might have been a genuine motive for abrogating the 1975 treaty, and reclaiming title to the whole Shatt, what was the point of the invasion on September 22? Iraq had taken back by unilateral action on September 10 the only strips of territory it still claimed under the treaty. There was no longer any 'territory' as such on the other side to conquer. The Ba'th had already followed the Shah's example of 1971 when he unilaterally took over the three islands in the Gulf.
16. ^ Karsh, Efraim (25 April 2002). The Iran–Iraq War: 1980–1988. Osprey Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 978-1841763712.
17. ^ Cruze, Gregory S. (Spring 1988). "Iran and Iraq: Perspectives in Conflict". Military Reports. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
18. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference efraimkarsh was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
19. ^ Malovany, Pesach (2017). Wars of Modern Babylon: A History of the Iraqi Army from 1921 to 2003. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813169439.
20. ^ Razoux, Pierre (2015). The Iran-Iraq War. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674088634.
21. ^ ^{a b} Murray, Williamson; Woods, Kevin M. (2014). The Iran-Iraq War: A Military and Strategic History. Cambridge University Press. p. 98. ISBN 9781107062290.
22. ^ Murray, Williamson; Woods, Kevin M. (2014). "A context of 'bitterness and anger'". The Iran–Iraq War, A Military and Strategic History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 61-62 (e-book, page numbers approximate). ISBN 9781107062290. Certainly Saddam believed that the oil-rich areas of Arabistan (Khuzestan) were within his reach, a goal his intelligence services seemed delighted to further.

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23 September 1905 – Norway and Sweden sign the Karlstad Treaty, peacefully dissolving the Union between the two countries.

Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden

1905 dissolution of the kingdoms' personal union

The dissolution of the union (Bokmål: unionsoppløsningen; Nynorsk: unionsoppløysinga; Landsmål: unionsuppløysingi; Swedish: unionsupplösningen) between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolution of the Storting on 7 June 1905. Following some months of tension and fear of an outbreak of war between the neighbouring kingdoms (then in personal union) – and a Norwegian plebiscite held on 13 August which overwhelmingly backed dissolution – negotiations between the two governments led to Sweden's recognition of Norway as an independent constitutional monarchy on 26 October 1905. On that date, King Oscar II renounced his claim to the Norwegian throne, effectively dissolving the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and this event was swiftly followed, on 18 November, by the accession to the Norwegian throne of Prince Carl of Denmark, taking the name of Haakon VII.

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24 September 2008 – Thabo Mbeki resigns as president of South Africa.

Thabo Mbeki

President of South Africa from 1999 to 2008

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (Xhosa: [tʰaɓɔ mbɛːkʼi]; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC).^[1] Before that, he was deputy president under Nelson Mandela from 1994 to 1999.

The son of Govan Mbeki, a renowned ANC intellectual, Mbeki has been involved in ANC politics since 1956, when he joined the ANC Youth League, and has been a member of the party's National Executive Committee since 1975. Born in the Transkei, he left South Africa aged twenty to attend university in England, and spent almost three decades in exile abroad, until the ANC was unbanned in 1990. He rose through the organisation in its information and publicity section and as Oliver Tambo's protégé, but he was also an experienced diplomat, serving as the ANC's official representative in several of its African outposts. He was an early advocate for and leader of the diplomatic engagements which led to the negotiations to end apartheid. After South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, he was appointed national deputy president. In subsequent years, it became apparent that he was Mandela's chosen successor, and he was elected unopposed as ANC president in 1997, enabling his rise to the presidency as the ANC's candidate in the 1999 elections.

While deputy president, Mbeki had been regarded as a steward of the government's Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy, introduced in 1996, and as president he continued to subscribe to relatively conservative, market-friendly macroeconomic policies. During his presidency, South Africa experienced falling public debt, a narrowing budget deficit, and consistent, moderate economic growth. However, despite his retention of various social democratic programmes, and notable expansions to the black economic empowerment programme, critics often regarded Mbeki's economic policies as neoliberal, with insufficient consideration for developmental and redistributive objectives. On these grounds, Mbeki grew increasingly alienated from the left wing of the ANC, and from the leaders of the ANC's Tripartite Alliance partners, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and South African Communist Party. It was these leftist elements which supported Jacob Zuma over Mbeki in the political rivalry that erupted after Mbeki removed the latter from his post as deputy president in 2005.

As president, Mbeki had an apparent predilection for foreign policy and particularly for multilateralism. His Pan-Africanism and vision for an "African renaissance" are central parts of his political persona, and commentators suggest that he secured for South Africa a role in African and global politics that was disproportionate to the country's size and historical influence.^[2][3] He was the central architect of the New Partnership for Africa's Development and, as the inaugural chairperson of the African Union, spearheaded the introduction of the African Peer Review Mechanism. After the IBSA Dialogue Forum was launched in 2003, his government collaborated with India and Brazil to lobby for reforms at the United Nations, advocating for a stronger role for developing countries. Among South Africa's various peacekeeping commitments during his presidency, Mbeki was the primary mediator in the conflict between ZANU-PF and the Zimbabwean opposition in the 2000s. However, he was frequently criticised for his policy of "quiet diplomacy" in Zimbabwe, under which he refused to condemn Robert Mugabe's regime or institute sanctions against it.

Also highly controversial worldwide was Mbeki's HIV/AIDS policy. His government did not introduce a national mother-to-child transmission prevention programme until 2002, when it was mandated by the Constitutional Court, nor did it make antiretroviral therapy available in the public healthcare system until late 2003. Subsequent studies have estimated that these delays caused hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.^[4][5][6] Mbeki himself, like his Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, has been described as an AIDS denialist, "dissident," or sceptic. Although he did not explicitly deny the causal link between HIV and AIDS, he often posited a need to investigate alternate causes of and alternative treatments for AIDS, frequently suggesting that immunodeficiency was the indirect result of poverty.

His political descent began at the ANC's Polokwane conference in December 2007, when he was replaced as ANC president by Zuma. His term as national president was not due to expire until June 2009, but, on 20 September 2008, he announced that he would resign at the request of the ANC National Executive Committee. The ANC's decision to "recall" Mbeki was understood to be linked to a high court judgement, handed down earlier that month, in which judge Chris Nicholson had alleged improper political interference in the National Prosecuting Authority and specifically in the corruption charges against Zuma. Nicholson's judgement was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeal in January 2009, by which time Mbeki had been replaced as president by Kgalema Motlanthe.

1. ^ "Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, Mr". Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). 14 October 2004. Archived from the original on 16 April 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
2. ^ Landsberg, Chris (18 June 2007). "The AU, Nepad and Mbeki's 'progressive African agenda'". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
3. ^ Olivier, Gerrit (2003). "Is Thabo Mbeki Africa's Saviour?". International Affairs. 79 (4): 815–828. doi:10.1111/1468-2346.00338. ISSN 0020-5850. JSTOR 3569575.
4. ^ Dugger, Celia W. (25 November 2008). "Study Cites Toll of AIDS Policy in South Africa". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nattrass-2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chigwedere-2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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25 September 1963 – Lord Denning releases the UK government's official report on the Profumo affair.

Profumo affair

1960s British political scandal

The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century British politics.^[1] John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler beginning in 1961. Profumo denied the affair in a statement to the House of Commons in 1963; weeks later, a police investigation proved that he had lied.^[2] The scandal severely damaged the credibility of Macmillan's government, and Macmillan resigned as Prime Minister in October 1963, citing ill health. The fallout contributed to the Conservative government's defeat by the Labour Party in the 1964 general election.

When the Profumo affair was revealed, public interest was heightened by reports that Keeler may have been simultaneously involved with Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché, thereby creating a possible national security risk. Keeler knew both Profumo and Ivanov through her friendship with Stephen Ward, an osteopath and socialite who had taken her under his wing. The exposure of the affair generated rumours of other sex scandals and drew official attention to the activities of Ward, who was charged with a series of immorality offences. Perceiving himself as a scapegoat for the misdeeds of others, Ward took a fatal overdose during the final stages of his trial, which found him guilty of living off the immoral earnings of Keeler and her friend Mandy Rice-Davies.

An inquiry into the Profumo affair by a senior judge, Lord Denning, assisted by a senior civil servant, T. A. Critchley, concluded that there had been no breaches of security arising from the Ivanov connection. Denning's report was later described as superficial and unsatisfactory. Profumo subsequently worked as a volunteer at Toynbee Hall, an East London charitable trust. By 1975 he had been officially rehabilitated, although he did not return to public life. He died, honoured and respected, in 2006. By contrast, Keeler found it difficult to escape the negative image attached to her by press, law, and parliament throughout the scandal. In various, sometimes contradictory, accounts, she challenged Denning's conclusions relating to security issues. Ward's conviction has been described by analysts as an act of establishment revenge, rather than serving justice. In the 2010s the Criminal Cases Review Commission reviewed his case but decided against referring it to the Court of Appeal. Dramatisations of the Profumo affair have been shown on stage and screen.

1. ^ Foussianes, Chloe (17 November 2019). "How Prince Philip Was Connected to the Profumo Affair—and How Anthony Blunt May Have Covered For Him". Town & Country. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
2. ^ "British Secretary of War John Profumo resigns amid sex scandal". history.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.

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26 September 1983 – Australia II wins the America's Cup, ending the New York Yacht Club's 132-year domination of the race.

Australia II

Australian racing yacht

For the warship referred to as HMAS Australia II, see HMAS Australia (D84).

Australia II (KA 6) is an Australian 12-metre-class America's Cup challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982^[1] and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Skippered by John Bertrand, she was the first successful Cup challenger, ending a 132-year tenure (with 26 successful defences) by the New York Yacht Club.

1. ^ J.T. "1983 – Australia II – KA 6". 33rd America's Cup. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.

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27 September 1875 – The merchant sailing ship Ellen Southard is wrecked in a storm at Liverpool.

Ellen Southard

Merchant ship built in 1863

Ellen Southard was an American full-rigged merchant ship from Bath, Maine that was built in 1863 by prominent shipbuilder T.J. Southard. She plied international trade routes for twelve years, calling at ports as far away as Sydney.

On 27 September 1875, the ship wrecked in the mouth of the Mersey River at Liverpool during a hurricane-strength storm. Shore-based lifeboats crewed mainly by volunteers set out from several lifeboat stations to the aid of the distressed ship after it foundered on a sandbank. One of the lifeboats capsized in heavy seas after picking up the ship's crew, resulting in nine people from the ship as well as three rescuers losing their lives.

Following the advice of the US consul at Liverpool, the United States Congress recognised the acts of bravery by issuing 27 Gold Lifesaving Medals to the lifeboat men who attempted to save her crew, after a two-year delay during which US law first had to be changed to allow the newly instituted medals to be awarded to non-US citizens. Debate about lifeboat designs continued for many years until a self-righting design was eventually adopted.

1. ^ ^{a b} Treasury-1871, p. 77.
2. ^ ^{a b} Preble, Partridge & Raymond 1879, p. 62.
3. ^ Sutherd 1977.
4. ^ Records-1882, p. 46.

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28 September 1994 – The cruise ferry MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people

MS Estonia

Cruiseferry sunk in the Baltic Sea in 1994

This article is about the ship itself. For the disaster, see sinking of the MS Estonia. For the Russian American Line vessel operating from 1912 to 1949, see SS Czar.

The MS Estonia was a cruiseferry built in 1980 for the Finnish company Rederi Ab Sally by Meyer Werft, in Papenburg, West Germany. She was employed on ferry routes between Finland and Sweden by various companies (first Viking Line, then EffJohn) until 1993, when she was sold to Nordström & Thulin for use on Estline's Tallinn–Stockholm route. The ship's sinking on 28 September 1994, in the Baltic Sea between Sweden, Finland and Estonia, was one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters of the 20th century, claiming 852 lives.

59°23′0″N 21°40′0″E / 59.38333°N 21.66667°E / 59.38333; 21.66667

1. ^ "M/F Estonia". The ferry site. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
2. ^ ^{a b} Final report on the capsizing on 28 September 1994 in the Baltic Sea of the Ro-Ro passenger vessel MN Estonia, Chapter 3: The vessel. The Joint Accident Investigation Commission of Estonia, Finland and Sweden, December 1997.

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29 September 1864 – The Battle of Chaffin's Farm is fought in the American Civil War.

Battle of Chaffin's Farm

This article is about the September 1864 American Civil War battle at Laurel Hill, Virginia. For the May 1864 American Civil War battle, see Battle of New Market. For the 1861 American Civil War battle at Laurel Mountain or Laurel Hill, West Virginia, see Laurel Mountain (West Virginia).

Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Chaffin's Farm and New Market Heights, also known as Laurel Hill and combats at Forts Harrison, Johnson, and Gilmer, was fought in Virginia on September 29–30, 1864, as part of the siege of Petersburg in the American Civil War.

1. ^ Sommers, p. 21.
2. ^ Kennedy, p. 363. There were 4,500 defenders on September 29, reinforced by 10,000 on September 30.
3. ^ Sommers, p. 499. Bonekemper, p. 317, cites 383 killed, 2,299 wounded, and 645 missing or captured. Trudeau, p. 217, cites 1,040 killed or missing and 2,317 wounded. Horn, p. 167, cites 3,327 total Union casualties. Salmon, p. 433, estimates 4,150 Union casualties.
4. ^ Bonekemper, p. 317. Sommers, p. 499, cites 1,737 casualties, including 396 missing or captured. Horn, p. 167, Trudeau, p. 217, and Kennedy, p. 363, estimate 1,700 total Confederate casualties. Salmon, 433, estimates about 1,750 Confederate casualties, mostly on September 30.

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30 September 1968 – The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time.

Boeing 747

American wide-body long-range commercial jet aircraft

The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet 2+1⁄2 times its size, to reduce its seat cost by 30%. In 1965, Joe Sutter left the 737 development program to design the 747, the first twin-aisle airliner. In April 1966, Pan Am ordered 25 Boeing 747-100 aircraft, and in late 1966, Pratt & Whitney agreed to develop the JT9D engine, a high-bypass turbofan. On September 30, 1968, the first 747 was rolled out of the custom-built Everett Plant, the world's largest building by volume. The first flight took place on February 9, 1969, and the 747 was certified in December of that year. It entered service with Pan Am on January 22, 1970. The 747 was the first airplane called a "Jumbo Jet" as the first wide-body airliner.

The 747 is a four-engined jet aircraft, initially powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofan engines, then General Electric CF6 and Rolls-Royce RB211 engines for the original variants. With a ten-abreast economy seating, it typically accommodates 366 passengers in three travel classes. It has a pronounced 37.5° wing sweep, allowing a Mach 0.85 (490 kn; 900 km/h) cruise speed, and its heavy weight is supported by four main landing gear legs, each with a four-wheel bogie. The partial double-deck aircraft was designed with a raised cockpit so it could be converted to a freighter airplane by installing a front cargo door, as it was initially thought that it would eventually be superseded by supersonic transports.

Boeing introduced the -200 in 1971, with more powerful engines for a heavier maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 833,000 pounds (378 t) from the initial 735,000 pounds (333 t), increasing the maximum range from 4,620 to 6,560 nautical miles [nmi] (8,560 to 12,150 km; 5,320 to 7,550 mi). It was shortened for the longer-range 747SP in 1976, and the 747-300 followed in 1983 with a stretched upper deck for up to 400 seats in three classes. The heavier 747-400 with improved RB211 and CF6 engines or the new PW4000 engine (the JT9D successor), and a two-crew glass cockpit, was introduced in 1989 and is the most common variant. After several studies, the stretched 747-8 was launched on November 14, 2005, with new General Electric GEnx engines, and was first delivered in October 2011. The 747 is the basis for several government and military variants, such as the VC-25 (Air Force One), E-4 Emergency Airborne Command Post, Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and some experimental testbeds such as the YAL-1 and SOFIA airborne observatory.

Initial competition came from the smaller trijet widebodies: the Lockheed L-1011 (introduced in 1972), McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (1971) and later MD-11 (1990). Airbus competed with later variants with the heaviest versions of the A340 until surpassing the 747 in size with the A380, delivered between 2007 and 2021. Freighter variants of the 747 remain popular with cargo airlines. The final 747 was delivered to Atlas Air in January 2023 after a 54-year production run, with 1,574 aircraft built. As of January 2023^[update], 64 Boeing 747s (4.1%) have been lost in accidents and incidents, in which a total of 3,746 people have died.

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1 October 1887 – Balochistan is conquered by the British Empire.

Balochistan

Region of southwestern Asia

This article is about the geographic region. For other uses, see Balochistan (disambiguation).

Region

Balochistan^[4] (/bəˈlɒtʃɪstɑːn, bəˌlɒtʃɪˈstɑːn, -stæn/ bə-LOTCH-ist-a(h)n, -⁠A(H)N; Balochi: بلوچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of desert and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic Baloch people.^[5][6][7]

The Balochistan region is split between three countries: Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Administratively it comprises the Pakistani province of Balochistan, the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and the southern areas of Afghanistan, which include Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces.^[8][9] It borders the Khyber Paktunkhwa region to the north, Sindh and Punjab to the east, and Iranian regions to the west. Its southern coastline, including the Makran Coast, is washed by the Arabian Sea, in particular by its western part, the Gulf of Oman.

1. ^ Iran, Library of Congress, Country Profile . Retrieved December 5, 2009.
2. ^ Afghanistan, The World Factbook . Retrieved December 5, 2009.
3. ^ Central Intelligence Agency (2013). "The World Factbook: Ethnic Groups". Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
4. ^ Other variations of the spelling, especially on French maps, include Beloutchistan and Baloutchistan also Baloch Land.
5. ^ Dashti, Naseer (October 2012). The Baloch and Balochistan: A Historical Account from the Beginning to the Fall of the Baloch State. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4669-5896-8.
6. ^ "The History of Baloch and Balochistan: A Critical Appraisal". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
7. ^ Dames, Mansel Longworth (1904). The Baloch Race: A Historical and Ethnological Sketch. Royal Asiatic Society.
8. ^ Pillalamarri, Akhilesh (12 February 2016). "A Brief History of Balochistan". thediplomat.com. THE DIPLOMAT. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
9. ^ "Human Rights in Balochistan: A Case Study in Failure and Invisibility". HuffPost. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.

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2 October 2018 – The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey

Jamal Khashoggi

Assassinated Saudi journalist and dissident (1958–2018)

Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (/kəˈʃoʊɡdʒi, kəˈʃɒɡdʒi/; Arabic: جمال أحمد خاشقجي, romanized: Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, Hejazi Arabic pronunciation: [dʒaˈmaːl xaːˈʃʊɡ.(d)ʒi]; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for Middle East Eye and The Washington Post, and a general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel who was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 by agents of the Saudi government at the behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Khashoggi served as editor for the Saudi Arabian newspaper Al Watan, turning it into a platform for Saudi progressives.^[12] Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017 and went into self-imposed exile. He said that the Saudi government had "banned him from Twitter",^[13] and he later wrote newspaper articles critical of the Saudi government. Khashoggi had been sharply critical of the Saudi rulers, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.^[14] He also opposed the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.^[15]

On 2 October 2018, Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents related to his planned marriage but was never seen leaving. Amid news reports claiming that he had been killed and dismembered inside, an inspection of the consulate, by Saudi and Turkish officials, took place on 15 October. Initially, the Saudi government denied the death, but following shifting explanations for Khashoggi's death, Saudi Arabia's attorney general eventually stated that the murder was premeditated.^[16][17] By 16 November 2018, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had concluded that Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi's assassination.^[18][19] Controversy over the murder has created tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, including calls for the U.S. to sever diplomatic ties with the kingdom.

On 11 December 2018, Jamal Khashoggi was named Time magazine's person of the year for his work in journalism, along with other journalists who faced political persecution for their work. Time referred to Khashoggi as a "Guardian of the Truth".^[20][21][22]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Cite error: The named reference black-guardian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Hubbard, Ben; Gladstone, Rick; Landler, Mark (16 October 2018). "Trump Jumps to the Defense of Saudi Arabia in Khashoggi Case". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018. Mr. Khashoggi, who wrote columns for The Washington Post, lived in the United States, and his 60th birthday was on Saturday [13 October].
3. ^ "Khashoggi 'died after fight' – Saudis". BBC. 19 October 2018. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference alaa-nassif-washingtonpost was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ Rick Rowley (director) (12 January 2021). Kingdom of Silence (Motion picture).
6. ^ Miller, Greg; Mekhennet, Souad (16 November 2018). "Woman says she married Khashoggi in ceremony kept secret from his fiancee and some in his family". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
7. ^ O'Toole, Gavin (30 October 2018). "Khashoggi's fiancee speaks about 'death squad' killing". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
8. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytasassination was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
9. ^ "Jamal Khashoggi: An unauthorized Turkey source says journalist was murdered in Saudi consulate". BBC News. 7 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
10. ^ "Speakers". International Public Relations Association – Gulf Chapter (IPRA-GC). 2012. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
11. ^ "Khashoggi Was No Critic of Saudi Regime". 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
12. ^ Hendley, Paul (17 May 2010). "Saudi newspaper head resigns after run-in with conservatives". Al Hdhod. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
13. ^ "Saudi Arabia wasn't always this repressive. Now it's unbearable". Opinion. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
14. ^ "Jamal Khashoggi: An unauthorized Turkey source says journalist was murdered in Saudi consulate". BBC News. 7 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
15. ^ "Turkey says journalist Khashoggi 'killed at Saudi consulate'". France 24. 7 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
16. ^ Batrawy, Aya; Torchia, Christopher (25 October 2018). "Saudi Arabia again changes its story on Khashoggi killing". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
17. ^ Stancati, Margherita; Said, Summer (25 October 2018). "Saudi Arabia Says Evidence Points to Premeditated Killing of Khashoggi". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
18. ^ Shane Harris; Greg Miller; Josh Dawsey (16 November 2018). "CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi's assassination". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
19. ^ Schmitt, Eric; Fandos, Nicholas (4 December 2018). "Saudi Prince 'Complicit' in Khashoggi's Murder, Senators Say After C.I.A. Briefing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
20. ^ Haag, Matthew; Grynbaum, Michael M. (11 December 2018). "Time Names Person of the Year for 2018: Jamal Khashoggi and Other Journalists". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
21. ^ "Time Person of the Year: 'The Guardians and the War on Truth' - CNN". CNN. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
22. ^ "Time Person of the Year is 'The Guardians' in 2018, including slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi - the Washington Post". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.

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