September 14, 1959: Luna 2 becomes the first artifact of humanity to strike the moon.
The Soviet Union launched The Sputnik-like probe from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sept. 12. It took 33.5 hours to reach its destination. Hitting the moon, as prestigious an accomplishment as it was for the young Soviet space program, was not Luna [...]

9/14/1879 - 9/6/1966
American birth-control advocate
(Go to obit.)
Source: NY Times

1814 Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner” after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812.
1847 U.S. forces under Gen. Winfield Scott took control of Mexico City.
1901 President William B. McKinley died in Buffalo, N.Y., of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin eight days earlier. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, 42, was [...]