^B{^#!16!2 September^N! Feast day of St William of Roskilde, The Martyrs of September 1792, St Agricolus, St Antoninus of Pamiers, St Brocard, and St Castor of Apt.
^B{31 BC^B} Emperor Augustus (Octavian) defeated Antony at the Battle of Actium. ^B{1666^B} The Great Fire of London started; it destroyed 13,000 buildings in four days. ^B{1752^B} The Julian calendar was used in Britain and the Colonies 'officially' for the last time; as in the rest of Europe, the following day became 14 Sept in the Gregorian calendar. ^B{1898^B} The British, led by Lord Kitchener, defeated the Sudanese at the Battle of Omdurman and re-occupied Khartoum, the capital. ^B{1906^B} Roald Amundsen completed his sailing round Canada's Northwest Passage. ^B{1923^B} The Irish Free State held its first elections. ^B{1939^B} Under the National Service Bill, men aged 19-41 were conscripted in Britain. ^B{1958^B} China's first television station opened in Peking. ^B{1987^B} The CD-video, combining digital sound with high-definition video, was launched by Philips.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}John Howard, English philanthropist, ^B{1726^B}; Giovanni Verga, Italian novelist and dramatist, ^B{1840^B}; Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, ^B{1853^B}; Frederick Soddy, English physical chemist, ^B{1877^B}; Michael Hastings, English dramatist, ^B{1938^B}; Jimmy Connors, US tennis player, ^B{1952^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}JosΘ Ribera ('Lo Spagnoletto'), Spanish painter, ^B{1652^B}; Thomas Telford, Scottish civil engineer, ^B{1834^B}; Henri Rousseau, French painter, ^B{1910^B}; Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, ^B{1937^B}; J R R Tolkein, English writer, ^B{1973^B}.
