30 newsworthy historical anniversaries in September 2026

Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in September 2026 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)

Historical anniversaries are ideal for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more. (Find out more at the end of this article.)

We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2026, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.

Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats, spelling and grammar. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.

1 Sep 1951 – 75 years ago
The ANZUS Pact, a mutual security treaty, was signed by the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

2 Sep 2001 – 25 years ago
Death of Christiaan Barnard, South African surgeon who performed the first human heart transplant.

3 Sep 1976 – 50 years ago
NASA’s Viking 2 lander landed on Mars. It photographed the surface, analysed soil samples and searched for signs of life.
As was the case with Viking 1, the Labeled Release experiment gave a positive result for signs of life, but this is now disputed and is generally considered a ‘false positive’.

4 Sep 1956 – 70 years ago
IBM introduced the world’s first commercial hard disk drive – the 350 Disk Storage Unit.
It could hold 5 Mb of data on a tower of fifty 24-inch magnetised platters.
On 14^th September IBM launched the 305 RAMAC computer – the first commercial computer to be equipped with a hard disk drive.

5 Sep 1826 – 200 years ago
Birth of John Wisden, British cricketer (Kent, Middlesex, Sussex) and founder of Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanac.

6 Sep 1966 – 60 years ago
Death of Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa (1958–66).
He developed and implemented apartheid. (Assassinated.) Succeeded by John Vorster.

7 Sep 1776 – 250 years ago
American Revolutionary War: the first reported use of a submarine in combat. The American submarine Turtle attempted to attach explosives to the hulls of British ships including HMS Eagle in New York Harbor. The explosives failed to attach and the mission failed.

8 Sep 1966 – 60 years ago
The first episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek was broadcast on NBC in the USA. It ran for three seasons until 1969.

9 Sep 1776 – 250 years ago
American Revolution: the Second Continental Congress adopted the name United States, which replaced the previous name United Colonies.

10 Sep 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of Beryl Cook, British artist. Known for her instantly recognisable scenes of plump people enjoying themselves. (Died 2008.)

11 Sep 1961 – 65 years ago
The World Wildlife Fund (now the World Wide Fund for Nature) was founded in Switzerland.

12 Sep 1966 – 60 years ago
The first episode of the musical television sitcom The Monkees was broadcast on NBC in the USA. It ran until March 1968 and launched the music career of the pop/rock band The Monkees.

13 Sep 1826 – 200 years ago
Birth of Anthony Drexel, American banker and philanthropist. He played a leading role in the rise of modern global finance.
Co-founder of Drexel, Morgan & Co. (later J. P. Morgan & Co.). Founder of Drexel University. First president of the Association for Public Art.

14 Sep 1901 – 125 years ago
Death of William McKinley, 25^th President of the USA (1897–1901).
(Fatally shot by an anarchist on 6^th September, aged 58.) Succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

15 Sep 1876 – 150 years ago
Birth of Frank Gannett, American publisher. Founder of Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the USA, which publishes USA Today and many others.

16 Sep 1956 – 70 years ago
Play-Doh modelling compound went on sale in the USA. It was originally sold as a wallpaper cleaning compound. It was relaunched as a modelling compound when the inventor’s nephew discovered that nursery school children were using it to make Christmas ornaments.

17 Sep 1976 – 50 years ago
NASA unveiled its first Space Shuttle, Enterprise. It was only used for testing, did not have an engine or heat shield, and was incapable of space flight. Its first test flight was on 18^th February 1977. The first shuttle to travel into space, Columbia, was launched in April 1981.

18 Sep to 9 Oct 2001 – 25 years ago
Anthrax attacks in the USA. Contaminated letters were sent to two U.S. Senators and various news and media organisations in New York and Florida. Five people died and at least twelve were infected. The total cost of the damage was put at $1 billion (£625 million).

19 Sep 1876 – 150 years ago
American entrepreneur and inventor Melville Reuben Bissell was granted a U.S. patent for the modern carpet sweeper. (U.S. Patent 182,346.) He formed the Bissell corporation to manufacture and sell it.

20 Sep to 5 Oct 1946 – 80 years ago
The first Cannes Film Festival was held.

21 Sep 2006 – 20 years ago
Wal-Mart Stores in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA launched a $4 generic drug programme. Around 300 generic drugs were available on prescription at $4 for a 30-day supply. The test was soon expanded to cover the whole state. On 28th November it was expanded to the entire USA. Many competing stores later launched similar programmes.

22 Sep 1996 – 30 years ago
Death of Bob Dent, Australian cancer sufferer. The first person in the world to lawfully end his life by means of voluntary euthanasia.

23 Sep 1926 – 100 years ago
Birth of André Cassagnes, French inventor, toy maker and kite designer. Best known for inventing the Etch A Sketch. (Died 2013.)

24 Sep 1776 – 250 years ago
The first St Leger Stakes horse race was held at Doncaster Racecourse, UK. The St Leger is the final leg of the English Triple Crown.

25 Sep 1956 – 70 years ago
The first undersea transatlantic telephone cable, TAT-1, went into service. It could carry 36 simultaneous calls (later increased to 48 and then to 72). It was retired in 1978. Earlier cables had only carried telegraph signals.

26 Sep 1986 – 40 years ago
William Rehnquist became Chief Justice of the United States (until his death in 2005).

27 Sep 2001 – 25 years ago
U.S. President George W. Bush announced that the federal government would take over airport security following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He also announced a range of airline security measures including reinforcing cockpit doors, banning passengers from entering the cockpit, and placing air marshals on commercial flights.

28 Sep 1901 – 125 years ago
The American Safety Razor Company was founded by King Camp Gillette. He changed the name to the Gillette Safety Razor Company in July 1902. The company began producing razors and razor blades in 1903.

29 Sep 1901 – 125 years ago
Birth of Enrico Fermi, Italian-born American physicist who created the first nuclear reactor and demonstrated the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Known as the ‘architect of the nuclear age’ and the ‘architect of the nuclear bomb’. He also made important contributions to other fields including quantum theory, particle physics and statistical mechanics. Winner of the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics.

30 Sep 1966 – 60 years ago
Botswana gained its independence from the UK.
Seretse Khama became its first president.

More anniversaries:

You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2026.

The 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.

Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.

How to use the anniversaries:

How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?

Download our free guide Ditch Your Day Job. It tells you everything you need to know!