Historical Events
Spring Temple Buddha Completed
Sep 1 Spring Temple Buddha statue of Vairocana Buddha, then the world's tallest statue at 128 meters (420 ft), completed in Zhaocun township, Henan, China
The Hurt Locker
Sep 4 "The Hurt Locker" directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Jeremy Renner premieres at the Venice Film Festival (Best Picture 2010)
- Sep 6 Beaux Arts Trio (Menahem Pressler, piano; Daniel Hope, violin; Antonio Meneses, cello) performs final concert after 53 years, in Lucerne, Switzerland
US Open Women's Tennis
Sep 6 US Open Women's Tennis: Serena Williams wins her third US title; beats Jelena Janković of Serbia 6-4, 7-5
Video Music Awards
Sep 7 25th MTV Video Music Awards: Britney Spears & Chris Brown win
Rent
Sep 7 Jonathan Larson's rock musical "Rent", loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera "La Bohème", starring Taye Diggs, closes at the Nederlander Theatre, NYC, after 5,123 performances, winning 4 Tony Awards, 7 Drama Desk Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
- Sep 7 US Government takes control of the two largest mortgage financing companies in the US, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
- Sep 8 Latvia joins its northern neighbor Estonia in recession as GDP falls 0.2% in the second quarter from the first quarter, when it fell 0.3%; property markets and construction have suffered in both Baltic states
The Rachel Maddow Show
Sep 8 TV news show "The Rachel Maddow Show" hosted by Rachel Maddow" and based on her radio show premieres on MSNBC
US Men's Tennis Open
Sep 8 US Open Men's Tennis: Roger Federer beats Scotsman Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 for his 5th consecutive US title
- Sep 10 The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in the history of mankind is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland
- Sep 11 Chris Sharma redpoints Jumbo Love at Clark Mountain, California, the world's first-ever consensus 9b (5.15b) route
Toronto Film Festival
Sep 13 33rd Toronto International Film Festival: "Slumdog Millionaire" directed by Danny Boyle wins the People's Choice Award
- Sep 13 Hurricane Ike makes landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast of the United States, causing heavy damage to Galveston Island, Houston and surrounding areas.
Sports History
Sep 13 New Zealand beats Australia, 28-24 in Brisbane to clinch their 4th straight Tri Nations Rugby Series; flyhalf Dan Carter scores a try and lands 4 conversions for the All Blacks
Sports History
Sep 19 Greg Maddux pitches his 5,000th career inning against the San Francisco Giants
Sports History
Sep 19 Thierry Henry scores his first goal for Barcelona in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon
Farm Aid Concert
Sep 20 Farm Aid 21 held in Mansfield, Massachusetts; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kenny Chesney, The Pretenders, moe., Arlo Guthrie, Steve Earle, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Jakob Dylan and The Gold Mountain Rebels [1]
Emmy Awards
Sep 21 60th Emmy Awards: Mad Men, 30 Rock, Bryan Cranston & Glenn Close win
- Sep 21 Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the two last remaining independent investment banks on Wall Street, become bank holding companies as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Event of Interest
Sep 21 President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa resigns from office, effective September 25
- Sep 21 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel formally resigns from office, effective as soon as his successor Tzipi Livni has successfully assembled a new government.
- Sep 21 Ryder Cup Golf, Valhalla GC: US lead from start to finish to win 16½-11½ and regain Cup after 3 consecutive European victories
- Sep 21 The final home game is played at Yankee Stadium against the Baltimore Orioles.
- Sep 25 China launches the spacecraft Shenzhou 7.
- Sep 25 The "Celtic Tiger" slides into recession for the first time in over two decades, recording a 0.5% fall in second quarter GDP, following a 0.3% decline in the first quarter
- Sep 26 Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel.
- Sep 27 CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on Shenzhou 7.
- Sep 27 Greg Maddux wins his final start of his career (#355)
- Sep 28 MLB Boston Red Sox retire Johnny Pesky's jersey (number 6)
- Sep 28 The last game played at Shea Stadium before its demolition happens between baseball teams The New York Mets and the Florida Marlins, the Marlins win 4-2
- Sep 29 Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, its largest single-day point loss, following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual
Famous Birthdays
- Sep 29 Emma Tallulah Behn, Norwegian royal family member, daughter of Princess Marta Luisa
Famous Weddings
George Takei
Sep 14 Actor George Takei (68) weds Brad Altman at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles
- Sep 19 NBC's The Biggest Loser contestant Matt Hoover (30) weds Suzy Preston (30) at the Grand Lido Negril resort in Jamaica
- Sep 22 TV personality and glamour model Kendra Wilkinson (24) weds Philadelphia Eagles NFL player Hank Baskett (26) at Playboy mansion in Los Angeles, California
- Sep 27 "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" actress Kaitlin Olson (33) weds actor Rob McElhenney (31) at the Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, California
Scarlett Johansson & Ryan Reynolds
Sep 27 American actress and singer Scarlett Johansson (23) weds Canadian film actor Ryan Reynolds (31) at Clayoquot Wilderness Retreat in Tofino, British Columbia; divorce in 2011
- Sep 28 American tennis player Mardy Fish (26) weds "Deal or No Deal" model Stacey Gardner at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, California
Famous Deaths
- Sep 1 Don LaFontaine, American voice actor (b. 1940)
- Sep 2 Bill Meléndez, American character animator (b. 1916)
- Sep 2 Denis Rooke, British engineer and CEO (British Gas), dies at 84
- Sep 3 Donald Blakeslee, American aviator who led 4th Fighter Group during World War II, dies at 90
- Sep 3 Matthew Peaceman, American oboist, conductor, composer (Abyss/Scorched Earth), and teacher, dies of cancer at 56
- Sep 6 Anita Page, American silent screen actress (Our Dancing Daughters), dies at 98
- Sep 6 Sören Nordin, Swedish harness racing driver and trainer (b. 1917)
- Sep 7 Don Haskins, American College Basketball Hall of Fame coach (Texas El Paso 1961-99; NCAA Tournament 1966), dies at 78
- Sep 7 Ilarion Ciobanu, Romanian actor (Ultimul cartus), dies at 76
- Sep 7 Miljenko "Dino" Dvornik, Croatian singer known as "the Croatian King of Funk", dies of an overdose at 44
- Sep 7 Nagi Noda, Japanese pop artist and director, dies after surgery at 34
- Sep 7 Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, American R&B and soul pianist, bandleader, songwriter, and record producer, dies of congestive heart failure at 69
- Sep 8 Evan Tanner, American mixed martial arts fighter and UFC Champion, dies of heat exposure in the California desert at 37
- Sep 9 Warith Deen Muhammad, American Muslim leader and theologian (American Society of Muslims), dies at 74
- Sep 12 Bob Quinn, Australian Football Hall of Fame rover (All Australian captain 1947; SA captain 1945-47; Magarey Medal 1938, 45; Port Adelaide FC), dies at 93
- Sep 12 David Foster Wallace, American author and essayist (b. 1962)
- Sep 14 Domagoj Kapeć, Croatian hockeyplayer (b. 1989)
- Sep 14 Ştefan Iordache, Romanian actor (b. 1941)
- Sep 15 Richard Wright, British progressive rock keyboardist, arranger, composer, and occasional vocalist (Pink Floyd - "Time"; "Echoes"; "The Art Of Conversation"), dies of cancer at 65
- Sep 16 Norman Whitfield, American songwriter and producer for Motown ("I Heard It Through the Grapevine"), dies at 68
- Sep 18 Humberto Solás, Cuban film director and writer (Lucia), dies at 66
- Sep 19 Alois Pinos, Czech composer, dies at 82
- Sep 19 David Jones, English director (Betrayal), dies at 74
- Sep 19 Earl Palmer, American session drummer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (The Wrecking Crew), dies at 83
- Sep 22 Connie Haines [Yvonne Jasme], American pop and big-band singer (Harry James; Abbott and Costello Show; Tommy Dorsey), dies of myasthenia gravis at 87 [1]
- Sep 22 Thomas Doerflein, German Zookeeper (b. 1963)
- Sep 23 Peter Leonard, Australian journalist and newsreader, dies of cancer at 66
- Sep 24 Bengt Anderberg, Swedish poet and writer (Kain), dies at 88
- Sep 24 Irene Dailey, American actress (Another World, Grissom Gang), dies of colon cancer at 88
- Sep 24 Mickey Vernon, American baseball first baseman (7 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1960; AL batting champion 1946, 53), dies at 90
- Sep 24 Vinko "Vice" Vukov, Croatian singer (Eurovision Song Contest 1963 & 1965), dies from head injury at 72
Paul Newman (1925-2008)
Sep 26 American actor (Hud, Hombre, Hustler), auto racer and team owner (Newman/Haas Racing) and charity food company founder (Newman's Own), dies of lung cancer at 83
- Sep 27 Mahendra Kapoor, Indian playback singer, dies at 74
- Sep 28 Andrzej Badeński, Polish athlete (400 metres)
- Sep 29 Hayden Carruth, American poet (The Crow and the Heart), dies at 87
- Sep 29 Relus ter Beek, Dutch Labour Party politician (House of Representatives, 1971-89; Minister of Defense, 1989-94; Queen's Commissioner of Drenthe, 1995-2008), dies of lung cancer at 64
- Sep 30 Christa Reinig, German poet and writer (Idleness is the Root of All Love, The Tightrope Walker), dies at 82
- Sep 30 Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, Singaporean opposition leader and former Secretary-General of Singapore's Worker's Party, dies at 82
