September 15

Today in History
• 1683 - Germantown in Pennsylvania is founded by 13 immigrant families
• 1789 - US Department of Foreign Affairs, renamed Department of State
• 1830 - First National Negro Convention begins in Philadelphia
• 1831 - The locomotive "John Bull" operates for the first time in New Jersey
• 1851 - Saint Joseph's University is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 1853 - Antoinette Blackwell is the first US woman to be ordained a minister
• 1857 - Timothy Alder of NY patents a typesetting machine
• 1916 - First use of tanks in warfare, "Little Willies" at Battle of Flers-Courcelette


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Costa Rica Independence Day
• El Salvador Independence Day
• Greenpeace Day
• Guatemala Independence Day
• Honduras Independence Day
• Martyrdom of Imam Reza
• National Africa Civility Day
• Rosh Hashanah

Birthdays
• 1254 - Marco Polo, Italian explorer (Il Milione)
• 1505 - Maria, Queen of Hungary
• 1533 - Catherine of Austria, Queen of Poland
• 1789 - James Fenimore Cooper, 1st major American novelist
• 1830 - José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori, President of Mexico (1877-1911)
• 1852 - Edward Bouchet, American physicist, 1st African American to receive US Ph.D
• 1852 - Jan Matzeliger, Surinamese-Dutch inventor (shoe lacing machine)
• 1857 - William Howard Taft, 27th US President (Republican: 1909-13)