After more than two months at sea, Christopher Columbus reached what he believed was the edge of East Asia on October 12, 1492. In reality, he had arrived in the islands of the Caribbean, but at the time he thought he had discovered a new route to the riches of India and China. The voyage marked the beginning of sustained European exploration and colonization in the Americas, changing the course of world history.
On October 7, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union and United Kingdom. Though it didn’t ban nuclear weapons entirely, the treaty forbid testing in the atmosphere, in space, and underwater.
After more than a decade of brutal fighting and over 20,000 casualties, Mexico officially gained its independence from Spain on September 27, 1821. This moment marked the end of three centuries of Spanish rule. The road to independence, however, was long, complicated, and filled with both triumphs and setbacks.
On September 8, 1954, eight nations signed the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, creating the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). The treaty’s main purpose was to create a collective defense system, so that if one member was attacked, the others would come to its aid.
After more than eight years of fighting, the American Revolutionary War came to an end on September 3, 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
On September 1, 1853, the Cape of Good Hope, a British colony at the southern tip of Africa, issued the world’s first triangle stamps. These were also the first adhesive postage stamps issued in Africa.
On August 27, 1959, the third Pan-American Games officially opened in Chicago, Illinois. These were the first Pan-Am Games held in the United States.
On August 16, 1858, the first message was sent via the transatlantic cable. The message read, “Europe and America are united by telegraphy. Glory to God in the highest; on earth, peace and good will towards men.”
On August 15, 1824, Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, returned to the United States for the first time in nearly forty years. Now sixty-seven years old, Lafayette was the last surviving major general of the Revolutionary War.