What Happened on September 12

Historical Events

1908 – Canada appoints a Civil Service Commission, initiating a more equitable system for selecting civil servants
1935 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Wilmer Allison beats Sidney Wood 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 for his lone major singles title
1953 – Brooklyn Dodgers clinch NL pennant earlier than any other team, defeating Milwaukee Braves 5-2. Brooklyn finishes season with record of 105-49.
1956 – Black students enter and are barred from Clay Ky elementary school
2005 – Hong Kong Disneyland opens in Penny’s Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.
2009 – US Open Women’s Tennis: Belgian Kim Clijsters becomes first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament; beats Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-5, 6-3

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Famous Birthdays

1855 – Jacobus of Looy, Dutch writer and painter (Death of My Cat), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1930)
1901 – Ernst Pepping, German composer, born in Duisburg, Germany (d. 1981)
1944 – Ron Ward, Canadian ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs), born in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
1946 – Tony “T-Bone” Bellamy, American rock guitarist (Redbone), born in Las Vegas, Nevada (d. 2009)
1962 – Amy Yasbeck, American actress (Casey Davenport-Wings, Mask), born in Blue Ash, Ohio
1996 – Colin Ford, American actor (Under the Dome; We Bought a Zoo), born in Nashville, Tennessee

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Famous Deaths

1732 – Jean Philippe Eugène de Mérode, Belgian marquis of Westerloo, dies at 58
1947 – Harry Rowe Shelley, American hymn composer, dies at 89
1953 – Hugo Schmeisser, German inventor and weapons designer, dies at 68
2004 – John Buller, British composer, dies at 77
2008 – David Foster Wallace, American author and essayist (b. 1962)
2017 – Edith Windsor [née Schlain], American LGBT rights activist (lead plaintiff in United States v. Windsor), dies at 88

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