On this date...

St. Augustine Founding

In 1565, St. Augustine, Florida, becomes first permanent European settlement.

In 1664, Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrenders New Amsterdam, the capital of New Netherland, to an English naval squadron under Colonel Richard Nicolls.

In 1755, Battle of Lake George in the Province of New York: British army defeats French

In 1776, General George Washington asks for a volunteer for an extremely dangerous mission: to gather intelligence behind enemy lines before the coming Battle of Harlem Heights. On September 8, 1776, Captain Nathan Hale of the 19th Regiment of the Continental Army stepped forward and subsequently become one of the first known American spies of the Revolutionary War.

In 1781, American troops commanded by General Nathanael Greene defeated British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Stewart in the Battle of Eutaw Springs during the American Revolution.

In 1860, Excursion steamer "Lady Elgin" sinks after being rammed in a storm on Lake Michigan, drowning about 300, the largest loss of life on the Great Lakes

In 1863, On September 8, 1863, at the Second Battle of Sabine Pass, a small Confederate force thwarts a Federal invasion of Texas at the mouth of the Sabine River on the Texas-Louisiana border.

In 1883, Northern Pacific Railroad's last spike is driven at Independence Creek, Montana

In 1894, Employed by Thomas Edison, William K.L. Dickson films the first boxing match in West Orange, New Jersey, an exhibition between world heavyweight champion James J. Corbett and Peter Courtney

In 1900, a hurricane struck Galveston, destroying a third of the city and leaving nearly 8,000 people dead. It is considered the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

In 1903, The American Federation of Labor granted a charter to the Quarry Workers’ International Union of North America, headquartered in Barre, Vermont.

In 1916, US President Woodrow Wilson signs the Emergency Revenue Act, doubling the rate of income tax and adding inheritance and munitions profits taxes

In 1921,Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., was crowned the first Miss America in Atlantic City, N.J.

In 1923, The Honda Point Disaster occurs when nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast, and seven are lost

In 1930, The American company 3M began marketing a transparent adhesive tape under the trademarked name Scotch tape.

In 1935, Senator Huey Long is shot in the Louisiana state capitol building. He died about 30 hours later.

In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a "limited national emergency" due to the war in Europe

In 1943, On September 8, 1943, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower publicly announces the surrender of Italy to the Allies. Germany reacted with Operation Axis, the Allies with Operation Avalanche.

In 1945, At the end of World War II, the first U.S. troops entered the Korean peninsula south of the 38th parallel to receive the Japanese surrender; north of the parallel, Japanese troops surrendered to Soviet forces.

In 1954, Having been directed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to put together an alliance to contain any communist aggression in the free territories of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, or Southeast Asia in general, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles forges an agreement establishing a military alliance that becomes the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).

In 1957, On September 8, 1957, 30-year-old Althea Gibson becomes the first African American to win the U.S. Open, beating Louise Brough, 6-3, 6-2. Afterward, vice president Richard Nixon presents her with the championship trophy. "Now I have been doubly honored," Gibson says. "I won Wimbledon before Queen Elizabeth II and now I have won here before our vice president."

In 1960, The psychological thriller Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on real-life serial killer Ed Gein, was released in American theatres; it became a classic, especially known for the scene in which Janet Leigh's character is murdered in the shower.

In 1960, American sprinter Wilma Rudolph wins her third gold medal of the Rome Olympics, anchoring the US 4 x 100 m relay team; she earlier won the 100/200 m double

In 1964, public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia, reopened after being closed for five years by officials attempting to prevent court-ordered racial desegregation.

In 1965, September 8, 1965 marks the beginning of one of the most important strikes (Delano Strike) in American history. As over 2,000 Filipino-American farm workers refused to go to work picking grapes in the valley north of Bakersfield, California, they set into motion a chain of events that would extend over the next five years.

In 1966, The first episode of the sci-fi series Star Trek aired on American television.

In 1974, Richard Nixon, who had resigned the U.S. presidency on August 8, 1974, was pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford.

In 1974, American motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel attempts to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho but fails, escaping with minor injuries

In 1998, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals broke Roger Maris's 1961 record for most home runs in a regular professional baseball season by hitting his 62nd of the season (he finished the season with 70 home runs).

In 2001, First Lady Laura Bush and Librarian of Congress James Billington opened the first National Book Festival in a brief public ceremony on the Neptune Plaza of the Library of Congress.

In 2002 Pete Sampras won a record 14th grand slam tennis title at the U.S. Open in New York. (The record has since been broken by Roger Federer.)

In 2006, A Senate report faulted intelligence gathering in the lead-up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

In 2016, California and federal regulators fined Wells Fargo a combined $185 million, alleging the bank’s employees illegally opened millions of unauthorized accounts for their customers in order to meet aggressive sales goals.