September 17: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Norway became the first country in the world where electric cars outnumbered petrol cars.

Out of the 2.8 million private vehicles registered in Norway, 753,905 ran on petrol while 754,303 were electric. More impressively, electric cars made up 94.3% of all new cars registered in Norway in August 2024.

During the Senate climate crisis task force, climate change activity Greta Thunberg said, “You’re not trying hard enough. Sorry.”

Thunberg's speech was met with laughter and a round of applause to which the leader of the Senate task force, Ed Markey, vowed: "We hear you. We hear what you're saying, and we will redouble our efforts."

The New York Stock Exchange reopened for trading after the September 11 attacks.

It was the longest the New York Stock Exchange had been closed since the Great Depression.

Linus Torvalds released the first version of the Linux operating system kernel for free on the Internet.

Miss America crowned Vanessa Williams, the first black winner, in New York City.

NASA unveiled its first space shuttle, the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

Unlike later Space Shuttles, Enterprise had no engine or heat shield and was never designed for spaceflight. Instead, it was launched into Earth's atmosphere by a Boeing 747 airplane to perform atmospheric tests.

Conjoined twins were successfully separated for the first time.

The two girls, Carolyn and Catherine, were joined by the spine. They both went on to live full, healthy lives.

Finnish long-distance runner Taisto Mäki broke the 10,000-meter world record in 29:52:06.

Inventor Phillip W Pratt obtained the patent for his sprinkler system designed to extinguish fires.

The fourth great fire of San Francisco happened, destroying a considerable portion of the city.

Within the first year of settlers building up San Francisco, it experienced multiple fires that caused considerable damage. The wooden structures and fierce winds made the fires spread rapidly. Despite the destruction, settlers continued to rebuild, and many fires occurred in the coming years.

German-British astronomer William Herschel discovered the moon of Saturn, “Mimas.”

39 out of 50 delegates signed the US Constitution and shared it publicly.

Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek declared his discovery of microorganisms to the Royal Society in London.

Although Leeuwenhoek never made an official publication of his findings, he was the first to discover microorganisms and bacteria's existence.

The Dutch expedition captained by Admiral Van Warwyck first sighted Mauritius.

King Charles VI of France suddenly declared that no Jew may live under his rule, following complaints from Christians in France.

Jews could reside under the king's rule if they followed his rules. However, there were many complaints of crimes being committed against Christians. So, from this day on, Charles VI made it law that no Jew could live on his land.