After the death of Constantine the Great on September 9, 337, the Roman Empire was divided among his three sons: Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans. This division marked the beginning of increased instability and internal conflict, contributing to the eventual decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire.
337 – Division of the Roman Empire
On September 9, 1583, the English ship Squirrel sank off the coast of the Azores, taking with it explorer Sir Humphrey Gilbert, founder of Newfoundland. Gilbert had been leading a colonial expedition to North America when his ship was lost in a storm, cutting short his attempts to establish English colonies.
1583 – Sinking of the English Ship Squirrel Off the Azores
On September 9, 1739, enslaved Africans in South Carolina led the Stono Rebellion, one of the largest slave uprisings in the Thirteen Colonies. The rebels sought freedom in Spanish Florida but were intercepted and defeated. The rebellion resulted in stricter slave laws and harsher control over enslaved populations in the South.
1739 – Stono Rebellion
On September 9, 1791, the U.S. capital was officially named Washington, D.C., in honor of George Washington. The city, located along the Potomac River, was selected as the seat of the federal government to maintain a neutral, centrally located hub of political power separate from the existing states.
1791 – Washington, D.C. Named the U.S. Capital
California was admitted as the 31st state in the United States on September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850. Its admission as a free state helped to balance the interests of free and slave states in the U.S. Congress, shaping the political landscape ahead of the Civil War.
