September 1

September 1 is the 245th day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1774 to 2008 — a span of 234 years. The entry that anchors it: American Civil War, 1862.

The colonial record reaches this date first. In 1774, Massachusetts Bay colonists rise up in the bloodless Powder Alarm.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the date carries heavier freight. In 1862, American Civil War — Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson inflict heavy casualties in the Battle of Chantilly during the Union withdrawal from the Northern Virginia campaign. Two years on, in 1864, American Civil War — the Battle of Jonesborough, alongside the overall Atlanta campaign, culminates in a Union victory for General William T. Sherman as Confederate General John Bell Hood orders the evacuation of Atlanta.

In the postwar nineteenth century the date tracks a nation rebuilding. In 1897, the Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America.

In the first half of the twentieth century the date turns technological. In 1911, construction began on the Saline Valley salt tram, which during its operation was the steepest tram in the United States.

The postwar entries show a nation both expanding and contesting itself. In 1961, TWA Flight 529 crashed shortly after takeoff from Midway Airport in Chicago, killing all 78 people on board. At the time, it was the deadliest single plane disaster in U.S. history. Then, in 1982, the United States Air Force Space Command is founded.

Closer to the present, the date is still accumulating. In 2008, Iraq War — the United States Armed Forces transfers control of Anbar Province to the Iraqi Armed Forces.

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on September 1: James Gordon Bennett Sr. (1795), American publisher, founded the New York Herald; Jim O'Rourke (1850), American baseball player and manager; John Clum (1851), American journalist and agent; James J. Corbett (1866), American boxer; and Frank Elbridge Webb (1869), American engineer and presidential candidate.

September 1 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: William Clark (1838), American soldier, explorer, and politician, 4th Governor of Missouri Territory; Frederick Russell Burnham (1947), American soldier and adventurer; Drew Pearson (1969), American journalist and author; and Ethel Waters (1977), American singer and actress.

8 entries, 234 years, one square on the calendar. September 1 is a reminder that history is experienced as an ordinary day before it is remembered as a date.