Hollow Leg History | What Happened on This Date, September 17?

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1394

Charles VI suddenly published an ordinance in which he declared, in substance, that for a long time he had been taking note of the many complaints provoked by the excesses and misdemeanors which the Jews committed against Christians; and that the prosecutors, having made several investigations, had discovered many violations by the Jews of the agreement they had made with him. Therefore, he decreed as an irrevocable law and statute that thenceforth no Jew should dwell in his domains. According to the Religieux de St. Denis, the king signed this decree at the insistence of the queen, Isabeau of Bavaria.

1787

Following a speech by Benjamin Franklin, The Constitution of the United States of America is signed by 38 of 41 delegates present at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The day will later be observed as I Am an American Day, which will be renamed to Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. Today, the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution in operation in the world.

1859

San Franciscan Joshua A. Norton, frustrated by government bureaucracy, declares himself, 'Norton I, Emperor of the United States.' His edicts, including the abolition of the US Congress, endear him to many of his fellow residents, who encourage his delusions of grandeur. Norton had no official political power; nevertheless, he was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments that he frequented. His "reign" would last for 21 years.

1868

Major George A. Forsyth and a volunteer force of 50 frontiersmen in Colorado come under a surprise attack by a large band of Cheyenne and Sioux natives.

Retreating to a small sandbar in the Arikaree River that thereafter became known as Beecher’s Island, Forsyth and his men succeeded in repulsing three massed Indian charges. Thanks to the rapid fire capability of their seven-shot Spencer rifles, Forsyth’s volunteers were able to kill or wound many of the Indian attackers, including the war chief Roman Nose. But as evening came and the fighting temporarily halted, Forsyth found he had 22 men either dead or wounded, and he estimated the survivors were surrounded by a force of 600 Indians. The men faced certain annihilation unless they could somehow bring help. Two men-Jack Stilwell and Pierre Trudeau-volunteered to attempt a daring escape through the Indian lines and silently melted into the night.

The battle raged for five more days. Forsyth’s effective fighting force was reduced to ten men before the Indians finally withdrew, perhaps reasoning that they had inflicted enough damage.

1939

With the German army already attacking western Poland, the Soviet Union launches an invasion of eastern Poland. Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov declares that the Polish government has ceased to exist, as the U.S.S.R. exercises the “fine print” of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact—the invasion and occupation of eastern Poland. The “reason” given was that Russia had to come to the aid of its “blood brothers,” the Ukrainians and Byelorussians, who were trapped in territory that had been illegally annexed by Poland. Now Poland was squeezed from West and East—trapped between two behemoths. Its forces overwhelmed by the modern German army, Poland had nothing left with which to fight the Soviets. The Soviet Union would wind up with about three-fifths of Poland and 13 million of its people as a result of the invasion.