Moments in Time – September 13, 2023

#MiddleburyCT

• On Sept. 25, 1890, Sequoia National Park in central California, famed for some of the tallest and largest trees in the world, was established by the U.S. Congress as the country’s second national park. It receives more than 1 million visitors per year.
• On Sept. 26, 1738, Scottish philosopher David Hume signed a contract to publish the first two volumes of “A Treatise of Human Nature,” widely considered to be his most important work and one of the most influential in the history of philosophy.
• On Sept. 27, 1927, “Father of the Blues” William Christopher “W.C.” Handy, a skilled band leader from Northern Alabama, self-published “Memphis Blues,” considered the first blues song and described by Handy as “A Southern Rag.”
• On Sept. 28, 1978, Pope John Paul I died of a heart attack at age 65, just 33 days after being elected pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, making his reign one of the shortest in papal history. Discrepancies in the Vatican’s account of his death also led to a number of conspiracy theories about it.
• On Sept. 29, 1997, a number of American servicemen got themselves arrested in Turkey due to their salty vocabulary, namely, shouting profanities during an argument with locals at a bar despite the country’s ban on cussing in public places. The soldiers were released with just a warning.
• On Sept. 30, 2005, a United National health expert responsible for coordinating the response to the recent southeast Asian bird flu outbreak, or avian influenza, warned that it could kill up to 150 million people. Since 2003, the illness has killed both large numbers of birds and more than 60 humans in Asia.
• On Oct. 1, 2013, the U.S. government ceased all nonessential operations when Congress failed to reach a deal on the national budget, resulting in the closure of museums and national parks, and leaving hundreds of thousands of workers stalled at home. The shutdown ended shortly after midnight on Oct. 17.

© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.