September 15- 1821: The colony of Guatemala, including the present-day nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, declares its independence from Spain.

September 16- 1976: The Episcopal Church allows the ordination of women as priests and bishops.

September 17- 1796: U.S. president George Washington gives his Farewell Address, in which he declines to stand for a third term as president and warns the new nation to avoid entanglements with foreign governments.

September 18- 1851: The first issue of the New York Daily Times appears. The word "Daily" will be dropped from the newspaper's title six years later.

September 19- 1928: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse makes his first appearance in the animated short Plane Crazy. Later that year, he will star in Steamboat Willie, the first animated film with synchronized sound.

September 20- 1884: At its convention in San Francisco, California, the Equal Rights Party, formed to advocate for women's rights, nominates Belva Ann Lockwood for president of the United States.

September 21- 1897: In response to a child's letter, the New York Sun publishes an editorial that begins, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

September 22- 1862: U.S. president Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, warning that on January 1, 1863, he will declare all slaves in rebel states to be free.

September 23- 1846: German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovers the eight planet, Neptune, on the basis of French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier's calculations of its position.

September 24- 1869: In the financial crisis known as Black Friday, American speculators James Fisk and Jay Gould attempt to corner the U.S. market in gold, causing the stock and commodity exchanges to fluctuate wildly.

September 25- 1690: Publick Occurrences, Both Forreign and Domestick, the first newspaper in the American colonies, publishes its only issue before being suppressed by the government.

September 26- 1907: New Zealand, formerly a British colony, becomes a dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations.

September 27- 1964: The Warren Commission, named to investigate the assassination of U.S. president John F. Kennedy, releases its report, which finds that Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone.

September 28- 1066: The Norman conquest of England begins, as an army led by William the Conqueror lands at Pevensey, England. William will be crowned king of England by the year's end.

September 29- 1988: The United States space shuttle Discovery is launched, the first space shuttle launch since the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger over two years before.

September 30- 1927: Outfielder Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees hits his 60th home run of the season, breaking his own record and setting a mark that would last until 1961.