Happy September 1st!

• Neighborhoods and News
• September 1, 2017

It’s another day and another month. It’s already September, specifically the 244^th day of the year out of 365. There’s only 60 days until Halloween, 83 days until Thanksgiving, 115 days until Christmas, and 122 days until the New Year!

For this fun, Labor Day weekend, let’s kick it off with some fun facts about September!

Birthstone

Sapphire – Typically blue, this gemstone has a “fancy” side that can be yellow, purple, orange, and green colors. “Parti sapphires” can show two or more colors. Did you know that the necklace from the movie The Titanic was modeled after the Hope Diamond? Unfortunately, in The Titanic it is depicted as a deep, blue sapphire stone but the Hope Diamond is in fact a diamond.

Flower

Aster – The aster comes in about four different colors: purple, white, red, and pink. The purple symbolizes wisdom and royalty, also the most popular color. White asters symbolize purity, innocence, and new beginnings. Red and pink asters symbolize undying devotion.

National Potato Month

September has been dubbed the month of potatoes! There are so many different forms of potatoes: French fries, chips, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, twice baked potatoes, mashed potatoes.

First Autumn/Fall Month

Later this month marks the first day of fall. As we head into September, people witness the leaves changing, the temperature dropping, and maybe some Halloween decoration already out in store (and for the more dramatic, Christmas decorations).

Famous Dates

Many famous yet forgotten events happened on September 1st throughout history. Here are some of the more notable:

1715 – King Louis XIV of France dies after a 72-year reign, the longest of any major European monarch.

1752 – The Liberty Bell arrives in Philadelphia.

1838 – William Clark, one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806, dies at the age of 68.

1923 – The famous Rocky Marciano is born.

1939 – WWII starts as Germany invades Poland.

1945 – Ironically, the U.S. date as the end of WWII when Japan formally surrenders aboard the USS Missouri (September 2^nd for Japan).

1962 – The UN announces Earth’s population hits 3 billion.