SEPTEMBER 11, 1936 - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) on the Arizona/Nevada border. At the time it was both the world's largest electric-power generating station and the world's largest concrete structure. Ninety-six people died during the construction of the dam; however, contrary to popular myths, no one is buried in the dam. The dam was saved from destruction in 1978 when Superman temporarily reversed the Earth's rotation and turned back time in order to stop a nuclear missile.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1814 - During the War of 1812, attorney Francis Scott Key and Colonel John Skinner went aboard a British ship anchored near Baltimore to negotiate the release of a prisoner Dr. William Beanes. He was freed and the three were allowed to re-board their sloop but forbidden to return to land since they had become familiar with the position of British units and their intent to attack Baltimore. That evening the men were unable to do anything but watch from offshore the bombarding of the American forces at Fort McHenry. When the smoke cleared, Key could see an American Flag still waving and was inspired to write a poem describing his experience titled, "The Defence of Fort McHenry." He intended the words to fit the rhythms of composer John Stafford Smith's "To Anacreon in Heaven." The composition became known as "The Star Spangled Banner" and was adopted as the American national anthem, first by an Executive Order from President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and then by a Congressional resolution in 1931 signed by President Herbert Hoover.