THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

Throughout the centuries, a lot of important and interesting events happened in this week: 8 September – 14 September. I really would not know if it is just by random coincidence or by supernatural design, but the fact of the matter is, this week has witnessed some great things throughout the ages.

If you were born on the 10^th of September, then you my friend, share a birthday with royalty. Louis IV – king of France AD936-54 was born on this day as well as Maria Theresa of Spain, El Escorial, Spain, queen of Louis XIV of France, 1683. Other famous people include Kate Burton, Colin Firth, Karl Lagerfield and Ryan Phillippe.

On the 11^th of September in 2001, the World watched in horror as four commercial airliners were simultaneously hijacked in U.S. airspace and diverted. Two were flown directly into the upper storeys of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York, causing their sudden collapse. A third was flown into the Pentagon in Washington, nerve center of the U.S. military; while the fourth was brought down before reaching its presumed target - the White House or Congress. If this was not the century’s saddest and shocking happening I really do not know what is. Conspiracy theories have since been made, some of them extremely convincing – but the fact remains, thousands died and countless more’s lives were forever changed.

This Friday is going to be the 68^th time since 1978 that the world has had a Friday the 13^th. The fear of this day has been called friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named in English and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen). The reasons and true origins of why this day is associated with such superstition are unclear, although many believe the number 13 has been unlucky since the Last Supper of Christ. Regardless however, of its clouded origins, the superstitions surrounding Friday the 13^th are so strong that it has even seen most skyscrapers not including a 13^th floor.

0n the 14^th of September in 81 – Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. In 1752 – The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2). 1901 – President of the United States William McKinley dies after an assassination attempt on September 6, and is succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt. And in 1959 The Soviet space probe Luna 2 becomes the first man-made object to reach the Moon when it crashed onto the lunar surface.