TODAY IN HISTORY - SEPTEMBER 13TH

1501 – Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David.

1609 – Henry Hudson reaches the river that would later be named after him – the Hudson River.

1766 – Samuel Wilson, American meat-packer, namesake of Uncle Sam (d. 1854) is born.

1788 – The Philadelphia Convention sets the date for the first presidential election in the United States, and New York City becomes the country's temporary capital.

1814 – In a turning point in the War of 1812, the British fail to capture Baltimore. During the battle, Francis Scott Key composes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", which is later set to music and becomes the United States' national anthem.

1848 – Vermont railroad worker Phineas Gage survives an iron rod 1 ¹⁄₄ inches (3.2 cm) in diameter being driven through his brain; the reported effects on his behavior and personality stimulate thinking about the nature of the brain and its functions.

1857 – Milton S. Hershey, American businessman, founded The Hershey Company (d. 1945) is born.

1898 – Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film.

1899 – Henry Bliss is the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident.

1935 – Rockslide near Whirlpool Rapids Bridge ends the International Railway (New York–Ontario).

1948 – Margaret Chase Smith is elected United States senator, and becomes the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

1956 – The IBM 305 RAMAC is introduced, the first commercial computer to use disk storage.

1996 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper, producer, and actor (b. 1971) dies.

1998 – George Wallace, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 45th Governor of Alabama (b. 1919) dies.

2001 – Civilian aircraft traffic resumes in the United States after the September 11 attacks.

2004 – Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist, co-invented the birth-control pill (b. 1925) dies.

2008 – Hurricane Ike makes landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast of the United States, causing heavy damage to Galveston Island, Houston and surrounding areas.

2015 – Moses Malone, American basketball player and sportscaster (b. 1955)