On This Day, September 1: The Netherlands Became the First Country to Sell Marijuana Legally, Louis XIV Died

September 1 has marked turning points in religion, politics, war and culture across centuries. The chronology begins with the death of Pope Adrian IV in 1159, the only Englishman elected leader of the Catholic Church.

It includes the death of French King Louis XIV in 1715, the birth of Hiram Rhodes Revels in 1822 as the first Black member of the U.S. Congress, and the 1870 Battle of Sedan, where Prussian forces defeated Napoleon III’s troops and brought down France’s Second Empire.

The list also records Britain’s annexation of the South African Republic in 1900, Bulgaria’s declaration of war on Romania in 1916, and the 1923 earthquake that devastated Yokohama and nearly destroyed Tokyo, killing at least 142,000 people and leaving 2.5 million homeless.

September 1, 1939, stands out as the date Germany invaded Poland without declaring war, beginning World War II. Later milestones include the establishment of Vojvodina and Kosovo-Metohija as administrative areas within Serbia in 1945, the first Non-Aligned Movement summit in Belgrade in 1961, and the 1969 coup led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi that overthrew Libya’s King Idris.