September 14, 1901 – President William McKinley assassinated
Eight days after being shot, President William McKinley died from wounds suffered during an assassination attempt in Buffalo, New York. He was succeeded by President Theodore Roosevelt. Three other U.S. Presidents were assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln, 1865, James Garfield, 1881, and John F. Kennedy, 1963.
Learn more about presidential assassinations:
Adults:
- Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America by Jared Cohen
- The Lincoln Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill America’s 16th President—and Why it Failed by Brad Meltzer
- President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier by C.W. Goodyear
- Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service by Carol Leonnig
Children:
- Ambushed!: The Assassination Plot Against James Garfield by Gail Jarrow
- Close Calls: How Eleven US Presidents Escaped from the Brink of Death by Michael P. Spradlin
Learn more about American presidents:
Adults:
- Exploring the American Presidency Through 50 Historic Treasures by Kimberly A. Kenney
- The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency by John Dickerson
- The Presidents: Noted Historians Rank America’s Best--and Worst--Chief Executives by Brian Lamb
Children:
- The Next President: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unwritten Future of America’s Presidents by Kate Messner
- Our Country’s Presidents: A Complete Encyclopedia of the U.S. Presidency by Ann Bausum
- Scholastic Book of Presidents 2020 by George Sullivan
- U.S. Presidents (Weird But True series) by Brianna DuMont
September 16, 1908 – General Motors founded
General Motors was founded by William “Billy” Crapo Durant. Previously, Durant made his fortune making horse-drawn carriages in Flint, Michigan. Originally intended as a holding company, Durant brought together Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oakland (later known as Pontiac), and others. General Motors would go on to dominate the automobile industry for decades. (photo of William Durant from the Library of Congress and the GM logo from Flickr)
Learn more about the auto industry:
Adults:
- Billy, Alfred, and General Motors: The Story of Two Unique Men, A Legendary Company, and a Remarkable Time in American History by William Pelfrey
- Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein
- Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century by Tim Higgins
- The Sack of Detroit: General Motors and the End of American Enterprise by Kenneth Whyte
Children:
- Automobile by Mary Elizabeth Salzmann
- Eat My Dust!: Henry Ford’s First Race by Monica Kulling
Learn more about the history of cars:
Adults:
- The Car: The Rise and Fall of the Machine that Made the Modern World by Bryan Appleyard
- Drive: The Definitive History of Driving by DK Publishing
- Drive! : Henry Ford, George Selden, and the Race to Invent the Auto Age by Lawrence Goldstone
- Return to Glory: The Story of Ford’s Revival and Victory at the Toughest Race in the World by Matthew Debord
Children:
- Alice Across America: The Story of the First Women’s Cross-Country Road Trip by Sarah Glenn Marsh
- Cars: Engines that Move You by Dan Zettwoch
- The First Cars by Roberta Baxter
- Professor Wooford McPaw’s History of Cars by Elliot Kruszynski
September 20, 1973 – Battle of the Sexes: Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs
In the Houston Astrodome, this highly publicized tennis match brought together the top women’s player and a former male tennis champion. Bobby Riggs was a self-proclaimed chauvinist and had been critical of women’s tennis. Riggs, aged 55, claimed he could beat any female player because they were inferior and couldn’t handle the stress. Billie Jean King, aged 29, also a women’s rights activist, beat Riggs in three straight sets. (photos from the Library of Congress, the Associated Press, and Flickr)
Learn more about Billie Jean King:
Adults:
- All In: An Autobiography by Billie Jean King
Children:
- I am Billie Jean King by Brad Meltzer
- A Win for Women: Billie Jean King Takes Down Bobby Riggs by Brandon Terrell
Learn more about women in sports:
Adults:
- In a League of Her Own: Celebrating Female Firsts in Sports by Bonnie-Jill Laflin
- Money, Power, Respect: How Women in Sports are Shaping the Future of Feminism by Macaeia MacKenzie
- Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America by Julie DiCaro
- When Women Stood: The Untold History of Females Who Changed Sports and the World by Alexandra Allred
Children:
- Rebel Girls Champions: 25 Tales of Unstoppable Athletes by Francesca Cavallo
- 25 Women Who Dared to Compete by Rebecca Stanborough
- We Got Game!: 35 Female Athletes Who Changed the World by Aileen Weintraub
- Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win by Rachel Ignotofsky
September 25, 1957 – Little Rock Nine escorted into school by U.S. Army
The Little Rock Nine were a group of Black students who were enrolled in the formerly all-white Central High School. On September 4, 1957, the first day of classes, Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block the entrance. Violence and rioting lead President Eisenhower to order federal troops to guarantee access, and members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division escorted the students into the school. (photos from GetArchive and the National Park Service)
Learn more about the Little Rock Nine:
Adults:
- Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock by David Margolick
- A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta LaNier
Children:
- March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine by Melba Beals
- A Mighty Long Way (adapted for young readers): My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School ( by Carlotta LaNier
Learn more about school desegregation:
Adults:
- The Lost Education of Horace Tate: Uncovering the Hidden Heroes Who Fought for Justice in Schools by Vanessa Siddle Walker
- A Most Tolerant Little Town: The Explosive Beginning of School Desegregation by Rachel Louise Martin
- Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County: A Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle by Kristen Green
- We Can Do It: A Community Takes on the Challenge of School Desegregation by Michael Gengler
Children:
- Desegregation and Integration by Kevin P. Winn
- The Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality by Jo Ann Allen Boyce
- Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
- This is Your Time by Ruby Bridges
- We are Your Children Too: Black Students, White Supremacists, and the Battle for America’s Schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia by P. O’Connell Pearson
- When the Schools Shut Down: A Young Girl’s Story of Virginia’s “Lost Generation” and the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Decision by Yolanda Gladden