• the Allegheny Arsenal explosion on September 17, 1862 was the single largest civilian disaster during the American Civil War?

Facts on topics related to September 17

March 4

• on March 4, 1839, William F. Harnden became the first person to send an express freight shipment by rail?
  

January 1

• a new free trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore will come into effect on 1 January 2006?
• before 1 January 2008, milk with a fat content of 1 or 2% could not be labelled as milk in the United Kingdom?
• in the history of transportation in Los Angeles, the first California freeway "traffic jam" occurred on January 1, 1940?
• many Russians celebrate the new year twice: once on the January 1 New Year of the Gregorian calendar and again on the Julian calendar Old New Year in mid-January?

September 5

• the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan is a rebel organization that gained de facto recognition from the Government of Pakistan on September 5, 2006 as a result of negotiations between Islamabad and local tribesmen to end the Waziristan War?

September 11

• the Staten Island Peace Conference of September 11, 1776, only lasted three hours?
• the ceremony marking the Japanese surrender of Timor on 11 September 1945 was held aboard HMAS Moresby?

March 3

• former world chess champion Garry Kasparov helped to organise the Saint Petersburg March of the Discontented (pictured) on 3 March 2007?

November 1

• the parastatal Kenya Railways Corporation will be managed by a private consortium come November 1, 2006?