What happened on this day in history: Jack the Ripper kills his second victim in Victorian London, the Delano grape strike begins, and more important events from September 8th.
1429: Joan Of Arc Attacks Paris
Joan of Arc attacks Paris during the Hundred Years’ War. The war stemmed from the issue of French succession. Two royal houses, the English House of Plantagenet and the French House of Valois, claimed to be the rightful heirs to the throne. This conflict sparked widespread violence across France. Joan of Arc, a young peasant woman, claimed to have visions from God directing her to defend France from English rule. Charles VII, the future King of France, believed in her divinity, and sent Joan of Arc to battles across the country. Joan of Arc eventually led an unsuccessful campaign to capture Paris after English and rival French forces took the city. This siege was unsuccessful, and Joan of Arc was later captured a year later.
1664: New Amsterdam Becomes New York
New Amsterdam becomes New York after Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrenders to the British. Stuyvesant had hoped to put up more of a fight over the capital of New Netherland but failed to rally his subjects. New Amsterdam was renamed after the Duke of York, who had led the British attack.
1888: Jack The Ripper Kills His Second Victim
Public Domain Annie Chapman’s mortuary photo.
Annie Chapman is murdered in London. Chapman, believed to be the second victim of serial killer Jack the Ripper, was murdered and mutilated while trying to earn enough money for a bed at a boarding house, likely through prostitution. Jack the Ripper went on to kill at least three more women and, to date, has never been definitively identified.
Listen above to the History Uncovered podcast, episode 102: Jack The Ripper, Episode 2 – ‘Another Woman Has Been Murdered!,’ also available on Apple and Spotify.
1900: A Hurricane Levels Galveston, Texas
A Category 4 hurricane devastates Galveston, Texas. The Galveston hurricane, one of the worst natural disasters in American history, killed between 6,000 and 8,000 people.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Great Storm of 1900 tore through Texas and then throughout the Midwest and New England.
Winds tore through the city at 135 miles per hour and destroyed an estimated 3,600 buildings, leaving one in four residents homeless.
1965: The Delano Grape Strike Begins
The Phillip & Sala Burton Center for Human Rights/Farmworker Movement Documentation ProjectDolores Huerta working the picket line during the Delano Grape strike. 1966.
Filipino-American grape workers in Delano, California, go on strike. Supported by activists like César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, the strike lasted for five years and ended in 1970. In the end, Delano growers agreed to raise wages, provide a union health plan, and protect workers against pesticides.
