Moments in Time: Autobahn Fog
The History Channel
On Sept. 18, 1769, John Harris, a spinet and harpsichord maker from Boston, completed the first spinet piano to be made in America. Upon its debut, the Boston Gazette averred that the instrument "in every respect does honour to that artist."
On Sept. 19, 1676, Nathaniel Bacon and an army of rebel followers made up of farmers, slaves and indentured servants, set fire to Jamestown, the capital of the Virginia colony, in what came to be known as Bacon's Rebellion, a civil war that pitted Bacon against Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley.
On Sept. 20, 1942, as part of the British war effort to conserve fuel, citizens were requested to bathe in no more than 5 inches of water. The royal family even painted black lines on all the household bathtubs at said depth, and put up posters around the palace with reminders of the need to conserve energy.
On Sept. 21, 2012, David Villalobos jumped from the Wild Asia monorail train into a tiger den at the Bronx Zoo and was mauled by a 400-pound Siberian tiger named Bachuta. Quick-thinking employees chased the animal away using a fire extinguisher, and Villalobos, though injured, was able to roll under a wire to safety and survived.
On Sept. 22, 1999, Saudi Arabia joined other Arab countries in a threat to boycott the Walt Disney entertainment company as a protest against the Israeli exhibit at the millennium show in Florida, which portrayed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
On Sept. 23, 1989, foggy conditions led to one of the worst days for accidents on the German Autobahn, with five vehicular pileups involving 256 cars and a large number of serious injuries. The Autobahns in Germany have no speed limits, and cars sometimes travel as fast as 140 mph.
On Sept. 24, 1906, Devil's Tower (also called Grizzly Bear Lodge) in northeastern Wyoming was named America's first national monument. The tower is a sacred site for many Plains Indians, and also a popular site for rock climbing.
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