History Happens Every Day
September 2026 Artwork
Inspiration
Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre, or 相馬の古内裏 妖怪がしゃどくろと戦う大宅太郎光圀, is a dramatic ukiyo-e woodblock triptych by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Produced in the 1840s, it illustrates a famous Japanese legend, with the sorceress Takiyasha conjuring a colossal skeleton ghost to frighten the samurai Ōya no Mitsukuni.
Homage
The Last Samurai portrays samurai rebels Saigo Takamori and his aide Beppu Shinsuke taking on the Imperial Army’s industrialized military in the final battle of the Satsuma Rebellion. Beppu’s traditional attire is contrasted with Saigo’s European-style uniform, showcasing rebellion’s mixture of grievances, and that it was not as anti-modernization as it would come to be portrayed. Art by David Hueso.
September 2026 Videos
September 3rd
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin growing in cultures, 1928
September 6th
Leon Czolgosz shoots William McKinley, 1901
September 10th
Henry I of Jerusalem dies falling out a window, 1197
September 11th
Sylvester Graham dies following an opium enema, 1851
September 13th
Saragarhi retaken and bodies of Sikh defenders recovered, 1897
September 19th
TKS tanker Edmund Orlik destroys ten Soviet tanks in two days, 1939
September 24th
Panic in the US gold market originates the term "Black Friday," 1869
September 28th
Ptolemy XIII executes Pompey on his arrival in Egypt, 48 BCE