On this day, Sept. 8 ...

2018: A New York City subway station reopens for the first time since it was destroyed in the World Trade Center attack 17 years earlier.

Also on this day:

  • 1565: A Spanish expedition establishes the first permanent European settlement in North America at present-day St. Augustine, Fla.
  • 1664: The Dutch surrender New Amsterdam to the British, who rename it New York.
  • 1892: An early version of "The Pledge of Allegiance," written by Francis Bellamy, appears in "The Youth's Companion." It went: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
  • 1900: Galveston, Texas, is struck by a hurricane that kills an estimated 8,000 people.
  • 1941: The 900-day Siege of Leningrad by German forces begins during World War II.
  • 1964: Public schools in Prince Edward County, Va., reopen after being closed for five years by officials attempting to prevent court-ordered racial desegregation.
  • 1974: President Gerald R. Ford grants a "full, free, and absolute pardon" to former President Richard Nixon covering his entire term in office.
  • 1985: Cincinnati Reds' Pete Rose ties Ty Cobb’s career record for hits, singling for hit number 4,191 during a game against the Cubs in Chicago.
  • 1986: "The Oprah Winfrey Show" begins the first of 25 seasons in national syndication.
  • 2014: Ray Rice is let go by the Baltimore Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL after a video is released showing the running back striking his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, in an elevator in February 2014.
  • 2018: Serena Williams loses the U.S. Open women's final to Naomi Osaka; Williams is penalized a game for calling the chair umpire a thief during an extended argument after the umpire issued a warning to Williams for receiving coaching.