09/04/54 A US Navy P2V Neptune, with a crew of ten was shot down by Soviet fighters 40 miles off the Siberian coast. Nine crewmembers were rescued by US forces. The aircraft's navigator was missing and presumed dead. The Soviet Union claimed the plane entered Soviet airspace and fired on Soviet aircraft. The charges were rejected by the United States.
September 9, 1948 - Following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed with Pyongyang as its capital.
September 9, 1976 - Longtime leader of Communist China, Chairman Mao Zedong, died. As a Chinese revolutionary soldier and statesman, he proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949 in Beijing.
September 12, 1953 - Nikita Khrushchev was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR.
September 12, 1974 - Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, was deposed by an army coup after 44 years as ruler.
September 12, 1990 - A treaty was signed by East and West Germany and the Allies of World War II allowing for the restoration of sovereignty to a re-unified Germany.
09/02/58 A US Air Force RC-130, with a crew of seventeen was shot down by Soviet fighters twenty-four miles inside Soviet Armenia. At first the Soviets denied any knowledge of the incident and later claimed the aircraft had crashed. The remains of 6 crewmembers were returned to US custody on September 24, 1958. The Soviets denied any knowledge of the 11 other crew members. It is possible that this aircraft was lured into Soviet airspace by false navigational signals.