Reuters historical calendar - September 17

London, Sep 16 (Reuters) Following are some of the major events which occurred on September 17 in history: 1900 - Queen Victoria signed the document which united the six colonies as the Federal Commonwealth of Australia. This came into effect on January 1, 1901. The Earl of Hopetoun was named as the first governor-general.

1931 - The first long-playing record to rotate at 33-1/3 rpm was demonstrated by the RCA Victor company at the Savoy Plaza Hotel, New York.

1935 - Manuel Quezon y Molina was elected first president of the Philippine Commonwealth, established under US tutelage.

1939 - Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland, meeting little resistance and taking 217,000 Poles prisoner.

1948 - Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden, United Nations mediator between Israel and the Arabs, was killed by Jewish militants in Jerusalem whilst on a fact-finding mission.

1957 - In Thailand, the government of Field-Marshal Pibul Songgram was overthrown in a bloodless coup by General Sarit Thanarat.

1961 - Former Turkish prime minister Adnan Menderes, overthrown in a coup in 1960, was hanged by the new military rulers.

1978 - The Camp David summit between Jimmy Carter, Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel ended with a framework for a peace treaty.

1980 - General Anastasio Somoza Debayle, former president of Nicaragua, was assassinated in Paraguay where he was in exile.

1994 - Sir Karl Popper, one of the 20th century's most respected philosophers, died aged 92.

1995 - Gunmen killed Abdelhafid Benhadid, a candidate for Algeria's presidential election, outside his home near Algiers.

1996 - Spiro Agnew, former U.S. vice president, died aged 77.

He was vice president under President Richard Nixon from 1969 until his resignation in 1973.

1999 - Frankie Vaughan, British 1950s matinee idol and crooner who once starred opposite Marilyn Monroe, died.

2001 - The New York Stock Exchange reopened after a four-day shutdown - the longest break since the Great Depression. Wall Street suffered its biggest-ever points plunge following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

2003 - The 5th World Parks Congress adopted the ''Durban Accord'', setting out commitments for preserving the planet's protected areas.

2004 - The European Union launched a new paramilitary force designed to help restore public order to regions emerging from conflict such as the Balkans.

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