Events associated with 13 September include the public signing of the Oslo Accord, approval of the first United States national election timetable and Margaret Chase Smith’s election to the US Senate.
1788: first US national election timetable approved
The Congress of the Confederation adopted a plan on 13 September 1788 for the first elections under the new United States Constitution. It also named New York City as the temporary national capital.
The elections held under that timetable led to George Washington becoming the first US president the following year.
1948: Margaret Chase Smith wins a Senate seat
Maine voters elected Margaret Chase Smith to the US Senate on 13 September 1948.
The result made her the first woman to serve in both chambers of the US Congress. She had entered the House of Representatives in 1940 and later served four Senate terms.
1993: Oslo Accord signed at the White House
Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization negotiator Mahmoud Abbas signed the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements at the White House on 13 September 1993.
The agreement, commonly called the Oslo Accord, followed secret negotiations and set out a framework for limited Palestinian self-government. Rabin and PLO chair Yasser Arafat shook hands at the ceremony in the presence of US president Bill Clinton.
The process did not produce a final settlement, and the conflict and the agreement’s legacy remain deeply contested.
The date’s record connects the creation of electoral institutions, a milestone for women in public office and one of the most closely watched diplomatic ceremonies of the late twentieth century.
