Pop Culture Happenings: September

September history saw the U.S. play a queen’s gambit to beat the communists. Later, we finally had a place where everyone knows your name, and then, some candles burned out long before their legend ever did.

__1972__

A chess prodigy by age 14 and named a grandmaster at 15, Bobby Fischer went on to become chess world champion at age 29 on Sept. 1, 1972, beating Boris Spassky of Russia. Held in Reykjavik, Iceland, the match was considered a Cold War victory for the West over the USSR. Fisher was the first U.S. citizen to be crowned world champion; however, over a dispute of tournament rules, he did not play any competitive chess from 1973 to 1991. He re-emerged to play an unofficial match against Spassky in 1992, which he won to claim he was still the world champion. After that, Fisher permanently retired from professional chess.

__1982__

One of the most wonderful weeks of TV history happened between Sept. 22 through 29 of 1982, with the premieres of “Family Ties,” “Knight Rider” and “Cheers,” respectively. “Family Ties” and “Cheers” became beloved sitcoms, launching actors Michael J. Fox, Ted Dawson, Kelsey Grammer and Woody Harelson to super-stardom. “Knight Rider” did the same for David Hasselhoff, as well as the 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, modified into K.I.T.T, or Knight Industries Two Thousand, the artificially-intelligent supercar that helped the “Hoff,” as Michael Knight, catch bad guys.

__1997__

Many tears were shed Sept. 5 and 6 of 1997: Mother Teresa, also known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, died on Sept. 5. She was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun who in 1950 founded and was an active member of the Missionaries of Charity in India. The following day, the funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales, was held. It was reported 2,000 people attended the princess’ services, including Elton John, who performed his song “Candle in the Wind.” Originally written about Marilyn Monroe, John re-wrote the song to honor the life and death of Diana.