September 17 Birthday
September 17, 1787: 39 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the US Constitution in Philadelphia. Three refused — Edmund Randolph, George Mason, and Elbridge Gerry — because it lacked a Bill of Rights. They were right. The first ten amendments, added in 1791, protected freedom of speech, press, religion, and due process. The Constitution has been amended only 27 times since. Mason's refusal to sign is why we have the Bill of Rights. Sometimes the dissenters are the ones who make the document better. People born on September 17 fall under the zodiac sign of Virgo. The birthstone is Sapphire and the birth flower is Aster. Historical events on September 17 include 1787: US Constitution signed by 39 of 55 delegates in Philadelphia, 1976: First Space Shuttle, Enterprise, rolled out, 2011: Occupy Wall Street begins in Zuccotti Park, New York. Famous people born on September 17 include Hank Williams (1923), Anne Bancroft (1931), John Ritter (1948).