September 2024: a debate, an eclipse, an equinox
American politics gave September 2024 its sharpest week. The only debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump played out in Philadelphia on Tuesday 10 September; five days later, on Sunday 15 September, a second attempt on Trump's life was foiled at his Florida golf course. The month's own ledger stayed calmer: 30 days, from Sunday 1 September to Monday 30 September, with 21 for work and nine weekend days. Six week numbers, 35 to 40, covered it all.
The ledger
Sundays and Mondays led the count with five each, and the month obligingly began on a Sunday and finished on a Monday. The remaining weekdays appeared four times apiece. Add it up: 30 days, 21 for work and nine at the weekend.
The moon turned new on Tuesday 3 September, first quarter on Wednesday 11 September, full on Wednesday 18 September and last quarter on Tuesday 24 September. Four phases, one a week, no theatrics.
Eclipse and equinox
The full moon of Wednesday 18 September was a supermoon, and a partial lunar eclipse crossed its face, visible from the Americas and Europe. The same day, the US Federal Reserve made its first rate cut since 2020, a half-point reduction. The moon kept its schedule; the committee kept its minutes.
The equinox arrived on Sunday 22 September: the sun passed over the equator, the north tipped into autumn and the south into spring. Day and night came out nearly equal, and the month had eight mornings left to run.
A private spacewalk and the ground below
Polaris Dawn, a privately funded flight, went up on Tuesday 10 September. On Thursday 12 September, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis left the capsule for the first spacewalk performed by commercial astronauts. Their path carried them farther from Earth than people had travelled since the Apollo era. It is a job title earlier generations would not have needed.
Down at ground level, Apple presented the iPhone 16 line on Monday 9 September. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice began the month on Friday 6 September with roughly 110 million dollars across North America. On Sunday 15 September, Shogun collected 18 Emmys, a record for one season of television, with historic acting wins for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai.
Storms on two continents
From Thursday 12 September, Storm Boris parked itself over central Europe and drowned whole regions. Poland, Czechia, Austria and Romania flooded, and more than 20 people died.
Hurricane Helene came ashore in Florida on Thursday 26 September as a Category 4 storm and dumped its rain over the southern Appalachians. Helene killed more than 230 people across six states; no mainland US hurricane had been deadlier since Katrina. Counting this month honestly means counting those weeks too.
September 2024 opened on a Sunday and closed on a Monday, both five-time weekdays, and called its books balanced.