* On Sept. 8, 1504, one of the world’s most beloved works of art, “David,” by Michelangelo Buonarroti, is unveiled to the public in Florence, Italy’s Piazza della Signoria. It reportedly took 40 men four days to move the 17-foot-tall, 12,000-pound marble masterpiece 1/2 mile to the site.

* On Sept. 3, 1777, the American flag is flown in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary War skirmish in Delaware. Patriot Gen. William Maxwell ordered the stars and stripes raised as a detachment of his infantry and cavalry met an advance guard of British and Hessian troops.

* On Sept. 7, 1813, the United States gets its nickname, Uncle Sam, when a newspaper picks up on the story of Samuel Wilson, a meat packer who supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army. Wilson stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States, but soldiers began referring to the grub as “Uncle Sam’s.”