September 2 Events In History

EVENTS

• 31 B.C. – Roman legions under Augustus Caesar defeated Mark Anthony’s naval force at Actium.
• 1666 – The Great Fire of London starts. It will burn over 10,000 homes.

  

• 1752 – The British ended their use of the Julian calendar, switching instead to the Gregorian calendar, resulting in a major adjustment as Wednesday, September 2, was followed by Thursday, September 14. The correction resulted in rioting by people who felt cheated and demanded the missing eleven days back.
• 1789 – The third Presidential cabinet department, the U.S. Treasury, was established by Congress.
• 1864 – During the American Civil War, Atlanta was captured by Sherman’s Army. “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won,” General William T. Sherman telegraphed President Lincoln.
• 1870 – Napoleon III surrendered to the Prussians during the Battle of Sedan, resulting in the fall of the Second French Empire.
• 1901 – Theodore Roosevelt says his famous quip: “Speak softly and carry a big stick”
• 1923 – The first elections were held in the Irish Free State after achieving independence from Britain.
• 1930 – French aviators Dieudonne Coste and Maurice Bellonte made the first non-stop flight from Europe to the USA.
• 1945 – President Harry Truman declared V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day) commemorating the formal Japanese surrender to the Allies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
• 1945 – Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of Vietnam and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
• 1946 – Interim government of India is formed. The interim government and the Constituent Assembly of India were given the task to oversee India’s transition to independence from British rule. The government was headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.
• 1960 – The fFirst election of the Tibetan Parliament in exile is held. The parliamentary body of the Central Tibetan Administration was elected and formed by Tibetan exiles in India. The day is celebrated as Democracy Day among Tibetan exiles.
• 1962 – Soviet Russia agreed to send arms to Cuba, leading to the October Missile Crisis after the shipments were discovered by the U.S.
• 1963 – Alabama Governor George Wallace forcibly halted public school integration by encircling Tuskegee High School with state troopers.
• 1969 – The first ATM (automatic teller machine) is installed
• 1995 – The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio.

BIRTHDAYS

• 1913 – Bill Shankly (Scottish footballer, manager)
• 1948 – Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986) was born in Boston (as Sharon Christa Corrigan). On January 28, 1986, the 37-year-old high-school teacher, the first “ordinary citizen” in space, died with six crew members in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.
• 1948 – Terry Bradshaw (Football Player)
• 1951 – Mark Harmon (Actor)
• 1952 – Jimmy Connors (Tennis Player)

  

• 1953 – Ahmad Shah Massoud (Afghan commander)
• 1961 – Eric Dickerson (Football player)
• 1964 – Keanu Reeves (Actor)
• 1966 – Salma Hayek (Actress)
• 1982 – Joey Barton (English footballer)

DEATHS

• 1910 – Henri Rousseau (French painter)
• 1937 – Pierre de Coubertin (French historian, educator, founded the International Olympic Committee)
• 1948 – Sylvanus Morley (American archaeologist, scholar)
• 1969 – Ho Chi Minh (Vietnamese politician, 1st President of Vietnam)
• 1973 – J. R. R. Tolkien (English philologist, author)