September 2
September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 120 days remaining in the year on this date.
Events
- 490 BC - After the Battle of Marathon, where the Greeks defeated the invading Persians, Pheidippides, who had already run 140 miles over 2 days and nights, ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to carry the news of the victory. His last words before he collapsed and died, "Rejoice, we are victorious."
- 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
- 44 BC - The first of Cicero’s Philippics (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them over the next several months.
- 31 BC - Final war of the Roman Republic: Battle of Actium - Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
- 1649 - The Italian city of Castro is completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro.
- 1666 - The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral.
- 1752 - The United Kingdom adopts the Gregorian Calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.
- 1789 - The United States Department of the Treasury is founded.
- 1792 - During what became known as the September Massacres of the French Revolution, rampaging mobs slaughter three Roman Catholic Church bishops and more than two hundred priests.
- 1807 - British Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
- 1833 - Oberlin College is founded by John Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart.
- 1862 - American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Second Bull Run.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Union forces enter Atlanta, Georgia a day after the Confederate defenders flee the city.
- 1867 - Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor of Japan marries Ichijo Masako. The Empress consort is thereafter known as Lady Haruko.
- 1870 - Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan - Prussian forces take French Emperor Napoleon III and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner.
- 1885 - In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners attack their Chinese fellow workers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town.
- 1898 - Battle of Omdurman - British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen and establishing British dominance in the Sudan.
- 1901 - Vice President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
- 1925 - The U.S. Zeppelin the USS Shenandoah crashes, killing 14.
- 1935 - Labor Day Hurricane of 1935: A large hurricane hits the Florida Keys killing 423.
- 1939 - Following the invasion of Poland, Freie Stadt Danzig Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed to Nazi Germany.
- 1945 - World War II ends: The final official surrender of Japan is accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
- 1945 - Vietnam declares its independence, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).
- 1958 - U.S. Air Force C-130A-II is shot down by fighters over Yerevan, Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a sigint mission. All crew lost.
- 1963 - CBS Evening News becomes U.S. network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes.
- 1967 - The microstate Principality of Sealand unilaterally declares its independence.
- 1969 - The first automatic teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Center, New York.
- 1970 - NASA announces the cancellation of two Apollo missions to the Moon, Apollo 15 (the designation was re-used by a later mission), and Apollo 19.
- 1990 - Transnistria unilaterally proclaimed as Soviet republic; the Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev declares the decision null and void.
- 1991 - The United States recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
- 1995 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio.
- 1996 - A peace agreement is signed between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front in Malacañang Palace.
- 1998 - Swissair Flight 111 crashes near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia. All 229 people on board are killed.
- 1998 - The UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide.
- 2006 - Waziristan War Ends. US and Pakistani Troops leave Waziristan mountain area.
Births
- 1243 - Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, English politician (d. 1295)
- 1548 - Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (d. 1616)
- 1661 - Georg Böhm, German organist (d. 1733)
- 1675 - William Somervile, English poet (d. 1742)
- 1805 - Esteban Echeverría, Argentine writer (d. 1851)
- 1810 - William Seymour Tyler, American educator and historian
- 1830 - William P. Frye, American politician
- 1838 - Liliuokalani of Hawaii, Queen of Hawaii (d. 1917)
- 1850 - Albert Spalding, baseball player and sporting goods manufacturer (d. 1915)
- 1850 - Woldemar Voigt, German physicist (d. 1919)
- 1853 - Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
- 1854 - Hans Jæger, Norwegian writer and political activist (d. 1910)
- 1862 - Franjo Krežma, Croatian violinist (d. 1881)
- 1862 - Heinrich Knirr, German painter (d. 1944)
- 1877 - Frederick Soddy, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1956)
- 1878 - Werner von Blomberg, German field marshal (d. 1946)
- 1879 - An Jung-geun, Japanese assassin of Ito Hirobumi (d. 1910)
- 1884 - Dr. Frank C. Laubach, Christian missionary (d. 1970)
- 1894 - Joseph Roth, Austrian novelist (d. 1939)
- 1914 - Tom Glazer, American folk singer and songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1917 - Cleveland Amory, American author (d. 1998)
- 1917 - Laurindo Almeida, Brazilian guitarist (d. 1995)
- 1923 - Rene Thom, French mathematician (d. 2002)
- 1924 - Daniel arap Moi, President of Kenya
- 1928 - Horace Silver, American jazz pianist and composer
- 1929 - Hal Ashby, American film director (d. 1988)
- 1936 - Andrew Grove, American computer chip manufacturer
- 1937 - Peter Ueberroth, American sport executive
- 1937 - Derek Fowlds, British actor
- 1938 - Clarence Felder, American actor
- 1939 - Sam Gooden, American singer (The Impressions)
- 1941 - David Bale, South African-born activist (d. 2003)
- 1943 - Rosalind Ashford, American R&B singer (Martha and the Vandellas)
- 1943 - Glen Sather, Canadian hockey player and executive
- 1943 - Joe Simon, American singer
- 1944 - Al Matthews, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1946 - Billy Preston, American musician (d. 2006)
- 1948 - Terry Bradshaw, American football player
- 1948 - Christa McAuliffe, American schoolteacher and astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1950 - Rosanna DeSoto, American actress
- 1950 - Yuen Wah, Chinese actor and stuntman
- 1951 - Mark Harmon, American actor
- 1952 - Jimmy Connors, American tennis player
- 1953 - John Zorn, American musician
- 1956 - Mario Tremblay, Canadian hockey player and coach
- 1958 - Olivier Grouillard, French racing driver
- 1959 - Guy Laliberté, Canadian circus owner
- 1960 - Kristin Halvorsen, Norwegian politician
- 1960 - Rex Hudler, baseball player
- 1961 - Eric Dickerson, American football player
- 1961 - Carlos Valderrama, Colombian footballer
- 1962 - Prachya Pinkaew, Thai film director
- 1964 - Keanu Reeves, American actor
- 1965 - Lennox Lewis, British-born boxer
- 1965 - Partho Sen-Gupta, Indian filmmaker
- 1966 - Salma Hayek, Mexican actress
- 1966 - Olivier Panis, French race car driver
- 1966 - Dino Cazares, American musician
- 1968 - Cynthia Watros, American actress
- 1969 - Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, American singer
- 1969 - Kristen Cloke, American actress
- 1971 - Tommy Maddox, American football player
- 1971 - Kjetil André Aamodt, Norwegian skier
- 1973 - Jason Blake, American hockey player
- 1973 - Pawan Kalyan, Indian actor
- 1976 - Phil Lipscomb, American musician (Taproot)
- 1977 - Ramiro Muñoz, Colombian musician
- 1980 - Hiroki Yoshimoto, Japanese racing driver
- 1981 - Chris Tremlett, English cricketer
- 1981 - Bracha van Doesburgh, Dutch actress
- 1982 - Joey Barton, English footballer
- 1987 - Spencer Smith, American musician (Panic! at the Disco)
Deaths
- 490 BC - Pheidippides, Greek hero
- 421 - Constantius III, Roman Emperor
- 1031 - Saint Emeric of Hungary
- 1274 - Prince Munetaka, Japanese shogun (b. 1242)
- 1397 - Francesco Landini, Italian composer
- 1540 - Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1501)
- 1680 - Per Brahe, Swedish soldier and statesman (b. 1602)
- 1688 - Robert Viner, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1631)
- 1690 - Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (b. 1615)
- 1764 - Nathaniel Bliss, English Astronomer Royal (b. 1700)
- 1765 - Henry Bouquet, Swiss-born British army officer (b. 1719)
- 1768 - Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician (b. 1703)
- 1790 - Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim, German historian and theologian (b. 1701)
- 1813 - Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (mortally wounded in battle) (b. 1763)
- 1820 - Jiaqing, Emperor of China (b. 1760)
- 1832 - Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, Austrian astronomer (b. 1754)
- 1834 - Thomas Telford, Scottish civil engineer (b. 1757)
- 1865 - William Rowan Hamilton, Irish mathematician (b. 1805)
- 1872 - Nicolai Grundtvig, Danish writer and philosopher (b. 1783)
- 1898 - Wilford Woodruff, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1807)
- 1910 - Henri Rousseau, French painter (b. 1844)
- 1921 - Henry Austin Dobson, English poet (b. 1840)
- 1921 - Anthony Francis Lucas Croatian-born oil pioneer (b. 1855)
- 1934 - Alcide Nunez, American musician (b. 1884)
- 1934 - Russ Columbo, American singer, violinist and actor (b. 1908)
- 1937 - Pierre de Coubertin, French founder of the modern Olympic Games (b. 1863)
- 1948 - Sylvanus Morley, American archaeologist and spy (b. 1883)
- 1953 - Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, U.S. general (b. 1883)
- 1964 - Alvin York, American soldier (b. 1887)
- 1964 - Glenn Albert Black, American archaeologist (b. 1900)
- 1965 - Johannes Bobrowski, German writer (b. 1917)
- 1969 - Ho Chi Minh, President of Vietnam (b. 1890)
- 1973 - Carl Dudley, American film director (b. 1910)
- 1973 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (b. 1892)
- 1976 - Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish writer (b. 1934)
- 1985 - Abe Lenstra, Dutch footballer (b. 1920)
- 1991 - Alfonso García Robles, Mexican diplomat and politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1911)
- 1992 - Barbara McClintock, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1902)
- 1994 - Roy Castle, British entertainer (b. 1932)
- 1997 - Rudolph Bing, Austrian-born opera manager (b. 1902)
- 1997 - Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (b. 1905)
- 1998 - Jackie Blanchflower, Irish footballer (b. 1933)
- 1998 - Allen Drury, American author (b. 1918)
- 2000 - Elvera Sanchez, Puerto Rican dancer (d. 1905)
- 2000 - Curt Siodmak, German-born author (b. 1907)
- 2001 - Christiaan Barnard, South African heart surgeon (b. 1922)
- 2001 - Troy Donahue, American actor (b. 1936)
- 2002 - Dick Reynolds, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1915)
- 2004 - Joan Oró, Catalan scientist (b. 1923)
- 2005 - Bob Denver, American actor (b. 1935)
- 2006 - Bob Mathias, American athlete and congressman (b. 1930)
Holidays and observances
External links
September 1 - September 3 - August 2 - October 2 - more historical anniversaries
Categories
September