September 2
September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years). There are 120 days remaining.
Events
- 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
- 44 BC - First of Cicero’s Philippics (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them over the next several months.
- 31 BC - Roman Civil War: 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 - 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 fled 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 coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town.
- 1898 - Battle of Omdurman - British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen 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.
- 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.
- 1944 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrive three days later.
- 1945 - World War II ends: The final official surrender of Japan was accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
- 1945 - Vietnam declares its independence, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).
- 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 Centre, New York.
- 1987 - In Moscow, the trial of 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May 1987, begins.
- 1990 - Transnistria declares its independence from Moldova; however, Moldova does not recognize it.
- 1991 - The United States recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
- 1995 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio.
- 1998 - In Canada, pilots for Air Canada launch the first strike in company's history.
- 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.
Births
- 1548 - Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (d. 1616)
- 1675 - William Somervile, English poet (d. 1742)
- 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)
- 1853 - Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
- 1862 - Franjo Krežma, Croatian violinist (d. 1881)
- 1877 - Frederick Soddy, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1956)
- 1884 - Dr. Frank C. Laubach, Christian missionary (d. 1970)
- 1917 - Cleveland Amory, author (d. 1998)
- 1923 - Rene Thom, French mathematician (d. 2002)
- 1924 - Daniel arap Moi, President of Kenya
- 1929 - Hal Ashby, American film director (d. 1988)
- 1936 - Andrew Grove, American computer chip manufacturer
- 1940 - Jimmy Clanton, American singer
- 1941 - David Bale, South African-born activist (d. 2003)
- 1944 - Al Matthews, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1948 - Terry Bradshaw, American football player
- 1948 - Christa McAuliffe, American schoolteacher and astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1950 - Rosanna DeSoto, American actress
- 1951 - Mark Harmon, American actor
- 1952 - Jimmy Connors, American tennis player
- 1953 - John Zorn, American musician
- 1960 - Sue Foley, American writer
- 1961 - Eric Dickerson, American football player
- 1961 - Carlos Valderrama, Colombian footballer
- 1964 - Keanu Reeves, American actor
- 1965 - Lennox Lewis, Canadian-British boxer
- 1966 - Salma Hayek, Mexican actress
- 1969 - Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, American singer
- 1971 - Tommy Maddox, American football player
- 1972 - Sergei Zholtok, Latvian hockey player
- 1976 - Phil Lipscomb, American bassist Taproot
Deaths
- 421 - Constantius III, Roman Emperor
- 1274 - Prince Munetaka, Japanese shogun (b. 1242)
- 1397 - Francesco Landini, Italian composer
- 1540 - Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1501)
- 1680 - Per Brahe (the younger), Swedish soldier and statesman (b. 1602)
- 1688 - Robert Viner, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1631)
- 1690 - Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (b. 1615)
- 1764 - Revd Nathaniel Bliss, English Astronomer Royal (b. 1700)
- 1820 - Jiaqing, Emperor of China (b. 1760)
- 1832 - Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, Austrian astronomer (b. 1854)
- 1834 - Thomas Telford, Scottish civil engineer (b. 1757)
- 1865 - William Rowan Hamilton, Irish mathematician (b. 1805)
- 1898 - Wilford Woodruff, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1807)
- 1910 - Henri Rousseau, French painter (b. 1844)
- 1921 - Anthony Francis Lucas Croatian-American oil exploration pioneer (b.1855)
- 1921 - Henry Austin Dobson, English poet (b. 1840)
- 1934 - Alcide Nunez, American musician (b. 1884)
- 1937 - Pierre de Coubertin, French founder of the modern Olympic Games (b. 1863)
- 1953 - Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, U.S. general (b. 1883)
- 1964 - Alvin York, most decorated American soldier of World War I (b. 1887)
- 1969 - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese president and prime minister (b. 1890)
- 1981 - Andrija Maurovic, Croatian illustrator (b.1901)
- 1973 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (b. 1892)
- 1973 - Carl Dudley, American movie director (b. 1910)
- 1976 - Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist (b. 1934)
- 1992 - Barbara McClintock, American geneticist (b. 1902)
- 1997 - Rudolph Bing, Austrian-born opera manager (b. 1902)
- 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 Rules player and coach (b. 1915)
- 2004 - Joan Oró, Catalan scientist (b. 1923)
Holidays and observances
also see September 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- RC Saints - Saint Sophia
- Mauritius - Ganesh Chaturthi
- Transnistria - Independence day, note Transnistria is not an internationally recognized independent state
- Vietnam - Independence Day (from France, 1945)
External links
September 1 - September 3 - August 2 - October 2 - more historical anniversaries