On This Day In History
September 2nd
31 BC Battle of Actium: decisive naval battle that effectively ends the Roman Republic. Octavian‘s forces defeat those under Mark Antony and Cleopatra off the western coast of Greece.
1192 Sultan Saladin and King Richard the Lionheart of England sign treaty over Jerusalem, at end of the Third Crusade
1666 Great Fire of London begins at 2am in Pudding Lane, 80% of London is destroyed
1792 September Massacres of the French Revolution: In Paris rampaging mobs slaughter 3 Roman Catholic bishops, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers.
1864 Union General William T. Sherman captures and burns Atlanta during Savannah Campaign (US Civil War)
1945 V-J Day, formal Surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri marks the end of World War II (Japanese date, 1st September in US)
Did You Know?
The first automatic teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Center, New York.
Today in History in 1969
Would You Believe?
“A Trip To The Moon”, the first sci-fi film, released
Today in History in 1902
September 3rd
301 San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world’s oldest republic still in existence, founded by Saint Marinus
1650 Battle of Dunbar; Oliver Cromwell‘s English New Model Army defeats Scottish force in surprise attack
1783 Treaty of Paris signed in Paris ends the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and United States of America
1791 French Revolution: The new French Constitution, declaring France a constitutional monarchy, is passed by the National Assembly
1900 With a proclamation by General Lord Roberts, Britain annexes the Boer Republic of South Africa
1939 World War II: Britain declares war on Germany after invasion of Poland. France follows 6 hours later quickly joined by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa & Canada
1944 Holocaust diarist Anne Frank sent to Auschwitz concentration camp [1]
1988 Estimated by this date 50,000 Kurdish civilians and soldiers killed by Iraq, many using chemical weapons, in aftermath of Iran-Iraq War
Did You Know?
Flag of the United States flown in battle for the 1st time at Cooch’s Bridge, Delaware, a skirmish during American Revolutionary War
Today in History in 1777
Would You Believe?
Britain and the British Empire (including the American colonies) adopt the Gregorian Calendar, losing 11 days. People riot thinking the government stole 11 days of their lives
Today in History in 1752
September 4th
476 Romulus Augustulus, last Western Roman Emperor, abdicates after forces led by Odoacer invade Rome. Traditional End of the Western Roman Empire.
1609 Navigator Henry Hudson is the first European to discover island of Manhattan [or Sep 11]
1781 Los Angeles is founded by 44 Spanish speaking mestizos in the Bahia de las Fumas (Bay of Smokes)
1862 General Lee begins the Maryland Campaign invading the North with 50,000 Confederate troops (US Civil war)
1957 Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, calls out National Guard to prevent 9 black students from entering a Little Rock‘s Central High School
Did You Know?
George Eastman patents the first roll-film camera & registers “Kodak”
Today in History in 1888
Would You Believe?
Carpet that can help prevent falls among the elderly by warning them of unusual footsteps is developed.
Today in History in 2012
September 5th
1666 Great Fire of London ends, leaving 13,200 houses destroyed and 8 dead
1774 Twelve of the thirteen American colonies adopt a trade embargo against Great Britain at the first Continental Congress at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1839 The First Opium War begins in China
2017 Hurricane Irma becomes the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin region with winds of 185mph (280km/h)
Did You Know?
German Christine Hardt patents the first modern brassiere
Today in History in 1889
Would you Believe?
Erramatti Mangamma becomes the world’s oldest living mother giving birth to twins aged 74 in Hyderabad, India
Today in History in 2019
September 6th
3114 BC Date Maya/Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar starts dating from (as corresponds to the Julian Calendar).
1522 Ferdinand Magellan‘s Spanish expedition aboard the Vitoria returns to Spain without their captain. First to circumnavigate the earth.
1666 After St Paul’s Cathedral and much of the city had been burned down over four days, The Great Fire of London is finally extinguished.
1901 US President William McKinley is shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in New York
1909 New York Times headline announces American explorer Robert Peary had discovered the North Pole 5 months earlier
1914 World War I: First Battle of the Marne begins, French and British forces prevent German advance on Paris (till the 12th Sept)
1916 1st true supermarket, the “Piggly Wiggly” is opened by Clarence Saunders in Memphis, Tennessee
Did You Know?
1st aircraft to loop the loop – Adolphe Pégoud in France
Today in History in 1913
Would You Believe?
King Charles II of England spends a day hiding in an oak tree during his escape after losing the Battle of Worcester
Today in History in 1651
September 7th
70 Roman army under General Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem
1714 Treaty of Baden signed by the Holy Roman Empire and France, ending the War of the Spanish Succession; French retain Alsace and Landau, Austria gets east bank of Rhine
1812 Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Bonapartre wins a pyrrhic victory against Russian General Mikhail Kutuzov in the most ferocious battle of the Napoleonic era, 70,000 are killed
1822 Pedro I, son of King Joao VI declares Brazil’s independence from Portugal (National Day)
1888 Edith Eleanor McLean is 1st baby to be placed in an incubator at State Emigrant Hospital on Ward’s Island, New York
1909 Eugene Lefebvre becomes first pilot to die in an airplane craft, while test piloting new French-built Wright biplane at Juvisy
1940 Beginning of The Blitz as the German Luftwaffe bomb London for the 1st of 57 consecutive nights losing 41 bombers as the Nazis prepare to invade Britain
Did You Know?
“Uncle Sam” 1st used to refer to the US, by Troy Post of New York
Today in History in 1813
Would You Believe?
In Australia, the whole nation observes a ‘day of humiliation’ and prays for rain, as a terrible drought kills livestock and threatens crops; rain begins to appear on 10 September
Today in History in 1902
September 8th
1380 Battle on Kulikovo: Moscow’s great monarch Dimitri defeats the Mongols beginning the decline of the Tatars
1504 Michelangelo‘s Statue of David is unveiled in Florence
1522 Spanish navigator Juan de Elcano returns to Spain, completing 1st circumnavigation of the globe (expedition began under Ferdinand Magellan)
1565 1st permanent European settlement in the US founded at St. Augustine, Florida
1664 Dutch surrender colony of New Netherlands (including New York) to 300 English soldiers
1941 WWII: Siege of Leningrad by German, Finnish, and eventually Spanish troops begins; battle lasted over 28 months, as Russia repels the invasion; well over a million lives
1970 Black September hijackings begin, three airliners hijacked and blown up by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
1986 “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is first broadcast nationally
2022 Queen Elizabeth II dies at Balmoral Castle after ruling for 70 years, as the UK’s longest-serving monarch. Her eldest son inherits the throne as King Charles III. [1]