Today in History – September 2nd

Published September 2, 2012 |

31 BC, Battle of Actium, off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
44 BC, Cicero launches the 1st of 14 of his Philippics (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony.
44 BC, Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
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, Great Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.
1778, Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland (d. 1846) was born.
1789, The US Department of the Treasury is founded.
1806, A massive landslide destroys the town of Goldau, Switzerland, killing 457.
1807, Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering fleet to Napoleon
1811, The University of Oslo is founded as The Royal Fredericks University, after Frederick VI of Denmark and Norway.
1833, Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio is founded by John Jay Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart.
1838, Liliuokalani of Hawaii, Queen of Hawaii (d. 1917) was born.
1850, Albert Spalding, American baseball player and co-founder of the A.G. Spalding sporting goods company (d. 1915) was born.
1856, The Tianjing Incident takes place in Nanjing, China.
1859, A solar super storm affects electrical telegraph service.
1862, American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George B. McClellan to full command.
1864, Union forces enter Atlanta, Georgia, a day after the Confederate defenders flee the city, ending the Atlanta Campaign.
1870, Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan, Prussian forces take Napoleon III of France and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner.
1898, Battle of Omdurman, British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen and establish British dominance in Sudan.
1901, US VP Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, “Speak softly and carry a big stick” at the Minnesota State Fair.
1910, Henri Rousseau, French painter (b. 1844) died.
1935, Labor Day Hurricane of 1935: a large hurricane hits the Florida Keys killing 423.
1939, WWII: following the start of the invasion of Poland the previous day, the Free City of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) is annexed by Nazi Germany.
1945, Vietnam declares its independence, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
1945, WWII: Instrument of Surrender of Japan is signed by Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu aboard USS Missouri.
1946, The Interim Government of India is formed with Jawaharlal Nehru as Vice President with the powers of a Prime Minister.
1958, US Air Force C-130A-II is shot down by fighters over Yerevan in Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace.
1963, CBS Evening News becomes US network television’s 1st half-hour weeknight news broadcast, when lengthened from 15 minutes.
1969, Ho Chi Minh, President of North Vietnam (b. 1890) died.
1970, NASA announces the cancellation of two Apollo missions to the Moon, Apollo 15 and Apollo 19.
1973, J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (b. 1892) died.
1990, Transnistria is proclaimed a Soviet republic; Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev declares decision null and void.
1992, An earthquake in Nicaragua kills at least 116 people.
1998, Swissair Flight 111 crashes near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia. All 229 people on board are killed.
2005, Bob Denver, American actor (b. 1935) died.

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Chris Rivait

Chris loves history and hopes that Yesteeyear becomes a place where everyone can share their history knowledge. Chris owns an Internet Marketing company, Arrivait Marketing. He has a wonderful wife and four great children.