On this day in History - Sep. 2

• 490 BC - After the Battle of Marathon, where the Greeks defeated the invading Persians, Pheidippides, who had already run 140 miles in 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."
• 490 BC - Pheidippides dies. Greek hero.
• 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 - Roman Civil War: Battle of Actium - Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra. / Octávio, um dos membros do triunvirato que governava Roma, derrotou as forças navais de Marco António e de Cleópatra, rainha do Egipto, na Batalha de Actium, ao largo da costa do Épiro na parte ocidental da Grécia.
• 0421 - Constantius III dies. Roman Emperor.
• 1031 - Saint Emeric of Hungary dies.
• 1243 - Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford was born (d. 1295). English politician.
• 1274 - Prince Munetaka dies (b. 1242). Japanese shogun.
• 1397 - Francesco Landini dies. Italian composer.
• 1540 - Lebna Dengel dies (b. 1501). Emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1548 - Vincenzo Scamozzi was born (d. 1616). Italian architect.
• 1649 - The Italian city of Castro is completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro.
• 1652 - Jose de Ribera (Lo Spagnoletto) dies. Spanish painter.
• 1661 - Georg Böhm was born (d. 1733). German organist.
• 1666 - The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral.
• 1675 - William Somervile was born (d. 1742). English poet.
• 1680 - Per Brahe (the younger) dies (b. 1602). Swedish soldier and statesman.
• 1688 - Robert Viner dies (b. 1631). Lord Mayor of London.
• 1690 - Philipp Wilhelm dies (b. 1615). Elector Palatine.
• 1752 - The United Kingdom adopts the Gregorian Calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.
• 1764- Revd Nathaniel Bliss dies (d. 1700). English Astronomer Royal.
• 1765 - Henry Bouquet dies (b. 1719). Swiss-born British army officer.
• 1768 - Antoine Deparcieux dies (b. 1703). French mathematician.
• 1789 - United States Department of the Treasury is founded.
• 1790 - Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim dies (b. 1701). German historian and theologian.
• 1792 - Vicente Ramón Roca Rodríguez was born. President of Ecuador.
• 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.
• 1805 - Esteban Echeverría was born in Buenos Aires (d. 18 Jan 1851). Argentine poet and politician [Consuelos (1834); Rimas (1837) ; Manual de Enseñanza Moral (1846)].
• 1807 - British Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
• 1810 - William Seymour Tyler was born (d. 1897). American educator and historian.
• 1813 - Jean Victor Marie Moreau dies in battle (b. 1763). French general.
• 1814 - Ernst Curtius was born (d. 11 Jul 1896). German archaeologist; directed the excavation of Olympia.
• 1820 - Jiaqing dies (b. 1760). Emperor of China.
• 1830 - William P. Frye was born (d. 1911). American politician.
• 1832 - Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach dies (b. 1854). Austrain astronomer.
• 1833 - Oberlin College is founded by John Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart.
• 1834 - Thomas Telford dies (b. 1757). Scottish civil engineer.
• 1836 - Anton Braith was born (d. 1905). German painter.
• 1838 - Liliuokalani of Hawaii was born (d. 1917). Queen of Hawaii.
• 1840 - Giovanni Verga was born in Catania (d. 27 Jan 1922). Italian novelist and playwright.
• 1845 - Bernardino Rivadavia dies. First President of Argentine (1826-1827).
• 1850 - Albert Spalding was born (d. 1915). Baseball player and sporting goods manufacturer.
• 1850 - Woldemar Voigt was born (d. 1919). German physicist.
• 1852 - Paul Bourget was born (d. 1935). French novelist and critic.
• 1853 - Wilhelm Ostwald was born (d. 1932). German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1854 - Hans Jæger was born (d. 1910). Norwegian writer and political activist.
• 1862 - Franjo Krežma was born (d. 1881). Croatian violinist.
• 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.
• 1865 - William Rowan Hamilton dies (b. 1805). Irish mathematician.
• 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.
• 1872 - Nicolai Grundtvig dies (b. 1783). Danish writer and philosopher.
• 1876 - José Fontana dies (b. 1841). On e of the founders of Portuguese Socialist Party. Beginner of the labour mouvements in Portugal.
• 1877 - Frederick Soddy was born (d. 1956). Nobel Prize laureate in 1921.
• 1877 - Constantine Kanaris dues (b. 1793). Greek admiral, freedom fighter and politician.
• 1878 - Werner von Blomberg was born (d. 1946). German field marshal.
• 1879 - An Jung-geun was born (d. 1910). Japanese assassin of Ito Hirobumi.
• 1882 - Venezuela: Francisco Mejia dies (b. 4 Oct 1798). General.
• 1884 - Dr. Frank C. Laubach was born (d. 1970). Christian missionary.
• 1885 - É inaugurada a cadeia Penitenciária de Lisboa (Portugal).
• 1885 - In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town.
• 1894 - Joseph Roth was born (d. 27 May 1939). Austrian writer.
• 1898 - Battle of Omdurman - British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen establishing British dominance in the Sudan.
• 1898 - Wilford Woodruff dies (b. 1807). President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• 1900 - Entra em funcionamento um cabo telegráfico entre Borkun (Alemanha) e Nova York, que passa pelas ilhas dos Açores.
• 1901 - Vice President Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
• 1901 - Andreas Embirikos was born (d. 1975). Greek surrealist poet.
• 1910 - Henri Rousseau dies (b. 1844). French painter.
• 1911 - Romare Bearden was born (d. 1988). African American painter.
• 1914 - Tom Glazer was born (d. 2003). American folk singer and songwriter.
• 1915 - Meinhardt Raabe was born. Actor, notable as Munchkin Coroner on The Wizard of Oz.
• 1917 - Laurindo Almeida was born (d. 1995). Brazilian guitarist and composer.
• 1917 - Cleveland Amory was born (d. 1998). American author.
• 1921 - Julio Adalberto Rivera was born. President of El Salvador (1962 - 1967).
• 1921 - Anthony Francis Lucas dies (b. 1855). Croatian-American oil exploration pioneer
• 1921 - Henry Austin Dobson dies (b. 1840). English poet.
• 1923 - Rene Thom was born (d. 2002). French mathematician.
• 1923 - Harry Pross was born. German writer and professor.
• 1924 - Daniel arap Moi was born. President of Kenya.
• 1925 - The U.S. Zeppelin the USS Shenandoah crashes, killing 14.
• 1925 - Hugo Montenegro was born (d. 1981). American composer and bandleader.
• 1928 - Horace Silver was born. American jazz pianist and composer.
• 1929 - Hal Ashby was born (d. 1988). American film director.
• 1929 - Paul Leni dies (b. 1885). German film director.
• 1930 - General José Félix Uriburu takes the power in Argentina after deposing the President Hipólito Irigoyen.
• 1931 - Clifford Jordan was born (d. 1993). American jazz saxophonist.
• 1932 - Pascual Ortiz Rubio renounces from President of Mexico.
• 1932 - Alberto Guerrero Martínez assumes the Presidency of Ecuador.
• 1933 - Victor Spinetti was born. Welsh actor.
• 1934 - Alcide Nunez dies (b. 1884). American musician.
• 1935 - Labor Day Hurricane of 1935: A large hurricane hits the Florida Keys killing 423.
• 1935 - D. Wayne Lukas was born. American horse trainer.
• 1936 - Andrew Grove was born. American computer chip manufacturer.
• 1937 - Peter Ueberroth was born. American sport executive.
• 1937 - Derek Fowlds was born. British actor.
• 1937 - Pierre de Coubertin dies (b. 1863). French founder of the modern Olympic Games.
• 1937 - Peter Ueberroth was born. American sport executive.
• 1938 - Clarence Felder was born. American actor.
• 1938 - Eduardo Nery was born in Figueira da Foz. Portuguese painter (abstract and geometrist).
• 1938 - Mary Jo Catlett was born. American actress.
• 1939 - World War II: Following the invasion of Poland, Freie Stadt Danzig Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed to Nazi Germany.
• 1939 - Sam Gooden was born. American singer (The Impressions).
• 1940 - Regis Debray was born. French writer and politician.
• 1940 - Jimmy Clanton was born. American singer.
• 1941 - David Bale was born (d. 2003). South African-born activist.
• 1943 - José Álvaro Morais was born in Coimbra (d. 30 Jan 2004). Portuguese film director (Quaresma -2003; Peixe-Lua - 2000 aka the Moonfish; Bobo, O -1987 aka The jester).
• 1943 - Rosalind Ashford was born. American R&B singer (Martha and the Vandellas).
• 1943 - Glen Sather was born. National Hockey League player and executive.
• 1943 - Joe Simon was born. American R&B singer.
• 1944 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrive three days later.
• 1944 - Al Matthews was born (d. 2002). American actor.
• 1945 - World War II ends: The final official surrender of Japan was accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. / Com a declaração de vitória dos aliados, feita pelo Presidente americano Truman, após a assinatura da rendição incondicional do Japão, a Segunda Guerra Mundial terminou oficialmente.
• 1945 - Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an Republic independent, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).
• 1946 - Ayn Rand begins writing Atlas Shrugged.
• 1946 - Billy Preston was born (d. 2006). American musician.
• 1946 - Walt Simonson was born. American comic book artist & writer.
• 1947 - Assinatura do Tratado Interamericano de Asistencia Recíproca (TIAR) no Rio de Janeiro.
• 1948 - Terry Bradshaw was born. American football player.
• 1948 - Christa McAuliffe was born (d. 1986). American schoolteacher and astronaut who died in the Challenger space shuttle explosion.
• 1948 - Sylvanus Morley dies (b. 1883). American archaeologist and spy.
• 1950 - Rosanna DeSoto was born. American actress.
• 1950 - Yuen Wah was born. Chinese actor and stuntman.
• 1951 - Mark Harmon was born. American actor.
• 1952 - Alain Giresse was born. French footballer.
• 1952 - Jimmy Connors was born. American tennis player.
• 1953 - John Zorn was born. American musician.
• 1953 - Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV dies (b. 1883). U.S. general.
• 1956 - Mario Tremblay was born. Canadian hockey player and coach.
• 1957 - Tony Alva was born. American skateboarder.
• 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.
• 1958 - Olivier Grouillard was born. French racing driver.
• 1959 - Guy Laliberté was born. Cofounder of Cirque du Soleil.
• 1960 - Arnaldo Antunes was born. Brazilian music and poet.
• 1960 - Kristin Halvorsen was born. Norwegian politician.
• 1960 - Rex Hudler was born. Baseball player.
• 1960 - Eric Dickerson was born. American football player.
• 1961 - Brasil: O Congresso aprova a emenda constitucional que institui o regime parlamentarista. Assim, João Goulart pôde assumir a presidência depois da renúncia de Jânio Quadros.
• 1961 - Oscar Magrini was born. Brazilian actor.
• 1961 - Eric Dickerson was born. American football player.
• 1961 - Carlos Valderrama was born. Colombian football player.
• 1962 - Prachya Pinkaew was born. Thai film director.
• 1962 - Jon Berkeley was born. Author and illustrator.
• 1963 - CBS Evening News becomes network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes.
• 1964 - Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes dies (b. 12 Apr 1894). Portuguese President of Republic (1951 -1958).
• 1964 - Keanu Reeves was born. American actor.
• 1964 - Alvin York dies (b. 1887). Most decorated American soldier of World War I.
• 1964 - Glenn Albert Black dies (b. 1900). American archaeologist.
• 1965 - Lennox Lewis was born. Canadian-British boxer.
• 1965 - Partho Sen-Gupta was born. Indian filmmaker.
• 1965 - Johannes Bobrowski dies (b. 1917). German writer.
• 1966 - Salma Hayek was born. Mexican actress.
• 1966 - Olivier Panis was born. French F1 car racer.
• 1966 - Dino Cazares was born. American musician.
• 1967 - Andreas Möller was born. Gernman footballer.
• 1967 - The microstate Principality of Sealand unilaterally declares its independence.
• 1968 - Cynthia Watros was born. American actress.
• 1968 - Kristen Cloke was born. American actress.
• 1969 - The first automatic teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Centre, New York.
• 1969 - Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey was born. American singer.
• 1969 - Stéphane Matteau was born. French Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1969 - Ho Chi Minh dies (b. 1890). Vietmamese president and prime minister.
• 1970 - O parlamento indiano anula os privilégios dos 279 marajás do país, igualando-os aos cidadãos normais.
• 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.
• 1971 - Tommy Maddox was born. American football player.
• 1971 - Kjetil André Aamodt was born. Norwegian alpine skier.
• 1971 - Lisa Snowdon was born. English model.
• 1972 - Matthew Dunn was born. Australian swimmer.
• 1972 - Sergei Zholtok was born. Latvian hockey player.
• 1973 - Jason Blake was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1973 - Pawan Kalyan was born. Indian actor.
• 1973 - John R. R. Tolkien dies (b. 1892). British writer.
• 1973 - Carl Dudley dies (b. 1910). American movie director.
• 1974 - Steven Johnson was born. Australian racing driver.
• 1975 - MC Chris was born. American Nerdcore Artist.
• 1976 - Aparicio Méndez becomes President of Uruguay.
• 1976 - Phil Lipscomb was born. American musician (Taproot).
• 1976 - Stanisław Grochowiak dies (b. 1934). Polish poet and dramatist.
• 1977 - Ramiro Muñoz was born. Colombian musician.
• 1977 - Frédéric Kanouté was born. Malian footballer.
• 1978 - Juan L. Ortiz dies (b. 11 Jun 1896). Argentine poet [El agua y la noche" (1924-1932); "El alba sube..." (1933-1936); "El ángel inclinado" (1938); "La rama hacia el este" (1940); "El álamo y el viento" (1947); "El aire conmovido" (1949); "La mano infinita" (1951); "La brisa profunda" (1954); "El alma y las colinas" (1956); "De las raíces y del cielo" (1958); "En el aura del sauce" (Obras completas 1970-1971, incluye "El junco y la corriente", "El Gualeguay" y "La orilla que se abisma"].
• 1979 - Anderson Corrêa Polga was born. Brazilian football player, currently playing in Sporting Club de Portugal.
• 1979 - Ron Ng was born. Hong Kong actor.
• 1980 - Brasil: Ouro Preto, em Minas Gerais, é considerada pela UNESCO como Património Histórico da Humanidade.
• 1980 - Hiroki Yoshimoto was born. Japanese racing driver.
• 1981 - Chris Tremlett was born. English cricketer.
• 1981 - Bracha van Doesburgh was born. Dutch actress.
• 1981 - Andrija Maurovic dies (b. 1901). Croatian illustrator.
• 1981 - Chris Tremlett was born. English cricketer.
• 1981 - Bracha van Doesburgh was born. Dutch actress.
• 1982 - Joey Barton was born. English footballer.
• 1982 - Mandy Cho was born. Hong Kong actress.
• 1982 - Jason Hammel was born. American baseball player.
• 1984 - Manos Katrakis died (b. 1909). Greek actor.
• 1985 - Abe Lenstra died (b. 1920). Dutch footballer.
• 1986 - Otto Glória dies (b. 1917). Brazilian football coach.
• 1987 - In Moscow, the trial of 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May 1987, begins.
• 1987 - Spencer Smith was born. American musician (Panic! at the Disco).
• 1989 - Alexandre Pato was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1990 - Transnistria declares its independence from Moldova, however Moldova does not recognize it.
• 1990 - Iraq invade el emirato de Kuwait. El Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU condena la invasión.
• 1991 - Alfonso García Robles (b. 1911). Mexican diplomat and pacifist; delegate to the United Nations General Assembly on Disarmament; former Secretary for Foreign Affairs and pacifist. He shared The Nobel Peace Prize 1982 with Alva Myrdal.
• 1991 - The United States recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
• 1992 - Barbara McClintock dies (b. 1902). American geneticist.
• 1994 - Roy Castle does (b. 1932). British entertainer.
• 1995 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio.
• 1995 - Frank Bruno wins the WBC World Heavyweight Title from Oliver McCall at Wembley Stadium.
• 1995 - Vaclav Neumann diesd (b. 29 Sep 1920). Czech conductor.
• 1996 - A peace agreement is signed between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front in Malacañang Palace.
• 1997 - Rudolph Bing dies (b. 1902). Austrian-born opera manager.
• 1997 - Viktor Frankl dies (b. 1905). Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist.
• 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 - A United Nations court finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide.
• 1998 - Jackie Blanchflower dies (b. 1933). Irish footballer.
• 1998 - Allen Drury dies (b. 1918). American author.
• 2000 - Elvera Sanchez dies (d. 1905). Puerto Rican dancer.
• 2000 - Curt Siodmak dies (b. 1907). German-born author.
• 2001 - Christiaan Barnard dies (b. 1922). South African heart surgeon.
• 2001 - Troy Donahue dies (b. 1936). American actor.
• 2001 - The adult-oriented television programming block, Adult Swim premieres on Cartoon Network.
• 2002 - WWE crowns its first World Heavyweight Champion when Eric Bischoff awarded the belt to Triple H, who was the original Number One Contender for the WWE Championship but his opponent Brock Lesnar refused to defend the belt of the Raw brand.
• 2002 - Dick Reynolds dies (b. 1915). Australian footballer and coach.
• 2003 - A ride accident at Disneyland in Anaheim, California kills one man riding the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
• 2004 - Joan Oró dies (b. 26 Oct 1923). Catalan scientist.
• 2005 - The Natural Bridge, a very popular tourist attraction in Aruba, collapses after thousands of years in good condition.
• 2005 - Bob Denver dies (b. 1935). American actor.
• 2006 - Waziristan War ends. US and Pakistani Troops leave Waziristan mountain area.
• 2006 - Bob Mathias dies (b. 1930). American athlete and congressman.
• 2006 - Willi Ninja suwa (b. 1961). African-American dancer and choreographer.
• RC Saints - Saint Sophia.
• Vietnam - National Day (independence from France, 1945).
• Mauritius - Ganesh Chaturthi.
• Transnistria - Independence day ( note Transnistria is not a recognized independent state)