September 2 in History

Historical Events on September 2

44 BC

Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
44 BC

Cicero launches the first of his Philippicae (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them over the following 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.
1192

The Treaty of Jaffa is signed between Richard I of England and Saladin, leading to the end of the Third Crusade.
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.
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, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers.
1806

A massive landslide destroys the town of Goldau, Switzerland, killing 457.
1807

The Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
1856

The Tianjing incident takes place in Nanjing, China.
1862

American Civil War: United States President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George B. McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
1864

American Civil War: Union forces enter Atlanta, a day after the Confederate defenders flee the city, ending the Atlanta Campaign.
1867

Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Japan, marries Masako Ichijō. The Empress consort is thereafter known as Lady Haruko.
1870

Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan: Prussian forces take Napoleon III of France and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner.
1885

Rock Springs massacre: In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners, who are struggling to unionize so they could strike for better wages and work conditions, 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 establish British dominance in 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.
1912

Arthur Rose Eldred is awarded the first Eagle Scout award of the Boy Scouts of America.
1939

World War II: Following the start of the invasion of Poland the previous day, the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed by Nazi Germany.
1945

World War II: Combat ends in the Pacific Theater: The Japanese Instrument of Surrender is signed by Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
1945

Vietnam declares its independence, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
1946

The Interim Government of India is formed, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru as Vice President with the powers of a Prime Minister.
1957

President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam becomes the first foreign head of state to make a state visit to Australia.
1958

United States Air Force C-130A-II is shot down by fighters over Yerevan in Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a sigint mission. All crew members are killed.
1960

The first election of the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration, in history of Tibet. The Tibetan community observes this date as Democracy Day.
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.
1968

Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War
1970

NASA announces the cancellation of two Apollo missions to the Moon, Apollo 15 (the designation is re-used by a later mission), and Apollo 19.
1984

Seven people are shot and killed and 12 wounded in the Milperra massacre, a shootout between the rival motorcycle gangs Bandidos and Comancheros in Sydney, Australia.
1985

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil politicians and former MPs M. Alalasundaram and V. Dharmalingam are shot dead.
1987

In Moscow, the trial begins for 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May.
1990

Transnistria is unilaterally proclaimed a Soviet republic; the Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev declares the decision null and void.
1992

The 7.7 Mw Nicaragua earthquake affected the west coast of Nicaragua. With a Ms-Mw disparity of half a unit, this tsunami earthquake triggered a tsunami that caused most of the damage and casualties, with at least 116 killed. Typical runup heights were 3-8 meters (9.8-26.2 ft).
1998

Swissair Flight 111 crashes near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia; all 229 people onboard 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.
2009

The Andhra Pradesh, India helicopter crash occurred near Rudrakonda Hill, 40 nautical miles (74 km) from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, India. Fatalities included Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
2013

The Eastern span replacement of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opens at 10:15 PM at a cost of $6.4 billion, after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the old span.

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