This Day in History

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September 2

Today is Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day) in the United States, marking the end of World War II.

1666 – The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings, including St Paul's Cathedral, and the homes of 70,000 of the city's 80,000 citizens.

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.

1806 – A massive landslide destroys the town of Goldau, Switzerland, killing 457.

1859 – A solar super storm affects electrical telegraph service.

1864 – American Civil War: Union forces enter Atlanta, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

1987 – In Moscow, the trial begins for 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May.

Births

1661 – Georg Böhm; 1675 – William Somervile; 1850 – Albert Spalding (co-founded the Spalding Sporting Goods Company); 1901 – Adolph Rupp (coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team for 42 years, namesake of Rupp Arena); 1911 – William F. Harrah (founded Caesars Entertainment Corporation); 1914 – Tom Glazer♪ ♫; 1915 – Meinhardt Raabe (Munchkin); 1917 – Cleveland Amory; 1925 – Hugo Montenegro♪ ♫; 1929 – Hal Ashby; 1934 – Grady Nutt (minister & humorist, Hee Haw); 1935 – D. Wayne Lukas (horse trainer); 1937 – Peter Ueberroth; 1938 – Mary Jo Catlett; 1946 – Billy Preston♪ ♫; 1946 – Dan White (Harvey Milk's & George Moscone's assassin); 1948 – Terry Bradshaw, Christa McAuliffe; 1951 – Michael Gray ('Billy Batson' on Shazam!), Mark Harmon ('Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' on NCIS); 1952 – Jimmy Connors; 1957 – Steve Porcaro(Toto); 1964 – Keanu Reeves; 1965 – Lennox Lewis; 1966 – Salma Hayek

Deaths

1910 – Henri Rousseau; 1964 – Alvin C. York; 1969 – Ho Chi Minh; 1973 – J. R. R. Tolkien; 1978 – Fred G. Meyer (founded Fred Meyer); 2005 – Bob Denver (Gilligan's Island)