On This Day - What Happened On September 2 | Britannica

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1666 Great Fire of London On this day in 1666 the Great Fire of London began accidentally in the house of the king's baker; it burned for four days and destroyed a large part of the city, including Old St. Paul's Cathedral and about 13,000 houses. How much do you know about European history? Paul Mellon Collection, B1976.7.27/Yale Center for British Art

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Jimmy Connors American tennis player bornSeptember 2, 1952 (age 73)East Saint Louis, Illinois© Offside/REX/Shutterstock.com 1966 Salma Hayek Mexican American actress, director, and producer 1965 Lennox Lewis British boxer 1960 Eric Dickerson American football player 1948 Terry Bradshaw American football player 1948 Christa Corrigan McAuliffe American educator See All Biographies On This Day

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2016 Following much speculation, the death of Islam Karimov, the first president of Uzbekistan, was officially announced. Test your knowledge of Asian historyHelene C. Stikkel/U.S. Department of Defense 1998 Swissair flight 111 crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, killing all 229 on board; it was later determined that faulty wires had caused the plane's flammable insulation to catch fire. Take our quiz to find out why September 2 is a historically significant date throughout history© Birdiegal717/Dreamstime.com 1973 English writer J.R.R. Tolkien, who was best known for the inventive fantasies The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), died at age 81. Take our quiz about the life and works of English authorsAP Images 1948 American teacher Christa Corrigan McAuliffe, who was chosen to be the first private citizen in space, was born; she and six other crew members died when the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff in 1986. Test your knowledge of famous astronauts and cosmonautsNASA 1945 World War II came to an end as Japanese Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru and General Umezu Yoshijiro signed Japan's formal surrender aboard the USS Missouri. Sort fact from fiction in our World War II quizNaval History and Heritage Command (USA C-2719) 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent from France. Watch a time-lapse video of various sites in Vietnam© Bettmann/Getty Images 1928 American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader Horace Silver, who was an exemplary performer of what came to be called the hard bop style of the 1950s and '60s, was born. Take our music quizFrank Driggs Collection/Archive Photos 1901 American politician Theodore Roosevelt, who was then the Republican vice presidential candidate, gave the first public speech in which he said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” The Big Stick policy later became a central feature of his presidency. How much do you know about U.S. presidents?Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file number cph 3a53299) 1898 Anglo-Egyptian forces under Major General Sir Horatio Herbert Kitchener (later Lord Kitchener) defeated the Sudanese forces of the Mahdist leader ʿAbd Allāh in the Battle of Omdurman. Test your knowledge of military historyBBC Hulton Picture Library 1792 The September Massacres—mass killings of prisoners in Paris—began, instigated by beliefs that political prisoners during the French Revolution were going to rise up in their jails to join a counterrevolutionary plot. Take our quiz about French history 31 bce Octavian (later Augustus Caesar) won a decisive victory over Mark Antony in the Battle of Actium. Take our history of warfare quizNational Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Palmer Collection. Acquired with the assistance of H.M. Treasury, the Caird Fund, the Art Fund, the Pilgrim Trust and the Society for Nautical Research Macpherson Fund. SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.