What Happened Whensday: September 3, 2008

Today is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 119 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events:

36 BC - In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate.

301 - San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, is founded by Saint Marinus.

1189 - Richard I of England (a.k.a. Richard "the Lionheart") is crowned at Westminster.

1260 - The Mamluks defeat the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine, marking their first decisive defeat and the point of maximum expansion of the Mongol Empire.

1650 - Third English Civil War: Battle of Dunbar (1650)

1651 - Third English Civil War: Battle of Worcester - Charles II of England is defeated in the last main battle of the war.

1666 - The Royal Exchange burnt down in the Great Fire of London

1777 - Cooch's Bridge - Skirmish of American Revolutionary war in New Castle County, Delaware where the Flag of the United States was flown in battle for the first time.

1783 - American Revolutionary War: The war ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain. America is officially free from Britain

1798 - Weeklong battle of St. George's Caye begun between Spanish and British off the coast of Belize.

1803 - English chemist-physicist John Dalton started using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements.

1838 - Dressed in a sailor's uniform and carrying identification papers provided by a Free Black seaman, future abolitionist Frederick Douglass boards a train in Maryland on his way to freedom from slavery.

1855 - Indian Wars: In Nebraska, 700 soldiers under American General William S. Harney avenge the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Sioux village, killing 100 men, women, and children.

1861 - American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.

1870 - Franco-Prussian War: the Siege of Metz begins, which will result in a decisive Prussian victory on October 23.

1874 - The congress of the state of México elevates Naucalpan to the category of Villa, with the title of "Villa de Juárez".

1878 - Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.

1914 - William, Prince of Albania leaves the country after just six months due to opposition to his rule.

1929 - Dow Jones Industrial Average reached all time high at the time (381.17), which was shortly followed by the Crash of 1929.

1933 - Yevgeniy Abalakov reaches the highest point of the Soviet Union - Communism Peak (7495 m).

1935 - Sir Malcolm Campbell reaches 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile over 300 mph

1939 - World War II begins when France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, starting the Allies.

1942 - World War II: Uprising of the Jewish ghetto in Lakhva occurs.

1943 - World War II: Mainland Italy is invaded by Allied forces for the first time in the war.

1944 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz, arriving three days later.

1950 - "Nino" Farina becomes the first Formula One Drivers' champion after winning the 1950 Italian Grand Prix.

1951 - The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its first episode on the CBS network.

1954 - The People's Liberation Army begin shelling the ROC-controlled islands of Quemoy.
1954 - The German U-Boat U-505 began its move from a specially constructed dock to its final site at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

1967 - Dagen H in Sweden: traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight

1971 - Qatar becomes an independent state

1976 - Viking program: The Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars.

1994 - Sino-Soviet Split: Russia and the People's Republic of China agree to de-target their nuclear weapons against each other.

1995 - eBay founded.

1997 - A Vietnam Airlines Tupolev TU-134 crashes on approach into Phnom Penh airport, killing 64.

2004 - The Beslan school massacre ends in the deaths of approximately 344 people, mostly teachers and children.


Notable Births:

1905 - Carl David Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
1942 - Al Jardine, American musician (the Beach Boys)
1947 - Eric Bell, Irish guitarist (Thin Lizzy)
1955 - Steve Jones, English musician (Sex Pistols)
1965 - Charlie Sheen, American actor
1969 - Marianna Komlos, fitness model, professional wrestler, and valet (d. 2004)
1970 - Jeremy Glick, American United Airlines Flight 93 passenger (d. 2001)
1977 - Nate Robertson, American baseball player


Notable Deaths:

1658 - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England (b. 1599)
1970 - Vince Lombardi, American football coach (b. 1913)
1991 - Frank Capra, American film director (b. 1897)
2005 - William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1924)


I know that I've slacked off for a few days. I had a death in the family (a cousin's husband) so I was a little preoccupied with some stuff. Tomorrow should be the last entry on the Doctrines of Grace. Until then...