TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: SEPT 3
301 San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world’s oldest republic still in existence, founded by Saint Marinus
1189 After the death of Henry II, Richard Lionheart is crowned king of England.
1346 Edward III of England begins the siege of Calais, along the coast of France.
1650 The English under Cromwell defeat a superior Scottish army under David Leslie at the Battle of Dunbar.
1752 This day never happened nor the next 10 as England adopts Gregorian Calendar. People riot thinking the govt stole 11 days of their lives
1777 The American flag (stars & stripes), approved by Congress on June 14th, is carried into battle for the first time by a force under General William Maxwell.
1783 The Treaty of Paris is signed by Great Britain and the new United States, formally bringing the American Revolution to an end.
1833 NY Sun begins publishing (1st daily newspaper)
1838 Frederick Douglass escapes slavery disguised as a sailor. He would later write The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, his memoirs about slave life.
1895 The first professional American football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania between the Latrobe Young Men’s Christian Association and the Jeannette Athletic Club. Latrobe wins 12-0.
1900 With a proclamation by General Lord Roberts, Britain annexes the Boer Republic of South Africa
1918 5 soldiers hanged for alleged participation in Houston riot of 1917
1939 World War II: Britain declares war on Germany after invasion of Poland. France follows 6 hours later quickly joined by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa & Canada
1964 Wilderness Act signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson
1967 Dagen H in Sweden – On this day, Swedish drivers switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right.
1976 The unmanned US spacecraft Viking 2 lands on Mars, takes first close-up, color photos of the planet’s surface.
1978 Pope John Paul I was installed as the 264th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
1981 David Brinkley left NBC News after 38 years to join with ABC.
1988 Estimated by this date 50,000 Kurdish civilians and soldiers killed by Iraq, many using chemical weapons, in aftermath of Iran-Iraq War
1989 US begins shipping military aircraft and weapons to Columbia for use against that country’s drug lords.
1994 Russia and China sign a demarcation agreement to end dispute over a stretch of their border and agree they will no longer target each other with nuclear weapons.
1995 Internet giant eBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar
1999 Mario Lemieux’s ownership group officially took over the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins. Lemieux became the first player in the modern era of sports to buy the team he had once played for.
2001 Protestant loyalists in Belfast, Ireland, begin an 11-week picket of the Holy Cross Catholic school for girls, sparking rioting.
REFERENCE: HISTORY.NET, ONTHISDAY.COM, TIMEANDDATE.COM, INFOPLEASE.COM, FACTMONSTER.COM, SCOPESYS.COM, ON-THIS-DAY.COM, THEPEOPLEHISTORY.COM
