September 2 facts for kids

2025 Calendar

September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 120 days remain until the end of the year.

Every day, history is made! Let's look at some important events, famous people born, and notable people who passed away on September 2nd throughout history.

Important Events in History
Famous Birthdays
Notable Deaths
Observances
See also

Important Events in History

Ancient Times to 1900

44 BC – Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt made her son, Ptolemy XV Caesarion, a co-ruler with her.
31 BC – A big Roman Civil War battle happened! Off the coast of Greece, Octavian's forces defeated the armies of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. This was the Battle of Actium.
1192 – The Third Crusade ended with a peace agreement between Sultan Saladin and Richard I of England.
1649 – The Italian city of Castro was completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro.
1666 – The terrible Great Fire of London started. It burned for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings, including the famous St Paul's Cathedral.
1667 – Paris, France, got its first street lights!
1752 – The United Kingdom finally adopted the Gregorian calendar. Most of Western Europe had already been using it for almost 200 years.
1789 – The United States Department of the Treasury was created. This department manages the government's money.
1792 – During the French Revolution, angry mobs killed three Roman Catholic bishops and over 200 priests in what became known as the September Massacres.
1806 – A huge landslide destroyed the town of Goldau, Switzerland, and 457 people lost their lives.
1807 – The British Navy attacked Copenhagen, Denmark, with fire bombs and rockets. They wanted to stop Denmark from giving its fleet to Napoleon. About 70% of the city was destroyed, and 2,000 people were killed.
1811 – The University of Oslo was founded in Norway. It was first called The Royal Fredericks University, named after King Frederick VI of Denmark.
1859 – A very strong solar storm, known as the Carrington Event, affected telegraph services around the world.
1862 – During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln put General George B. McClellan back in charge of the Union army. This happened after General John Pope's big loss at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
1864 – In the American Civil War, Union forces led by General William Tecumseh Sherman entered Atlanta, Georgia. The Confederate soldiers had left the city the day before.
1867 – Mutsuhito, who was the Meiji Emperor of Japan, married Ichijo Masako. She later became known as Lady Haruko.
1870 – In the Franco-Prussian War, Prussian forces defeated the French armies at the Battle of Sedan. They captured Emperor Napoléon III and 100,000 of his soldiers.
1885 – In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners attacked their Chinese co-workers. They killed 28 people, injured 15, and forced hundreds more to leave town.
1898 – The Battle of Omdurman took place. British and Egyptian troops, led by Horatio Kitchener, defeated Sudanese tribesmen. This battle helped establish British control in the Sudan.

1901 to 2000

1901 – Vice President Theodore Roosevelt said his famous line, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
1935 – The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, a very strong hurricane, hit the Florida Keys. It killed 423 people.
1939 – After the invasion of Poland, the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) was taken over by Nazi Germany.
1944 – During the Holocaust, Anne Frank and her family were put on the last train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrived three days later.
1945 – World War II officially ended! Japan formally surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
1945 – Vietnam declared its independence, forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (which became North Vietnam).
1946 – A temporary government was formed in India, with Jawaharlal Nehru taking Prime Ministerial powers.
1957 – South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem made the first official state visit to Australia.
1958 – A United States Air Force C-130 A-II plane was shot down by fighters over Yerevan, Armenia. It had flown into Soviet airspace during a mission, and all crew members died.
1960 – The first election for the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration took place.
1963 – CBS Evening News became the first half-hour weeknight news broadcast on network television. It was extended from 15 to 30 minutes.
1967 – The tiny microstate called the Principality of Sealand declared itself independent.
1969 – The very first automatic teller machine (ATM) in the United States was installed in Rockville Centre, New York.
1970 – NASA canceled two planned Moon missions, Apollo 15 and Apollo 19.
1973 – France pulled its last troops out of Madagascar.
1984 – Typhoon Ike caused a lot of damage and killed over 1,400 people.
1987 – In Moscow, the trial began for 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust. He had flown his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May 1987.
1990 – Transnistria declared itself a Soviet republic. Mikhail Gorbachev said this move was illegal.
1991 – The United States recognized the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
1992 – An earthquake in Nicaragua killed 116 people.
1995 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened in Cleveland, Ohio. The building was designed by I. M. Pei.
1995 – Frank Bruno became the Boxing Heavyweight Champion, defeating Oliver McCall in London.
1998 – In Canada, pilots for Air Canada went on strike for the first time in the company's history.
1998 – Swissair Flight 111, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 airliner, crashed near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. It was flying from New York City to Geneva. All 229 people on board died.
1998 – A United Nations court found Jean-Paul Akayesu, a former mayor from Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide. This was the first time the 1948 law banning genocide was put into action.

From 2001 to Today

2001 – Cartoon Network launched its adult-focused block, Adult Swim.
2004 – The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1559, asking for all foreign troops to leave Lebanon.
2013 – The new eastern part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened for traffic.
2016 – President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan died at age 78, after days of rumors about his health.
2018 – The National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro was badly damaged by a fire. Many important cultural treasures were lost.
2019 – The boat "MV Conception" caught fire and sank near Santa Cruz, California, killing 34 people.

Famous Birthdays

Born Before 1900

1661 – Georg Böhm, a German organist and composer.
1675 – William Somerville, an English poet.
1753 – Marie Joséphine of Savoy, an Italian-born Queen Consort of France.
1763 – Caroline Schelling, a German writer and translator.
1778 – Louis Bonaparte, who became King of the Netherlands.
1798 – Thomas Holliday Higgins, a Governor of Maryland.
1805 – Esteban Echeverría, an Argentine writer.
1810 – Lysander Button, an American engineer.
1810 – William Seymour Tyler, an American historian and educator.
1811 – J. C. Jacobsen, a Danish businessman who founded the Carlsberg brewery.
1812 – William Fox, the second Prime Minister of New Zealand.
1814 – Ernst Curtius, a German archaeologist and philologist.
1820 – Lucretia Hale, an American journalist and author.
1830 – William P. Frye, an American politician.
1838 – Liliuokalani, the last Queen of Hawaii.
1838 – Bhaktivinoda Thakur, an Indian/Bengali writer and religious figure.
1839 – Henry George, an American economist.
1840 – Giovanni Verga, an Italian writer.
1850 – Albert Spalding, an American baseball player and sporting goods maker.
1850 – Alfred Pringsheim, a German mathematician and art collector.
1850 – Woldemar Voigt, a German physicist.
1853 – Wilhelm Ostwald, a German chemist and Nobel Prize winner.
1866 – Hiram Johnson, a Governor of California.
1877 – Frederick Soddy, a British chemist and Nobel Prize winner.
1878 – Ion Dragoumis, a Greek diplomat, writer, and revolutionary.
1879 – An Jung-geun, a Korean who assassinated Ito Hirobumi.
1883 – Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria, an Austrian archduchess.
1883 – Rudolf Weigl, a Polish biologist.
1884 – Frank Laubach, an American Christian missionary.
1886 – Warren Brittingham, an American soccer player.
1894 – Joseph Roth, an Austrian novelist.
1898 – Pietro Ferrero, an Italian entrepreneur.
1898 – Alfons Gorbach, a Chancellor of Austria.

Born 1901 to 1950

1901 – Adolph Rupp, an American college basketball coach.
1904 – Set Svanholm, a Swedish tenor singer.
1912 – Ingeborg Rapoport, a German paediatrician.
1913 – Israel Gelfand, a Russian mathematician.
1913 – Bill Shankly, a Scottish football manager.
1915 – Meinhardt Raabe, an American actor.
1917 – Cleveland Amory, a writer.
1918 – Allen Drury, an American writer.
1919 – Marge Champion, an American actress, dancer, and choreographer.
1922 – Arthur Ashkin, an American physicist.
1923 – René Thom, a French mathematician.
1924 – Daniel arap Moi, a former President of Kenya.
1925 – Hugo Montenegro, an American composer and bandleader.
1925 – Russ Conway, a British pianist, composer, and singer.
1926 – Stanley Cavell, an American philosopher.
1926 – Ibrahim Nasir, a President of the Maldives.
1927 – Milo Hamilton, an American sportscaster.
1927 – Francis Matthews, an English actor.
1928 – Horace Silver, an American jazz pianist.
1928 – Mel Stuart, an American director and producer.
1929 – Hal Ashby, an American movie director.
1929 – Victor Spinetti, a Welsh actor and director.
1930 – Andrey Petrov, a Russian composer.
1931 – Clifford Jordan, an American jazz musician.
1933 – Mathieu Kérékou, a former President of Benin.
1934 – Chuck McCann, an American actor and comedian.
1936 – Andrew Grove, an American computer chip manufacturer.
1937 – Len Carlson, a Canadian voice actor.
1938 – Giuliano Gemma, an Italian actor.
1941 – David Bale, a South African activist.
1942 – Andrew Kohut, an American political scientist.
1943 – Rosalind Ashford, an American singer (from Martha and the Vandellas).
1944 – Al Matthews, an American actor.
1946 – Billy Preston, an American musician.
1947 – Louis Michel, a Belgian educator and politician.
1948 – Terry Bradshaw, an American football player.
1948 – Christa McAuliffe, an American schoolteacher and astronaut.
1949 – Moira Stuart, a British broadcast journalist.
1950 – Michael Rother, a German guitarist and keyboardist.
1950 – Yuen Wah, a Chinese actor, martial artist, and stuntman.

Born 1951 to Present

1951 – Mark Harmon, an American actor.
1952 – Jimmy Connors, an American tennis player.
1953 – Keith Allen, a British actor.
1953 – John Zorn, an American musician.
1954 – Andrej Babiš, a Czech businessman and politician, former Prime minister of the Czech Republic.
1956 – Doria Ragland, mother of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
1956 – Mario Tremblay, a Canadian ice hockey player.
1957 – Steve Porcaro, an American musician (from Toto).
1958 – Lynne Kosky, an Australian politician.
1958 – Olivier Grouillard, a French racing driver.
1959 – Guy Laliberté, a Canadian poker player and entrepreneur, founder of Cirque du Soleil.
1960 – Kristin Halvorsen, a Norwegian politician.
1961 – Eric Dickerson, an American football player.
1961 – Claude Puel, a French footballer and manager.
1961 – Carlos Valderrama, a Colombian footballer.
1962 – Eugenio Derbez, a Mexican actor, director, producer, and screenwriter.
1962 – Keir Starmer, an English lawyer and politician.
1963 – Prachya Pinkaew, a Thai movie director, producer, and screenwriter.
1963 – Stanislav Cherchesov, a Russian footballer and manager.
1964 – Keanu Reeves, a Canadian actor.
1965 – Lennox Lewis, a Canadian-British boxer.
1966 – Salma Hayek, a Mexican actress.
1967 – Andreas Moeller, a German footballer.
1969 – Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, a singer.
1969 – Stephane Matteau, a Canadian ice hockey player.
1971 – Kjetil André Aamodt, a Norwegian alpine skier.
1971 – Tommy Maddox, an American football player.
1972 – Sergei Zholtok, an ice hockey player.
1973 – Mark Shield, an Australian football referee.
1974 – Sami Salo, a Finnish ice hockey player.
1976 – Momodu Mutairu, a Nigerian footballer.
1977 – Frédéric Kanouté, a Malian footballer.
1979 – Tomer Ben Yosef, an Israeli footballer.
1980 – Danny Shittu, a Nigerian footballer.
1981 – Chris Tremlett, an English cricketer.
1982 – Joey Barton, an English footballer.
1983 – José Alfredo Castillo, a Bolivian footballer.
1983 – Aimee Osbourne, an American model and actress.
1986 – Gelson Fernandes, a Swiss footballer.
1986 – Rafik Halliche, an Algerian footballer.
1986 – Kyle Hines, an American basketball player.
1987 – Spencer Smith, an American drummer (from Panic! at the Disco).
1987 – Jevan Snead, an American football player.
1988 – Javi Martínez, a Spanish footballer.
1988 – Dimitrij Ovtcharov, a German table tennis player.
1989 – Alexandre Pato, a Brazilian footballer.
1989 – Marcus Morris, an American basketball player.
1989 – Markieff Morris, an American basketball player.
1990 – Marcus Ericsson, a Swedish racing driver.
1992 – Alberto Masi, an Italian footballer.
1993 – Montana Cox, an Australian model.
1996 – Sungha Jung, a South Korean musician.
1997 – Brandon Ingram, an American basketball player.

Notable Deaths

Passed Away Before 1900

490 BC – Pheidippides, a Greek hero.
421 – Constantius III, a Roman Emperor.
459 – Simeon Stylites, a Byzantine saint.
595 – Patriarch John IV of Constantinople.
1031 – Saint Emeric of Hungary.
1274 – Prince Munetaka, the 6th Kamakura shogun in Japan.
1397 – Francesco Landini, an Italian composer.
1540 – Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia.
1680 – Per Brahe, a Swedish soldier and statesman.
1690 – Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine.
1721 – Kwon Sang-ha, a politician and scholar from Korea.
1764 – Revd Nathaniel Bliss, a British astronomer Royal.
1768 – Antoine Deparcieux, a French mathematician.
1813 – Jean-Victor Moreau, a French general.
1820 – Jiaqing Emperor, Emperor of China.
1832 – Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, an Austrian scientific editor and astronomer.
1834 – Thomas Telford, a British civil engineer.
1845 – Bernardino Rivadavia, an Argentine statesman.
1865 – William Rowan Hamilton, an Irish mathematician.
1872 – Nicolai Grundtvig, a Danish writer and philosopher.
1877 – Constantine Kanaris, a Greek admiral, freedom fighter, and politician.
1884 – Henry B. Anthony, a Governor of Rhode Island.
1895 – Charles Anderson, the 27th Governor of Ohio.
1898 – Wilford Woodruff, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Passed Away 1901 to 2000

1910 – Henri Rousseau, a French painter.
1921 – Anthony Francis Lucas, a Croatian-American oil exploration pioneer.
1921 – Henry Austin Dobson, a poet.
1927 – Umegatani Totaro II, a Japanese sumo wrestler.
1934 – Alcide Nunez, a jazz musician.
1934 – James Allan, a New Zealand rugby player.
1937 – Pierre de Coubertin, a French person who founded the modern Olympic Games.
1948 – Sylvanus Morley, an American archaeologist.
1964 – Francisco Craveiro Lopes, a Portuguese President.
1964 – Alvin York, one of the most decorated American soldiers of World War I.
1969 – Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese political leader.
1971 – Robert Mensah, a Ghanaian footballer.
1973 – J. R. R. Tolkien, a British writer, famous for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
1973 – Carl Dudley, an American movie director.
1976 – Stanisław Grochowiak, a Polish poet and dramatist.
1981 – Andrija Maurovic, a Croatian illustrator.
1985 – Abe Lenstra, a Dutch footballer.
1991 – Alfonso García Robles, a Mexican politician.
1992 – Barbara McClintock, an American geneticist.
1994 – Roy Castle, an English actor, singer, and dancer.
1997 – Rudolf Bing, an Austrian-born British opera singer.
1997 – Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist.
1998 – Jackie Blanchflower, a Northern Irish footballer.
1998 – Allen Drury, an American writer.
2000 – Elvera Sanchez, a Puerto Rican dancer.
2000 – Curt Siodmak, a science fiction writer.

Passed Away From 2001 to Present

2001 – Christiaan Barnard, a South African heart surgeon, famous for the first human heart transplant.
2001 – Troy Donahue, an American actor.
2008 – Bill Melendez, a Mexican-American animator, director, producer, and voice actor.
2009 – Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, an Indian politician.
2010 – Shmuel Eisenstadt, an Israeli sociologist.
2013 – Frederik Pohl, an American science fiction writer.
2013 – Ronald Coase, a British economist.
2013 – Valérie Benguigui, a French actress.
2013 – David Jacobs, an English radio and television host.
2013 – Paul Scoon, the 2nd Governor-General of Grenada.
2014 – Steven Sotloff, an American journalist.
2014 – Norman Gordon, a South African cricketer.
2014 – Helena Rakoczy, a Polish gymnast.
2014 – J. LaMoine Jenson, an American religious leader.
2014 – Peter Carter, a British diplomat.
2014 – Antonis Vardis, a Greek composer and singer.
2015 – Charles Gyamfi, a Ghanaian footballer.
2015 – Aleksander Mandziara, a Polish footballer and coach.
2015 – Simo Salminen, a Finnish comic actor.
2015 – Brianna Lea Pruett, an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, and moviemaker.
2016 – Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan.
2017 – Viktor Cherepkov, a Russian politician.
2017 – Halim El-Dabh, an Egyptian composer.
2017 – Xiang Shouzhi, a Chinese general.
2018 – Conway Savage, an Australian rock singer-songwriter and pianist.
2018 – Claire Wineland, an American entrepreneur and health activist.
2019 – Ryszard Czerniawski, a Polish lawyer and economist.
2019 – Carlo Fonseka, a Sri Lankan physician.
2019 – Joan Antoni Solans Huguet, a Spanish urban planner.
2019 – Gyoji Matsumoto, a Japanese footballer.

Observances

National Day (Vietnam)
Democracy Day (Tibet)
Independence Day (Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh)