31 BC – Battle of Actium: decisive naval battle that effectively ends the Roman Republic. Octavian’s forces defeat those under Mark Antony and Cleopatra off the western coast of Greece.
1192 – Sultan Saladin and King Richard the Lionheart of England sign treaty over Jerusalem, at end of the Third Crusade
1792 – September Massacres of the French Revolution: In Paris rampaging mobs slaughter 3 Roman Catholic bishops, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers.
1864 – Union General William T. Sherman captures and burns Atlanta during Savannah Campaign (US Civil War)
1944 – Holocaust diarist Anne Frank sent to Auschwitz concentration camp
1945 – V-J Day, formal Surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri marks the end of World War II (Japanese date, 1st September in US)
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.
Births & Deaths: 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.
Sport: 1965 – Cubs slugger Ernie Banks hits his MLB 400th career HR (off Curt Simmons) in Chicago’s 5-3 win v St. Louis at Wrigley Field; Simmons also gave up Willie Mays’ 400th HR in 1963
Music: 1931 – Bing Crosby makes his solo radio debut
TV & Film: 1949 – “The Third Man”, directed by Carol Reed, starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli and Orson Welles, is released in the United Kingdom (Academy Awards Best Cinematography 1950)
