301 – San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world’s oldest republic still in existence, founded by Saint Marinus
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
1953 – European Convention on Human Rights goes into effect
1967 – Sweden begins driving on right-hand side of road (Dagen H)
1976 – After a nearly yearlong journey, NASA’s robotic spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars this day in 1976 and began relaying information about the planet’s atmosphere and soil as well as colour photographs of the rocky surface.
1978 – Pope John Paul I officially installed as 263rd supreme pontiff
1989 – On 3 September 1989 a car carrying former Juventus captain Gaetano Scirea collided head-on with a truck near Babsk. Scirea visited Poland as an observer to watch Górnik Zabrze, against which Juventus was to play in the UEFA Cup. The car carried four canisters of gasoline in the trunk (a common practice in Poland at that time due to frequent gas shortages), which exploded upon impact, killing Scirea and two of three other passengers
1994 – Russia and China ended decades of confrontation and agreed to cease keeping nuclear missiles aimed at each other.
2004 – The Beslan school massacre ends in the deaths of approximately 344 people, mostly teachers and children.
