September 2

Events
Up to 1900
44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.
31 BC - Roman Civil War: Battle of Actium - Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
1192 - The Third Crusade ends, after a peace agreement Sultan Saladin and Richard I of England.
1649 - The Italian city of Castro is completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro.
1666 - The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral.
1667 - Street lighting is introduced in Paris.
1752 - The United Kingdom adopts the Gregorian calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.
1789 - United States Department of the Treasury was founded.
1792 - During what became known as the September Massacres of the French Revolution, rampaging mobs slaughtered three Roman Catholic Church bishops and more than two hundred priests.
1806 - A massive landslide destroys the town of Goldau, Switzerland, killing 457 people.
1807 - British Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to stop Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon. 70% of the city was destroyed and 2000 citizens were killed.
1811 - The University of Oslo is founded as The Royal Fredericks University, named after King Frederick VI of Denmark and Norway.
1859 - A solar super storm affects the electrical telegraph service.
1862 - American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Second Bull Run.
1864 - American Civil War: Union forces under General William T. Sherman enter Atlanta, Georgia a day after the Confederate defenders fled the city.
1867 - Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor of Japan marries Ichijo Masako. The Empress consort is thereafter known as Lady Haruko.
1870 - Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan - Prussian forces defeat the French armies and take emperor Napoleon III and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner at Sedan.
1885 - In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town.
1898 - Battle of Omdurman - British and Egyptian troops led by Horatio Kitchener defeat Sudanese tribesmen led by Khalifa Abdullah al-Taashi, thus establishing British dominance in the Sudan.
1901 2000
1901 - Vice President Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
1935 - Labor Day Hurricane of 1935: A large hurricane hit the Florida Keys killing 423.
1939 - Following the invasion of Poland, Freie Stadt Danzig Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) ruled by Nazi leader Forster is annexed to Nazi Germany.
1944 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrive three days later.
1945 - World War II ends: The final official surrender of Japan was accepted by General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
1945 - Vietnam declares its independence forming the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).
1946 - A caretaker government is formed in India, with Jawaharlal Nehru taking Prime Ministerial powers.
1957 - South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem makes the first-ever state visit to Australia.
1958 - United States Air Force C-130 A-II is shot down by fighters over Yerevan, Armenia, when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a mission, killing all crew members.
1960 - First election to Parliament of Central Tibetan Administration.
1963 - CBS Evening News becomes network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes.
1967 - The microstate Principality of Sealand unilaterally declared its independence.
1969 - The first automatic teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Centre, New York.
1970 - NASA cancels two planned Moon missions, Apollo 15 and Apollo 19.
1973 - France pulls its last troops out of Madagascar.
1984 - Typhoon Ike kills over 1,400 people.
1987 - In Moscow, the trial of 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May 1987, begins.
1990 - Transnistria is declared a Soviet republic on its own right. Mikhail Gorbachev declares the move illegal.
1991 - The United States recognizes the independence of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
1992 - An earthquake in Nicaragua kills 116 people.
1995 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio. The building was designed by I. M. Pei.
1995 - Frank Bruno becomes Boxing Heavyweight Champion, defeating Oliver McCall in London.
1998 - In Canada, pilots for Air Canada launch the first strike in company's history.
1998 - A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 airliner carrying Swissair Flight 111 crashes near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia after taking off from New York City en route to Geneva. All 229 people on board are killed.
1998 - A United Nations court finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide, marking the first time that the 1948 law banning genocide is enforced.
From 2001
2001 - Cartoon Network begins its adult-orientated block, Adult Swim.
2004 - Resolution 1559: The United Nations Security Council calls for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon.
2013 - The new eastern part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.
2016 - President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov dies aged 78, after several days of speculation over his ill health.
2018 - National Museum of Brazil fire: The National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro is heavily damaged by fire. Many cultural treasures are lost in the blaze.
2019 - Sinking of MV Conception: 34 people are killed when the boat "MV Conception" goes on fire and sinks near Santa Cruz, California.
Births
Up to 1900
1661 - Georg Bohm, German organist and composer (d. 1733)
1675 - William Somerville, English poet (d. 1742)
1753 - Marie Josephine of Savoy, Italian-born Queen Consort of France (d. 1810)
1763 - Caroline Schelling, German writer and translator (d. 1809)
1778 - Louis Bonaparte, King of the Netherlands (d. 1846)
1798 - Thomas Holliday Higgins, Governor of Maryland (d. 1865)
1805 - Esteban Echeverria, Argentine writer (d. 1851)
1810 - Lysander Button, American engineer (d. 1898)
1810 - William Seymour Tyler, American historian and educator (d. 1897)
1811 - J. C. Jacobsen, Danish industrialist and philanthropist, founder of the Carlsberg brewery (d. 1887)
1812 - William Fox, 2nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1893)
1814 - Ernst Curtius, German archaeologist and philologist (d. 1896)
1820 - Lucretia Hale, American journalist and author (d. 1900)
1830 - William P. Frye, American politician (d. 1911)
1838 - Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii (d. 1917)
1838 - Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Indian/Bengali writer and religious figure (d. 1914)
1839 - Henry George, American economist (d. 1897)
1840 - Giovanni Verga, Italian writer (d. 1922)
1850 - Albert Spalding, American baseball player and sporting goods manufacturer (d. 1915)
1850 - Alfred Pringsheim, German mathematician and art collector (d. 1941)
1850 - Woldemar Voigt, German physicist (d. 1919)
1853 - Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
1866 - Hiram Johnson, Governor of California (d. 1945)
1877 - Frederick Soddy, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1956)
1878 - Ion Dragoumis, Greek diplomat, writer and revolutionary (d. 1920)
1879 - An Jung-geun, Korean assassin of Ito Hirobumi (d. 1910)
1883 - Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria, Austrian archduchess (d. 1963)
1883 - Rudolf Weigl, Polish biologist (d. 1957)
1884 - Frank Laubach, American Christian missionary (d. 1970)
1886 - Warren Brittingham, American soccer player (d. 1962)
1894 - Joseph Roth, Austrian novelist (d. 1939)
1898 - Pietro Ferrero, Italian entrepreneur (d. 1949)
1898 - Alfons Gorbach, Chancellor of Austria (d. 1972)
1901 1950
1901 - Adolph Rupp, American College basketball coach (d. 1977)
1904 - Set Svanholm, Swedish tenor (d. 1964)
1912 - Ingeborg Rapoport, German paediatrician (d. 2017)
1913 - Israel Gelfand, Russian mathematician (d. 2009)
1913 - Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (d. 1981)
1915 - Meinhardt Raabe, American actor (d. 2010)
1917 - Cleveland Amory, writer (d. 1998)
1918 - Allen Drury, American writer (d. 1998)
1919 - Marge Champion, American actress, dancer and choreographer
1922 - Arthur Ashkin, American physicist
1923 - Rene Thom, French mathematician (d. 2002)
1924 - Daniel arap Moi, former President of Kenya
1925 - Hugo Montenegro, American composer and bandleader (d. 1981)
1925 - Russ Conway, British pianist, composer and singer (d. 2000)
1926 - Stanley Cavell, American philosopher (d. 2018)
1926 - Ibrahim Nasir, President of the Maldives (d. 2008)
1927 - Milo Hamilton, American sportscaster (d. 2015)
1927 - Francis Matthews, English actor (d. 2014)
1928 - Horace Silver, American jazz pianist (d. 2014)
1928 - Mel Stuart, American director and producer (d. 2012)
1929 - Hal Ashby, American movie director (d. 1988)
1929 - Victor Spinetti, Welsh actor and director (d. 2012)
1930 - Andrey Petrov, Russian composer (d. 2006)
1931 - Clifford Jordan, American jazz musician (d. 1993)
1933 - Mathieu Kerekou, former President of Benin (d. 2015)
1934 - Chuck McCann, American actor and comedian (d. 2018)
1936 - Andrew Grove, American computer chip manufacturer (d. 2016)
1937 - Len Carlson, Canadian voice actor (d. 2006)
1938 - Giuliano Gemma, Italian actor (d. 2013)
1941 - David Bale, South African activist
1942 - Andrew Kohut, American political scientist (d. 2015)
1943 - Rosalind Ashford, American singer (Martha and the Vandellas)
1944 - Al Matthews, American actor (d. 2002)
1946 - Billy Preston, American musician (d. 2006)
1947 - Louis Michel, Belgian educator and politician
1948 - Terry Bradshaw, American football player
1948 - Christa McAuliffe, American schoolteacher and astronaut (d. 1986)
1949 - Moira Stuart, British broadcast journalist
1950 - Michael Rother, German guitarist and keyboardist
1950 - Yuen Wah, Chinese actor, martial artist and stuntman
1951 1975
1951 - Mark Harmon, American actor
1952 - Jimmy Connors, American tennis player
1953 - Keith Allen, British actor
1953 - John Zorn, American musician
1954 - Andrej Babis, Czech businessman and politician, Prime minister of the Czech Republic
1956 - Doria Ragland, mother of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
1956 - Mario Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey player
1957 - Steve Porcaro, American musician (Toto)
1958 - Lynne Kosky, Australian politician (d. 2014)
1958 - Olivier Grouillard, French racing driver
1959 - Guy Laliberte, Canadian poker player and entrepreneur, founder of the Cirque du Soleil
1960 - Kristin Halvorsen, Norwegian politician
1961 - Eric Dickerson, American football player
1961 - Claude Puel, French footballer and manager
1961 - Carlos Valderrama, Colombian footballer
1962 - Eugenio Derbez, Mexican actor, director, producer and screenwriter
1962 - Keir Starmer, English lawyer and politician
1963 - Prachya Pinkaew, Thai movie director, producer and screenwriter
1963 - Stanislav Cherchesov, Russian footballer and manager
1964 - Keanu Reeves, Canadian actor
1965 - Lennox Lewis, Canadian-British boxer
1966 - Salma Hayek, Mexican actress
1967 - Andreas Moeller, German footballer
1969 - Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, singer
1969 - Stephane Matteau, Canadian ice hockey player
1971 - Kjetil Andre Aamodt, Norwegian alpine skier
1971 - Tommy Maddox, American football player
1972 - Sergei Zholtok, ice hockey player
1973 - Mark Shield, Australian football referee
1974 - Sami Salo, Finnish ice hockey player
From 1976
1976 - Momodu Mutairu, Nigerian footballer
1977 - Frederic Kanoute, Malian footballer
1979 - Tomer Ben Yosef, Israeli footballer
1980 - Danny Shittu, Nigerian footballer
1981 - Chris Tremlett, English cricketer
1982 - Joey Barton, English footballer
1983 - Jose Alfredo Castillo, Bolivian footballer
1983 - Aimee Osbourne, American model and actress
1986 - Gelson Fernandes, Swiss footballer
1986 - Rafik Halliche, Algerian footballer
1986 - Kyle Hines, American basketball player
1987 - Spencer Smith, American drummer (Panic! at the Disco)
1987 - Jevan Snead, American football player (d. 2019)
1988 - Javi Martinez, Spanish footballer
1988 - Dimitrij Ovtcharov, German table tennis player
1989 - Alexandre Pato, Brazilian footballer
1989 - Marcus Morris, American basketball player
1989 - Markieff Morris, American basketball player
1990 - Marcus Ericsson, Swedish racing driver
1992 - Alberto Masi, Italian footballer
1993 - Montana Cox, Australian model
1996 - Sungha Jung, South Korean musician
1997 - Brandon Ingram, American basketball player
Deaths
Up to 1900
490 BC - Pheidippides, Greek hero (b. around 530 BC)
421 - Constantius III, Roman Emperor (b. late 300s)
459 - Simeon Stylites, Byzantine saint (b. 390)
595 - Patriarch John IV of Constantinople
1031 - Saint Emeric of Hungary
1274 - Prince Munetaka, 6th Kamakura shogun in Japan (b. 1242)
1397 - Francesco Landini, Italian composer (b. between 1325 and 1335)
1540 - Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1501)
1680 - Per Brahe, Swedish soldier and statesman (b. 1602)
1690 - Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (b. 1615)
1721 - Kwon Sang-ha, politician and Neo Confucian scholar of Korea (b. 1641)
1764 - Revd Nathaniel Bliss, British astronomer Royal (b. 1700)
1768 - Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician (b. 1703)
1813 - Jean-Victor Moreau, French general (b. 1763)
1820 - Jiaqing Emperor, Emperor of China (b. 1760)
1832 - Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, Austrian scientific editor, astronomer (b. 1754)
1834 - Thomas Telford, British civil engineer (b. 1757)
1845 - Bernardino Rivadavia, Argentine statesman (b. 1780)
1865 - William Rowan Hamilton, Irish mathematician (b. 1805)
1872 - Nicolai Grundtvig, Danish writer and philosopher (b. 1783)
1877 - Constantine Kanaris, Greek admiral, freedom fighter and politician (b. 1793)
1884 - Henry B. Anthony, Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1815)
1895 - Charles Anderson, 27th Governor of Ohio (b. 1814)
1898 - Wilford Woodruff, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1807)
1901 2000
1910 - Henri Rousseau, French painter (b. 1844)
1921 - Anthony Francis Lucas, Croatian-American oil exploration pioneer (b. 1855)
1921 - Henry Austin Dobson, poet (b. 1840)
1927 - Umegatani Totaro II, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1878)
1934 - Alcide Nunez, jazz musician (b. 1884)
1934 - James Allan, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1860)
1937 - Pierre de Coubertin, French founder of the modern Olympic Games (b. 1863)
1948 - Sylvanus Morley, American archaeologist and spy (b. 1883)
1964 - Francisco Craveiro Lopes, Portuguese President (b. 1894)
1964 - Alvin York, most decorated American soldier of World War I (b. 1887)
1969 - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese political leader (b. 1890)
1971 - Robert Mensah, Ghanaian footballer (b. 1939)
1973 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (b. 1892)
1973 - Carl Dudley, American movie director (b. 1910)
1976 - Stanislaw Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist (b. 1934)
1981 - Andrija Maurovic, Croatian illustrator (b. 1901)
1985 - Abe Lenstra, Dutch footballer (b. 1920)
1991 - Alfonso Garcia Robles, Mexican politician (b. 1911)
1992 - Barbara McClintock, American geneticist (b. 1902)
1994 - Roy Castle, English actor, singer and dancer (b. 1932)
1997 - Rudolf Bing, Austrian-born British opera singer (b. 1902)
1997 - Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (b. 1905)
1998 - Jackie Blanchflower, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1933)
1998 - Allen Drury, American writer (b. 1918)
2000 - Elvera Sanchez, Puerto Rican dancer (b. 1905)
2000 - Curt Siodmak, science fiction writer (b. 1907)
From 2001
2001 - Christiaan Barnard, South African heart surgeon (b. 1922)
2001 - Troy Donahue, American actor (b. 1936)
2008 - Bill Melendez, Mexican-American animator, director, producer and voice actor (b. 1916)
2009 - Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian politician (b. 1949)
2010 - Shmuel Eisenstadt, Israeli sociologist (b. 1923)
2013 - Frederik Pohl, American science fiction writer (b. 1919)
2013 - Ronald Coase, British economist (b. 1910)
2013 - Valerie Benguigui, French actress (b. 1965)
2013 - David Jacobs, English radio and television host (b. 1926)
2013 - Paul Scoon, 2nd Governor-General of Grenada (b. 1935)
2014 - Steven Sotloff, American journalist (b. 1983)
2014 - Norman Gordon, South African cricketer (b. 1911)
2014 - Helena Rakoczy, Polish gymnast (b. 1921)
2014 - J. LaMoine Jenson, American religious leader (b. 1935)
2014 - Peter Carter, British diplomat (b. 1956)
2014 - Antonis Vardis, Greek composer and singer (b. 1948)
2015 - Charles Gyamfi, Ghanaian footballer (b. 1929)
2015 - Aleksander Mandziara, Polish footballer and coach (b. 1940)
2015 - Simo Salminen, Finnish comic actor (b. 1932)
2015 - Brianna Lea Pruett, American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and moviemaker (b. 1983)
2016 - Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan (b. 1938)
2017 - Viktor Cherepkov, Russian politician (b. 1942)
2017 - Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian composer (b. 1921)
2017 - Xiang Shouzhi, Chinese general (b. 1917)
2018 - Conway Savage, Australian rock singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1960)
2018 - Claire Wineland, American entrepreneur and health activist (b. 1997)
2019 - Ryszard Czerniawski, Polish lawyer and economist (b. 1952)
2019 - Carlo Fonseka, Sri Lankan physician (b. 1933)
2019 - Joan Antoni Solans Huguet, Spanish urban planner (b. 1941)
2019 - Gyoji Matsumoto, Japanese footballer (b. 1934)
Observances
National Day (Vietnam)
Democracy Day (Tibet)
Independence Day (Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh)
September 02