What is special about 3 September?

UTC – Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the basis for civil time today. This 24-hour time standard is kept using highly precise atomic clocks combined with the Earth's rotation.

Flag of the United States flown in battle for the 1st time at Cooch's Bridge, Delaware, a skirmish during American Revolutionary War

On September 3,

Would You Believe?

Britain and the British Empire (including the American colonies) adopt the Gregorian Calendar, losing 11 days. People riot thinking the government stole 11 days of their lives

36 BC Battle of Naulochus: Admiral of Octavian, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa defeats son of Pompey, Sextus Pompeius, ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate

• 301 San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, founded by Saint Marinus
• 590 St Gregory I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

Royal Coronation

1189 Richard the Lionheart is crowned in Westminster. 30 Jews are massacred after the coronation - Richard ordered the perpetrators be executed

• 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut: Bahr: Mamluk of Egypt defeat Mongol army led by Kitbuqa in the Levant - often labelled a turning point in world history, saving the Arabic-Islamic civilization from destruction
• 1483 Utrecht surrenders to Habsburg army

Appointment of Interest

1501 Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres appointed Governor of the Indies by Spanish Queen Isabella I

• 1543 Cardinal Beaton replaces the Earl of Arran as regent for Queen Mary of Scotland
• 1632 Battle of Nuremberg: Duke Wallenstein beats Sweden

Victory in Battle

1650 Battle of Dunbar; Oliver Cromwell's English New Model Army defeats Scottish force in surprise attack

• 1651 Battle of Worcester: Oliver Cromwell's New Model army destroys English royalist force of mainly Scots in last battle of English Civil War
• 1658 Richard Cromwell ("Tumbledown Dick") succeeds his father as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth
• 1683 Turkish troops break through defense of Vienna
• 1697 King William's War in America ends with Treaty of Ryswick
• 1709 1st major group of Swiss German colonists reaches North and South Carolina
• 1725 Britain, France, Hannover & Prussia sign Covenant of Hannover
• 1731 Willem KH Friso installed as viceroy of Friesland

Gregory Conquers Julius Caesar

1752 Britain and the British Empire (including the American colonies) adopt the Gregorian Calendar, losing 11 days. People riot thinking the government stole 11 days of their lives

• 1777 Flag of the United States flown in battle for the 1st time at Cooch's Bridge, Delaware, a skirmish during American Revolutionary War
• 1779 Earl d'Orvilliers (French/Spanish Armada) sails back to Brest
• 1783 Treaty of Paris signed in Paris ends the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and United States of America

French Revolution

1791 French Revolution: The new French Constitution, declaring France a constitutional monarchy, is passed by the National Assembly

• 1798 Battle of St. George's Caye: Week long battle begins between the Spanish Empire and Great Britain off the coast of Belize
• 1812 World's first cannery (Donkin, Hall and Gamble) opens in London, England to supply food to the Royal Navy
• 1826 USS Vincennes leaves NY to become 1st warship to circumnavigate globe
• 1832 Rebellious slaves set fire to Paramaribo Suriname
• 1833 New York Sun begins publishing (1st daily newspaper)

Historic Event

1838 Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery disguised as a sailor

• 1852 Anti-Jewish riots break out in Stockholm, Sweden
• 1855 Indian Wars: In Nebraska, 700 soldiers under American General William S. Harney avenge the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Sioux village, killing 100 men, women, and children.
• 1861 Confederate forces enter Kentucky, thus ending its neutrality
• 1864 Battle of Berryville, Virginia, Confederate forces retreat in face of Union strength
• 1864 US, British, French & Dutch naval officer sails Straits of Simonoseki
• 1865 Army commander in SC orders Freedmen's Bureau to stop seizing land
• 1874 The congress of the state of México elevates Naucalpan to the category of Villa, with the title of "Villa de Juárez"
• 1878 British passenger paddle steamer Princess Alice sunk in a collision on the River Thames with the collier Bywell Castle; 645 die
• 1880 Jess James' gang robs the Mammoth Cave stagecoach, Kentucky

US Men's Tennis Open

1881 1st US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport R.I.: Richard Sears wins inaugural event beating William E. Glyn 6-0, 6-3, 6-2

Music History

1881 Anton Bruckner completes his 6th Symphony

• 1882 French/Vietnamese/Chinese battle at Hanoi, 100s die
• 1889 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport R.I.: Defending champion Henry Slocum defeats Quincy Shaw 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
• 1891 Cotton pickers organize union & stage strike in Texas
• 1891 John Stephens Durham named US minister to Haiti
• 1900 Russian troops now control both sides of the Amur River on the Russo-Manchurian boundary
• 1900 With a proclamation by General Lord Roberts, Britain annexes the Boer Republic of South Africa
• 1901 Boer General Smuts enters Kiba Drift in Cape Colony
• 1903 American yacht Reliance (largest gaff-rigged cutter ever built) defends America's Cup for the NYYC beating UK challenger Shamrock III off the New Jersey shore for a 3-0 series win
• 1904 For the only time in Olympic Games history, there is a throw-off in the discus final after Americans Martin Sheridan & Ralph Rose tie with a best throw of 128' 10½" in St. Louis; Sheridan wins with 127' 10¼"
• 1906 After an 8 minute argument over an umpire call the NY Highlanders win on forfeit over Philadelphia A's; Highlanders' MLB record 5th doubleheader sweep on consecutive days
• 1906 Philadelphia Giants win Negro Championship Cup in Philadelphia before 10,000 fans; black baseball's largest crowd ever

Boxing Title Fight

1908 Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns KOs Australian Bill Lang in 6 rounds in Melbourne in a warmup fight for his famous title bout with Jack Johnson

• 1908 James Barries "What Every Woman Knows" premieres in London
• 1911 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport R.I.: William Larned wins his 5th consecutive & 7th overall US singles title; beats Maurice McLoughlin 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

Music Concert

1912 Arnold Schoenberg's "Funf Orchesterstucke" (Five Pieces for Orchestra) premieres in London at a Promenade Concert

• 1914 British expeditionary army/general Lanrezacs army attack the Marne

Historic Event

1914 Cardinal Giacome della Chiesa becomes Pope Benedict XV

• 1914 French troops vacate Rheims
• 1914 Lemburg capital of Galicia, is taken after a three-day battle in which the Russians rout the Austrians
• 1914 Prince Wilhelm von Wied leaves Albania
• 1916 Battle of Verdun: French counterattacks on German flanks push their frontline further from the town

Historic Event

1916 US President Woodrow Wilson signs Adamson Act, providing an 8-hour day on interstate railroads, preventing a national railroad strike

• 1917 1st night bombing of London by German aircraft
• 1917 German troops overrun Riga, Latvia
• 1917 Grover Cleveland Alexander pitches complete wins in a doubleheader
• 1918 5 soldiers hanged for alleged participation in Houston riot (or Camp Logan riot); in all 19 mutineers were executed.
• 1918 Allies forced Germans back across Hindenburg Line

US Men's Tennis Open

1918 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills NY: Robert Lindley Murray successfully defends title; beats Bill Tilden 6-3, 6-1, 7-5

Signing of the Treaty of Versailles

1919 President Woodrow Wilson set out on a tour of the USA to rouse public opinion behind the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations

• 1921 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, NYC, NY: Americans Watson Washburn & William Norris beat Japanese pair Ichiya Kumagae & Zenzo Shimizuto 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 for 3-0 lead; ends 5-0
• 1921 KPB, Communist Party of Belgium forms
• 1923 Dorothys Donelly's "Poppy" premieres in NYC
• 1924 Civil war breaks out in China (Gen Tsi moves to Shanghai)
• 1924 L Stallings & M Anderson's "What Price Glory?" premieres in NYC
• 1925 The airship USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) crashes in a storm near Caldwell, Ohio, killing 14, 29 survive

Sports History

1928 Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb records his 4,189th and final career hit, as a pinch hitter for Philadelphia A's in 6-1 loss v Washington Senators

• 1929 Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches all time high of 381.17, to be shortly followed by the Crash of 1929.
• 1930 Hurricane kills 2,000, injures 4,000 (Dominican Republic)

Baseball Record

1932 A's first baseman Jimmie Foxx smashes his 50th & 51st home runs to become only 3rd player to reach 50 in a MLB season; joins Babe Ruth & Hack Wilson

• 1933 Yevgeniy Abalakov reaches the highest point of the Soviet Union - Communism Peak (7495 m)
• 1934 Tunisia began its move for independence
• 1935 Andrew Varipapa sets bowling record of 2,652 points in 10 games
• 1935 First automobile to exceed 300mph, Malcolm Campbell powers Bluebird to 301.129mph at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
• 1936 For the first and only time in the history of the Walker Cup golf event, there is a shutout; the United States routs Great Britain, 9-0 at Pine Valley GC in New Jersey
• 1938 1940 Olympic site is changed from Tokyo, Japan to Helsinki, Finland because of the Second Sino-Japanese War; WWII causes eventual cancellation
• 1939 German submarine U-30, commanded by Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp, sinks British passenger ship SS Athenia; 117 people die, among them 28 Americans
• 1939 Mitford sister and Nazi sympathizer Unity Mitford attempts suicide after Britain declares war on Germany, bullet lodged in her brain eventually kills her in 1948
• 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
• 1940 39.4 cm rainfall at Sapulpa, Oklahoma (state record)

Historic Event

1940 Adolf Hitler orders an invasion of Great Britain for Sept 21 (Operation Seelöwe/Sealion)

• 1940 Dutch government in exile of Gerbrandy forms in London
• 1940 Sicherheits police bans Free masons, Rotary & Red Cross
• 1940 US gives Britain 50 destroyers in exchange for Newfoundland base lease
• 1941 1st use of Zyclon-B gas in Auschwitz (on Russian prisoners of war)
• 1941 KYW TV channel 3 in Philadelphia, PA (NBC) begins broadcasting
• 1943 British 8th Army lands in Southern Italy (Messina)
• 1943 General Castellano signs cease fire treaty in Sicily

Historic Event

1944 68th and last transport of Dutch Jews (including Anne Frank) from Westerbork leaves for Auschwitz concentration camp

• 1944 Canadian troops liberate Abbeville, France
• 1944 French troops liberate Lyon
• 1944 Holocaust diarist Anne Frank sent to Auschwitz concentration camp
• 1944 Prince Bernhard appointed supreme commander of Netherlands Domestic Armed Forces
• 1944 Tank division of British Guards free Brussels
• 1945 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills: American Frank Parker successfully defends title; beats William Talbert 14-12, 6-1, 6-2
• 1945 US Women's National Tennis Championship, Forest Hills: Sarah Palfrey Cooke wins second US title; beats Pauline Betz Addie 3-6, 8-6, 6-4
• 1945 World War II: Japanese forces in the Philippines surrender to the Allies
• 1947 New York Yankees total 18 hits, all singles to rout Boston Red Sox, 11-2 at Fenway Park
• 1947 Philadelphia A's rookie pitcher Bill McCahan no-hits Washington Senators, 3-0
• 1948 W Gomulka deposed as general secretary of Polish Worker's party
• 1949 Fire in Chiang-king, China, destroys 7,000 lives

Sports History

1950 Giuseppe "Nino" Farina wins inaugural Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by taking out the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in an Alfa Romeo; wins by 3 points from Juan Manuel Fangio

• 1951 TV soap opera "Search for Tomorrow" debuts on CBS
• 1953 European Convention on Human Rights goes into effect

Historic Event

1953 French minister François Mitterrand, resigns due to colonial policy

• 1954 Espionage & Sabotage Act of 1954 signed in the US, prompted by the cold war
• 1954 Pope Pius X canonized a saint
• 1954 The German U-Boat U-505 began its move from a specially constructed dock to its final site at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.
• 1954 The People's Liberation Army begin shelling the ROC-controlled islands of Quemoy & Amoy
• 1955 KTBS TV channel 3 in Shreveport, LA (ABC) begins broadcasting
• 1956 American Johnny Longden becomes thoroughbred racing's winningest rider, breaking the record of 4,870 wins by British jockey Sir Gordon Richards; rides Arrogate to victory in the Del Mar Handicap
• 1956 Tanks are deployed against racist demonstrators in Clinton, Tennessee
• 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers play their final game in Jersey City, a 3-2 loss v Philadelphia Phillies; 11-4 record in New Jersey
• 1957 KTCA TV channel 2 in St Paul-Minneapolis, MN (PBS) begins broadcasting

Baseball Record

1957 Milwaukee Braves pitcher Warren Spahn sets an NL record for a left-hander with 41st shut-out; beats Cubs, 8-0

• 1960 Livio Berruti of Italy runs a world record 20.5 to win the gold medal in the 200m at the Rome Olympics
• 1960 US women's 4 x 100m freestyle relay team of Joan Spillane, Shirley Stobs, Carolyn Wood & Chris von Saltza swim world record 4:08.9 to beat Australia by 2.4 seconds and win gold medal at Rome Olympics
• 1964 2nd incident that year of race riots in Singapore between Chinese and Malay, 13 people killed, 106 injured

Historic Event

1964 US attorney general Robert F. Kennedy resigns

Historic Event

1964 Wilderness Act signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson

• 1965 Garcia Godoy forms government in Dominican Republic

Catholic Encyclical

1965 Pope Paul VI publishes encyclical Mysterium Fidei

• 1965 Preparing a move to Anaheim, the Los Angeles Angels change their name to the California Angels
• 1965 Rolling Stone concert at the Adelphi Theater in Dublin, Ireland halts after 12 minutes due to riot
• 1966 24th World Science Fiction Convention honors Gene Roddenberry

#1 in the Charts

1966 Donovan hits #1 with "Sunshine Superman"

Contract of Interest

1966 Future Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr signs his first NHL contract with the Boston Bruins; 2 year deal paying a then record $70,000 plus signing bonus

• 1966 Houston Oilers hold Denver Broncos to no 1st downs in their NFL season opening 45-7 win at Rice Stadium
• 1967 Final episode of "What's My Line?" hosted by John Charles Daly on CBS TV

Election of Interest

1967 Nguyen Van Thieu elected President of South Vietnam under a new constitution

Sweden Switches to Driving on the Right Hand Side

1967 Sweden begins driving on right-hand side of road (Dagen H)

• 1967 WJPM TV channel 33 in Florence, SC (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1970 After playing a NL record 1,117 consecutive MLB games, Chicago Cubs outfielder Billy Williams asks to sit out

Music History

1970 Bill Haley & His Comets reject $30,000 for 15 date tour of Australia

Historic Event

1970 Indonesian president Suharto visits Netherlands

• 1971 A baby girl and an Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier are killed in separate shooting incidents in Northern Ireland
• 1971 Manlio Brosio resigns as secretary general of NATO
• 1971 Qatar regains complete independence from Britain
• 1971 Watergate team breaks into Daniel Ellsberg's doctor's office
• 1972 American swimmer Keena Rothhammer has to swim world record 8:53.68 to beat Australian wonder-kid Shane Gould in the 800m at the Munich Olympics

World Record

1972 American swimmer Mark Spitz wins coveted 100m gold medal in world record 51.22 at the Munich Olympics; completes the freestyle sprint double having already won 200m in world record 1:52.78

• 1972 American women's 4 x 100m medley relay team of Melissa Belote, Cathy Carr, Deena Deardurff & Sandy Neilson swim world record 4:20.75 to beat East Germany for gold at the Munich Olympics

Baseball Record

1972 Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron earns his 6,135th total base to break Stan Musial’s MLB record in an 8-0 home defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies

• 1972 Finnish runner Lasse Virén scores a famous victory in the 10,000m at the Munich Olympics in world record 27:38.35
• 1972 Great Britain's Mary Peters sets a new world record of 4801 points to win the Munich Olympics pentathlon gold by just 10 points from Heide Rosendahl of West Germany
• 1972 Jerry Grant runs the first official 200mph qualifying lap in Champ Car history, posting a lap of 201.414mph around Ontario Motor Speedway
• 1972 Swedish swimmer Gunnar Larsson wraps up the Olympic medley double when he sets world record 2:07.17 in the 200m I/M in Munich, having already won the 400m I/M
• 1973 American golfer Billy Casper finishes at 20-under-par 264 to beat Australian Bruce Devlin by 1 stroke to win the Sammy Davis, Jr. Greater Hartford Open; his 50th PGA Tour title
• 1973 General Walters ends term as acting director of CIA

Telethon

1973 Jerry Lewis' 8th Muscular Dystrophy telethon

Sports History

1974 Future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson retires; leaves NBA with 26,710 points, 9,887 assists & 7,804 rebounds in 1,040 games

• 1974 SF Giants' pitcher John Montefusco in his MLB debut, homers in his first at bat and pitches 9 innings in relief to earn a 9 - 5 victory over the Dodgers
• 1974 US & German Democratic Republic establish diplomatic relations
• 1975 Chartered Boeing 707 crashes in Atlas Mts of Morocco, 188 die

Baseball Record

1975 Dodgers 1st baseman Steve Garvey begins his NL record 1,207 consecutive game streak in a 13-2 loss v Cincinnati Reds

• 1975 England cricket batsman Bob Woolmer scores 149 on the final day to save the 4th Test v Australia at The Oval; longest first-class match ever played in England; 32 hours 17 minutes
• 1976 Viking 2 soft lands on Mars (Utopia), returns photos
• 1977 Japanese baseball superstar Sadaharu Oh hits his 756th career home run to surpass Hank Aaron as all-time career leader in professional baseball
• 1978 Bernard Slade's stage comedy "Same Time, Next Year", closes at the Ambassador Theatre, NYC,, after 1,453 performances and a Tony Award
• 1978 Crew of Soyuz 31 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 29
• 1978 Pope John Paul I officially installed as 263rd supreme pontiff
• 1979 Hurricane David, a strong Atlantic storm kills over 1,000
• 1979 Iran army conquers Mahabad
• 1979 Jerry Lewis' 14th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $30,000,000
• 1981 Longest MLB game in Fenway Park history is suspended after 19 innings at Seattle Mariners 7, Boston Red Sox 7; Mariners win 8-7 in 20 the following morning
• 1982 Anker Jørgensen government in Denmark resigns
• 1984 28 year old Chicagoan wins $40 million in Illinois state lottery
• 1984 Jerry Lewis' 19th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $32,074,566
• 1984 MLB St. Louis Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter breaks his own NL record for saves in a season with his 45th in 7-3 win over NY Mets; record broken in 1991, by Lee Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals
• 1984 South Africa adopts constitution
• 1985 20th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-I): Discovery 6 returns to Earth
• 1985 England cricket swing bowler Richard Ellison with 5 for 76 helps dismiss Australia for 129 in 6th Test win at the Oval; England regains Ashes 3-1
• 1985 NY Mets catcher Gary Carter smashes 3 consecutive HRs in an 8-3 win v San Diego Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium

Film & TV History

1986 Alan Ayckbourn's "Woman in Mind" premieres in London

• 1986 Houston Astros & Chicago Cubs use MLB record 53 players, including 17 pitchers in a 2-day 18 inning marathon; Astros win 8-7
• 1987 Coup in Burundi suspends constitution
• 1988 Estimated by this date 50,000 Kurdish civilians and soldiers killed by Iraq, many using chemical weapons, in aftermath of Iran-Iraq War

Sports History

1989 American tennis star Chris Evert beats 15-year-old Monica Seles 6-0, 6-2 in a 4th round match for her 101st and last US Open singles victory

• 1989 Iljushin-62 crashes down on residential area of Havana, 170 die

Musical Finale

1989 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods" closes at Martin Beck Theater, NYC, after 764 performances and 3 Tony Award wins

• 1990 Helen Hudson sings national anthem in 26th park of year (San Diego)
• 1990 Jerry Lewis' 25th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $44,172,186

Baseball Record

1990 White Sox closer Bobby Thigpen tops Dave Righetti's MLB record with 47th save in Chicago's 4-2 win v Royals; Thigpen finishes season with 57 saves