September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years). There are 119 days remaining.

Events

• 301 - San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, was founded by Saint Marinus.
• 590 - St. Gregory I becomes Pope.
• 1189 - Richard I of England is crowned in Westminster.
• 1260 - The Mongols are defeated by the Mameluks at the Battle of Ain Jalut.
• 1651 - English Civil War: Battle of Worcester - Charles II of England is defeated in the last main battle of the war.
• 1777 - The Flag of the United States flies in battle for the first time, at Cooch's Bridge in Maryland.
• 1783 - American Revolutionary War ends: Treaty of Paris - A treaty between the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain is signed in Paris, ending the war.
• 1826 - The USS Vincennes commanded by William Finch, leaves New York City to become first United States warship to circumnavigate globe.
• 1838 - Dressed in a sailor's uniform and carrying identification papers provided by a free Black seaman, future abolitionist Frederick Douglass boards a train in Maryland on his way to freedom from slavery.
• 1855 - Indian Wars: In Nebraska, 700 soldiers under American General William Harney avenge the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Sioux village killing 100 men, women, and children.
• 1861 - American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.
• 1878 - Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.
• 1895 - The first professional football game is played, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, between the Latrobe YMCA and the Jeannette Athletic Club. (Latrobe won the contest 12-0).
• 1902 - Popular author Sarah Orne Jewett is thrown out of a carriage, virtually ending her writing career.
• 1935 - Sir Malcolm Campbell reaches 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile over 300 MPH.
• 1939 - World War II: France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on Germany.
• 1943 - World War II: Mainland Italy is invaded by Allied forces for the first time in the war.
• 1951 - The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its first episode on the CBS network.
• 1954 - The last new episode of the Lone Ranger is aired on radio after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years.
• 1954 - The People's Liberation Army begins shelling the ROC-controlled islands of Quemoy and Matsu.
• 1966 - The last new episode of the television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet airs.
• 1967 - The last telecast of the television game show What's My Line? airs on CBS after a 17 year run.
• 1967 - Nguyen Van Thieu is elected President of South Vietnam.
• 1967 - Dagen H in Sweden: traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right
• 1971 - Qatar regains independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1976 - Viking program: The Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars takes the first close-up, color photos of the planet's surface.
• 1991 - In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire breaks out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people.
• 1994 - Sino-Soviet Split: Russia and the People's Republic of China agree to de-target their nuclear weapons against each other.
• 1997 - Arizona Governor Fife Symington is convicted for various crimes tied to his real estate business, effectively forcing him out of office.
• 1997 - A Vietnamese Airlines Tupolev TU-134 crashes on approach into Phnom Penh airport, killing 64.
• 2004 - The Beslan school massacre results in the deaths of approximately 344 teachers and children.
• 2004 - Jennifer Hawkins, Miss Universe, experiences a wardrobe malfunction while modelling at Westfield Shopping Mall, Parrammatta, Australia

Births

• 1499 - Diane de Poitiers, lover of Henri II of France
• 1781 - Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Napoleon's wife, Josephine (d. 1824)
• 1810 - Paul Kane, Canadian painter
• 1849 - Sarah Orne Jewett, writer
• 1875 - Ferdinand Porsche, German automotive engineer (d. 1951)
• 1883 - Harold DeForest Arnold, telephone pioneer
• 1887 - Frank Christian, jazz musician (d. 1973)
• 1900 - Maurice Dobb: economist, Lecturer 1924-1959 and Reader 1959-1976 at Cambridge University (d. 1976).
• 1902 - Mantan Moreland, actor (d. 1973)
• 1907 - Lorne Eiseley, anthropologist
• 1910 - Kitty Carlisle, actress, television personality
• 1913 - Alan Ladd, actor (d. 1964)
• 1916 - Eddie Stanky, baseball player (d. 1999)
• 1918 - Helen Wagner, American soap opera actress
• 1921 - Thurston Dart, English harpsichordist and conductor (d. 1971)
• 1923 - Mort Walker, cartoonist
• 1926 - Anne Jackson, actress
• 1927 - Hugh Sidey, contributing editor at Time Magazine
• 1929 - Irene Papas, actress
• 1930 - Cherry Wilder, author
• 1933 - Tompall Glaser, country music singer
• 1938 - Caryl Churchill, playwright
• 1938 - Ryoji Noyori, Japanese chemist
• 1938 - Eileen Brennan, actress
• 1940 - Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan journalist
• 1942 - Al Jardine, rock and roll musician, member of the Beach Boys
• 1943 - Valerie Perrine, US actress
• 1947 - Kjell Magne Bondevik Prime Minister of Norway
• 1955 - Steve Jones, musician (Sex Pistols)
• 1964 - Adam Curry, MTV VJ and Internet entrepreneur
• 1965 - Charlie Sheen, American actor
• 1976 - Vivek Oberoi, Bollywood actor
• 1986 - Shaun White, professional snowboarder and skateboarder

Deaths

• 1658 - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England
• 1857 - John McLoughlin, Hudson's Bay Company Factor
• 1883 - Ivan Turgenev, author
• 1893 - James Harrison, Australian pioneer of mechanical refrigeration, (b. 1816)
• 1903 - Joseph Skipsey, British poet
• 1914 - Albéric Magnard, composer
• 1948 - Edvard Benes, President of Czechoslovakia
• 1962 - E. E. Cummings, poet
• 1964 - Stewart Holbrook, American author
• 1967 - Woody Guthrie, American musician and songwriter
• 1969 - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese revolutionist
• 1970 - Vince Lombardi, American football coach
• 1974 - Harry Partch, microtonal composer
• 1980 - Duncan Renaldo, actor
• 1991 - Frank Capra, American movie director
• 1994 - James T. Aubrey, American television executive (b. 1918)
• 2001 - Pauline Kael, American movie critic
• 2001 - Thuy Trang, American actress
• 2003 - Ray Davis, American officer, Korean War
• 2003 - Paul Hill, executed for two anti-abortion murders
• 2003 - Rudolf Leiding, car designer, Volkswagen CEO

Holidays

• Independence Day in Qatar

September 2 - September 4 - August 3 - October 3 - more historical anniversaries