This Day in History – September 3, 2011

301 San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world’s oldest republic still in existence, is founded by Saint Marinus. 1752 This day never happened nor the next 10 as England adopts Gregorian Calendar. People riot thinking the government stole 11 days of their lives 1777 American Revolutionary War: during the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge, the Flag of the United States is flown in battle for the first time. 1783 Treaty of Paris signed (ending the US Revolutionary War) 1802 William Wordsworth composes the sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802. 1803 English scientist John Dalton begins using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements. 1833 NY Sun begins publishing (1st daily newspaper) 1838 Future abolitionist Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery. 1861 Confederate forces enter Kentucky, thus ending its neutrality 1895 1st pro football game played (Latrobe, Penn) 1912 World’s 1st cannery opens in England to supply food to the navy 1918 5 soldiers hanged for alleged participation in Houston riot of 1917 1935 1st automobile to exceed 300 mph, Sir Malcolm Campbell (301.337 mph) 1940 1st showing of high definition color TV 1940 US gives Britain 50 destroyers in exchange for Newfoundland base lease 1941 The Holocaust: Karl Fritzsch, deputy camp commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, experiments with the use of Zyklon B in the gassing of Soviet POWs. 1943 Allies invade Italy 1944 Holocaust: diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz, arriving three days later. 1945 Three-day celebration was held in China, following the Victory over Japan Day on September 2. 1951 The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its first episode on the CBS network. 1964 Wilderness Act signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson 1971 Watergate team breaks into Daniel Ellsberg’s doctor’s office 1976 Viking 2 soft lands on Mars (Utopia), returns photos 1978 Crew of Soyuz 31 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 29 1978 Pope John Paul I officially installed as 264th supreme pontiff 1979 Hurricane David, a strong Atlantic storm kills over 1,000 1994 Sino-Soviet Split: Russia and the People’s Republic of China agree to de-target their nuclear weapons against each other. 1999 An 87-automobile pile-up happens on Highway 401 freeway just East of Windsor, Ontario, Canada after an unusually thick fog from Lake St. Clair. 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis day 3: the Beslan hostage crisis ends with the deaths of over 300 people, more than half of which are children.]]]]> ]]>