03 September History
- 1189 - After the death of Henry II, Richard Lionheart is crowned king of England.
- 1260 - Mamelukes under Sultan Qutuz defeat Mongols and Crusaders at Ain Jalut.
- 1346 - Edward III of England begins the siege of Calais, along the coast of France.
- 1650 - The English under Cromwell defeat a superior Scottish army under David Leslie at the Battle of Dunbar.
- 1777 - The American flag (stars & stripes), approved by Congress on June 14th, is carried into battle for the first time by a force under General William Maxwell.
- 1783 - The Treaty of Paris is signed by Great Britain and the new United States, formally bringing the American Revolution to an end.
- 1838 - Frederick Douglass escapes slavery disguised as a sailor. He would later write The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, his memoirs about slave life.
- 1855 - General William Harney defeats Little Thunder's Brule Sioux at the Battle of Blue Water in Nebraska.
- 1895 - The first professional American football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania between the Latrobe Young Men's Christian Association and the Jeannette Athletic Club. Latrobe wins 12-0.
- 1914 - The French capital is moved from Paris to Bordeaux as the Battle of the Marne begins.
- 1916 - The German Somme front is broken by an Allied offensive.
- 1918 - The United States recognizes the nation of Czechoslovakia.
- 1939 - After Germany ignores Great Britain's ultimatum to stop the invasion of Poland, Great Britain declares war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II in Europe.
- 1939 - The British passenger ship Athenia is sunk by a German submarine in the Atlantic, with 30 Americans among those killed. American Secretary of State Cordell Hull warns Americans to avoid travel to Europe unless absolutely necessary.
- 1943 - British troops invade Italy, landing at Calabria.
- 1944 - The U.S. Seventh Army captures Lyons, France.
- 1945 - General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the Japanese commander of the Philippines, surrenders to Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright at Baguio.
- 1967 - Lieutenant General Ngyuen Van Thieu is elected president of South Vietnam.
- 1969 - Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam, dies.
03 September Birthdays
- 1849 - Sarah Orne Jewett, author (Tales of New England, The Country of the Pointed Firs).
- 1856 - Louis H. Sullivan, architect who gained fame for his design of the Chicago Auditorium Theater.
- 1875 - Ferdinand Porsche, automotive engineer, designer of the Volkswagen in 1934 and the Porsche sports car in 1950.
- 1894 - Richard Niebuhr, theologian.
- 1907 - Carl Anderson, physicist and 1936 Nobel prize winner for his discovery of the positron.
- 1914 - Dixie Lee Ray, Chair of the Atomic Energy Commission who received the U.N. Peace Prize in 1977.
- 1927 - Hugh Sidey, news correspondent and author of John F. Kennedy, President.