On This Day — 1 September

2008

Iraq War: The United States Armed Forces transfers control of Anbar Province to the Iraqi Armed Forces.

Iraq War

2004

The Beslan school siege begins when armed terrorists take schoolchildren and school staff hostage in North Ossetia, Russia; by the end of the siege, three days later, more than 385 people are dead (including hostages, other civilians, security personnel and terrorists).

Beslan school siege

1985

The wreck of the Titanic is discovered by an American-French expedition led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel.

Titanic

1983

Cold War: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet jet fighter after the commercial aircraft strayed into Soviet airspace, killing all 269 on board, including Congressman Lawrence McDonald.

Cold War

1982

The United States Air Force Space Command is founded.

United States Space Force Combat Forces Command

1981

Central African President David Dacko is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General André Kolingba.

David Dacko

1974

The SR-71 Blackbird sets (and holds) the record for flying from New York to London in the time of one hour, 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds at a speed of 1,435.587 miles per hour (2,310.353 km/h).

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

1973

A 76-hour multinational rescue effort in the Celtic Sea resulted in the Rescue of Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman.

Celtic Sea

1969

A coup in Libya brings Muammar Gaddafi to power.

1969 Libyan revolution

1967

Six-Day War: The Khartoum Resolution is issued at the Arab Summit, and eight countries adopt the "three 'no's against Israel".

Six-Day War

1961

TWA Flight 529 crashed shortly after takeoff from Midway Airport in Chicago, killing all 78 people on board. At the time, it was the deadliest single plane disaster in U.S. history.

TWA Flight 529

1944

World War II: Launch of Operation Ratweek, complicating German retreat.

World War II

1939

World War II: Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, beginning the European phase of World War II.

World War II

1939

J. Robert Oppenheimer and his student Hartland Snyder publish the Oppenheimer–Snyder model, proving for the first time in contemporary physics how black holes could develop.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

1923

The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing about 105,000 people.

Great Kantō Earthquake

1897

The Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America.

Tremont Street subway

1894

Over 400 people die in the Great Hinckley Fire, a forest fire in Hinckley, Minnesota.

Great Hinckley Fire

1880

The army of Mohammad Ayub Khan is routed by the British at the Battle of Kandahar, ending the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

Mohammad Ayub Khan (Afghanistan)

1878

Emma Nutt becomes the world's first female telephone operator when she is recruited by Alexander Graham Bell to the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company.

Emma Nutt

1873

Cetshwayo ascends to the throne as king of the Zulu nation following the death of his father Mpande.

Cetshwayo

1870

Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Sedan is fought, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory.

Franco-Prussian War

1864

American Civil War: The Battle of Jonesborough, alongside the overall Atlanta campaign, culminates in a Union victory for General William T. Sherman as Confederate General John Bell Hood orders the evacuation of Atlanta.

Battle of Jonesborough

1862

American Civil War: Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson inflict heavy casualties in the Battle of Chantilly during the Union withdrawal from the Northern Virginia campaign.

American Civil War

1859

Carrington Event started - the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history.

Carrington Event

1838

Saint Andrew's Scots School, the oldest school of British origin in South America, is established.

St. Andrew's Scots School

1836

Narcissa Whitman, one of the first English-speaking white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington.

Narcissa Whitman

1831

The Order of St. Gregory the Great is established by Pope Gregory XVI of the Vatican State to recognize high support for the Vatican or for the Pope, by a man or a woman, and not necessarily a Roman Catholic.

Order of St. Gregory the Great

1804

3 Juno, one of the largest asteroids in the Main Belt, is discovered by the German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding.

3 Juno

1774

Massachusetts Bay colonists rise up in the bloodless Powder Alarm.

Province of Massachusetts Bay

1772

The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is founded in San Luis Obispo, California.

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

1763

Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, endorses Ivan Betskoy's plans for a Foundling Home in Moscow.

Catherine the Great

1715

At the age of five, Louis XV becomes king of France in succession to his great-grandfather, King Louis XIV.

Louis XV

1645

English Civil War. Scottish Covenanter forces abandon their month-long Siege of Hereford, a Cavalier stronghold, on news of Royalist victories in Scotland.

English Civil War

1644

Battle of Tippermuir: James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose defeats the Earl of Wemyss's Covenanters, reviving the Royalist cause.

Battle of Tippermuir

1610

Claudio Monteverdi's musical work Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin) is first published, printed in Venice and dedicated to Pope Paul V.

Claudio Monteverdi

1604

Adi Granth, now known as Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhs, is first installed at Harmandir Sahib.

Guru Granth Sahib

1532

Lady Anne Boleyn is made Marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII of England.

Anne Boleyn

1529

The Spanish fort of Sancti Spiritu, the first one built in modern Argentina, is destroyed by indigenous people.

Sancti Spiritu (Argentina)

1449

Tumu Crisis: The Mongols capture the Emperor of China.

Tumu Crisis

1355

King Tvrtko I of Bosnia writes In castro nostro Vizoka vocatum from the Old town of Visoki.

Tvrtko I of Bosnia

1173

The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancona by the forces of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

Stamira

1145

The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time the seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated.

Lund Cathedral

-396

The Temple of Juno Regina (Aventine) is dedicated in Rome by Marcus Furius Camillus.

Temple of Juno Regina (Aventine)