NOW & THEN
2 SEPTEMBER
1666: The Great Fire of London began in a bakehouse in Pudding Lane and ended on 6 September at Pye Corner. Although an enormous amount of property was destroyed, including St Paul’s Cathedral, only six people died.
1792: The September massacres of the French Revolution began, as rampaging mobs in Paris slaughtered three Roman Catholic bishops, more than 200 priests and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathisers.
1807: The Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
1900: Nationalists staged a large demonstration in Phoenix Park, Dublin, demanding that Ireland be free of British rule.
1939: Under the National Service Bill, men in Britain between the ages of 19 and 41 were conscripted.
1944: Future US president George W Bush ejected from a burning plane during the Second World War.
1945: VJ Day – the formal surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
1946: The Interim Government of India was formed, with Jawaharlal Nehru as the country’s first prime minister.
1971: An IRA bomb destroyed the headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party in Belfast.
1980: John Arlott commentated on his last cricket match – England v Australia at Lord’s.
1982: Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards’ house burned down.
1985: England defeated Australia at The Oval to regain the Ashes.
1986: Singer Cathy Evelyn Smith was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for injecting actor John Belushi with a fatal drug ovrerdose.
1987: West German pilot Matthias Rust went on trial for flying a private plane from Finland to Moscow, where he landed close to the Kremlin.
1987: Philips launched the video version of its compact disc, ‘Cd-video’, combining digital sound and high-definition video.
1989: South African riot police arrested more than 400 antiapartheid protesters in Cape Town.
1990: Iraq allowed 700 hostages, mainly women and children, to leave the country, including 200 Britons.
1992: Nicaragua was struck by an earthquake and flooding which led to the loss of 118 lives
1994: Cyclist Miguel Indurain set new new world Hour record of 53.040 kilometres, beating the previous best set by Scotsman Graeme Obree.
1995: Frank Bruno became world heavyweight boxing champion when he outpointed Oliver Mccall in London.
1998: Swissair flight 111, enroute from New york to Geneva, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Nova Scotia, killing all 229 on board.
2010: Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair’s book, A Journey, became Waterstone’s fastest-selling autobiography.
2012: A decade-long ban on veiled female presenters was lifted from state TV in Egypt.
BIRTHDAYS
Keith Allen, Welsh actor, 67; Jimmy Connors, Wimbledon champion, 68; Mark Harmon, actor, 69; Salma Hayek, actress, 54; Keanu Reeves, actor, 56; Chris Tremlett, cricketer, 39; Joey Barton, footballer, 38.
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1726 John Howard, prison reformer; 1887 Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart, Anstrutherborn diplomat and writer; 1913 Bill Shankly OBE, Scottish football manager; 1927 Francis Matthews, actor; 1929 Victor Spinetti, actor, director, poet and author; 1937 Derek Fowlds, actor; 1938 Glyn Worsnip, TV presenter; 1946 Billy Preston, musician; 1948 Christa Mcauliffe, astronaut. Deaths: 490 Pheidippides, Greek hero and original marathon runner; 1834 Thomas Telford, engineer, road, bridge and canal builder; 1937 Baron Pierre de Coubertin, reviver of the Olympic Games in 1896; 1973 JRR Tolkien, author; 1994 Roy Castle OBE, musician and entertainer; 1997 Sir Rudolf Bing, founder of Edinburgh Festival and artistic director from 194749; 1998 Sir Alastair Dunnett, editor of The Scotsman 19561972; 1998 Jackie Blanchflower, footballer; 2001 Christian Barnard, heart surgeon