On this day, Sept. 3

1609 English explorer Henry Hudson and his crew aboard the Half Moon entered present-day New York Harbor and began sailing up the river that now bears his name. (They reached present-day Albany before turning back.)

1783 Representatives of the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War.

1939 Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany, two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland; in a radio address, Britain’s King George VI said, “With God’s help, we shall prevail.” The same day, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner SS Athenia some 250 miles off the Irish coast, killing more than 100 out of the 1,400 or so people on board. Locally, thousands of people of all faiths, attending the Allegheny County Fair, joined in a peace demonstration as Great Britain declared war on Nazi Germany.

1976 Two of the three Cleveland gunmen convicted of murdering United Mine Workers leader Jock Yablonski, his wife and daughter were sentenced to life imprisonment.

1995 The online auction site eBay was founded in San Jose, Calif., by Pierre Omidyar under the name AuctionWeb.

2008 Keith O. Wood of Highland Park, the so-called East End Rapist, received an 80- to 160-year prison sentence.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin

Today’s birthdays: Actor Pauline Collins, 81. Rock singer-musician Al Jardine, 79. Actor Valerie Perrine, 78. Rock musician Donald Brewer (Grand Funk Railroad), 73. Rock guitarist Steve Jones (The Sex Pistols), 66. Actor Steve Schirripa, 64. Actor Holt McCallany, 57. Rock singer-musician Todd Lewis, 56. Actor Costas Mandylor, 56. Actor Charlie Sheen, 56. Singer Jennifer Paige, 48. Dancerock musician Redfoo, 46. Actor Ashley Jones, 45. Actor Nichole Hiltz, 43. Actor Joel Johnstone, 43. Actor Nick Wechsler, 43. Rock musician Tomo Milicevic (30 Seconds to Mars), 42. Bluegrass musician Darren Nicholson (Balsam Range), 38. Actor Christine Woods, 38. Actor Garrett Hedlund, 37. Olympic gold medal snowboarder Shaun White, 35.

Thought for today: “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”

— e.e. cummings (born 1894, died this date in 1962)