TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 2, the 246th day of 2020. There are 120 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 2, 1963, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers.

On this date:

■ In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s forces occupied Atlanta.

■ In 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice, “Speak softly and carry a big stick” in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair.

■ In 1930, the first nonstop airplane flight from Europe to the U.S. was completed in 37 hours as Capt. Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte of France arrived in Valley Stream, New York, aboard their Breguet 19 biplane, which bore the symbol of a large question mark.

■ In 1944, during World War II, Navy pilot Lt. (jg) George Herbert Walker Bush was shot down by Japanese forces as he completed a bombing run over the Bonin Islands. (Bush was rescued by the crew of the submarine USS Finback; his two crew members, however, died.)

■ In 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II.

■ In 1969, in what some regard as the birth of the Internet, two connected computers at the University of California, Los Angeles, passed test data through a 15-foot cable. The first automatic teller machine (ATM) to utilize magnetic-striped cards was opened to the public at Chemical Bank in New York. (Called a “Docuteller,” it was developed by Donald C. Wetzel.)

■ In 1993, the United States and Russia formally ended decades of competition in space by agreeing to a joint venture to build a space station.

■ In 2005, a National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled into New Orleans four days after Hurricane Katrina. President George W. Bush toured the Gulf Coast and met with state and local officials.

■ In 2018, Sen. John McCain was laid to rest on a grassy hill at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Today’s Birthdays: Danceractor Marge Champion is 101. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rosalind Ashford (Martha & the Vandellas) is 77. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw is 72. Basketball Hall of Famer Nate Archibald is 72. Actor Mark Harmon is 69. Actor Keanu Reeves is 56. International Boxing Hall of Famer Lennox Lewis is 55. Actor Salma Hayek is 54.