Today in history

Today is Sunday, Sept. 2, the 245th day of 2018. There are 120 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II. On this date:

In 1789, the United States Treasury Department was established.

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

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 1935, a Labor Day hurricane slammed into the Florida Keys, claiming more than 400 lives.

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 1960, Wilma Rudolph of the United States won the first of her three gold medals at the Rome Summer Olympics as she finished the 100-meter dash in 11 seconds.

In 1963, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers. “The CBS Evening News” with Walter Cronkite was lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes, becoming network television’s first halfhour nightly newscast.

In 1969, in what some regard as the birth of the Internet, two connected computers at the University of California, Los An- geles, 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 1996, Muslim rebels and the Philippine government signed a pact formally ending a 26-year insurgency that killed more than 120-thousand people.

In 1998, a Swissair MD11 jetliner crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard.

In 2004, President George W. Bush pledged “a safer world and a more hopeful America” as he accepted his party’s nomination for a second term at the Republican National Convention in New York.

In 2005, A National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled into New Orleans four days after Hurricane Katrina. Scorched by criticism about sluggish federal help, President George W. Bush toured the Gulf Coast and met with state and local officials, including New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin; at one point, Bush praised FEMA Director Michael Brown, telling him, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”

Ten years ago: Republicans assailed Barack Obama as the most liberal, least experienced White House nominee in history at their convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, and enthusiastically extolled their own man, John McCain, as ready to lead the nation. President George W. Bush briefly addressed the convention by satellite from the White House. A gunman in Skagit County, Washington, killed six people and injured four others; a suspect, Isaac Zamora, later pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two murders and guilty to the remaining four, and is being held in a mental hospital.