Today in history

On Sept. 3, 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.

In 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.)

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

In 1943, Allied forces invaded Italy during World War II, the same day Italian officials signed a secret armistice with the Allies.

In 1951, the television soap opera “Search for Tomorrow” made its debut on CBS.

In 1970, legendary football coach Vince Lombardi, 57, died in Washington, D.C.

In 1976, America’s Viking 2 lander touched down on Mars to take the first close-up, color photographs of the red planet’s surface.

In 1995, the online auction site eBay was founded in San Jose, California, by Pierre Omidyar under the name “AuctionWeb.”

In 2003, Paul Hill, a former minister who said he murdered an abortion doctor and his bodyguard to save the lives of unborn babies, was executed in Florida by injection, becoming the first person put to death in the United States for anti-abortion violence.

Ten years ago: Thousands of New Orleans residents who had fled Hurricane Gustav forced the city to reluctantly open its doors, while President George W. Bush returned to the scene to show that the government had turned a corner since its bungled response to Katrina. Baseball’s first use of instant replay backed an onfield call of a home run for Alex Rodriguez during the ninth inning of a New York Yankees game against the Tampa Bay Rays. (The Yankees won the game, 8-4.)

Five years ago: Ariel Castro, who’d held three women captive in his Cleveland home for nearly a decade before one escaped and alerted authorities, was found hanged in his prison cell, a suicide. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman arrived in Pyongyang for his second visit to North Korea.

One year ago: North Korea carried out its sixth and strongest nuclear test, detonating what it said was a hydrogen bomb. Walter Becker, co-founder of the 1970s rock group Steely Dan, died at the age of 67.