TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, SEPT. 2, the 245th day of 2021. There are 120 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date 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. In 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out. In 1789, the United States Treasury Department was established. In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s forces occupied and burned Atlanta. In 1944, during World War II, Navy pilot Lt. 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 died.) In 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II. 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 meters in 11.0 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 half-hour nightly newscast. In 1998, a Swissair MD-11 jetliner crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard. In 2005, a National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled into New Orleans four days after Hurricane Katrina. In 2008, Republicans assailed Barack Obama as the most liberal, least experienced presidential nominee in history at their convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, and enthusiastically extolled their own man, John McCain, as ready to lead the nation. In 2018, Sen. John McCain was laid to rest on a grassy hill at the U.S. Naval Academy after a horse-drawn caisson carrying his casket led a procession of mourners from the academy’s chapel to its cemetery. In 2019, a fire swept a boat carrying recreational scuba divers that was anchored near an island off the Southern California coast; 34 people who were trapped below died; the captain and four other crew members escaped the flames. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo., is 90. Former United States Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth is 84. Singer Jimmy Clanton is 83. R&B singer Sam Gooden (The Impressions) is 82. R&B singer Rosalind Ashford (Martha & the Vandellas) and singer Joe Simon are 78. Pro and College Football Hall-ofFamer Terry Bradshaw and Basketball Hall-of-Famer Nate Archibald are 73. Actor Mark Harmon and former Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., are 70. International Tennis Hall-of-Famer Jimmy Connors is 69. Actor Linda Purl is 66. Rock musician Jerry Augustyniak (10,000 Maniacs) is 63. Country musician Paul Deakin (The Mavericks) is 62. Pro Football Hallof-Famer Eric Dickerson is 61. Actor Keanu Reeves is 57. International Boxing Hall-of-Famer Lennox Lewis is 56. Actors Salma Hayek and Tuc Watkins are 55. Actors Kristen Cloke and Cynthia Watros are 53. R&B singer K-Ci is 52. Actor-comedian Katt Williams and actor Nicholas Pinnock are 48. Actor Michael Lombardi is 47. Actor Tiffany Hines and rock musician Sam Rivers (Limp Bizkit) are 44. Actor Jonathan Kite is 42. Actor Joshua Henry is 37. Actor Allison Miller is 36. Rock musician Spencer Smith is 34. Electronic music DJ/producer Zedd is 32.