TODAY IN HISTORY

FRIDAY SEP 3, 2021

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 250miles off the Irish coast, killing more than 100 out of the 1,400 or so people on board.

1609

English explorer Henry Hudson and his crew aboard the Half Moon entered presentday New York Harbor and began sailing up the river that now bears his name.

1783

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

1943

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

1976

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

1978

Pope John Paul I was installed as the 264th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

1995

The online auction site ebay was founded in San Jose, California, by Pierre Omidyar under the name “Auctionweb.”

1999

A French judge closed a two-year inquiry into the car crash that killed Princess Diana, dismissing all charges against nine photographers and a press motorcyclist, and concluding the accident was caused by an inebriated driver.

2003

Paul Hill, a former minister who said he murdered an abortion doctor and his escort 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.