2 September in history

5 events that happened on 2 September, from 31 BCE to 1963.

  1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    31 BCE 1,995 years ago

    Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra at Actium

    Octavian's fleet under Agrippa defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra off Actium in western Greece. Their flight to Egypt left Octavian, soon to be Augustus, master of the Roman world.

    Mark AntonyGreece

  2. 1666 CE 360 years ago

    The Great Fire of London breaks out in Pudding Lane

    Fire broke out in Thomas Farriner's bakery and raged for four days, destroying some 13,200 houses, 87 churches and old St Paul's Cathedral. Wren's rebuilding transformed the City.

    London

  3. 1792 CE 234 years ago

    The September Massacres begin in Paris

    Fearing a Prussian advance and a plot among prisoners, crowds broke into Paris prisons and killed some 1,100 to 1,400 inmates over five days. The massacres foreshadowed the Terror.

    Paris

  4. 1945 CE 81 years ago

    Japan signs the instrument of surrender aboard USS Missouri

    Japanese envoys signed the formal surrender in Tokyo Bay before General MacArthur and Allied representatives. The ceremony officially ended the Second World War.

    Empire of JapanSecond World WarUSS Missouri

  5. 1963 CE 63 years ago

    CBS Evening News becomes America's first half-hour network newscast

    Walter Cronkite's evening news on CBS expanded from 15 to 30 minutes, opening with an interview with President Kennedy. NBC followed within a week, setting the format of US network news.

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