2 September on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born

Cicero launches the first of his Philippicae (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them over the following months.

Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.

Final War of the Roman Republic: Battle of Actium: Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.

The Byzantine Empire and the Kievan Rus sign a treaty regulating trade.

The Treaty of Jaffa is signed between Richard I of England and Saladin, leading to the end of the Third Crusade.

Entry of Mary, Queen of Scots into Edinburgh, a spectacular civic celebration for the Queen of Scotland, marred by religious controversy.

An imperial army retakes the city of Esztergom from the Ottoman Empire.

4th Spanish Armada makes landfall in Ireland at Kinsale.

The Italian city of Castro is completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro.

The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings, including Old St Paul's Cathedral.

Great Britain, along with its overseas possessions, adopts the Gregorian calendar.

The United States Department of the Treasury is founded.

During what became known as the September Massacres of the French Revolution, rampaging mobs slaughter three Roman Catholic bishops, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers.

A massive landslide destroys the town of Goldau, Switzerland, killing 457.

Napoleonic Wars: The British Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.

The Tianjing incident takes place in Nanjing, China.

The Carrington Event is the strongest geomagnetic storm on record.

American Civil War: United States President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George B. McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

American Civil War: Union forces enter Atlanta as the city surrenders, ending the Atlanta campaign as a victory for General William T. Sherman.

Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Japan, marries Masako Ichijō, thereafter known as Empress Shōken.

Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan: Prussian forces take Napoleon III of France and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner.

Rock Springs massacre: In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners, who are struggling to unionize so they could strike for better wages and work conditions, attack their Chinese fellow workers, killing 28, wounding 15 and forcing several hundred more out of town.

Battle of Omdurman: British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen and establish British dominance in Sudan.

Vice President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.

Arthur Rose Eldred is awarded the first Eagle Scout award of the Boy Scouts of America.

Kantō Massacre: Amid rumors that Koreans had been conducting acts of sabotage in the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, lynch mobs of Japanese begin massacring thousands of civilians over the course of several weeks, mainly ethnic minorities such as Koreans and Chinese.

The Labor Day Hurricane, the most intense hurricane to strike the United States, makes landfall at Long Key, Florida, killing at least 400.

World War II: Following the start of the invasion of Poland the previous day, the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed by Nazi Germany.

The last execution of a Finn in Finland takes place when soldier Olavi Laiho is executed by shooting in Oulu.

Communist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaims the Democratic Republic of Vietnam after the end of the Nguyễn dynasty.

World War II: The Japanese Instrument of Surrender is signed by Japan and the major warring powers aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, thus marking the official end to the war.

The Interim Government of India is formed, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru as vice president with the powers of a Prime Minister.

President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam becomes the first foreign head of state to make a state visit to Australia.

A USAF RC-130 is shot down by fighters over Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a sigint mission. All crew members are killed.

The first election of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile. The Tibetan community observes this date as Democracy Day.

CBS Evening News becomes U.S. network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes.

Paddy Roy Bates proclaimed HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea off the coast of Suffolk, England, as an independent sovereign state: the Principality of Sealand.

Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War.

Aeroflot Flight 3630, a Tupolev Tu-124 en route from southern Russia to Lithuania, crashes after the pilots lost control of the aircraft at cruise altitude between Rostov-on-Don Airport and Vilnius Airport, on the second leg of the flight; all 37 passengers and crew are killed.

NASA announces the cancellation of two Apollo missions to the Moon, Apollo 15 (the designation is re-used by a later mission), and Apollo 19.

Seven people are shot and killed and 12 wounded in the Milperra massacre, a shootout between the rival motorcycle gangs Bandidos and Comancheros in Sydney, Australia.

Hurricane Elena, an unpredictable and damaging tropical cyclone that affected eastern and central portions of the United States Gulf Coast, made landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi, as a Category 3 major hurricane.

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil politicians and former MPs M. Alalasundaram and V. Dharmalingam are shot dead.

In Moscow, the trial begins for 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May.

Transnistria is unilaterally proclaimed a Soviet republic; the Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev declares the decision null and void.

The 7.7 Mw Nicaragua earthquake affects the west coast of Nicaragua. With a Ms–Mw disparity of half a unit, this tsunami earthquake triggers a tsunami that causes most of the damage and casualties, with at least 116 killed. Typical runup heights were 3–8 meters (9.8–26.2 ft).

Swissair Flight 111 crashes near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia; all 229 people on board are killed.

The UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide.

Google launches its Google Chrome web browser.

The Andhra Pradesh, India helicopter crash occurs near Rudrakonda Hill, 40 nautical miles (74 km) from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, India. Fatalities include Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Israel-Palestinian conflict: the 2010 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are launched by the United States.

Bad weather caused a Chilean Air Force aircraft to crash into the Pacific Ocean, killing all 21 people on board.

The Eastern span replacement of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opens at 10:15 pm at a cost of $6.4 billion, after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the old span.

National Museum of Brazil fire: A massive fire destroys most of the Paço de São Cristóvão, which houses the National Museum of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro. The museum holds important archaeοlogical and anthropological objects, including the remains of the Luzia Woman, Marajoara vases and Egyptian mummies.

Hurricane Dorian, a category 5 hurricane, devastates the Bahamas, killing at least five.

The dive boat MV Conception catches fire and sinks near Santa Cruz Island, killing 34.

Eighteen people are killed and 23 others are injured by a suicide bombing at a Sunni mosque in Herat, Afghanistan.

India's first solar observation mission: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launches Aditya-L1 from Satish Dhawan space centre.

A suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, kills six people and injures 13.

At least 129 inmates are killed and 59 more injured in an attempted prison break at Makala Prison in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Four people are killed in a mass shooting targeting homeless people on a Chicago Transit Authority train in Forest Park, Illinois, United States.

Keir Starmer, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Keanu Reeves, Canadian actor, singer, and producer

Salma Hayek, Mexican-American actress, director, and producer

Wilhelm Ostwald, Latvian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1932)

Frederick Soddy, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1956)

Ahmad Shah Massoud, Afghan commander and politician, Afghan Minister of Defense (died 2001)

Liliʻuokalani, Last sovereign monarch of Hawaiʻi (died 1917)

Arthur Ashkin, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020)

Andrej Babiš, Czech politician, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

Joseph Roth, Austrian journalist and author (died 1939)

Bill Shankly, Scottish footballer and manager (died 1981)

Henry George, American economist and author (died 1897)

Emiliano Martínez, Argentine footballer

Daniel arap Moi, Kenyan educator and politician, 2nd President of Kenya (died 2020)

Jimmy Connors, American tennis player, coach, and sportscaster

Louis Bonaparte, French-Dutch king (died 1846)

Paul Bourget, French author and critic (died 1935)

Mathieu Kérékou, Beninese soldier and politician, President of Benin (died 2015)

Chuck McCann, American actor and screenwriter (died 2018)

Carlos Valderrama, Colombian footballer and manager

Alexandre Pato, Brazilian footballer

Javi Martínez, Spanish footballer

Christa McAuliffe, American educator and astronaut (died 1986)

Bradley Barcola, French footballer

Mark Harmon, American actor and producer

Joey Barton, English footballer

René Thom, French mathematician, biologist, and academic (died 2002)

Andreas Möller, German footballer and manager

Billy Preston, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (died 2006)

Zedd, Russian-German record producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter

Werner von Blomberg, German field marshal (died 1946)

Lennox Lewis, English-Canadian boxer

Hans-Hermann Hoppe, American economist and philosopher

Frédéric Kanouté, Malian footballer

Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (died 1616)

Kjetil André Aamodt, Norwegian skier

Gélson Fernandes, Swiss footballer

Marcus Ericsson, Swedish race car driver

Israel Gelfand, Russian-American mathematician and biologist (died 2009)

John Zorn, American saxophonist, composer, and producer

Olivier Panis, French racing driver

Andrew Grove, Hungarian-American businessman, engineer, and author (died 2016)

Ernst Curtius, German archaeologist and historian (died 1896)

Scott Moir, Canadian ice dancer

Hal Ashby, American actor, director, and producer (died 1988)

Sadhana Shivdasani, Indian actress (died 2015)

Cynthia Watros, American actress

César Sánchez, Spanish footballer

Marie Joséphine of Savoy (died 1810)

Marge Champion, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (died 2020)

Horace Silver, American pianist and composer (died 2014)

Terry Bradshaw, American football player, sportscaster, and actor

Nate Archibald, American basketball player and coach

Danny Shittu, Nigerian footballer

Brandon Ingram, American basketball player

Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria (died 1963)

Sam Rivers, American musician (died 2025)

Guy Laliberté, Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and poker player, founded Cirque du Soleil

Katt Williams, American comedian and actor

Austin Abrams, American actor