August 29
Atahuallpa, the 13th and last emperor of the Incas, dies by strangulation at the hands of Francisco Pizarro’s Spanish conquistadors. The execution of Atahuallpa, the last free reigning emperor, marked the end of 300 years of Inca civilization. – 1533.
At a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name “First Lightning.” – 1949.
Hurricane Katrina makes landfall near New Orleans, La., as a Category 4 hurricane. It is believed that the hurricane caused more than 1,300 deaths and up to $150 billion in damages along the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. – 2005.
August 30
After speaking at a factory in Moscow, Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is shot twice by a member of the Social Revolutionary Party. Lenin was seriously wounded, but survived the attack. – 1918.
U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt’s Wealth Tax Act increases taxes on rich citizens and big business and lowers taxes for small businesses. – 1935.
A 24-hour-a-day hot line between Moscow and Washington goes into effect. The hot line was supposed to help speed communication between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union and help prevent the possibility of an accidental war. – 1963.
Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American to be confirmed as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. He remained on the Supreme Court for 24 years before retiring for health reasons. He left a legacy of upholding the rights of the individual as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. – 1967.
August 31
More than 325,000 unionists gather in Washington, D.C. for a Solidarity Day march and rally for work-place fairness and health care reform. – 1991.
September 1
At 4:45 a.m., 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombs Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attack Polish naval forces. – 1939.
Muammar al-Gaddafi, a 27-year-old Libyan army captain, leads a successful military coup against King Idris I of Libya. Idris was deposed and Gaddafi was named chairman of Libya’s new governing body, the Revolutionary Command Council. – 1969.
September 2
The Great Fire of London breaks out in the house of King Charles II’s baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. When the Great Fire finally was extinguished September 6, more than 80% of London was destroyed. Only 16 persons were known to have died. – 1666.
Aftershocks from an earthquake start out-of-control fires in Tokyo, Japan, and the surrounding area. In total, 143,000 persons die in the disaster, which is known both as the Great Kwanto Earthquake and the Great Tokyo Fire. Eighty percent of the nearby city of Yokohama was destroyed, as well as approximately 60% of Tokyo. – 1923.
Sixty-four-year-old Diana Nyad becomes the first person to swim the 110-miles from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage for protection. – 2013.
September 3
The American Revolution officially comes to an end when representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Spain, and France sign the Treaty of Paris. – 1783.
Twenty-five workers die, unable to escape a fire at the Imperial Poultry processing plant in Hamlet, N.C.. Managers had locked fire doors to prevent the theft of chicken nuggets. The plant had operated for 11 years without a single safety inspection. – 1991.
A three-day hostage crisis at a Russian school comes to a violent conclusion after a gun battle erupts between the 32 hostage-takers and Russian security forces. In the end, 331 were killed, 186 of them children, and more than 700 were injured. – 2004.
September 4
Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed by Odoacer, a German barbarian, who proclaims himself king of Italy. – 476 A.D..
Apache chief Geronimo surrenders to U.S. government troops. For 30 years, the mighty Native American warrior had battled to protect his tribe’s homeland; however, by 1886 the Apaches were exhausted and hopelessly outnumbered. General Nelson Miles accepted Geronimo’s surrender to make him the last Indian warrior to formally give in to U.S. forces and signaling the end of the Indian Wars in the Southwest. – 1886.
Arkansas governor Orval Faubus enlists the National Guard to prevent nine African American students from entering Central High School in Little Rock while an angry crowd of some 400 whites jeered, booed, and threatened to lynch the African American teenagers. Faubus took the action in violation of a federal order to integrate the school. September 24 president Dwight Eisenhower sent 1,000 U.S. troops to Little Rock. The next day, the African American students entered under heavily-armed guard. – 1957.