China and Russia agreed to stop pointing nuclear weapons at each other. (1994) The de-targeting agreement was a major step toward peace between the two countries, easing tense relations that dated back to the beginning of the Cold War.
The US flag was flown in battle for the first time. (1777) In an American Revolutionary War battle at Chooch’s bridge in Maryland, General William Maxwell ordered the Stars and Stripes flag raised. At the time, the flag had 13 stripes and 13 stars.
The Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War. (1783) The peace treaty was signed by the British and US governments, formally establishing America as an independent country.
Well-known adventurer Steve Fossett disappeared while flying over Nevada. (2007) Fossett, who was the first person to fly a balloon around the world nonstop and solo, could not be found despite an exhaustive month-long search. His remains eventually were found in October 2008, in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. He had died in a plane crash.
A siege on a Russian school ended with more than 300 people dead, many of them children. (2004) The school had been taken hostage by Chechen terrorists on September 1st. To bring an end to the hostage situation, the Russian military stormed the school with explosives. 334 hostages died and several hundred others were injured or missing.
The Dow Jones closed at 381.17 — its highest point before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. (1929) The market immediately dropped 17 percent after the high, causing panic to settle in and people to start desperately selling stock. It was the last high point before the Great Depression.
Sir Malcolm Campbell became the first person to drive a car more than 300 miles per hour (about 482 kilometers per hour). (1935) Campbell achieved a speed of 301.337 miles per hour (about 484.955 kilometers per hour) at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.
NASA’s Viking 2 probe landed on Mars, camera-ready. (1976) Viking 2’s mission was to return photographs of Mars’ surface. It took 16,000 pictures in 1,281 days before its batteries died.
One of the world’s smallest nations and its oldest republic was founded. (301) Saint Marinus founded San Marino, which is still in existence today as the world’s oldest republic. The nation of San Marino, which is officially called the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, has a population of about 30,000 and is just 24 square miles (about 61 square kilometers).
The worst storm in Philippines history killed more than 4,353 people. (1984) The typhoon-strength storm ravaged the country with 115-mile-per-hour (about 185-kilometer-per-hour) winds, leaving more than one million people homeless.