Martha, the last passenger pigeon, in 1914

Today in History

• The asteroid Juno is discovered(1804)
• Emma Nutt becomes the world’s first female telephone operator (1878)
• The first underground transit system in the US opens in Boston (1897)
• The last known passenger pigeon, Martha, dies in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo (1914)
• World War II: Nazi Germany invades Poland, beginning the war in Europe (1939)
• Muammar Gaddafi becomes ruler of Libya following a copy (1969)
• Bobby Fischer beats Boris Spassky to become world chess champion (1972)
• The SR-71 Blackbird sets a New York to London speed record: 1 hour, 54 minutes, 56.4 seconds to travel 21,000 km (13,000 mi) (1974)
• Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by the Soviet Union (1983)

Birthdays

• Johann Pachelbel, composer (1653)
• Engelbert Humperdink, playwright and composer (1854)
• Edgar Rice Burroughs, fantasy writer (1875)
• A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founded Krishna Consciousness (1896)
• Johnny Mack Brown, football player (1904)
• Walter Reuther, labor leader (1907)
• Richard Farnsworth, actor and stuntman (1920)
• Yvonne De Carlo, actress (1922)
• Rocky Marciano, boxer (1923)
• Art Pepper, saxophonist (1925)
• Gene Colan, comics artist (1926)
• Beano Cook, sportscaster (1931)
• Boxcar Willie, singer-songwriter (1931)
• Conway Twitty, country musician (1933)
• Seiji Ozawa, conductor (1935)
• Ron O’Neal, actor (1937)
• Alan Dershowitz, lawyer (1938)
• Lily Tomlin, comedian (1939)
• C. J. Cherryh, science fiction writer (1942)
• Barry Gibb, member of the BeeGees (1946)
• Gloria Estefan, singer-songwriter (1957)

Deaths

• Jacques Cartier, explorer (1557)
• Jan Brueghel the Younger, painter (1678)
• Louis XIV of France, monarch (1715)
• Siegfried Sassoon, poet (1967)
• Drew Pearson, newspaper columnist (1969)
• Ethel Waters, singer (1977)
• Albert Speer, architect and high-ranking Nazi official (1981)
• Jerry Reed, country musician (2008)
• Hal David, songwriter (2012)
• Dean Jones, actor (2015)

Holidays and Observances

• Anniversary of the Start of the Armed Struggle (Eritrea)
• Constitution Day (Slovakia)
• Disaster Prevention Day (Japan)
• Flag Day (Honduras)
• Independence Day (Uzbekistan)
• Journalist Day (Taiwan)
• Knowledge Day (Russia, Ukraine, Armenia)
• Random Acts of Kindness Day
• Veteran’s Day (Poland)
• Wattle Day (Australia)

September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). There are 121 days remaining until the end of the year.