Today in History

Today is Friday, Sept. 2, the 245th day of 2022. There are 120 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II.

On this date:

In 1789, the United States Treasury Department was established.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman's forces occupied Atlanta.

In 1935, a Labor Day hurricane slammed into the Florida Keys, claiming more than 400 lives.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Defense Education Act, which provided aid to public and private education to promote learning in such fields as math and science.

In 1963, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers.

In 1964, one of America's most decorated military heroes of World War I, Medal of Honor recipient Alvin C. York, died in Nashville at age 76.

In 1969, in what some regard as the birth of the Internet, two connected computers at the University of California, Los Angeles, passed test data through a 15-foot cable.

In 1998, a Swissair MD-11 jetliner crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard.

In 2005, a National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled into New Orleans four days after Hurricane Katrina.

In 2008, Republicans assailed Barack Obama as the most liberal, least experienced White House nominee in history at their convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, and enthusiastically extolled their own man, John McCain, as ready to lead the nation.

In 2018, Sen. John McCain was laid to rest on a grassy hill at the U.S. Naval Academy, after a horse-drawn caisson carrying the senator's casket led a procession of mourners from the academy's chapel to its cemetery.

In 2019, a fire swept a boat carrying recreational scuba divers that was anchored near an island off the Southern California coast; the captain and four other crew members were able to escape the flames, but 34 people who were trapped below died.

Ten years ago: Campaigning his way toward the Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama slapped a "Romney doesn't care" label on his rival's health-care views and said Republicans wanted to repeal new protections for millions without offering a plan of their own.

Five years ago: President Donald Trump visited with survivors of Hurricane Harvey, touring a Houston shelter housing hundreds of displaced people and meeting with emergency responders in Lake Charles, Louisiana; it was Trump's second visit to the region in the wake of the storm. Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth after 288 days on the International Space Station; the trip gave Whitson a total of 665 days in space, a record for any American and any woman worldwide.

One year ago: A divided Supreme Court allowed a Texas law that banned most abortions to remain in effect; it prohibited abortions once medical professionals could detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks and before most women know they're pregnant. (The law allowed private citizens to sue providers and anyone involved in facilitating an abortion.) House Democrats promoted Republican Liz Cheney to vice chairwoman of a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, even as some Republicans threatened to oust her from the GOP conference for taking part in the probe. Virginia's Supreme Court ruled that the state could remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a prominent spot in the state's capital city, Richmond, which was also the Confederate capital. (The statue was cut into pieces and hauled away days later.) Former Georgia prosecutor Jackie Johnson was indicted on misconduct charges alleging she used her position to shield the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery from being charged immediately after the shootings.

Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo., is 91. Former United States Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth is 85. Singer Jimmy Clanton is 84. R&B singer Rosalind Ashford (Martha & the Vandellas) is 79. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw is 74. Basketball Hall of Famer Nate Archibald is 74. Actor Mark Harmon is 71. Former Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is 71. International Tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors is 70. Actor Linda Purl is 67. Rock musician Jerry Augustyniak (10,000 Maniacs) is 64. Country musician Paul Deakin (The Mavericks) is 63. Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson is 62. Actor Keanu Reeves is 58. International Boxing Hall of Famer Lennox Lewis is 57. Actor Salma Hayek is 56. Actor Tuc Watkins is 56. Actor Kristen Cloke is 54. Actor Cynthia Watros is 54. R&B singer K-Ci is 53. Actor-comedian Katt Williams is 49. Actor Nicholas Pinnock is 49. Actor Michael Lombardi is 48. Actor Tiffany Hines is 45. Rock musician Sam Rivers (Limp Bizkit) is 45. Actor Jonathan Kite is 43. Actor Joshua Henry is 38. Actor Allison Miller is 37. Rock musician Spencer Smith is 35. Electronic music DJ/producer Zedd is 33.