On This Day, September 2: Pierre de Coubertin, Safet Isović and Mikis Theodorakis Died

September 2 has marked wars, political changes, cultural milestones and the deaths of prominent figures across centuries.

In 31 BC, Octavian defeated the fleet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the naval Battle of Actium. London’s four-day fire in 1666 destroyed much of the city, including St Paul’s Cathedral. In 1752, Britain and its colonies replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar, making September 2 the final day under the old system.

The date also recalls military campaigns and political settlements. Britain bombarded Copenhagen in 1807 to prevent Napoleon Bonaparte from using the Danish fleet against Britain. The Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 required the Ottoman Empire to return six districts to Serbia and recognize Greek autonomy. In 1898, Anglo-Egyptian forces defeated the Mahdist army at Omdurman and took key strategic positions in Sudan.

Other entries highlight national and cultural history. Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawaii was born in 1838. Vietnam proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 under President Ho Chi Minh, while Japan signed its unconditional surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay the same year. The chronology also notes the first nonstop flight between Europe and the United States in 1930 and the arrest of more than 400 anti-apartheid demonstrators in Cape Town in 1989.

Among the figures associated with the date are painter Henri Rousseau, modern Olympic Games founder Pierre de Coubertin and writer J.R.R. Tolkien. The list also records a 1996 peace agreement between the Philippine government and Muslim rebels after a 24-year civil war on Mindanao, in which 125,000 people were killed.