9 stories from 1783 to 2017, written as the news broke.
The Yesterday Times front page for September 3.
On September 3, Frederick Douglass fled slavery, the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War, Anne Frank was deported to Auschwitz, Łachwa Jews rose against liquidation, the Princess Alice sank killing 600, and Viking 2 landed on Mars.
September 3 in History
Foreign Intelligence
1783 — Treaty of Paris Ends American War
Commissioners signed the definitive treaty this forenoon after eight years of war, fixing boundaries at the Mississippi.
Fireworks illuminate a monument in Paris celebrating the peace treaty — Anonyme, graveur
PARIS, September 3 — Commissioners of the United States of America and plenipotentiaries of the King of Great Britain signed this forenoon the definitive treaty of peace, restoring to the former colonies their full sovereignty after eight years of war.
The articles, sealed in the presence of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay and David Hartley, Esquire, acknowledge the said United States to be free, sovereign and independent, relinquishing all claims to government, propriety and territorial rights. Boundaries are fixed at the Mississippi, with the Floridas restored to Spain under separate arrangement.
Navigation of the Mississippi is declared forever free to both nations.
American Revolutionary War: The war ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1976 — Viking 2 Touches Down on Mars at Utopia Planitia
Viking 2 settled onto Martian soil at 3:58 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, with confirmation reaching Earth 44 minutes later.
The Viking 2 lander rests on Martian soil at Utopia Planitia — ENERGY.GOV
PASADENA, September 3 — The ochre plain of Utopia Planitia received its first visitor from Earth at 3:58 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, as Viking 2's retrorockets fired and the lander settled onto Martian soil.
Controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed touchdown 44 minutes later, when the signal reached Earth.
Viking program: The American Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars.
1944 — Anne Frank Deported in Final Transport From Westerbork to Auschwitz
— Occupied Netherlands —
The Jewish girl whose diary recorded two years in concealed rooms above a Prinsengracht warehouse was transferred Sunday from Westerbork to Auschwitz. Anne Frank, 15, arrived at the camp three days later with her family. The Franks had been discovered in their hiding place August 4 and held at the Amsterdam Gestapo headquarters before transfer to Westerbork. The deportation was the final transport from the Dutch transit camp to the extermination complex in occupied Poland.
Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from the Westerbork transit camp to the Auschwitz concentration camp, arriving three days later.
1942 — Łachwa Jews Rise Against Nazi Liquidation; Hundreds Escape to Marshes
Ghetto chairman Dov Lopatin refused German offer to spare thirty laborers — 'Either we all live, or we all die' — signal fire at Judenrat headquarters opened revolt.
Residents gather in the Łachwa Ghetto street before the uprising — Wikimedia Commons
MOSCOW, September 3 — In the marshlands of occupied Byelorussia, the first armed insurrection within the walls of a Jewish ghetto erupted this day, as 2,350 residents of Łachwa refused the fate prepared for them.
Dov Lopatin, chairman of the Jewish Council, rejected a German proposal to preserve thirty workers. He set fire to the council headquarters as signal.
Dov Lopatin, head of the Judenrat, refused a German offer to spare 30 laborers, saying: 'Either we all live, or we all die.'
Approximately 650 Jews were killed in the fighting or flames, and another 500 were shot at pits.
Six German soldiers and eight German and Ukrainian or Belarusian policemen were killed during the uprising.
About 1,000 Jews escaped the ghetto, with roughly 600 taking refuge in the Prypeć Marshes.
The uprising began when Lopatin set fire to the Judenrat headquarters as a signal, on September 3, 1942.
LONDON, September 3 — Captain William Grinstead perished this evening when the passenger steamship SS Princess Alice was struck by the collier Bywell Castle and sank in the River Thames with the loss of more than 600 lives, the greatest disaster in British inland waterway history.
Between 600 and 700 people died, all from Princess Alice, the greatest loss of life of any British inland waterway shipping accident.
Princess Alice sank after being struck on the starboard side by the collier SS Bywell Castle at an angle of 13 degrees.
The collision occurred where 75 million imperial gallons of London's raw sewage had just been released into the Thames.
Captain William Grinstead of Princess Alice died in the incident, and his replacement helmsman John Eyers had little experience of the Thames.
Princess Alice broke into three parts and sank within four minutes; only two people below decks survived the collision.
The young bondsman escapes slavery — his destination unknown — abolitionist career awaits.
The young bondsman escapes slavery — his destination unknown — abolitionist career awaits. — Wikimedia Commons
BALTIMORE, September 3 — Frederick Douglass, a young slave of this city, has effected his escape from bondage and made his way to freedom in the North, according to reports reaching this office.
Douglass, who had been hired out to shipbuilders in Fells Point, seized his opportunity and fled. His present whereabouts are withheld for his security.
Future abolitionist Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery.
1981 — UN Institutes Women's Rights Convention; International Bill of Rights for Women Takes Effect Today
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women enters into force.
NEW YORK, September 3 — The United Nations instituted today the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international bill of rights for women that entered into force as binding law on the states that have ratified it.
The treaty, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 after years of negotiation among member states, establishes comprehensive obligations to end discrimination in political, economic, social, and cultural life. It covers marriage and family relations, education, employment, health care, and participation in public life.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international bill of rights for women, is instituted by the United Nations.
1971 — Qatar Becomes Independent State as British Protectorate Ends
The British flag came down at noon today over Doha, ending foreign and defense policy control that began in 1916.
DOHA, September 3 — The British flag came down at noon today over the sandy capital of this small Gulf emirate, and Qatar assumed its place as a fully independent sovereign state.
Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali al-Thani, whose family has ruled this barren peninsula since the nineteenth century, proclaimed the end of the protectorate relationship that had subjected Qatari foreign and defense policy to British control since 1916. The British Political Agent closed his office and departed by air.
Independence follows the British government's announcement last year that it would withdraw military commitments east of Suez.
2017 — North Korea Detonates Most Powerful Nuclear Device Yet, Claims Thermonuclear Warhead
North Korea's sixth nuclear test, a magnitude-6.3 detonation, killed or injured dozens after collapsing civilian structures near Punggye-ri on September 3.
PUNGGYE-RI, North Korea, September 3 — The Korean Peninsula's security calculus shifted dramatically today as North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, a detonation so forceful it registered as a magnitude-6.3 earthquake and brought down civilian structures in the surrounding village, killing or injuring dozens.
The blast at the Punggye-ri underground facility surpassed all previous North Korean tests in yield, with Pyongyang claiming the device was a two-stage thermonuclear warhead adjustable from tens to hundreds of kilotons and capable of electromagnetic pulse attack. Photographs released hours before the test showed leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a device resembling such a warhead.
The test caused a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Punggye village, collapsing several civilian buildings and killing or injuring dozens.
The USGS and China Earthquake Networks Center reported a second, smaller earthquake minutes later, characterized as a collapse of the cavity formed by the detonation.
It was the first underground test where infrasound signatures were recorded transiting the thermosphere via the International Monitoring System.
North Korea claimed the device was a two-stage thermonuclear warhead with adjustable yield from tens to hundreds of kilotons, capable of EMP attack.
Photographs of leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a device resembling a thermonuclear warhead were released hours before the test.
1856 — Louis Sullivan, American architect, Louis Sullivan, American architect and educator, designed the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building (died 1924)
1947 — Gérard Houllier, French footballer and coach, Gérard Houllier, French footballer and coach (died 2020)
1967 — Luis Gonzalez, American baseball player, Luis Gonzalez, American baseball player
1990 — Mohammed Shami, Indian cricketer, Mohammad Shami, Indian cricketer
1973 — Damon Stoudamire, American basketball player and coach, Damon Stoudamire, American basketball player and coach
1982 — Andrew McMahon, American singer-songwriter, Andrew McMahon, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1999 — Rich Brian, Indonesian rapper and singer, Rich Brian, Indonesian rapper and singer
Quote of the Day
“I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” — William Ernest Henley, Echoes of Life and Death
September 3 History Quiz
What year did Frederick Douglass escape from slavery in Maryland?
1838
Which treaty formally ended the American Revolutionary War on September 3, 1783?
Treaty of Paris
Where did Viking 2 successfully land on Mars in 1976?
