TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

Today is Tuesday, September 2, the 246th day of 2008. There are 120 days left in the year.

31 B.C. _ Battle of Actium; Octavian defeats Antony, becomes Emperor Augustus

490 B.C. _ Phidippides runs first marathon, seeking aid from Sparta vs. Persia

1901 _ V.P. Theodore Roosevelt advises, ``Speak softly and carry a big stick"

1919 _ Communist Party of America organized in Chicago

1930 _ First non-stop airplane flight from Europe to U.S. (37 hours)

1944 _ Anne Frank (Diary of Anne Frank), is sent to Auschwitz

1945 _ Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam independence from France (National Day)

1945 _ V-J Day; formal surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri (WWII ends)

1978 _ John McClain performs 180 outside loops in an airplane over Houston

1987 _ Donald Trump takes out a full-page New York Times ad lambasting Japan