Today is Thursday, September 1, the 244th day of 2011. There are 121 days left in the year.
312 B.C. ― Origin of Greek Era, start of Induction of Constantinople
1666 ― Great London Fire begins in Pudding Lane; 80 percent of London is destroyed
1865 ― Joseph Lister performs first antiseptic surgery
1923 ― Earthquake strikes Tokyo and Yokohama, kills 106,000
1939 ― WW II starts, Germany invades Poland, takes Danzig
1941 ― Yellow star becomes obligatory for Jews in the Reich to wear
1945 ― Japan surrenders ending WW II (U.S. date, 9/2 in Japan)
1948 ― Communist form North China People's Republic
1969 ― Libyan revolution, Col. Moammar Gadhafi deposes King Idris
1983 ― Korean Boeing 747 strays into Siberia and is shot down by a Soviet jet