Today in History: Sept. 3

On this date in 1995, the online auction site eBay was founded in San Jose, California, by Pierre Omidyar under the name "AuctionWeb." In this 1999 file photo, then eBay chief executive officer Meg Whitman, left, and Pierre Omidyar, eBay's founder and chairman of the board, leaf through a magazine at the company's headquarters in San Jose, Calif.  (AP Photo/Randi Lynn Beach, file)
In 1995, the online auction site eBay was founded in San Jose, California, by Pierre Omidyar under the name “AuctionWeb.” In this 1999 file photo, then eBay chief executive officer Meg Whitman, left, and Pierre Omidyar, eBay’s founder and chairman of the board, leaf through a magazine at the company’s headquarters in San Jose, Calif.   (AP Photo/Randi Lynn Beach, file)
Illustration of representatives of the United States and Great Britain signing the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the agreement which formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the North American colonies, Paris, France, September 3, 1783. Representatives present at the event included English politician David Hartley (1731 - 1813) (representative of Britain), American politician John Adams (1735 ? 1826), American politician and scientist Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790), and American politician John Jay (1745 ? 1829). (Photo by Kean Collection/Getty Images)
In 1783, representatives of the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War. Illustration of representatives of the United States and Great Britain signing the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the agreement which formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the North American colonies, Paris, France, September 3, 1783. Representatives present at the event included English politician David Hartley (1731 – 1813) (representative of Britain), American politician John Adams (1735 ? 1826), American politician and scientist Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790), and American politician John Jay (1745 ? 1829). (Photo by Kean Collection/Getty Images)
In 1970, legendary football coach Vince Lombardi, 57, died in Washington, D.C. FILE – In this Jan. 14, 1968, file photo, Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is carried off the field after his team defeated the Oakland Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II in Miami, Fla. Packers guard Jerry Kramer (64) is at right. Kramer will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018, in Canton, Ohio. (AP Photo/File)
Ten years ago: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain’s choice of running mate, roused delegates at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., as she belittled Democrat Barack Obama and praised the GOP nominee. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump before Trump arrives at a campaign event in Tampa, Fla., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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In 2013, Ariel Castro, who’d held three women captive in his Cleveland home for nearly a decade before one escaped and alerted authorities, was found hanged in his prison cell, a suicide. FILE – This Aug. 1, 2013 file photo shows Ariel Castro in the courtroom during the sentencing phase in Cleveland. As authorities launched two probes to try to determine how Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro managed to commit suicide while in prison, his family was scheduled to claim his body two days after he hung himself with a bedsheet in his cell. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)
In 1999, a French judge closed a two-year inquiry into the car crash that killed Princess Diana, dismissing all charges against nine photographers and a press motorcyclist, and concluding the accident was caused by an inebriated driver. FILE – In this Sunday, Aug. 31, 1997 file photo workers prepare to take away the car in which Diana, Princess of Wales, died in Paris, in a car crash that also killed her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and the chauffeur. The way Princess Diana died 20 years ago this month _ in a high-speed Paris car crash while she and her boyfriend were being chauffeured by an intoxicated driver and pursued by photographers _ shocked and angered the public. It also preserved her in memory as a glamorous, beloved and vulnerable victim. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson and his crew aboard the Half Moon entered present-day New York Harbor and began sailing up the river that now bears his name. (They reached present-day Albany before turning back.) FILE- In this April 26, 2018, file photo, a CSX Transportation locomotive pulls a train of tank cars across a bridge on the Hudson River along the edge of Bear Mountain State Park, near Fort Montgomery, N.Y. CSX railroad will give investors another update on its efforts to cut costs and improve efficiency when it releases its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
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On this date in 1995, the online auction site eBay was founded in San Jose, California, by Pierre Omidyar under the name "AuctionWeb." In this 1999 file photo, then eBay chief executive officer Meg Whitman, left, and Pierre Omidyar, eBay's founder and chairman of the board, leaf through a magazine at the company's headquarters in San Jose, Calif.  (AP Photo/Randi Lynn Beach, file)
Illustration of representatives of the United States and Great Britain signing the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the agreement which formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the North American colonies, Paris, France, September 3, 1783. Representatives present at the event included English politician David Hartley (1731 - 1813) (representative of Britain), American politician John Adams (1735 ? 1826), American politician and scientist Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790), and American politician John Jay (1745 ? 1829). (Photo by Kean Collection/Getty Images)
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Today is Tuesday, Sept. 3, the 246th day of 2019. There are 119 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 3, 1943, Allied forces invaded Italy during World War II, the same day Italian officials signed a secret armistice with the Allies.

On this date:

In 1783, representatives of the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War.

In 1939, Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany, two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland; in a radio address, Britain’s King George VI said, “With God’s help, we shall prevail.” The same day, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner SS Athenia some 250 miles off the Irish coast, killing more than 100 out of the 1,400 or so people on board.

In 1962, poet E.E. Cummings died in North Conway, N.H., at age 67.

In 1967, Nguyen Van Thieu (nwen van too) was elected president of South Vietnam under a new constitution.

In 1970, legendary football coach Vince Lombardi, 57, died in Washington, D.C.

In 1976, America’s Viking 2 lander touched down on Mars to take the first close-up, color photographs of the red planet’s surface.

In 1978, Pope John Paul I was installed as the 264th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1994, China and Russia proclaimed an end to any lingering hostilities, pledging they would no longer target nuclear missiles or use force against each other.

In 1995, the online auction site eBay was founded in San Jose, California, by Pierre Omidyar under the name “AuctionWeb.”

In 1999, a French judge closed a two-year inquiry into the car crash that killed Princess Diana, dismissing all charges against nine photographers and a press motorcyclist, and concluding the accident was caused by an inebriated driver.

In 2003, Paul Hill, a former minister who said he murdered an abortion doctor and his bodyguard to save the lives of unborn babies, was executed in Florida by injection, becoming the first person put to death in the United States for anti-abortion violence.

In 2005, President George W. Bush ordered more than 7,000 active duty forces to the Gulf Coast as his administration intensified efforts to rescue Katrina survivors and send aid to the hurricane-ravaged region in the face of criticism it did not act quickly enough. U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died in Arlington, Virginia, at age 80, after more than three decades on the Supreme Court.

Ten years ago: Vice President Joe Biden told a Brookings Institution gathering that the Obama administration was fiercely determined to get a health care overhaul, although he conceded it likely wouldn’t happen without “an awful lot of screaming and hollering.” A private funeral service was held in Glendale, California, for pop superstar Michael Jackson, whose body was entombed in a mausoleum more than two months after his death.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama, during a visit to Estonia, harshly condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine as a threat to peace. President Obama also said the United States would not be intimidated by Islamic State militants after the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff. A judge sentenced Theodore Wafer, a suburban Detroit man who’d killed an unarmed woman on his porch instead of calling police, to at least 17 years in prison.

One year ago: A court in Myanmar sentenced two Reuters journalists to seven years in prison on charges of illegal possession of official documents, a ruling that was met with international condemnation. (The two were freed as part of a mass presidential pardon in May 2019.) President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, suggesting that the Justice Department had hurt the chances of Republicans in midterm elections with the recent indictments of two GOP congressmen.

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