Thursday 2nd of September 1666

Start of the Great Fire in Pudding Lane, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

The Great Fire started at the bakery of Thomas Farriner shortly after midnight and spread rapidly west across the City of London. The major firefighting technique of the time was to create firebreaks by means of demolition. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sunday night the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm that defeated such measures. By 6 September the Great Fire consumed 13.200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 70.000 of the city's 80.000 inhabitants.

Friday 2nd of September 1910

Post-impressionist painter Henri Julien Félix Rousseau aka Le Douanier dies from a bloodclot after an operation for gangrene in his leg at the age of 66 in Hôpital Necker, Rue de Sèvres, Paris, XVe, Île-de-France, France.

Monday 2nd of September 1929

Expressionist film director Paul Leni aka The Forgotten Master dies from blood poisoning due to a neglected ulcerated tooth at the age of 44 in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Monday 2nd of September 1946

25-year-old Inge H. is beaten to death by serial killer Rudolf Pleil aka Der Großten Todmacher in Bergen, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Monday 2nd of September 1946

San Francisco supervisor and assassin Dan Daniel James White is born in Long Beach, California, United States.

Thursday 2nd of September 1948

Teacher and astronaut Christa McAuliffe is born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Friday 2nd of September 1949

2865 die in town fire in Yuzhong, Chongqing, China.

More than 7,000 buildings were destroyed and over 100.000 people were homeless.

Sunday 2nd of September 1962

Murderer Wilford Lee Berry aka The Volunteer is born in Houston, Texas, United States.

Friday 2nd of September 1966

41-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl performs 'Materialaktion nr. 31 / Stillleben mit Finger' in Perinetkeller, Perinetgasse 1, Wien, Wien, Austria.

Tuesday 2nd of September 1969

Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh aka Nguyễn Tất Thành aka Nguyễn Ái Quốc dies of heart failure at the age of 79 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Saturday 2nd of September 1972

8-year-old Karen Ann Hill is abducted, raped and strangled by serial killer Arthur Shawcross aka The Genesee River Killer in Pearl Street, Watertown, New York, United States.

Shawcross was arrested the next day. Shawcross was sentenced to an indeterminate term at Attica with a maximum of 25 years. He was released on parole in April 1987. In March 1988 Shawcross began murdering again.

Sunday 2nd of September 1973

Writer, poet, philologist and university professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien known for the fantasy work ‘The Lord of the Rings’ dies of a bleeding ulcer and chest infection at the age of 81 in Bournemouth, Dorset, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 2nd of September 1981

30-year-old Serial killer Gerald Eugene Stano aka Blind Fury is sentenced to three life-sentences in 251 N Ridgewood Ave, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States.

Friday 2nd of September 1983

Child killer Jimmy Lee Gray is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 34 in Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman, Mississippi, United States.

The gas chamber used in Mississippi had a vertical iron bar directly behind the inmate's chair. There was no headrest or strap used to restrain Gray's head. As Gray began breathing in the toxic gas he started thrashing his head around, striking the iron bar repeatedly before he finally lost consciousness. "Gray died banging his head against a steel pole in the gas chamber while reporters counted his moans" (eleven according to the Associated Press).

Friday 2nd of September 1994

Murderer Harold Lamont Otey aka Walkin' Willie is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 43 in Nebraska State Penitentiary, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States.

Otey's was the first execution in Nebraska in 25 years when Charles Starkweather went to the same chair.

Wednesday 2nd of September 1998

229 die in Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Flight 111 crash in St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Sunday 2nd of September 2001

Cardiac surgeon Christian Neethling Barnard dies of a severe asthma attack at the age of 79 in Paphos, Paphos District, Cyprus.

Sunday 2nd of September 2001

Thai artist Sutee Kunavichayanont from the Bangkok-Belgium-Bantam Project with one of his inflatable elephants at the Bangkok meets Cologne exhibition in Kunstwerk, Deutz-Mülheimer Straße 127, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.