Today in History: September 1st
Today marks the 244th day of the year, with 121 days remaining in 2026. On this day in history, a U.S.-French expedition discovered the wreckage of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean in 1985. King Louis XIV of France passed away in 1715 after a 72-year reign, succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV. The first section of Boston's subway system opened in 1897, marking the first underground rapid transit system in North America. The passenger pigeon became extinct in 1914 with the death of the last known specimen, Martha, at the Cincinnati Zoo. Tokyo and Yokohama were struck by a devastating earthquake in 1923, claiming around 140,000 lives. Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, sparking the beginning of World War II. Life magazine published Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" in its entirety in 1952, which later won a Pulitzer Prize. Masanori Murakami of the San Francisco Giants became the first Japanese baseball player in Major League Baseball in 1964. Moammar Gadhafi rose to power in Libya following a coup in 1969. American Bobby Fischer won the international chess crown in 1972. A Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 was shot down by a Soviet fighter jet in 1983, resulting in 269 fatalities. In 2004, Islamic terrorists held over 1,000 people hostage in a school in Beslan, Russia, leading to a tragic end with 334 casualties. Kim Davis, a Kentucky Clerk, refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in 2015, leading to legal consequences. Birthdays today include attorney Alan Dershowitz (88), comedian Lily Tomlin (87), singer Barry Gibb (80), talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw (76), singer Gloria Estefan (69), TV host Padma Lakshmi (56), actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira (55), fashion designer Rachel Zoe (55), actor Scott Speedman (51), composer Ludwig Göransson (42), and actor-singer Zendaya (30).