Pope John Paul II, left, greets PLO leader Yasser Arafat at his summer residence in Castelgandolfo Saturday September 2 1995. Arafat is in Italy for talks with Italian leaders and the Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. (AP Photo/ Luciano Mellace, pool)

Today is Thursday, Sept. 2, the 245th day of 2021. There are 120 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 2, 1969, in what some regard as the birth of the Internet, two connected computers at the University of California, Los Angeles, passed test data through a 15-foot cable.

On this date:

In 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out.

In 1789, the United States Treasury Department was established.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s forces occupied Atlanta.

In 1944, during World War II, Navy pilot Lt. (jg) George Herbert Walker Bush was shot down by Japanese forces as he completed a bombing run over the Bonin Islands. (Bush was rescued by the crew of the submarine USS Finback; his two crew members, however, died.)

In 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II.

In 1960, Wilma Rudolph of the United States won the first of her three gold medals at the Rome Summer Olympics as she finished the 100-meter dash in 11 seconds.

In 1963, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers. “The CBS Evening News” with Walter Cronkite was lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes, becoming network television’s first half-hour nightly newscast.

In 1998, a Swissair MD-11 jetliner crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard.

In 2005, a National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled into New Orleans four days after Hurricane Katrina.

In 2008, Republicans assailed Barack Obama as the most liberal, least experienced White House nominee in history at their convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, and enthusiastically extolled their own man, John McCain, as ready to lead the nation.

In 2018, Sen. John McCain was laid to rest on a grassy hill at the U.S. Naval Academy, after a horse-drawn caisson carrying the senator’s casket led a procession of mourners from the academy’s chapel to its cemetery.

In 2019, a fire swept a boat carrying recreational scuba divers that was anchored near an island off the Southern California coast; the captain and four other crew members were able to escape the flames, but 34 people who were trapped below died.

Ten years ago: In a dramatic reversal, President Barack Obama scrubbed a proposed clean-air regulation aimed at reducing smog, yielding to bitterly protesting businesses and congressional Republicans who complained the rule would kill jobs in America’s ailing economy.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama departed for China on his final official trip to Asia. Tropical Storm Hermine hit Florida as a Category 1 hurricane, wiping away beachside buildings and toppling trees onto homes. Samsung Electronics recalled all of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones after finding batteries in some of the flagship gadgets exploded or caught fire.

One year ago: The family of Daniel Prude released a video and records showing that Prude had died of asphyxiation after a group of police officers in Rochester, New York, put a hood over his head and pressed his face into the pavement for two minutes. (Prude, a Black man, died after being taken off life support in March, seven days after the encounter with police.) The German government said Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had been poisoned with the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent that British authorities identified in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy; experts say the findings pointed strongly to Russian state involvement in the poisoning of Navalny, who was recovering in a German hospital.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo., is 90. Former United States Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth is 84. Singer Jimmy Clanton is 83. R&B singer Sam Gooden (The Impressions) is 82. R&B singer Rosalind Ashford (Martha & the Vandellas) is 78. Singer Joe Simon is 78. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw is 73. Basketball Hall of Famer Nate Archibald is 73. Actor Mark Harmon is 70. Former Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is 70. International Tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors is 69. Actor Linda Purl is 66. Rock musician Jerry Augustyniak (10,000 Maniacs) is 63. Country musician Paul Deakin (The Mavericks) is 62. Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson is 61. Actor Keanu Reeves is 57. International Boxing Hall of Famer Lennox Lewis is 56. Actor Salma Hayek is 55. Actor Tuc Watkins is 55. Actor Kristen Cloke is 53. Actor Cynthia Watros is 53. R&B singer K-Ci is 52. Actor-comedian Katt Williams is 48. Actor Nicholas Pinnock is 48. Actor Michael Lombardi is 47. Actor Tiffany Hines is 44. Rock musician Sam Rivers (Limp Bizkit) is 44. Actor Jonathan Kite is 42. Actor Joshua Henry is 37. Actor Allison Miller is 36. Rock musician Spencer Smith is 34. Electronic music DJ/producer Zedd is 32.

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