Odd Yet True Facts of September 3

Who else enjoys learning new facts? Here are 12 facts from history you may not know happened on September 3rd.

• 301 – San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, is founded by Saint Marinus.  
• 1189 – Richard I of England (a.k.a. Richard "the Lionheart") is crowned at Westminster.
• 1777 – During the Battle of Cooch's Bridge in the American Revolutionary War, the Flag of the United States is flown in battle for the first time. Six years later in 1783 the war ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1838 – Future abolitionist Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery.
• 1875 – The first official game of polo is played in Argentina after being introduced by British ranchers.
• 1879 – Siege of the British Residency in Kabul: British envoy Sir Louis Cavagnari and 72 men of the Guides are massacred by Afghan troops while defending the British Residency in Kabul. Their heroism and loyalty became famous and revered throughout the British Empire.
• 1895 – John Brallier becomes the first openly professional American football player, when he was paid US $10 by David Berry, to play for the Latrobe Athletic Association in a 12–0 win over the Jeanette Athletic Association.
• 1935 – Sir Malcolm Campbell reaches a speed of 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile over 300 mph.
• 1939 – France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, forming the Allied nations in World War II. The Viceroy of India also declares war, but without consulting the provincial legislatures.
• 1944 – Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from the Westerbork transit camp to the Auschwitz concentration camp, arriving three days later during the Holcaust.
• 1981 – The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international bill of rights for women, is instituted by the United Nations.
• 2016 – The U.S. and China, together responsible for 40% of the world's carbon emissions, both formally ratify the Paris global climate agreement.

Images of San Marinus courtesy of public domain.

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