What Happened Today in History on August 2

Death of King William II of England, also known as William Rufus, in a hunting accident, leading to the accession of his brother Henry I. More

Most of the 55 members of the Continental Congress signed the parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. While the vote for independence happened on July 2, and the document was formally adopted on July 4, the signing on parchment took place later. More

The United States conducts its first national census, showing a population of 3.9M people (3,929,214). The official count started on August 2 1790 and was finished within 9 months,  Expand +

James I. Waddell, Commander of the CSS Shenandoah learns the war is over from the bark Barracouta. More

President Warren G. Harding died suddenly of a stroke in a hotel in San Francisco, while on a presidential speaking tour on the West Coast at the age of 58. Early next day Calvin Coolidge was sworn in. At the time, rumors were circulating in Washington about corruption in his administration.

Adolf Hitler becomes absolute dictator of Germany under the title of Fuhrer, or “Leader after German President Paul von Hindenburg death. More

Albert Einstein writes a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt regarding the possibility of atomic weapons. Six years later, on August 6, 1945, the first Atomic Bomb, developed by the U.S., was dropped on the Japanese port of Hiroshima.

The 80-foot patrol torpedo boat PT-109 commanded by Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer during the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II. Two crewmen were killed and 11 survived. Kennedy's actions were instrumental in saving his surviving crew which earned him several commendations and made him a war hero. Back problems stemming from the incident required months of hospitalization at Chelsea Naval Hospital and plagued him the rest of his life. More

The Potsdam Conference, held in Potsdam, Germany between the "Big Three: Britain, The Soviet Union and the United States comes to an end without resolution on key issues. The conference was held to negotiate the terms for the end of World War II. Even though the Allies remained committed to fighting a joint war in the Pacific, mutual distrust stemming from differing views of what a postwar world should look, like led to disagreements on several key issues between the Soviet Union and the West, set the stage for the Cold War. More

The Gulf of Tonkin incident begins as the USS Maddox engages North Vietnamese torpedo boats leading to increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. On August 7,The U.S. Congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Lyndon B. Johnson authority "to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression."

Delta Air Lines Flight 191, Lockheed L-1011 TriStar airplane, crashes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport during a landing approach. The cause of the accident was determined to be an intense, localized downburst (microburst), a weather phenomenon not well understood at the time. Of the 163 persons aboard, 134 passengers and crewmembers were killed at the scene in addition to one person hit on the ground. Two passengers died more than 30 days after the accident as a result of their injuries. More

Iraq invades Kuwait, leading to the Gulf War and international intervention to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation as President George H.W. Bush orders Operation Desert Shield on August 7, 1990, which was in turn followed by the international coalition against Iraq launched as Operation Desert Storm in January 1991. More