#Middlebury
On Sept. 2, 1666, the Great Fire of London breaks out in the house of King Charles II’s baker near London Bridge. When the Great Fire finally was extinguished on Sept. 6, more than 80% of London was destroyed and 100,000 people were left homeless.- On Sept. 3, 1939, Britain and France declare war on Germany. The first casualty of that declaration was the British ocean liner Athenia, which was sunk by a German U-30 submarine.
- On Sept. 6, 1943, a new high-speed train traveling between New York City and Washington, D.C., derails, killing 79 people and seriously injuring 100 more. The Congressional Limited traveled at a then-unprecedented speed of 65 mph.
- On Sept. 4, 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus enlists the National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering Central High School in Little Rock. The armed Arkansas militia troops surrounded the school while an angry crowd of some 400 whites jeered, booed and threatened to lynch the frightened teenagers.
- On Sept. 5, 1969, Lt. William Calley is charged with premeditated murder in the deaths of 109 Vietnamese civilians at My Lai in March 1968. Calley, a platoon leader, had led his men in a massacre that was only stopped when a pilot landed his helicopter between the Americans and the fleeing South Vietnamese.
- On Sept. 1, 1972, American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer defeats Russian Boris Spassky during the World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland. Fischer became the first American to win the competition since its inception in 1866.
- On Aug. 31, 1997, shortly after midnight, Diana, Princess of Wales dies in a car crash in Paris. She was 36. Her boyfriend, the Egyptian-born socialite Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the car died as well. A swarm of paparazzi on motorcycles had been aggressively tailing their car.
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