Historical timeline for September 1

Iraq War: The United States Armed Forces transfers control of Anbar Province to the Iraqi Armed Forces.

The Beslan school siege begins when armed terrorists take schoolchildren and school staff hostage in North Ossetia, Russia; by the end of the siege, three days later, more than 385 people are dead (including hostages, other civilians, security personnel and terrorists).

The wreck of the Titanic is discovered by an American-French expedition led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel.

Cold War: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet jet fighter after the commercial aircraft strayed into Soviet airspace, killing all 269 on board, including Congressman Lawrence McDonald.

The United States Air Force Space Command is founded.

Central African President David Dacko is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General André Kolingba.

The SR-71 Blackbird sets (and holds) the record for flying from New York to London in the time of one hour, 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds at a speed of 1,435.587 miles per hour (2,310.353 km/h).

A 76-hour multinational rescue effort in the Celtic Sea resulted in the Rescue of Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman.

A coup in Libya brings Muammar Gaddafi to power.

Six-Day War: The Khartoum Resolution is issued at the Arab Summit, and eight countries adopt the "three 'no's against Israel".

TWA Flight 529 crashed shortly after takeoff from Midway Airport in Chicago, killing all 78 people on board. At the time, it was the deadliest single plane disaster in U.S. history.

World War II: Launch of Operation Ratweek, complicating German retreat.

J. Robert Oppenheimer and his student Hartland Snyder publish the Oppenheimer–Snyder model, proving for the first time in contemporary physics how black holes could develop.

World War II: Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, beginning the European phase of World War II.

The Great Kantō Earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing about 105,000 people.

The Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America.

Over 400 people die in the Great Hinckley Fire, a forest fire in Hinckley, Minnesota.

The army of Mohammad Ayub Khan is routed by the British at the Battle of Kandahar, ending the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

Emma Nutt becomes the world's first female telephone operator when she is recruited by Alexander Graham Bell to the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company.

Cetshwayo ascends to the throne as king of the Zulu nation following the death of his father Mpande.