Today in History in 1658 Richard Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England; in 1783 The Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolutionary War; and in 2006 Andre Agassi ends his professional tennis career, as he loses in the US Open against Benjamin Becker.

Our on this day in history archives contain over 200,000 events, birthdays and deaths from 6,000 years of history. Here is a roundup of a few of them:

September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 119 days remaining until the end of the year.

EVENTS

301 – San Marino is founded by Saint Marinus. It is the world's oldest republic, and one of the world's smallest nations.

590 – Inauguration of Pope Gregory I.

863 – Byzantine victory at the Battle of Lalakaon against an Arab raid.

1189 – King Richard I of England is crowned.

1260 – The mamluks defeat the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine, marking their decisive defeat at the point of maximum expansion of the Mongol Empire.

1650 – Third English Civil War: Battle of Dunbar - English parliamentary forces led by Oliver Cromwell defeat an army loyal to the future King Charles II of England and led by David Leslie, Lord Newark.

1651 – Third English Civil War: Battle of Worcester - The future King Charles II of England is defeated in the last battle of the war.

1658 – Richard Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England.

1758 – An assassination attempt is made on King Joseph I of Portugal.

1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Flag of the United States is flown in battle for the first time, during the Battle of Cooch's Bridge.

1783 – The Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolutionary War. Great Britain recognises US independence, and also cedes both East and West Florida to Spain.

1791 – The French Constitution of 1791 is passed, changing France from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy.

1798 – Start of a week-long battle at St. George's Caye in Belize, between Spain and Great Britain.

1803 – English scientist John Dalton begins using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements.

1838 – Future abolitionist Frederick Douglass escapes from Slavery.

1855 – American Indian Wars: In Nebraska, 700 US soldiers under General William S. Harney kill 100 men, women and children in a Sioux village.

1861 – American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.

1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Metz begins, resulting in Prussian victory on October 23.

1875 – The first official polo game is played in Argentina, following introduction by British ranchers.

1878 – The pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle on the River Thames, killing around 640 people.

1882 – The Hugstetten train crash in Germany kills 64 people.

1900 – The United Kingdom annexes the Boer Republic of Transvaal.

1914 – Because of opposition to his rule, William, Prince of Albania leaves the country after just six months in charge.

1914 – The papacy of Pope Benedict XV begins.

1917 – World War I: German troops enter Riga on the Eastern Front.

1919 – Italy gives women the right to vote.

1928 – Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.

1933 – Yevgeniy Abalakov becomes the first person to reach the top of what was then called Pik Stalin (later called Communism Peak and now called Ismoil Somoni Peak), which was the highest peak in the then-existing Soviet Union. It is now the highest peak in Tajikistan, at a height of 7495 metres.

1935 – Malcolm Campbell becomes the first person to drive an automobile at over 300 miles per hour, when he reaches a speed of 304.331 miles per hour at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

1939 – World War II starts, as the United Kingdom and France declare war on Germany, following the Nazis' invasion of Poland on September 1.

1943 – World War II: The allied invasion of Italy begins when two British Army divisions land at Calabria.

1944 – Holocaust: Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from the Westerbork transit camp to Auschwitz.

1945 – China begins to hold a three-day celebration of the Japanese surrender on September 2, which officially ended hostilities in World War II.

1950 – Giuseppe Farina becomes the first-ever Formula One world drivers' champion.

1954 – German U-boat U-505 begins its move from a specially constructed dock to Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.

1964 – Through the US Wilderness Act, the John Muir and Ansel Adams wilderness areas are officially created for conservation purposes in California, along with the Bridger Wilderness in Wyoming.

1967 – Sweden changes from left-hand traffic to right-hand traffic on its roads.

1971 – Qatar declares independence.

1974 – PASOK, one of the leading political parties in Greece, is founded.

1976 – Viking Programme: The Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars.

1981 – Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women enters into force.

1987 – A military coup occurs in Burundi, as Jean-Baptiste Bogaza is deposed by Major Pierre Buyoya.

1988 – The parliaments of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland agree on introducing tougher anti-terrorism laws.

1989 – An Ilyushin II-62 aircraft crashes in Havana, Cuba, killing 171 people.

1994 – Sino-Soviet Split: Russia and China agree to de-target their nuclear weapons against each other.

1995 – The Soyuz TM-22 mission launches to the Mir Space Station.

1997 – Vietnam Airlines Flight 815, a Tupolev TU-134, crashes on approach to Phnom Penh Airport in Cambodia, killing 64 people.

1999 – An 87-automobile pile-up occurs on Highway 401 freeway just outside Windsor, Ontario.

2001 – In Belfast, Protestant loyalists begin a picket of Holy Cross Primary School for Girls. For the following 11 weeks, pupils and parents are escorted to school by armed police while being targeted by abuse.

2004 – On its third day, a siege at a school in Beslan, southern Russia ends in a massacre, in which over 300 people are killed.

2006 – Andre Agassi ends his professional tennis career, as he loses in the US Open against Benjamin Becker.

2007 – Adventurer Steve Fossett goes missing in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. His remains are found in October 2008.

2014 – Flash floods in India and Pakistan kill over 200 people.

2016 – The People's Republic of China and the United States ratify the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

2017 – North Korea performs test for nuclear weapon against international law.