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Today in History, September 2nd

On September 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II. Plus the Great Fire of London and the first ATM.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published September 2, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

September 2 is best known for 1945, when Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II. The date also marks the start of the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the opening of the first U.S. automatic teller machine in 1969.

The big story: Japan signs the surrender aboard the USS Missouri (1945)

Japan had announced its surrender more than two weeks earlier. At noon on August 15, Emperor Hirohito went on national radio for the first time and told his people the nation must bear the unbearable. What remained was to make the surrender official. President Harry Truman approved the document and picked the battleship Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, as the stage. On the morning of Sunday, September 2, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the emperor and the government, and General Yoshijiro Umezu signed for Japan’s military high command. General Douglas MacArthur then signed as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Admiral Chester Nimitz signed for the United States, followed by representatives of China, Britain, the Soviet Union and other Allies. The ceremony took about 20 minutes. World War II was formally over. Within hours, in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh was proclaiming Vietnam’s independence.

More events on September 2

Year	What happened
31 B.C.	Octavian’s fleet defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium off western Greece. Octavian went on to become Augustus, Rome’s first emperor.
1666	A fire at the king’s baker’s house on Pudding Lane started the Great Fire of London (Old Style). Over about four days it destroyed some 13,000 houses and the old St. Paul’s Cathedral.
1789	Congress created the U.S. Treasury Department. Alexander Hamilton took office as its first secretary nine days later.
1898	Anglo-Egyptian forces under Herbert Kitchener destroyed the Mahdist army at Omdurman, securing British dominance in Sudan.
1945	Hours after Japan’s surrender, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent from France before a crowd in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh Square. His speech borrowed from the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
1969	America’s first automatic teller machine opened at a Chemical Bank branch in Rockville Centre, New York. It could only hand out cash.
1973	J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, died in Bournemouth, England, at 81.
2013	On her fifth try, Diana Nyad, 64, finished a 110-mile swim from Havana to Key West in about 53 hours.

Born on September 2

1928: Horace Silver, jazz pianist and bandleader who helped shape hard bop, born in Norwalk, Connecticut.
1952: Jimmy Connors, tennis champion with 109 career singles titles, born in East St. Louis, Illinois.
1964: Keanu Reeves, actor known for Speed, The Matrix and John Wick, born in Beirut, Lebanon.