2 September It Happened Today

1834  Death of Scottish engineer and bridge builder, Thomas Telford.

1910  Death of French painter Henri Rousseau.

1937  Death of the French founder of the International Olympic Committee, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

1945  Japan officially surrenders to the US aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

1952  Birth of American tennis player Jimmy Connors.

1973  Death of English author of The Lord of the Rings, J R R Tolkien.

2001 Death of South African pioneering heart transplant doctor, Christiaan Barnard.