August 2 Milestones: US Declaration of Independence, London Underground, Hitler's Rise

On August 2, 1776 the United States Declaration of Independence was signed, marking the birth of a new nation. The same calendar date later saw the first parachute jump in the United States in 1819 and, in 1870, the opening of the world’s first underground railway in London, a landmark in urban transport.

The date also marks Adolf Hitler’s proclamation as Führer in 1934 and the births of several cultural figures, including painter John Sloan, film producer Jack L. Warner, writer James Baldwin and actor Peter O'Toole. Ten years after the London tube opened, the "Fabrika duvana Sarajevo" began operations in Sarajevo.