TODAY IN HISTORY: SEPTEMBER 2

September 2 1941 - World War II: North Africa
General Sir Claude Auchenleck, who replaced General Sir Archibald Wavell as Commander-in-Chief, Middle East, appointed General Sir Alan Cunningham to command the Western Desert Force and to prepare a plan for the relief of Torbruk and the re-taking of Cyrenaica The operation was called 'Crusader'.

September 2 1942- World War II: North Africa
Rommel gave up on his quest to take the Suez Canal, having once again failed to take the Alam Halfa Ridge.
He withdrew towards El Alamein.

September 2 1969: First ATM opens for business
On this day in 1969, America’s first automatic teller machine (ATM) makes its public debut, dispensing cash to customers at Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, New York. ATMs went on to revolutionize the banking industry, eliminating the need to visit a bank to conduct basic financial transactions. By the 1980s, these money machines had become widely popular and handled many of the functions previously performed by human tellers, such as check deposits and money transfers between accounts. Today, ATMs are as indispensable to most people as cell phones and e-mail.

Several inventors worked on early versions of a cash-dispensing machine, but Don Wetzel, an executive at Docutel, a Dallas company that developed automated baggage-handling equipment, is generally credited as coming up with the idea for the modern ATM. Wetzel reportedly conceived of the concept while waiting on line at a bank. The ATM that debuted in New York in 1969 was only able to give out cash, but in 1971, an ATM that could handle multiple functions, including providing customers’ account balances, was introduced.

ATMs eventually expanded beyond the confines of banks and today can be found everywhere from gas stations to convenience stores to cruise ships. There is even an ATM at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Non-banks lease the machines (so-called “off premise” ATMs) or own them outright.

Today there are well over 1 million ATMs around the world, with a new one added approximately every five minutes. It’s estimated that more than 170 Americans over the age of 18 had an ATM card in 2005 and used it six to eight times a month. Not surprisingly, ATMs get their busiest workouts on Fridays.

In the 1990s, banks began charging fees to use ATMs, a profitable move for them and an annoying one for consumers. Consumers were also faced with an increase in ATM crimes and scams. Robbers preyed on people using money machines in poorly lit or otherwise unsafe locations, and criminals also devised ways to steal customers’ PINs (personal identification numbers), even setting up fake money machines to capture the information. In response, city and state governments passed legislation such as New York’s ATM Safety Act in 1996, which required banks to install such things as surveillance cameras, reflective mirrors and locked entryways for their ATMs.

September 2 1973: Lord of the Rings creator Tolkien dies

On this day in 1973, J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the best-selling fantasy novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings–the source of the award-winning blockbuster movie trilogy directed, co-produced and co-written by Peter Jackson–died at the age of 81 in Bournemouth, England. With legions of fans worldwide, The Lord of the Rings has had a significant impact on pop culture in the last century. It has also been adapted for radio, television and theater and has inspired video games, music and even a housing development. (Located in Bend, Oregon, and dubbed The Shire, the planned community of homes featuring unique stonework and artificial thatched roofs reportedly faced foreclosure in 2006.)

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Blomfontein, South Africa, and raised primarily in England. He graduated from Oxford, served in World War I and went on to become a linguist and professor at his alma mater. One day when Tolkien was grading exam papers, he reportedly was inspired in a moment of boredom to write across the top of one page, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” From there, he began developing the story into his novel The Hobbit, which was first published in 1937. A sequel, The Lord of the Rings, was published in three volumes between 1954 and 1955. The books are set in a place called Middle Earth and revolve around the adventures of a hobbit named Frodo Baggins who must destroy a powerful ring and save the world from evil.

In December 2001, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the highly anticipated first film in Jackson’s big-screen trilogy, debuted in theaters; it was followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). The three films received a combined total of 30 Oscar nominations and 17 wins, including Best Picture for Return of the King. Shot in New Zealand, the movies starred Elijah Wood as Frodo, along with a large ensemble cast that included Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett. The Lord of the Rings is one of the highest-grossing franchises in movie history.

September 2 1986
As Zimbabwe hosts a meeting of the non-aligned movement and Prime Minister Robert Gabriel Mugabe welcomed 50 world leaders (including Rajiv Gandhi, India, Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua, and Fidel Castro, Cuba) the US announced that it has completely cut its aid to the country ($20 million) in response to a tirade against the US by a Zimbabwean minister during a meeting with President Jimmy Carter.

Source: history.com, africanhistory.about.com