In the week ending September 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance was 298,000, an increase of 62,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 236,000, the Labor Department reported. This is the highest level for initial claims since April 18, 2015 when it was 298,000. The four-week moving average was 250,250, an increase of 13,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 236,750.

Thursday, the Dow decreased 22.86 points (0.10%) to 21,784.78, the NASDAQ was up 4.55 points (0.07%) at 6,397.87, and the S&P 500 was virtually unchanged at 2,465.10. The Russell 2000 decreased by 3.52 points (0.25%) to 1,398.67, and the Wilshire 5000 was down 19.45 points (0.08%) at 25,576.25.

ON THIS DATE: In 1565, a Spanish expedition established the first permanent European settlement in North America at present-day St. Augustine, Florida. In 1664, the Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who then renamed it New York. In 1866, the first recorded birth of sextuplets took place in Chicago. In 1892, an early version of “The Pledge of Allegiance” appeared in “The Youth’s Companion.” In 1945, Bess Myerson of New York was crowned Miss America. She was the first Jewish contestant to win the title. In 1951, a peace treaty with Japan was signed by 48 other nations in San Francisco. In 1960, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was dedicated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1971, in Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was inaugurated. In 1973, Hank Aaron hit his 709th home run. In 1974, U.S. President Gerald Ford granted an unconditional pardon to former U.S. President Richard Nixon. In 2015, British researchers announced that evidence of a larger version of Stonehenge had been located about two miles from the Stonehenge location. There were 90 buried stones that had been found by ground-penetrating radar.

Somewhere in California, a UPS driver left a package for the renter of a fifth-floor apartment. He propped the tall, rectangular package up under the renter’s doorknob. When the renter tried to get out, he was trapped. He had to call maintenance to get out. On a tweet, the man noted that it was not only an inconvenience, but a hazard in case of an emergency, since he was five floors up.

In Corona, California, a woman was eating an organic salad when she noticed a tiny frog. She screamed, jumped up, and went to the bathroom to upchuck. Meanwhile, her husband discovered the frog was still alive. After rinsing the dressing off the frog, the husband rubbed its belly and roused it from its stiff state. They felt weird about dumping the frog somewhere, so they put it in an old aquarium in their home and named it “Lucky.”

In Bristol, England, a man and woman went on a date and afterwards to the man’s apartment to watch a show. The woman went to use the bathroom and came back with a panicked look. According to the Huffington Post, the woman admitted she had taken a poo and the toilet wouldn’t flush, so she reached into the toilet, grabbed the poo, wrapped it in tissue paper and threw it out the window. But, it gets worse. The man suggested going outside to properly dispose of the poo. However, the man’s bathroom window opens into an 18-inch gap that is separated from the outside world by another non-opening double glazed window. He reached for a hammer to smash the window, but the woman climbed into it head first to retrieve the poo. She did that successfully, but then discovered she was trapped. Firefighters were called, and they freed the woman in 15 minutes. The man told the Daily Star he was still open to seeing her again.

In Rotorua, New Zealand, a man reported his car stolen. A man who purchased the car from a website came forward concerned that he had bought a stolen car. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the man who reported the car stolen had sold it the day before to purchase more al.cohol, but could not remember it.