October 2



Events

Up to 1900 
 829  Theophilus becomes Byzantine Emperor.
 1187  Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule.
 1263  The Battle of Largs is fought between Scots and Norwegians.
 1535  Jacques Cartier discovers Montreal, Quebec.
 1552  Conquest of Kazan by Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
 1780  American Revolutionary War: British spy John Andre is hanged by American forces for his role in Benedict Arnold's plot to sell West Point to the British Army.
 1814  Battle of Rancagua: Spanish royalist troops under Mariano Osorio defeat rebel Chilean forces under Bernardo O'Higgins and Jose Miguel Carrera.
 1835  Texas Revolution begins: Battle of Gonzales – Mexican soldiers attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas but encounter stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.
 1836  Naturalist Charles Darwin returns to Falmouth, England aboard the HMS Beagle after a 5-year journey collecting biological data he will later use to develop his theory of evolution.
 1864  American Civil War: Battle of Saltville – Union forces attack Saltville, Virginia but are defeated by Confederate troops.
 1889  In Washington, DC, the first international Conference of American States begins.
 1889  In Colorado, Nicolas Creede strikes it rich in silver during the last great silver boom of the American Old West.

1901  2000 
 1919  US President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.
 1924  The Geneva Protocol is adopted as a means to strengthen the League of Nations.
 1925  John Logie Baird performs the first test of a working television system.
 1928  The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, was founded by Saint Josemaría Escrivá.
 1935  Italy invades Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
 1937  Dominican Republic leader Rafael Trujillo orders the execution of the Haitian population living within the borderlands. Around 20,000 are killed in the following few days.
 1941  World War II: Operation Typhoon – Germany begins an all-out offensive against Moscow.
 1942  World War II: Ocean liner RMS Queen Mary accidentally hits and sinks her own escort ship HMS Curacoa off Ireland.
 1944  Holocaust: Nazi troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
 1950  The comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published in seven US newspapers.
 1955  The ENIAC computer is deactivated at 11:45 PM.
 1955  Alfred Hitchcock Presents debuts (last new episode aired on June 26, 1962).
 1958  Guinea declares itself independent from France.
 1959  The Twilight Zone pilot premieres.
 1962  Johnny Carson debuts as host of The Tonight Show.
 1967  Thurgood Marshall sworn in as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court.
 1968  A peaceful student demonstration in Mexico City ends in the Tlatelolco massacre.
 1970  A plane carrying the Wichita State University football team, administrators andsupporters crashes in Colorado, killing 31 people.
 1979  Pope John Paul II speaks at the UN.
 1984  Elisabeth Kopp becomes the first woman to be elected to the Swiss Federal Council. 
 1988  The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul come to an end.
 1990  A Chinese airline Boeing 737-247 is hijacked; after landing at Guangzhou, crashes into an empty Boeing 707-3J6B and then a Boeing 757-21B on the ground killing 132
 1992  Hero opens in theaters, starring Dustin Hoffman.
 1992  The Carandiru Massacre takes place after a riot in the Carandiru prison system in São Paulo, Brazil.
 1993  The 1993 Moscow riots by Hardline Communists occur.
 1996  The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
 1996  An Aeroperu Boeing 757 crashes in Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru killing 70.
 1997  In the European Union the Amsterdam Treaty is signed.

From 2001 
 2001  Bankruptcy of Swissair.
 2002  The Beltway sniper attacks begin.
 2004  American Samoa joins the North American Numbering Plan.
 2005  The Ethan Allen tour boat capsizes on Lake George, Upstate New York, killing 20 people.
 2006  Five schoolgirls are killed in a shooting at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, before the gunman commits suicide.
 2007  President of South Korea Roh Moo-hyun walks across the Military Demarcation Line in North Korea, on his way to the inter-Korean summit meeting with Kim Jong-il.
 2009  Rio de Janeiro is chosen to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.
 2009  Voters in Ireland support the EU's Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum.
 2016  Dozens of people are killed in a protest in Ethiopia's Oromia region.
 2016  Voters in Colombia reject a peace deal between their government and FARC by a narrow margin.
 2018  Nobel Prize in Physics: Donna Strickland becomes the 3rd woman to win the award for Physics, while Arthur Ashkin becomes the oldest-ever Nobel laureate, at age 96 (until John B. Goodenough wins the following year's Chemistry Prize at age 97); They share it with Gérard Mourou.
 2018  Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is murdered in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1452  King Richard III of England (d. 1485)
 1470  Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (d. 1498)
 1470  Isabella of Naples, Duchess of Milan (d. 1524)
 1538  Charles Borromeo, Italian Catholic Saint (d. 1584)
 1718  Elizabeth Montagu, English social reformer, patron of the arts, literary critic and writer (d. 1800)
 1722  Leopold Widhalm, Austrian instrument maker (d. 1776)
 1724  Louis Gabriel Ambroise de Bonald, French philosopher and statesman (d. 1840)
 1737  Francis Hopkinson, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1791)
 1768  William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, British general and politician (d. 1854)
 1781  William Wyatt Bibb, Governor of Missouri (d. 1820)
 1798  Charles Albert of Sardinia (d. 1849)
 1800  Nat Turner, American revolutionary (d. 1831)
 1815  James Agnew, Irish-Australian politician, 16th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1901)
 1821  Nino Bixio, Italian freedom fighter (d. 1873)
 1828  Charles Floquet, 55th Prime Minister of France (d. 1896)
 1832  Edward Burnett Tylor, British anthropologist (d. 1917)
 1833  William Corby, American Catholic priest (d. 1897)
 1839  Hans Thoma, German painter (d. 1924)
 1847  Paul von Hindenburg, German politician and military officer (d. 1934)
 1851  Ferdinand Foch, French soldier (d. 1929)
 1852  William Ramsay, Scottish chemist (d. 1916)
 1854  Patrick Geddes, Scottish biologist, sociologist, geographer and town planner (d. 1932)
 1864  Alfred Roller, Austrian painter (d. 1935)
 1867  Theodore F. Green, Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1966)
 1869  Mahatma Gandhi, Indian spiritual leader and advocate of non-violent resistance (d. 1948)
 1871  Cordell Hull, United States Secretary of State (d. 1955)
 1871  Martha Brookes Hutcheson, American landscape architect (d. 1959)
 1879  Wallace Stevens, American poet (d. 1955)
 1882  Boris Shaposhnikov, Russian military commander (d. 1945)
 1890  Groucho Marx, American actor and comedian (d. 1977)
 1893  Leroy Shield, American movie score and radio composer (d. 1962)
 1895  Bud Abbott, American actor and comedian (d. 1974)

1901  1950 
 1901  Alice Prin, French singer and artist (d. 1953)
 1902  Leopold Figl, Austrian politician (d. 1965)
 1904  Graham Greene, English writer (d. 1991)
 1904  Lal Bahadur Shastri, 2nd Prime Minister of India (d. 1966)
 1905  Enchi Fumiko, Japanese writer (d. 1986)
 1907  Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Bolivian politician (d. 2001)
 1907  Alexander Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish chemist (d. 1997)
 1909  Alex Raymond, American comic artist (d. 1956)
 1910  Aldo Olivieri, Italian footballer (d. 2001)
 1911  Tilly Fleischer, German javelin thrower (d. 2005)
 1913  Annette Rogers, American athlete (d. 2006)
 1914  Yuri Levitan, Soviet radio announcer (d. 1983)
 1914  John Whiteside Parsons, American rocket scientist, writer and occultist (d. 1952)
 1915  Chubby Wise, American bluegrass fiddler (d. 1996)
 1916  Angel Suquia Goicoechea, Spanish archbishop (d. 2006)
 1917  Christian de Duve, English-born Belgian biologist and Nobel Prize winner (d. 2013)
 1919  John W. Duarte, British composer, guitarist and writer (d. 2004)
 1920  Stefan Kovacs, Romanian footballer (d. 1995)
 1921  Albert Scott Crossfield, American test pilot (d. 2006)
 1921  Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 2000)
 1924  Tex Coulter, American football player (d. 2007)
 1924  Gilbert Simondon, French philosopher (d. 1989)
 1926  Jan Morris, British historian and author
 1927  Uta Ranke-Heinemann, German theologian and author
 1928  Wolfhart Pannenberg, German theologian (d. 2014)
 1928  George "Spanky" McFarland, American actor (d. 1993)
 1929  Cesare Maestri, Italian mountaineer
 1930  Dave Barrett, Canadian politician (d. 2018)
 1933  John Gurdon, British scientist and Nobel Prize winner
 1933  Giuliano Sarti, Italian footballer (d. 2017)
 1933  Michel Blasson, French conductor
 1935  Peter Frankl, Hungarian-born pianist
 1935  Omar Sívori, Argentine footballer (d. 2005)
 1936  Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Filipino lawyer and politician
 1938  Rex Reed, American movie critic and actor
 1940  Gheorghe Gruia, Romanian handball player
 1940  Pantelis Voulgaris, Greek actor, director, producer and screenwriter
 1943  Anna Ford, English journalist and newsreader
 1943  Paul Van Himst, Belgian footballer and coach
 1945  Don McLean, American singer
 1946  Peter Kellner, English journalist, President of YouGov
 1946  Marie-Georges Pascal, French actress (d. 1985)
 1947  Dieter Pfaff, German actor (d. 2013)
 1948  Donna Karan, American fashion designer
 1948  Trevor Brooking, English footballer
 1948  Siim Kallas, Estonian politician, European Commissioner and former Prime Minister of Estonia
 1949  Annie Leibovitz, American photographer
 1949  Richard Hell, American singer-songwriter and bass player
 1950  Ian McNeice, British actor
 1950  Mike Rutherford, British musician

1951  1975 
 1951  Romina Power, American singer
 1951  Sting, English musician
 1953  Ernest Bai Koroma, former President of Sierra Leone
 1953  Muhammad Abdul Bari, Bangladeshi-English physicist
 1954  Lorraine Bracco, American actress
 1955  Philip Oakey, English singer (The Human League)
 1956  Viatcheslav Mukhanov, Russian-German cosmologist and physicist
 1957  Janry, Belgian comic artist
 1957  Dave Faulkner, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
 1958  Robbie Nevil, American musician
 1960  Glenn Anderson, Canadian ice hockey player
 1960  Terence Winter, American screenwriter and producer
 1960  Tom Schweich, American politician (d. 2015)
 1960  Derek Whittenburg, American basketball player and coach
 1962  Sigtryggur Baldursson, Icelandic musician
 1962  Jeff Bennett, American actor
 1966  Rodney Adnoa'i, Samoan-American professional wrestler (d. 2000)
 1967  Frankie Fredericks, Namibian athlete
 1967  Keith Bradshaw, Australian cricketer
 1967  Thomas Muster, Austrian tennis player
 1967  Dave Goldberg, American businessman (d. 2015)
 1968  Victoria Derbyshire, English journalist and radio presenter
 1968  Jana Novotna, Czech tennis player
 1969  Jun Akiyama, Japanese professional wrestler
 1970  Kelly Ripa, American actress
 1970  Eddie Guardado, American baseball player
 1971  Tiffany, American singer
 1971  James Root, American guitarist (Slipknot)
 1971  Xavier Naidoo, German singer
 1973  Lene Nystrom Rasted, Norwegian singer (Aqua)
 1973  Proof, American rapper (d. 2006)
 1973  Verka Serduchka, Ukrainian comedian and singer
 1973  Maria Wetterstrand, Swedish politician
 1974  Simon Gregson, British actor

From 1976 
 1977  Didier Défago, Swiss skier
 1978  Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer
 1978  Matt Hancock, English politician
 1979  Francisco Fonseca, Mexican footballer
 1979  Maja Ivarsson, Swedish singer
 1981  Luke Wilkshire, Australian footballer
 1982  Stephen Pearson, Scottish footballer
 1982  George Pettit, Canadian singer
 1982  Tyson Chandler, American basketball player
 1984  Marion Bartoli, French tennis player
 1985  Ciprian Marica, Romanian footballer
 1986  Camilla Belle, American actress
 1987  Ruan Lufei, Chinese chess player
 1987  Keith Earls, Irish rugby player
 1988  Kiko Casilla, Spanish footballer
 1989  Marta Gastini, Italian actress
 1990  Christopher Drazan, Austrian footballer
 1990  Samantha Barks, Manx actress and singer
 1991  Roberto Firmino, Brazilian footballer
 1993  Tara Lynne Barr, American actress
 1994  Brendan Meyer, Canadian actor

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 534  Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths (b. 516)
 939  Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine (b. 890)
 1264  Pope Urban IV
 1559  Jacquet of Mantua, French-Italian composer (b. 1483)
 1629  Antonio Cifra, Italian composer (b. 1584)
 1764  William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, Prime Minister of Great Britain (b. 1720)
 1775  Chiyo-ni, Japanese poet (b. 1703)
 1782  Charles Lee, British and U.S. general (b. 1732)
 1786  Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, English admiral and politician (b. 1725)
 1803  Samuel Adams, American patriot, revolutionary and statesman (b. 1722)
 1817  Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov, Russian naval commander and admiral (b. 1744)
 1850  Sarah Biffen, English painter (b. 1784)
 1853  François Jean Dominique Arago, French mathematician (b. 1786)
 1892  Ernest Renan, French writer, historian, archaeologist and theologian (b. 1823)
 1895  Eugen Langen, German entrepreneur, engineer and inventor (b. 1833)

1901  2000 
 1920  Max Bruch, German composer and conductor (b. 1838)
 1927  Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
 1931  Thomas Lipton, British trader and yacht owner (b. 1850)
 1938  Alexandru Averescu, Romanian soldier and politician (b. 1859)
 1943  John Evans, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1855)
 1947  P. D. Ouspensky, Russian philosopher (b. 1878)
 1950  John F. Fitzgerald, Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts and maternal grandfather of John F. Kennedy (b. 1863)
 1962  Boris Y. Bukreev, Soviet mathematician (b. 1859)
 1968  Marcel Duchamp, French artist (b. 1887)
 1973  Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner (b. 1897)
 1973  Paul Hartman, American actor, singer and dancer (b. 1904)
 1974  Vasily Shukshin, Russian writer, actor, screenwriter  and director (b. 1929)
 1975  Kumaraswami Kamaraj, Indian political leader (b. 1903)
 1981  Hazel Scott, singer (b. 1920)
 1981  Harry Golden, American journalist (b. 1902)
 1985  Rock Hudson, American actor (b. 1925)
 1987  Peter Medawar, Brazilian-born scientist (b. 1915)
 1987  Madeleine Carroll, British-born actress (b. 1906)
 1988  Alec Issigonis, British engineer (b. 1906)
 1991  Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I of Constantinople (b. 1914)
 1994  Harriet Nelson, American actress and singer (b. 1909)
 1996  Andrey Lukanov, Bulgarian politician (b. 1938)
 1996  Robert Bourassa, 22nd Premier of Quebec (b. 1933)
 1998  Gene Autry, American singer, actor, and entrepreneur (b. 1907)

From 2001 
 2001  Franz Biebl, German composer (b. 1906)
 2002  Heinz von Foerster, physicist and philosopher (b. 1911)
 2003  John T. Dunlop, U.S. Secretary of Labor (b. 1914)
 2006  Tamara Dobson, American actress (b. 1944)
 2006  Paul Halmos, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1916)
 2006  Charles Carl Roberts, American murderer (b. 1973)
 2007  Tex Coulter, American football player (b. 1924)
 2007  Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (b. 1913)
 2008  Choi Jin-sil, South Korean actress (b. 1968)
 2009  Marek Edelman, Polish social and political activist (b. 1919)
 2009  Rolf Rüssmann, German footballer (b. 1950)
 2013  Abraham Nemeth, American mathematician and inventor (b. 1919)
 2014  Vaughn O. Lang, American general (b. 1927)
 2014  Pedro Peña, Spanish actor (b. 1925)
 2014  Robert Flower, Australian Rules Football player (b. 1955)
 2015  Brian Friel, Irish dramatist (b. 1929)
 2015  Eric Arturo Delvalle, former President of Panama (b. 1937)
 2016  Neville Marriner, English conductor (b. 1924)
 2017  Evangelina Elizondo, Mexican actress, singer and writer (b. 1929)
 2017  Robert Elsie, Canadian linguist and translator (b. 1950)
 2017  Solly Hemus, American baseball player (b. 1923)
 2017  Kim Un-yong, South Korean sports administrator (b. 1931)
 2017  Klaus Huber, Swiss composer and academic (b. 1924)
 2017  Paul Otellini, American businessman (b. 1950)
 2017  Tom Petty, American musician (b. 1950)
 2017  Robert Yates, American racing team owner (b. 1943)
 2018  Smilja Avramov, Serbian law academic (b. 1918)
 2018  Balabhaskar, Indian violinist, composer and record producer (b. 1978)
 2018  Geoff Emerick, English recording engineer (b. 1945)
 2018  Dorothy Hukill, American politician (b. 1946)
 2018  Roman Kartsev, Russian actor and comedian (b. 1939)
 2018  Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi journalist (b. 1958)
 2018  Hermenegildo Sábat, Uruguayan-Argentine political cartoonist and journalist (b. 1933)
 2019  Bill Bidwill, American businessman (b. 1931)
 2019  Tiny Hill, New Zealand rugby union player (b. 1927)
 2019  Giya Kancheli, Georgian composer (b. 1935)
 2019  Jafar Kashani, Iranian footballer (b. 1944)
 2019  John Kirby, American lawyer (b. 1939)
 2019  Isaac Promise, Nigerian footballer (b. 1987)
 2019  Kim Shattuck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1963)
 2019  Hargovind Laxmishanker Trivedi, Indian nephrologist (b. 1932)

Observances 
 Feast of the Saint Guardian Angels
 Gandhi Jayanti (India) and International Day of Non-Violence (birthday of Mahatma Gandhi)
 Independence Day (Guinea)

October 02