October 3

### Up to 1900

- 2333 BC – Famous date of the establishment of the Kingdom of Chosun (Korea).
- 52 BC – Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrenders to the Romans under Julius Caesar, ending the siege and Battle of Alesia.
- 42 BC – First Battle of Philippi: The Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight a battle with Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius. Even though Brutus defeats Octavian, Antony defeats Cassius.
- 382 – Emperor Theodosius I concludes a peace treaty with the Goths and settles them in the Balkans in exchange for military service.
- 1283 – Dafydd ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwynedd in Wales, becomes the first person executed by drawing and quartering.
- 1574 – The Siege of Leiden lifted by the Watergeuzen – foundation of the first Dutch university.
- 1683 – The Qing Dynasty naval commander Shi Lang reaches Taiwan.
- 1712 – The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor.
- 1739 – The Treaty of Nissa is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia at the end of the Russian-Turkish War, 1736–1739.
- 1762 – Catherine II of Russia is crowned.
- 1778 – Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska.
- 1789 – George Washington names the first Thanksgiving Day.
- 1835 – The Staedtler Company is founded in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany.
- 1849 – American author Edgar Allan Poe is found delirious (a terribly confused state of mind) in a gutter in Baltimore, Maryland under mysterious circumstances.
- 1863 – Thanksgiving Day declared as the last Thursday in November by President Abraham Lincoln.
- 1866 – American passenger steamer _Evening Star_ sinks in hurricane–force winds, 180 nautical miles off Tybee Island, Georgia, US, killing 148 people.
- 1884 – In Denmark, Christiansborg Castle is destroyed by fire.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1904 – The Nama War begins as Namibian independence activist Hendrik Witbooi declares war on the colonial power, Germany.
- 1918 – Boris III of Bulgaria becomes King.
- 1919 – Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque becomes the first Hispanic American baseball player in the World Series.
- 1929 – The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia, "Land of the South Slavs".
- 1932 – Iraq gets its independence.
- 1935 – Italy invades Ethiopia under General de Bono (replaced November 11 by Pietro Badoglio).
- 1942 – First successful launch of A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany. The rocket flew 147 kilometres wide and got to a height of 84.5 kilometres and was the first man-made object reaching space.
- 1949 – WERD, the first black-owned radio station in the United States, opens in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1950 – Korean War: The First Battle of Maryang San, primarily pitting Australian and British forces against Communist China, begins.
- 1951 – New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 5–4, winning the National League pennant, with Bobby Thomson's three-run homer called "The Shot Heard 'Round the World".
- 1952 – The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon.
- 1955 – The Mickey Mouse Club is first shown on the American Broadcasting Company.
- 1957 – Willy Brandt, future-German Chancellor, is elected as Governing Mayor of West Berlin, after the death of Otto Suhr.
- 1960 – _The Andy Griffith Show_ starts.
- 1961 – The Dick Van Dyke Show is first shown on CBS–TV.
- 1962 – At Cape Canaveral the Mercury 8 takes off with Astronaut Wally Schirra on it for a nine-hour flight.
- 1963 – A violent coup in Honduras starts two decades of military rule.
- 1964 – _Underdog_ debuts on CBS.
- 1965 – Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Immigration and Naturalization Service Act of 1965 into law, making immigration rules easier for people coming to the United States.
- 1969 – Berlin's television tower opens.
- 1974 – Peru is struck by an earthquake, killing 83 people.
- 1979 – The divorce of Michele Catain, an American crew member and real estate agent, and David Thomas Durboraw, an American businessman, is finalized.
- 1981 – The Hunger Strike by Irish Republican Army prisoners at the Maze jail in Belfast ends after seven months and 10 deaths.
- 1982 – Changtse mountain in Tibet is climbed for the first time, by Dutch climber Johan Taks.
- 1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its first flight.
- 1990 – German reunification: East Germany ends, after merging with the Federal Republic of Germany and joining the European Economic Community.
- 1993 – Battle of Mogadishu: In an attempt to capture officials of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's organization in Mogadishu, Somalia, 18 US Army Rangers and about 2000 Somalis are killed. US forces withdraw from Somalia soon after.
- 1995 – O. J. Simpson is found not guilty of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
- 1997 – The first cloned rodent, a mouse named Cumulina, is born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

### From 2001

- 2004 – The Montreal Expos play their last Major League Baseball game before the franchise is moved to Washington, D.C..
- 2005 – The EU starts entry negotiations with Turkey and Croatia.
- 2010 – In Delhi, India, the 2010 Commonwealth Games begin.
- 2011 – The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is given to Bruce Beutler, Jules A. Hoffmann and Ralph M. Steinman. Unknown to the Nobel Committee, Steinman had died three days earlier and becomes only the third-ever posthumous (after death) Nobel laureate in history, as of the announcement date.
- 2011 – Helle Thorning-Schmidt becomes Prime Minister of Denmark.
- 2013 – A boat travelling from North Africa, carrying migrants from the East African countries of Eritrea and Somalia, catches fire and sinks off the Italian Mediterranean Sea island of Lampedusa, killing 134 people, with many more feared dead.
- 2013 – The Gambia withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations, through a decision made by its President, Yahya Jammeh.
- 2015 – At least 42 people are killed in an airstrike on a hospital, operated by Médecins Sans Frontières, in the Kunduz region of Afghanistan.
- 2017 – Barry Barish, Kip Thorne and Rainer Weiss win the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of gravitational waves.

### Up to 1850

- 85 BC – Gaius Cassius Longinus, Roman senator (d. 42 BC)
- 1458 – Saint Casimir, Polish prince (d. 1484)
- 1610 – Gabriel Lalemant, French-Canadian missionary (d. 1649)
- 1713 – Antoine Dauvergne, French composer and violinist (d. 1797)
- 1716 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist (d. 1781)
- 1720 – Johann Peter Uz, German poet (d. 1796)
- 1722 – Johann Heinrich Tischbein, German painter (d. 1789)
- 1784 – Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel, German explorer of Kamchatka, Russia (d. 1863)
- 1789 – Henry Pottinger, Irish-British soldier and colonial officer (d. 1856)
- 1792 – Francisco Morazán, Central American political leader and statesman (d. 1842)
- 1797 – Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1870)
- 1800 – George Bancroft, American politician, 17th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1891)
- 1804 – Allan Kardec, French founder of Spiritism or Kardecism (d. 1869)
- 1804 – Townsend Harris, American merchant, politician and diplomat (d. 1878)
- 1806 – Oliver Cowdery, American religious leader (d. 1850)
- 1828 – Woldemar Bargiel, German composer (d. 1897)
- 1837 – Nicolás Avellaneda, President of Argentina (d. 1885)
- 1844 – Patrick Manson, Scottish physician (d. 1922)
- 1848 – Henry Lerolle, French painter (d. 1929)

### 1851 – 1900

- 1853 – Stephan G. Stephansson, Western Icelandic farmer and poet (d. 1927)
- 1854 – Hermann von Struve, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1920)
- 1858 – Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (d. 1924)
- 1862 – Johnny Briggs, English cricketer (d. 1902)
- 1862 – Andrew J. Montague, Governor of Virginia (d. 1937)
- 1868 – Francisco Vidal y Barraquer, Spanish cardinal (d. 1943)
- 1869 – Alfred Flatow, German gymnast (d. 1942)
- 1873 – Emily Post, American etiquette advisor (d. 1960)
- 1873 – Ivan Shmelyov, Russian writer (d. 1950)
- 1875 – Dr. Atl, Mexican painter and writer (d. 1964)
- 1877 – William L. Harding, Governor of Iowa (d. 1934)
- 1879 – Warner Oland, Swedish-American actor (d. 1938)
- 1885 – Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (d. 1970)
- 1886 – Alain-Fournier, French novelist (d. 1914)
- 1889 – Carl von Ossietzky, German journalist, writer and pacifist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1938)
- 1890 – Emilio Portes Gil, 41st President of Mexico (d. 1978)
- 1893 – King Carol III of Romania (d. 1953)
- 1894 – Elmer Robinson, American politician (d. 1982)
- 1894 – Walter Warlimont, German general (d. 1976)
- 1895 – Sergei Yesenin, Russian poet (d. 1925)
- 1895 – Giovanni Comisso, Italian writer (d. 1969)
- 1896 – Gerardo Diego, Spanish writer and poet (d. 1987)
- 1897 – Louis Aragon, French writer (d. 1982)
- 1898 – Leo McCarey, American movie director (d. 1969)
- 1899 – Gertrude Berg, American actress (d. 1966)
- 1900 – Thomas Wolfe, American writer (d. 1938)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1904 – Charles J. Pedersen, American chemist (d. 1989)
- 1905 – Fuller Warren, 30th Governor of Florida (d. 1973)
- 1905 – Tekin Ariburun, Turkish politician (d. 1993)
- 1916 – James Herriot, British veterinarian and writer (d. 1995)
- 1916 – Russell W. Peterson, Governor of Delaware (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Jean Lefebvre, French actor (d. 2004)
- 1919 – James M. Buchanan, American economist (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Philippa Foot, British philosopher (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Edward Oliver LeBlanc, Dominican politician (d. 2004)
- 1924 – Arkady Vorobyov, Russian weightlifter
- 1925 – George Wein, American pianist and producer
- 1925 – Gore Vidal, American writer (d. 2012)
- 1927 – Kenojuak Ashevak, Canadian artist (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Sonny Ramphal, 2nd Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations
- 1931 – Glenn Hall, Canadian ice hockey player, NHL goaltender
- 1933 – Neale Fraser, Australian tennis player
- 1934 – Jerry Apodaca, former Governor of New Mexico
- 1934 – Miguel-Angel Cardenas, Colombian painter and photographer (d. 2015)
- 1935 – Charles Duke, American general, pilot and astronaut
- 1936 – Viktor Kanevskyi, Ukrainian footballer and coach (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Steve Reich, American composer
- 1938 – Eddie Cochran, American singer (d. 1960)
- 1938 – Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, former President of Peru
- 1940 – Sheila Fearn, British actress
- 1941 – Chubby Checker, American popular musician
- 1941 – Andrea de Adamich, Italian racing driver and sportscaster
- 1942 – Roberto Perfumo, Argentine footballer (d. 2016)
- 1944 – Bob Riley, American politician, former Governor of Alabama
- 1944 – Roy Horn, German-born entertainer (Siegfried & Roy) (d. 2020)
- 1944 – Harry Hood, Scottish footballer (d. 2019)
- 1944 – Pierre Deligne, Belgian mathematician
- 1946 – P. P. Arnold, American soul singer
- 1947 – John Perry Barlow, American musician (d. 2018)
- 1947 – Hopeton Lewis, Jamaican musician (d. 2014)
- 1947 – Fred DeLuca, American businessman (d. 2015)
- 1949 – J. P. Dutta, Indian director
- 1949 – Lindsey Buckingham, American musician (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1950 – Pamela Hensley, actress
- 1950 – John Curulewski, American guitarist (Styx) (d. 1988)

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Keb' Mo', American blues singer
- 1951 – Dave Winfield, American Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1953 – Bever-Leigh Banfield, American actress
- 1954 – Dennis Eckersley, American Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1954 – Al Sharpton, American minister, politician and activist
- 1954 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, American guitarist (d. 1990)
- 1956 – Hart Bochner, Canadian actor, screenwriter and producer
- 1957 – Robert Azevedo, Brazilian diplomat, 6th Director of the World Trade Organization
- 1958 – Louise Lecavalier, Canadian dancer
- 1958 – Chen Yanyin, Chinese sculptor
- 1959 – Fred Couples, American golfer
- 1959 – Greg Proops, American actor, stand-up comedian, voice artist and television host
- 1962 – Tommy Lee, American rock musician
- 1964 – Clive Owen, English actor
- 1965 – Jan-Ove Waldner, Swedish table tennis player
- 1969 – Gwen Stefani, American singer, No Doubt frontwoman
- 1971 – Kevin Richardson, American musician and singer (Backstreet Boys)
- 1972 – Komla Dumor, Ghanaian journalist (d. 2014)
- 1973 – Neve Campbell, Canadian actress
- 1973 – Lena Headey, British actress
- 1975 – India.Arie, American singer

### From 1976

- 1976 – Seann William Scott, American actor
- 1978 – Christian Coulson, English actor
- 1978 – Gerald Asamoah, German footballer
- 1978 – Claudio Pizarro, Peruvian footballer
- 1978 – Jake Shears, American singer (Scissor Sisters)
- 1978 – Vienna Teng, American pianist and singer-songwriter
- 1979 – Josh Klinghoffer, American musician (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
- 1979 – Danny O'Donoghue, Irish singer (The Script)
- 1980 – Ivan Turina, Croatian footballer (d. 2013)
- 1981 – Florian Keller, German field hockey player
- 1981 – Seth Gabel, American actor
- 1981 – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Swedish footballer
- 1981 – Andreas Isaksson, Swedish footballer
- 1983 – Frederico Chaves Guedes, Brazilian footballer
- 1984 – Ashlee Simpson, American actress and singer
- 1984 – Bruno Gervais, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Courtney Lee, American basketball player
- 1986 – Jackson Martínez, Colombian footballer
- 1987 – Zuleyka Rivera, Puerto Rican model and actress
- 1987 – Robert Grabarz, English high jumper
- 1987 – Danny Willett, English golfer
- 1988 – Alicia Vikander, Swedish actress
- 1988 – ASAP Rocky, American rapper
- 1990 – Daria Shkurikhina, Russian rhythmic gymnast
- 1991 – Aki Takajo, Japanese singer (AKB48)
- 1994 – Charlie Wernham, English comedian and actor
- 1996 – Adair Tishler, American actress and singer
- 1996 – Kalechi Iheanacho, Nigerian footballer
- 1997 – Juri Takahashi, Japanese idol and singer (AKB48)
- 1999 – Aramis Knight, American actor
- 2004 – Noah Schnapp, American actor

### Up to 1900

- 42 BC – Gaius Cassius Longinus
- 1078 – Iziaslav I of Kiev (b. 1024)
- 1226 – Saint Francis of Assisi (b. c. 1182)
- 1283 – David ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwynedd in Wales, executed
- 1369 – Margarete Maultasch, Countess of Tyrol (b. 1318)
- 1568 – Elizabeth of Valois, Queen of Philip II of Spain (b. 1545)
- 1611 – Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain (b. 1584)
- 1629 – Giorgi Saakadze, Georgian military leader (b. 1570)
- 1838 – Black Hawk, Sauk–American tribal leader (b. 1767)
- 1860 – Rembrandt Peale, American painter (b. 1778)
- 1867 – Elias Howe, American inventor (b. 1819)
- 1873 – Captain Jack, Modoc tribal leader
- 1877 – James Roosevelt Barley, American archbishop (b. 1814)
- 1881 – Orson Pratt, American religious leader (b. 1811)
- 1890 – Joseph Hergenröther German church historian (b. 1824)
- 1891 – Edouard Lucas, French mathematician (b. 1842)
- 1896 – William Morris, British artist and designer (b. 1834)
- 1897 – Saint Therese of Liseaux (b. 1873)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1929 – Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1878)
- 1931 – Carl Nielsen, Danish composer (b. 1865)
- 1932 – Max Wolf, German astronomer (b. 1863)
- 1936 – John Heisman, American football coach (b. 1869)
- 1939 – Fay Templeton, American actress & singer in musical comedy (b. 1865)
- 1953 – Arnold Bax, composer (b. 1883)
- 1959 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1892)
- 1965 – Zachary Scott, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1967 – Woody Guthrie, American folk musician (b. 1912)
- 1967 – Malcolm Sargent, English conductor (b. 1895)
- 1967 – Pinto Colvig, American actor and animator (b. 1892)
- 1969 – Skip James, American blues musician (b. 1902)
- 1979 – Nicos Poulantzas, Greek-French sociologist and philosopher (b. 1936)
- 1987 – Jean Anouilh, French writer (b. 1910)
- 1987 – Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist (b. 1947)
- 1988 – Franz Josef Strauß, Bavarian politician (b. 1915)
- 1990 – General Curtis LeMay, United States Air Force officer, candidate for Vice President of the United States (b. 1906)
- 1990 – Stefano Casiraghi, Italian businessman, married into Monegasque royalty (b. 1960)
- 1994 – Heinz Rühmann, German actor (b. 1920)
- 1997 – Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Nigerian politician (b. 1908)
- 1998 – Roddy McDowall, British actor (b. 1928)
- 1999 – Akio Morita, Japanese co-founder of Sony (b. 1921)
- 2000 – Benjamin Orr, bassist and part-time lead singer for The Cars (b. 1947)

### From 2001

- 2002 – Bruce Paltrow, American television and movie producer (b. 1943)
- 2003 – William Steig, American cartoonist and children's writer; creator of Shrek (b. 1907)
- 2004 – Janet Leigh, American actress (b. 1927)
- 2005 – Ronnie Barker, British actor and comedian (b. 1929)
- 2009 – Reinhard Mohn, German businessman (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Fatima El-Sharif, former Queen of Libya (b. 1911)
- 2010 – Philippa Foot, British philosopher (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Sergei Belov, Russian basketball player (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Jean-Jacques Marcel, French footballer (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Peer Augustinski, German actor (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Ewen Gilmour, New Zealand comedian (b. 1963)
- 2014 – Alan Henning, English aid worker (b. 1967)
- 2014 – Ward Ruyslinck, Belgian writer (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Kevin Metheny, American radio executive (b. 1954)
- 2015 – Javid Iqbal, Pakistani judge (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Denis Healey, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1917)
- 2017 – Rodney Bickerstaffe, English trade unionist (b. 1945)
- 2017 – Michel Jouvet, French oneirologist and neurobiologist (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Chittani Ramachandra Hegde, Indian artist and dancer (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Jalal Talabani, Iraqi Kurdish politician, President of Iraq (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Ming Chang, Chinese-American naval officer (b. 1932)
- 2017 – John Herrnstein, American baseball player (b. 1938)
- 2017 – Isabella Karle, American scientist (b. 1921)
- 2017 – Victorino Martín, Spanish cattle rancher (b. 1929)
- 2018 – Elisabeth Andersen, Dutch actress (b. 1920)
- 2018 – Julien Bogaert, Belgian cartoonist (b. 1924)
- 2018 – Roger Gibbs, British financier (b. 1934)
- 2018 – Joseph Kamaru, Kenyan musician and political activist (b. 1938)
- 2018 – Leon M. Lederman, American physicist (b. 1922)
- 2018 – Bent Lorentzen, Danish composer (b. 1935)
- 2018 – Hollie Pihl, American judge (b. 1928)
- 2019 – John Buchanan, Canadian politician, Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1931)
- 2019 – Diogo Freitas do Amaral, Portuguese politician, former Interim Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1941)
- 2019 – Hu Yamei, Chinese physician and medical researcher (b. 1923)
- 2019 – Ignacio Noguer Carmona, Spanish Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1931)
- 2019 – Alberto Testa, Italian dancer and choreographer (b. 1922)

## Observances

- Unity Day (Germany), marking the German reunification of 1990.
- Foundation Day (South Korea).
- National Day (Iraq).
- Soldiers' Day (Honduras).