July 3

Events
Up to 1900
323 - Battle of Adrianople: Constantine the Great defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium
533 - Battle of the Tenth Milestone: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals near Carthage.
987 - Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty which ruled France till the French Revolution in 1792.
1035 - William the Conqueror becomes Duke of Normandy.
1250 - Louis IX of France is captured by Baibars' Mamluk army at the Battle of Fariskur while he is in Egypt conducting the Seventh Crusade; he later has to ransom himself.
1608 - Quebec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
1721 - Norwegian Christian missionary Hans Egede arrives in Greenland expecting to convert descendants of Vikings, not knowing of their mysterious disappearance from there. Instead he converts local Inuit to Christianity.
1754 - George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces during the French and Indian War. He is allowed to retain his colors and march out of the fort with full honors the following day.
1767 - Norway's oldest newspaper in print, Addresseavisen, is first published.
1775 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1778 - American Revolutionary War: British forces kill 360 people in the Wyoming Valley Massacre.
1836 - Wisconsin becomes a separate US territory from the Michigan territory.
1844 - The last pair of Great Auks is killed in Iceland.
1848 - Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands) by Peter Scholten.
1849 - The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX.
1863 - American Civil War: The final and bloodiest day of the Battle of Gettysburg, and the fall of the besieged Vicksburg to Ulysses S. Grant in Pickett's Charge.
1866 - Austro-Prussian War is decided at Battle of Koniggratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.
1880 - Thomas Edison founds the Science magazine.
1884 - Dow Jones & Company publishes its first stock average.
1886 - Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen - the first purpose-built automobile.
1890 - Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
1898 - Spanish-American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete is destroyed by the United States Navy at Santiago de Cuba.
1901 2000
1938 - World record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the "Mallard", which reaches a speed of 203 km/h (126 mph).
1940 - World War II: In order to stop the ships from falling into German hands, the French fleet of the Atlantic based near El Kebir is bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar.
1944 - World War II: Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration.
1952 - The Constitution of Puerto Rico is accepted by the United States Congress.
1953 - Austrian Hermann Buhl climbs the Himalayan peak Nanga Parbat, at an elevation of 8,125 metres.
1962 - Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits segregation in public places.
1969 - The biggest-ever rocket explosion occurs when the Soviet N-1 rocket explodes and destroys its Launchpad.
1970 - A British chartered jetliner crashes near Barcelona, Spain, killing 112
1976 - Adolfo Suarez is chosen by King Juan Carlos I of Spain to lead a transitional government as Prime Minister of Spain.
1976 - Israeli commandos rescue 105 hostages at Entebbe Airport, Uganda.
1988 - United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
1996 - The Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.
From 2001
2001 - A Vladivostokavia Tupolev TU-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145 people.
2004 - Official opening of Bangkok's subway system.
2004 - At Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova, then-aged 17, wins her first singles' tennis title, defeating Serena Williams in the final.
2005 - Same-sex marriage is legalised in Spain.
2011 - Novak Djokovic wins his first Wimbledon singles' title, defeating Rafael Nadal in a four-set match.
2013 - King Albert II of Belgium announces his abdication from the throne. His son becomes King Philippe of Belgium on July 21.
2013 - President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi is overthrown in a military coup after widespread protests.
2016 - A series of terrorist bombings in Baghdad results in 213 people being killed.
2017 - A bus crashes into a lorry in Northern Bavaria, Germany, and bursts into flames, killing 18 people.
Births
Up to 1900
1421 - Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici, Italian banker and patron of the arts (d. 1463)
1423 - King Louis XI of France (d. 1483)
1442 - Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1500)
1518 - Li Shizhen, Chinese physician (d. 1593)
1590 - Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana, Italian singer, organist and composer (d. 1662)
1676 - Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1747)
1709 - Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (d. 1758)
1728 - Robert Adam, Scottish architect (d. 1792)
1738 - John Singleton Copley, American painter (d. 1815)
1743 - Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, Queen Consort of Sweden (d. 1813)
1789 - Johann Friedrich Overbeck, German painter (d. 1869)
1844 - Dankmar Adler, German-American architect (d. 1900)
1846 - Achilles Alferaki, Russian-Greek composer (d. 1919)
1848 - Lothar von Trotha, Prussian military officer (d. 1920)
1854 - Leos Janacek, Czech composer (d. 1928)
1860 - Charlotte Perkins Gilman, American sociologist and author (d. 1935)
1863 - Ciro Luis Urriola, 8th President of Panama (d. 1922)
1866 - Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (d. 1906)
1869 - Svend Kornbeck, Danish actor (d. 1933)
1870 - Richard Bedford Bennett, eleventh Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1947)
1874 - Jean Collas, French rugby player (d. 1928)
1875 - Ferdinand Sauerbruch, German surgeon (d. 1951)
1876 - Ralph Barton Perry, American philosopher (d. 1957)
1876 - Robert Knud Richard Pilger, German botanist (d. 1953)
1878 - George M. Cohan, American actor, singer and dancer (d. 1942)
1883 - Franz Kafka, Austrian writer (d. 1924)
1886 - Harmodio Arias Madrid, 15th President of Panama (d. 1962)
1888 - Ramon Gomez de la Serna, Spanish playwright (d. 1963)
1893 - Mississippi John Hurt, American musician (d. 1966)
1899 - Ernst Fischer, Austrian journalist, writer and politician (d. 1972)
1900 - Alessandro Blasetti, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
1901 1950
1903 - Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1992)
1906 - George Sanders, Russian-born English actor (d. 1972)
1908 - M. F. K. Fisher, American writer (d. 1992)
1908 - Robert B. Meyner, American politician, 44th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1990)
1909 - Stavros Spiros Niarchos, Greek ship owner (d. 1996)
1910 - Fritz Kasparek, Austrian mountaineer (d. 1954)
1913 - Dorothy Kilgallen, American newspaper columnist, and television personality (d. 1965)
1916 - John Kundla, American basketball player and coach (d. 2017)
1917 - Joao Saldanha, Brazilian footballer, coach and journalist (d. 1990)
1918 - S. V. Ranga Rao, Indian actor, director and producer (d. 1974)
1921 - Susan Peters, American actress (d. 1952)
1921 - Francois Reichenbach, French director, producer and screenwriter (d. 1993)
1922 - Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo, Dutch artist (d. 2010)
1924 - S. R. Nathan, 6th President of Singapore (d. 2016)
1926 - Laurence Street, Australian jurist (d. 2018)
1927 - Ken Russell, English director (d. 2011)
1928 - Gunter Bruno Fuchs, writer (d. 1977)
1928 - Jan Machulski, Polish actor (d. 2008)
1930 - Carlos Kleiber, Austrian conductor (d. 2004)
1932 - Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, German politician (d. 2015)
1934 - Manfred Bieler, writer
1935 - Cheo Feliciano, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
1935 - Harrison Schmitt, American astronaut
1937 - Tom Stoppard, Czech-born playwright
1938 - Martin Brandtner, American Marine Corps general (d. 2017)
1939 - Brigitte Fassbaender, German mezzo-soprano
1939 - Laszlo Kovacs, Hungarian politician
1939 - Angelo Sormani, Brazilian footballer
1940 - Fontella Bass, American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
1940 - Jerzy Buzek, Polish politician, former Prime Minister of Poland
1940 - Cesar Tovar, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1994)
1942 - Robert Dugard, English speedway rider (d. 2018)
1942 - Eddy Mitchell, French singer-songwriter and actor
1943 - Kurtwood Smith, American actor
1943 - Norman Thagard, American astronaut
1944 - Michel Polnareff, French singer-songwriter
1945 - Michael Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, Scottish politician, former Speaker of the UK House of Commons (d. 2018)
1946 - Leszek Miller, former Prime Minister of Poland
1946 - Michael Shea, American author (d. 2014)
1947 - Dave Barry, American writer
1947 - Betty Buckley, American actress
1947 - Rob Rensenbrink, Dutch footballer
1949 - Jan Smithers, American actress
1949 - Bo Xilai, Chinese politician
1950 - James Hahn, American politician, 40th Mayor of Los Angeles
1951 1975
1951 - Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
1951 - Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc), Haitian politician (d. 2014)
1952 - Laura Branigan, American singer (d. 2004)
1952 - Andy Fraser, English songwriter and bass guitarist (d. 2015)
1955 - Walter Veltroni, Italian politician, former Mayor of Rome
1956 - Montel Williams, American talk show host
1957 - Poly Styrene, English singer (d. 2011)
1958 - Lisa De Leeuw, Dutch pornographic actress
1959 - Ian Maxtone-Graham, American screenwriter and producer
1960 - Vince Clarke, British musician
1961 - Pedro Romeiras, Portuguese principal ballet dancer
1962 - Tom Cruise, American actor
1963 - Tracey Emin, English artist
1964 - Joanne Harris, English writer
1964 - Yeardley Smith, American actress
1965 - Connie Nielsen, Danish actress
1965 - Tommy Flanagan, Scottish actor
1966 - Moises Alou, American Major League Baseball player
1966 - Daniel Plaza, Spanish race walker
1968 - Ramush Haradinaj, 4th Prime Minister of Kosovo
1969 - Kevin Hearn, Canadian singer and keyboardist (Barenaked Ladies)
1970 - Arlene Foster, Northern Irish politician, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and former First Minister of Northern Ireland
1970 - Audra McDonald, American actress and producer
1970 - Teemu Selanne, Finnish ice hockey player
1971 - Julian Assange, Australian internet activist, founder of the WikiLeaks website
1973 - Emma Cunniffe, British actress
1973 - Olafur Stefansson, Icelandic handball player
1973 - Fyodor Tuvin, Russian footballer (d. 2013)
1973 - Patrick Wilson, American actor and singer
From 1976
1976 - Andrea Barber, American actress
1976 - Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
1979 - Ludivine Sagnier, French actress
1980 - Olivia Munn, American actress
1980 - Jenny Jones, English snowboarder
1980 - Harbhajan Singh, Indian cricketer
1981 - Aoi Tada, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
1981 - Justin Torkildsen, American actor
1983 - Steph Jones, American singer and model
1983 - Edinson Volquez, Dominican baseball player
1985 - Keisuke Minami, Japanese actor and singer
1986 - Ola Toivonen, Swedish footballer
1986 - Oscar Ustari, Argentine footballer
1987 - Sebastian Vettel, German racing driver
1988 - Winston Reid, New Zealand footballer
1988 - Vladislav Sesganov, Russian figure skater
1988 - James Troisi, Australian footballer
1989 - Elle King, American singer
1990 - Carly Lauren, American model
1991 - Will Grigg, English-Northern Irish footballer
1991 - Tomoni Itano, Japanese actress and singer (AKB48)
1991 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russian tennis player
1992 - Nathalia Ramos, Spanish-American actress and singer
1992 - Molly Sanden, Swedish singer and voice actress
1992 - Masado Sudo, Japanese singer
1993 - Roy Kim, South Korean singer-songwriter
1993 - Kerem Demirbay, German footballer
Deaths
Up to 1900
458 - Patriarch Anatolius of Constantinople (b. 449)
710 - Emperor Zhongzhong of Tang, Chinese Emperor (b. 656)
1570 - Aonio Paleario, Italian reformer (b. 1500)
1640 - Giuseppe Cesari, Italian painter (b. 1568)
1642 - Maria de'Medici, Queen of Henry IV of France (b. 1573)
1778 - Anna Maria Mozart, mother of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (b. 1720)
1795 - Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general, explorer, author and astronomer (b. 1716)
1809 - Joseph Quesnel, French-Canadian composer and playwright (b. 1746)
1863 - George Hull Ward, American general (b. 1826)
1863 - Little Crow, American tribal leader (b. 1810)
1888 - Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1822)
1901 2000
1904 - Theodor Herzl, Austrian Zionist (b. 1860)
1904 - Edouard Beaupre, Canadian giant and strongman (b. 1881)
1908 - Joel Chandler Harris, American journalist and author (b. 1845)
1914 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (b. 1836)
1918 - Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1844)
1918 - Benjamin Tillman, American politician, Governor of South Carolina (b. 1847)
1933 - Hipolito Yrigoyen, President of Argentina (b. 1852)
1935 - Andre Citroen, French automobile pioneer (b. 1878)
1937 - Jacob Schick, American-Canadian captain and businessman, invented the electric razor (b. 1877)
1941 - Friedrich Akel, Estonian politician (b. 1871)
1957 - Dolf Luque, Cuban baseball player and manager (b. 1890)
1969 - Brian Jones, British musician (the Rolling Stones) (b. 1942)
1971 - Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (b. 1943)
1973 - Laurens Hammond, American inventor (b. 1895)
1979 - Louis Durey, French composer (b. 1888)
1984 - Ernesto Mascheroni, Uruguayan-Italian footballer (b. 1907)
1986 - Rudy Vallee, American singer (b. 1901)
1987 - Viola Dana, American actress (b. 1897)
1989 - Jim Backus, American actor (b. 1913)
1991 - Le Van Thiem, Vietnamese mathematician (b. 1918)
1991 - Domingo Tarasconi, Argentine footballer (b. 1903)
1993 - Don Drysdale, American baseball player (b. 1936)
1993 - Joe DeRita, American actor and comedian (b. 1909)
1994 - Lew Hood, Australian tennis player (b. 1934)
1995 - Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (b. 1928)
1995 - Eddie Mazur, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
1998 - Danielle Bunten Berry, software developer (b. 1949)
1999 - Mark Sandman, musician (Morphine (band)) (b. 1952) (heart attack)
2000 - Kemal Sunal, Turkish actor (b. 1944)
From 2001
2001 - Mordecai Richler, Canadian writer (b. 1931)
2003 - Gaetano Alibrandi, papal diplomat (b. 1914)
2004 - Andrian Nikolayev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1929)
2005 - Alberto Lattuada, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1914)
2005 - Gaylord Nelson, American politician, 35th Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1914)
2006 - Joseph Goquen, American computer scientist (b. 1941)
2007 - Claude Pompidou, First Lady of France (b. 1912)
2009 - Jorge Enrique Adoum, Ecuadorean writer (b. 1926)
2010 - Abu Daoud, Palestinian military commander (b. 1937)
2010 - Herbert Erhardt, German footballer (b. 1930)
2011 - Anna Massey, British actress (b. 1937)
2012 - Andy Griffith, American actor, singer and producer (b. 1926)
2012 - Sergio Pininfarina, Italian automobile designer and politician (b. 1926)
2013 - Radu Vasile, 57th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1942)
2014 - Jini Dellaccio, American photographer (b. 1917)
2014 - Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Ukrainian-born American rabbi (b. 1924)
2015 - Phil Walsh, Australian rules footballer and coach (b. 1960)
2015 - Boyd K. Packer, American religious leader, member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1924)
2015 - Jacques Sernas, Lithuanian-French actor (b. 1925)
2015 - Diana Douglas, Bermudan-American actress (b. 1923)
2015 - John A. Williams, American writer (b. 1925)
2015 - Gyorgy Szabad, Hungarian politician and historian (b. 1924)
2016 - Michael Beaumont, 22nd Seigneur of Sark (b. 1927)
2016 - Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1932)
2016 - Uma Shankar Mishra, Indian politician (b. 1923)
2016 - Noel Neill, American actress (b. 1920)
2016 - Mauricio Walerstein, Mexican film director (b. 1945)
2016 - Markus Werner, Swiss writer (b. 1944)
2017 - Jose Luis Cuevas, Mexican painter (b. 1934)
2017 - Rudy Rotta, Italian guitarist and singer (b. 1950)
2017 - Solvi Stubing, German actress and model (b. 1941)
2017 - Paolo Villaggio, Italian actor and writer (b. 1932)
2017 - Tom Blom, Dutch radio and television presenter (b. 1946)
2017 - Spencer Johnson, American author (b. 1938)
2017 - Joe Robinson, British actor (b. 1927)
2018 - Richard Swift, American singer-songwriter (b. 1977)
Holidays and observances
Emancipation Day (United States Virgin Islands)
Independence Day (Belarus)
July 03