October 3

Events
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 Peenemunde, 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.
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, through a decision made by its President, Yahya Jammeh.
2015 At least 42 people are killed in an airstrike on a hospital, operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres, 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.
Births
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 Morazan, 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 Nicolas 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 Martinez, 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
Deaths
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 Hergenrother 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 Ruhmann, 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 Martin, 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).
October 03