October 3

October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 89 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 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: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight a decisive battle with Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius.
• 1283 – Dafydd ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwynedd in Wales, becomes the first person executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered.
• 1574 – The Siege of Leiden is lifted by the Watergeuzen.
• 1683 – The Qing Dynasty naval commander Shi Lang reaches Taiwan (under the Kingdom of Tungning) to receive the formal surrender of Zheng Keshuang and Liu Guoxuan after the Battle of Penghu.
• 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 finish of the Russian-Turkish War, 1736–1739.
• 1778 – British Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska.
• 1795 – General Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence being named to defend the French National Convention against armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the three year old revolutionary government.
• 1835 – The Staedtler Company is founded in Nuremberg, Germany.
• 1849 – American author Edgar Allan Poe is found delirious in a gutter in Baltimore, Maryland under mysterious circumstances; it is the last time he is seen in public before his death.
• 1863 – The last Thursday in November is declared as Thanksgiving Day by President Abraham Lincoln as are Thursdays, November 30, 1865 and November 29, 1866.
• 1873 – Captain Jack and companions are hanged for their part in the Modoc War.
• 1908 – The Pravda newspaper is founded by Leon Trotsky, Adolph Joffe, Matvey Skobelev and other Russian exiles in Vienna.
• 1918 – King Boris III of Bulgaria accedes to the throne.
• 1929 – The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia, "Land of the South Slavs".
• 1932 – Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1935 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy invades Ethiopia under General de Bono.
• 1942 – Spaceflight: The first successful launch of a V-2 /A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany. It is the first man-made object to reach space.
• 1950 – Korean War: The First Battle of Maryang San, primarily pitting Australian and British forces against communist China, begins.
• 1951 – The "Shot Heard 'Round the World", one of the greatest moments in Major League Baseball history, occurs when the New York Giants' Bobby Thomson hits a game winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning off of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, to win the National League pennant after being down 14 games.
• 1952 – The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon.
• 1955 – The Mickey Mouse Club debuts on ABC.
• 1957 – Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems is ruled not obscene.
• 1962 – Project Mercury: Sigma 7 is launched from Cape Canaveral, with Astronaut Wally Schirra aboard, for a six-orbit, nine-hour flight.
• 1964 – First Buffalo Wings are made at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York.
• 1981 – The Hunger Strike by Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland ends after seven months and ten deaths.
• 1981 – The Communist Party of Namibia is founded at a conference in Angola.
• 1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight. (Mission STS-51-J)
• 1986 – TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron at the Chalk River Laboratories, is officially opened.
• 1990 – Re-unification of Germany. The German Democratic Republic ceases to exist and its territory becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany. East German citizens became part of the European Community, which later became the European Union. Now celebrated as German Unity Day.
• 1993 – Battle of Mogadishu: In an attempt to capture officials of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's organisation in Mogadishu, Somalia, 18 US Soldiers and about 1,000 Somalis are killed in heavy fighting.
• 1995 – O J Simpson acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
• 2003 – Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy is attacked by one of the show's tigers, canceling the show until 2009, when they rejoined the tiger that mauled Roy just six years earlier.
• 2008 – The $700 billion bailout bill for the US financial system is signed by President Bush.

Births

• 1716 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist (d. 1781)
• 1720 – Johann Peter Uz, German poet (d. 1796)
• 1790 – John Ross, Chief of the Cherokee Nation (d. 1866)
• 1797 – Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1870)
• 1804 – Townsend Harris, the 1^st U.S. Consul to Japan (d. 1878)
• 1804 – Allan Kardec, French founder of Spiritism (d. 1869)
• 1828 – Woldemar Bargiel, German composer (d. 1897)
• 1837 – Nicolas Avellaneda, Argentine president (d. 1885)
• 1848 – Henry Lerolle, French painter (d. 1929)
• 1858 – Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (d. 1924)
• 1862 – Johnny Briggs, English cricketer (d. 1902)
• 1863 – Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov, Russian explorer (d. 1935)
• 1869 – Alfred Flatow, German Olympic champion gymnast (d. 1942)
• 1879 – Warner Oland, Swedish-born actor (d. 1938)
• 1882 – A. Y. Jackson, Canadian painter (d. 1974)
• 1885 – Langley Collyer, hoarder (d. 1947)
• 1886 – Alain-Fournier, French novelist (d. 1914)
• 1889 – Carl von Ossietzky, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1938)
• 1894 – Elmer Robinson, American politician (d. 1982)
• 1894 – Walter Warlimont, German General WWII (d. 1976)
• 1895 – Giovanni Comisso, Italian writer (d. 1969)
• 1895 – Sergei Aleksandrovich Yesenin, Russian lyrical poet (d. 1925)
• 1896 – Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet (d. 1987)
• 1897 – Louis Aragon, French writer (d. 1982)
• 1901 – Jean Grémillon, French film director (d. 1959)
• 1904 – Ernst Gunther Schenck, German doctor who joined the Sturmabteilung in 1933 (d. 1998)
• 1911 – Michael Hordern, English actor (d. 1995)
• 1916 – James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (d. 1995)
• 1922 – Jean Lefebvre, French actor (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Edward Oliver LeBlanc, Dominican politician (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Arkady Vorobyov, Russian weightlifter
• 1925 – Gore Vidal, American author
• 1928 – Erik Bruhn, Danish dancer and choreographer (d. 1986)
• 1931 – Glenn Hall, National Hockey League goaltender
• 1933 – Neale Fraser, Australian tennis player
• 1934 – Koo Nimo, Ghanaian musician
• 1938 – Tereza Kesovija, Croatian singer
• 1938 – David Obey, American politician
• 1940 – Sheila Fearn, English actress
• 1940 – Jean Ratelle, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1941 – Chubby Checker, American singer-songwriter
• 1941 – Andrea de Adamich, Italian Formula One driver and TV commentator
• 1943 – Jeff Bingaman, Democratic U.S. Senator of New Mexico
• 1944 – Pierre Deligne, Belgian mathematician
• 1944 – Roy Horn, German-American magician
• 1945 – Tony Brown, English footballer
• 1949 – J. P. Dutta, Indian Bollywood film director
• 1954 – Al Sharpton, American Baptist minister
• 1954 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, American blues musician (d. 1990)
• 1956 – Hart Bochner, Canadian film actor/director
• 1957 – Tim Westwood, Pimp My Ride UK presenter and DJ
• 1961 – Dean Lawrence (actor), English actor
• 1962 – Tommy Lee, American Drummer
• 1964 – Clive Owen, British actor
• 1965 – Jan-Ove Waldner, Swedish table tennis player
• 1966 – Darrin Fletcher, American baseball player
• 1968 – Paul Crichton, English footballer
• 1969 – Gwen Stefani, American musician & actress
• 1969 – Tetsu, Japanese bassist (L'Arc~en~Ciel)
• 1971 – Wil Cordero, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1971 – Kevin Richardson, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
• 1972 – Kim Joo-hyuk, South Korean actor
• 1973 – Keiko Agena, Japanese-American actress
• 1973 – Neve Campbell, Canadian actress
• 1973 – Angélica Gavaldón, Mexican tennis player
• 1973 – Lena Headey, British actress
• 1974 – Marianne Timmer, Dutch speed skater
• 1975 – India Arie, American singer
• 1975 – Talib Kweli, Rap Artist
• 1974 – Mike Johnson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Gerald Asamoah, German footballer
• 1978 – Neil Clement, English footballer
• 1978 – Claudio Pizarro, Peruvian footballer
• 1978 – Jake Shears, singer (Scissor Sisters)
• 1979 – Carlo Alban, Ecuadorian actor
• 1980 – Sheldon Brookbank, Canadian hockey player
• 1980 – Danny O'Donoghue, Irish singer (The Script)
• 1980 – Anquan Boldin, American football player (Baltimore Ravens)
• 1981 – Danny Coid, English footballer
• 1981 – Zlatan Ibrahimović, Swedish footballer
• 1981 – Andreas Isaksson, Swedish footballer
• 1981 – Amanda Walsh, Canadian actress
• 1983 – Frederico Chaves Guedes, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Hiroki Suzuki, Japanese actor
• 1984 – Chris Marquette, American film and television actor
• 1984 – Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, American singer
• 1984 – Anthony Le Tallec, French footballer
• 1984 – Yoon Eun-Hye, South Korean actress
• 1987 – Zuleyka Rivera, Puerto Rican Miss Universe
• 1989 – Nate Montana, American football player
• 1990 – Rhian Ramos, Filipino actress

Deaths

• 1226 – Saint Francis of Assisi (b. 1181)
• 1283 – David ap Gruffydd, Welsh prince of Gwynedd (executed) (b. 1238)
• 1369 – Margarete Maultasch, Countess of Tyrol (b. 1318)
• 1568 – Elizabeth of Valois, wife of Philip II of Spain (b. 1545)
• 1596 – Florent Chrestien, French writer (b. 1541)
• 1611 – Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, French military leader (b. 1554)
• 1629 – Giorgi Saakadze, Georgian military leader (b. 1570)
• 1649 – Giovanni Diodati, Swiss Protestant clergyman (b. 1576)
• 1653 – Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn, Dutch scholar (b. 1612)
• 1656 – Myles Standish, English-born soldier
• 1690 – Robert Barclay, Scottish writer (b. 1648)
• 1701 – Joseph Williamson, English politician (b. 1633)
• 1801 – Philippe Henri, marquis de Ségur, Marshal of France (b. 1724)
• 1833 – François, marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat, French general (b. 1754)
• 1838 – Black Hawk (chief), Leader of the Sauk Native American tribe (b. 1767)
• 1867 – Elias Howe, American sewing machine pioneer (b. 1819)
• 1873 – Captain Jack, Modoc tribal leader
• 1877 – James Roosevelt Bayley, first Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, and the eighth Archbishop of Baltimore (b. 1814)
• 1881 – Orson Pratt, American religious leader (b. 1811)
• 1890 – Joseph Hergenröther, German historian (b. 1824)
• 1891 – Edouard Lucas, French mathematician (b. 1842)
• 1896 – William Morris, English writer & poet (b. 1834)
• 1929 – Jeanne Eagels, American actress (b. 1894)
• 1929 – Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)
• 1931 – Carl Nielsen, Danish composer (b. 1865)
• 1936 – John Heisman, American football coach (b. 1869)
• 1953 – Arnold Bax, English composer (b. 1883)
• 1959 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27^th Yokozuna (b. 1892)
• 1965 – Zachary Scott, American actor (b. 1914)
• 1967 – Woody Guthrie, American musician (b. 1912)
• 1967 – Malcolm Sargent, English conductor (b. 1895)
• 1969 – Skip James, American blues musician (b. 1902)
• 1986 – Vince DiMaggio, American Baseball Player (b. 1912)
• 1987 – Jean Anouilh, French writer (b. 1910)
• 1987 – Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist (b. 1947)
• 1988 – Franz Josef Strauß, Bavarian politician (b. 1915)
• 1990 – Stefano Casiraghi, husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco (b. 1960)
• 1993 – Sgt. First Class Randy Shughart, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1958)
• 1993 – Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1960)
• 1994 – Dub Taylor, American actor (b. 1907)
• 1998 – Roddy McDowall, English actor (b. 1928)
• 1999 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman (b. 1921)
• 2000 – Benjamin Orr, American bassist and singer (The Cars) (b. 1947)
• 2000 – John Grant, British politician (b. 1932)
• 2001 – Costas Hajihristos, Greek actor (b. 1921)
• 2002 – Bruce Paltrow, American television and film producer (b. 1943)
• 2002 – Robert Krausz, Stock market advisor and investor (b. 1936)
• 2003 – Florence Stanley, American actress (b. 1924)
• 2003 – William Steig, American cartoonist and children's author (b. 1907)
• 2004 – John Cerutti, baseball player and announcer (b. 1960)
• 2004 – Janet Leigh, American actress (b. 1927)
• 2005 – Ronnie Barker, English comic actor (b. 1929)
• 2006 – Alberto Ramento, Filipino bishop (b. 1937)
• 2006 – John Crank, British mathematician (b. 1913)
• 2006 – Peter Norman, Australian track star (b. 1942)
• 2007 – M. N. Vijayan, Indian writer, orator, and academic (b. 1930)
• 2008 – Karam ud Din, Pakistani Navy officer (b. 1941)
• 2008 – Johnny J, American record producer and songwriter (b. 1969)
• 2009 – Queen Fatima, former Libyan queen (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day
  • Abd-al-Masih
  • Ewald the Black and Ewald the Fair
• Day of German Unity (Germany)
• National Foundation Day or Gaecheonjeol (South Korea)
• Siege of Leiden (Leiden)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada