124 things happened on 3 October, from 2,457 BC to 2025. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1602 · 424 years ago
During the Anglo-Spanish War, an English fleet led by Sir Robert Mansell attacked six Spanish galleys in the Strait of Dover. Galleys were warships that could be rowed with oars. The battle carried on into the next day, moving from the English coast to the co…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
During the Anglo-Spanish War, an English fleet led by Sir Robert Mansell attacked six Spanish galleys in the Strait of Dover. Galleys were warships that could be rowed with oars. The battle carried on into the next day, moving from the English coast to the coast of the Spanish Netherlands. A Dutch fleet joined the English, and together they defeated the Spanish ships.
UK story
The Duke of Montrose issued a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor, a Scottish cattleman. Rob Roy had borrowed a large sum from the duke to build up his herd, but the man looking after the money disappeared. Unable to repay, Rob Roy lost his lands to the duke and became an outlaw. He later became a Scottish folk hero, and his name Roy means red, after his red hair.
Vercingetorix, a chieftain who had united the Gauls against Rome, surrendered to the Roman general Julius Caesar. This ended the siege and battle of Alesia, the decisive fight of the Gallic Wars. Caesar's complete victory meant the Roman Republic took control of the whole of Gaul. During these wars Caesar also fought against peoples in Britain.
US President Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November would be Thanksgiving Day. He did this while the United States was fighting the American Civil War. Lincoln led the country through that war and played a major part in ending slavery. On the same date in 1789, President George Washington had also proclaimed a Thanksgiving Day.
American astronaut Wally Schirra was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida in a spacecraft called Sigma 7. During a nine-hour flight he orbited the Earth six times. It was the fifth American space mission with a crew, and the longest so far for the United States. But the Soviet Union, America's rival in the Space Race, had already flown a mission lasting several days.
NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis launched on its first flight, a mission called STS-51-J. It carried two military communications satellites into space and returned on 7 October. Atlantis was the fourth working Space Shuttle to be built. It went on flying missions until 2011.
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic, ceased to exist and became part of West Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany. For the first time since 1945 there was a single German state. East and West Berlin also became one city again. Germany celebrates the date every year as German Unity Day, a national holiday.
South African writer Nadine Gordimer became the first person from South Africa to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. This famous prize is given each year by the Swedish Academy to an author for their whole body of work. The judges praised her 'magnificent epic writing'. As well as being an author, Gordimer was a political activist.
Gaecheonjeol, Hwanung (환웅) purportedly descended from heaven. South Korea's National Foundation Day.
Roman Emperor Theodosius I concludes a peace treaty with the Goths and settles them in the Balkans.
A fleet of the Heraclian revolt under Heraclius the Younger reaches Constantinople.
Muhammad VII became the twelfth sultan of the Emirate of Granada.
The Siege of Leiden is lifted by the Watergeuzen.
Qing dynasty naval commander Shi Lang receives the surrender of the Tungning kingdom on Taiwan after the Battle of Penghu.
The Treaty of Niš is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia ending the Russian–Turkish War.
George Washington proclaims Thursday November 26, 1789 as Thanksgiving Day.
Spanish forces departed Valdivia to suppress the indigenous Huilliche uprising in southern Chile.
American Civil War: The two-day Second Battle of Corinth begins as Confederate forces under General Earl Van Dorn attack Union defenses led by General William Rosecrans around Corinth, Mississippi.
U.S. forces defeat Nicaraguan rebels at the Battle of Coyotepe Hill.
Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria accedes to the throne.
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque becomes the first Latin American player to appear in a World Series.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Yugoslavia by King Alexander I.
The Kingdom of Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom.
Italian forces under General Emilio De Bono invaded Abyssinia during the opening stages of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
A German V-2 rocket reaches a record 85 km (46 nm) in altitude.
WERD, the first black-owned radio station in the United States, opens in Atlanta.
The First Battle of Maryang-san, widely regarded as one of the Australian Army's greatest accomplishments during the Korean War, began.
Vancouver's Holy Rosary Cathedral was dedicated by Archbishop William Mark Duke, fifty-three years after it first opened.
The California State Superior Court rules that the book Howl and Other Poems is not obscene.
Oswaldo López Arellano replaced Honduran president Ramón Villeda Morales in a violent coup, initiating two decades of military rule.
TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron at the Chalk River Laboratories in Canada, is officially opened.
Sinéad O'Connor tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on live television.
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, establishing the Troubled Asset Relief Program, commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, was enacted.
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey join in the Turkic Council.
Svante Pääbo is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Wab Kinew is elected to be the first First Nations Premier of a Canadian province in the 2023 Manitoba general election
Bengali, Assamese, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit are accorded the Classical language status by the Government of India
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “English ships attack Spanish galleys in the Battle of the Narrow Seas”?
B: 1602. 1602 — that’s 424 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The Duke of Montrose orders the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor”?
B: 1712. 1712 — that’s 314 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: English ships attack Spanish galleys in the Battle of the Narrow Seas. 1991: Nadine Gordimer wins the Nobel Prize in Literature · 1602: English ships attack Spanish galleys in the Battle of the Narrow Seas · 1712: The Duke of Montrose orders the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor Find it on the page
“James Herriot” happened in 1916. How many years ago was that?
B: 110 years. 2026 − 1916 = 110. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 3 October.
UK story
James Herriot was the pen name of James Alfred Wight, a vet and author born in Sunderland. He worked as a vet in Yorkshire for almost 50 years. His books about animals, their owners and life as a country vet in the Yorkshire Dales have sold about 60 million copies. They inspired the film and television series All Creatures Great and Small.
UK story
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was an English prince who called himself the 'son, brother and uncle of kings'. His father was Henry IV, his brother was Henry V and his nephew was Henry VI. He fought in the Hundred Years' War and helped to rule England as Lord Protector while Henry VI was a child. He was also a keen supporter of writers and learning.
Well-known people who died on 3 October.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 3 October somewhere in the world.
In South Korea, National Foundation Day is a public holiday called Gaecheonjeol in Korean. It celebrates the legend of how the first Korean state, Gojoseon, was founded by a king called Dangun in 2333 BC. Koreans have long seen this date as the founding of their nation.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “October 3” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.