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On this day in history - October 3

What Happened On This Day – October 3

  • 1995 OJ Simpson acquitted in the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman

    The former football player had been accused of murdering his ex-wife and her friend on June 13, 1994. The high profile case and the subsequent trial of Simpson captured widespread media and public attention in the United States and around the world.

  • 1952 UK tests its first atomic bomb

    Called Operation Hurricane the test was conducted near the Montebello Islands in Western Australia. The operation made the UK the third country to have nuclear weapons, the United States and the Soviet Union were the first two.

  • 1932 Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom

    The West Asian country came under British control in 1920, after the end of the First World War. After taking control of the country, the British installed the deposed Syrian King Faisal I as the King of Iraq.

  • 1863 National Thanksgiving Day proclamation

    American president Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day. The holiday has been celebrated annually since that year.

  • 1849 Edgar Allen Poe seen in public for the last time

    The Baltimore, Maryland-based American poet and author, best known for his poem The Raven was found sick and delirious on the streets and taken to Washington College Hospital, where he died a few days later. He was 40 years old at the time of his death.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
October 3

  • 1984 Ashlee Simpson

    American singer-songwriter, actress

  • 1969 Gwen Stefani

    American singer-songwriter, actress, fashion designer

  • 1954 Al Sharpton

    American minister, talk show host, activist

  • 1954 Stevie Ray Vaughan

    American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer

  • 1925 Gore Vidal

    American author, screenwriter, actor

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
October 3

  • 2005 Ronnie Barker

    English comedian, actor

  • 1967 Woody Guthrie

    American singer-songwriter, musician

  • 1931 Carl Nielsen

    Danish violinist, composer, conductor

  • 1896 William Morris

    English poet, designer

  • 1226 Francis of Assisi

    Italian friar, saint