August 3Birthdays & History

On this day: August 3 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 8Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats the Dalmatae on the river Bosna.Europe
2. 435Deposed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, is exiled by Roman Emperor Theodosius II to a monastery in Egypt.Middle EastEurope
3. 881Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu: Louis III of France defeats the Vikings, an event celebrated in the poem Ludwigslied.Europe
4. 908Battle of Eisenach: An invading Hungarian force defeats an East Frankish army under Duke Burchard of Thuringia.Europe
5. 1031Olaf II of Norway is canonized as Saint Olaf by Grimketel, the English Bishop of Selsey.Europe
6. 1057Frederick of Lorraine elected as Pope Stephen IX.Europe
7. 1342The Siege of Algeciras commences during the Spanish Reconquista.Europe
8. 1347The city of Calais surrenders after a protracted siege to the English following the English defeat of a French relief fleet in the battle of Crotoy. It will remain in English hands for more than 200 years.Europe
9. 1492Christopher Columbus sets sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain.Europe
10. 1527The first known letter from North America is sent by John Rut while at St. John's, Newfoundland.North America
11. 1601Long War: Austria captures Transylvania in the Battle of Goroszló.Europe
12. 1645Thirty Years' War: The Second Battle of Nördlingen sees French forces defeating those of the Holy Roman Empire.Europe
13. 1678Robert LaSalle builds the Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes.North America
14. 1692British-Dutch forces under William III defending the city of Brussels fight an inconclusive battle at Steenkerque against a French army under the duke of Luxembourg, with both sides suffering heavy casualties.Europe
15. 1778The theatre La Scala in Milan is inaugurated with the première of Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta.Europe
16. 1795Treaty of Greenville is signed, ending the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio Country.North America
17. 1811First ascent of Jungfrau, third highest summit in the Bernese Alps by brothers Johann Rudolf and Hieronymus Meyer.Europe
18. 1829The Treaty of Lewistown is signed by the Shawnee and Seneca peoples, exchanging land in Ohio for land west of the Mississippi River.North America
19. 1852Harvard University wins the first Boat Race between Yale University and Harvard. The race is also known as the first ever American intercollegiate athletic event.North America
20. 1859The American Dental Association is founded in Niagara Falls, New York.North America
21. 1889An Anglo-Egyptian army defeats a Mahdist-Sudanese army in the battle of Toski.Middle EastAfrica
22. 1900The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is founded.North America
23. 1903Macedonian rebels in Kruševo proclaim the Kruševo Republic, which exists for only ten days before Ottoman Turks lay waste to the town.EuropeMiddle East
24. 1907Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis fines Standard Oil of Indiana a record $29.4 million for illegal rebating to freight carriers; the conviction and fine are later reversed on appeal.North America
25. 1914World War I: Germany declares war against France, while Romania declares its neutrality.Europe
26. 1921Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis confirms the ban of the eight Chicago Black Sox, the day after they were acquitted by a Chicago court.North America
27. 1936Jesse Owens wins the 100 metre dash, defeating Ralph Metcalfe, at the Berlin Olympics.Europe
28. 1936A fire wipes out Kursha-2 in the Meshchera Lowlands, Ryazan Oblast, Russia, killing 1,200 and leaving only 20 survivors.Europe
29. 1940World War II: Italian forces begin the invasion of British Somaliland.EuropeAfrica
30. 1946Santa Claus Land, the world's first themed amusement park, opens in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States.North America
31. 1948Whittaker Chambers accuses Alger Hiss of being a communist and a spy for the Soviet Union.Europe
32. 1949The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League finalize the merger that would create the National Basketball Association.North America
33. 1958The world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, becomes the first vessel to complete a submerged transit of the geographical North Pole.World
34. 1959Portugal's state police force PIDE fires upon striking workers in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea, killing over 50 people.EuropeAfrica
35. 1960Niger gains independence from France.AfricaEurope
36. 1972The United States Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.North America
37. 1975A privately chartered Boeing 707 strikes a mountain peak and crashes near Agadir, Morocco, killing 188.Africa
38. 1977Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world's first mass-produced personal computers.North America
39. 1981Senegalese opposition parties, under the leadership of Mamadou Dia, launch the Antiimperialist Action Front – Suxxali Reew Mi.Africa
40. 1997Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand opens after two-and-a-half years of construction, becoming the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere at the time.Oceania
41. 1997Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria: A total of 116 villagers killed, 40 in Oued El-Had and 76 in Mezouara.Africa
42. 2004The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the September 11 attacks.North America
43. 2005President of Mauritania Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia.AfricaMiddle East
44. 2007Former deputy director of the Chilean secret police Raúl Iturriaga is captured after having been on the run following a conviction for kidnapping.Latin America
45. 2010Widespread rioting erupts in Karachi, Pakistan, after the assassination of a local politician, leaving at least 85 dead and at least 17 billion Pakistani rupees (US$200 million) in damage.AsiaNorth America
46. 2014A 6.1 magnitude earthquake kills at least 617 people and injures more than 2,400 in Yunnan, China.Asia
47. 2014The genocide of Yazidis by ISIL begins.Middle East
48. 2018Two burka-clad men kill 29 people and injure more than 80 in a suicide attack on a Shia mosque in eastern Afghanistan.Asia
49. 2019Twenty-three people are killed and 22 injured in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.North America
50. 2019Six hundred protesters, including opposition leader Lyubov Sobol, are arrested in an election protest in Moscow, Russia.Europe
51. 2023Major floods hit parts of Slovenia.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "August 3" / CC BY-SA 4.0