June 3Birthdays & History

On this day: June 3 in history

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

1. 350The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.Europe
2. 713The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army.Europe
3. 1098After a five-month siege during the First Crusade, the Crusaders seize Antioch.Middle EastEurope
4. 1140The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.Europe
5. 1326The Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark.Europe
6. 1539Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain.North AmericaEurope
7. 1602An English naval force defeats a fleet of Spanish galleys, and captures a large Portuguese carrack at the Battle of Sesimbra Bay.Europe
8. 1608Samuel de Champlain lands at Tadoussac, Quebec, in the course of his third voyage to New France, and begins erecting fortifications.North AmericaEurope
9. 1621The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland.EuropeAsia
10. 1658Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France.Europe
11. 1665James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.Europe
12. 1700Foundation of the Academy of the Distrustful in the library room of the Palau Dalmases in Barcelona.OceaniaEurope
13. 1781Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending British raid.North AmericaEurope
14. 1839In Humen, China, Lin Zexu destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War.AsiaEurope
15. 1844The last pair of great auks is killed.Europe
16. 1861American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia.North America
17. 1863American Civil War: Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia begin marching to invade the North for a second time, starting the Gettysburg campaign.North America
18. 1864American Civil War: Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant sustain heavy casualties attacking Confederate troops under Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Virginia.North America
19. 1885In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police.North America
20. 1889The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.North America
21. 1892Liverpool F.C. is founded by John Houlding.Europe
22. 1916The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.North America
23. 1935One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa.North America
24. 1937The Duke of Windsor (the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom) marries Wallis Simpson.Europe
25. 1940Franz Rademacher proposes plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland", an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl.Africa
26. 1940World War II: During the Battle of France, the Luftwaffe bombs Paris.Europe
27. 1941World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants.Europe
28. 1942World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island.Asia
29. 1943In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines attack Latino youths in the five-day Zoot Suit Riots.North America
30. 1950Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.Europe
31. 1962At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130.Europe
32. 1963Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.Asia
33. 1965The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk.North America
34. 1969Melbourne-Evans collision: Off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half, resulting in 74 deaths.OceaniaAsiaNorth America
35. 1973A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.Europe
36. 1979A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.Latin America
37. 1980The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, United States, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $1172 million in 2025) worth of damage.North America
38. 1982The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed.Middle EastEurope
39. 1984Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.Asia
40. 1989The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.Asia
41. 1991Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.Asia
42. 1992Australian Aboriginal land rights are recognised in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Torres Strait Islander Eddie Mabo which led to the Native Title Act 1993 overturning the long-held colonial assumption of terra nullius.Oceania
43. 1998After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people.Europe
44. 2006The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence.Europe
45. 2012The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames.Europe
46. 2012A plane carrying 153 people crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board plus six people on the ground.Africa
47. 2013At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China.Asia
48. 2013The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland.North America
49. 2019Khartoum massacre: In Sudan, over 100 people are killed when security forces accompanied by Janjaweed militiamen storm and open fire on a sit-in protest.Africa
50. 2025Reconstitution of the Academy of the Distrustful in the Sala Dalmases of the Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona in Barcelona.Europe

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