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This day in history

This day in history: 3 June

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day162 · 92

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Key facts

304 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 3 June.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2025: Reconstitution of the Academy of the Distrustful in the Sala Dalmases of the Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona in Barcelona.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Blessed Francis Ingleby

Christian feast day: Charles Lwanga and Companions (Roman Catholic Church), and its related observances: Martyrs' Day (Uganda)

Christian feast day: Clotilde

Christian feast day: Juan Grande Román

Christian feast day: June 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Kevin of Glendalough

Christian feast day: Ovidius

Christian feast day: Vladimirskaya (Russian Orthodox)

Confederate Memorial Day (Kentucky, and Tennessee, United States)

Economist day (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Mabo Day (Australia)

Opium Suppression Movement Day (Taiwan)

Events

2025Reconstitution of the Academy of the Distrustful in the Sala Dalmases of the Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona in Barcelona.

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.

2013At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China.

2013The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland.

2012A plane carrying 153 people crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board plus six people on the ground.

2012The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames.

2006The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence.

1998After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people.

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.

1991Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.

1989The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.

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 t

1982The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed.

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.

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.

1973A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.

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.

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.

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.

1962At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130.

1950Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.

1943In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines attack Latino youths in the five-day Zoot Suit Riots.

1942World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island.

1941World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants.

1940Franz Rademacher proposes plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland", an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl.

1940World War II: During the Battle of France, the Luftwaffe bombs Paris.

1937The Duke of Windsor (the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom) marries Wallis Simpson.

1935One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa.

1916The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.

1892Liverpool F.C. is founded by John Houlding.

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.

1885In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police.

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.

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.

1861American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia.

1844The last pair of great auks is killed.

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.

1781Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending British raid.

1700Foundation of the Academy of the Distrustful in the library room of the Palau Dalmases in Barcelona.

1665James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.

Born on this day

2011Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, Turkish chess prodigy and grandmaster

2005Désiré Doué, French footballer

2002Tyrell Sloan, Australian rugby league player

2001Jalen Suggs, American basketball player

2000Beabadoobee, Filipino singer-songwriter

1999Cameron Green, Australian cricketer

1999Dzhem Yamenov, Bulgarian politician

1998Sam Curran, English cricketer

1997Louis Hofmann, German actor

1994Harrison Bader, American baseball player

1993Otto Porter Jr., American basketball player

1992Dilraba Dilmurat, Chinese actress

1992Jade Cargill, American professional wrestler

1992Mario Götze, German footballer

1991Yordano Ventura, Dominican baseball player (died 2017)

1989Imogen Poots, English actress and model

1989Katie Hoff, American swimmer

1987Masami Nagasawa, Japanese actress

1986Al Horford, Dominican basketball player

1986Micah Kogo, Kenyan runner

1986Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player

1986Tomáš Verner, Czech ice skater

1985Łukasz Piszczek, Polish footballer

1985Papiss Cissé, Senegalese footballer

1983Pasquale Foggia, Italian footballer

1982Manfred Mölgg, Italian skier

1982Yelena Isinbayeva, Russian pole vaulter

1981Sam Murphy, Australian rugby league player

1981Sosene Anesi, New Zealand rugby player

1980Amauri, Italian international footballer

1979Christian Malcolm, Welsh sprinter

1979Pierre Poilievre, Canadian politician, Leader of the Opposition

1977Cris, Brazilian footballer

1977Travis Hafner, American baseball player

1976Jamie McMurray, American race car driver

1975Jose Molina, Puerto Rican baseball player

1974Kelly Jones, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist

1974Serhiy Rebrov, Ukrainian international footballer and manager

1972Julie Gayet, French actress

1971John Hodgman, American humorist

Died on this day

2025Edmund White, American novelist, memoirist and essayist (born 1940)

2025Jim Marshall, American football player (born 1937)

2025Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and manager (born 1936)

2024Brigitte Bierlein, former Austrian chancellor (born 1949)

2024William Russell, English actor (born 1924)

2021F. Lee Bailey, American attorney (born 1933)

2016Muhammad Ali, American boxer (born 1942)

2015Avi Beker, Israeli political scientist and academic (born 1951)

2014Gopinath Munde, Indian politician, 3rd Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (born 1949)

2014Svyatoslav Belza, Russian journalist, author, and critic (born 1942)

2013Atul Chitnis, German-Indian technologist and journalist (born 1962)

2013Frank Lautenberg, American soldier and politician (born 1924)

2013Józef Czyrek, Polish economist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1928)

2012Brian Talboys, New Zealand journalist and politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1921)

2012Carol Ann Abrams, American producer, author, and academic (born 1942)

2012Roy Salvadori, English racing driver and manager (born 1922)

2011Andrew Gold, American singer, songwriter, musician and arranger (born 1951)

2011Bhajan Lal, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Haryana (born 1930)

2011Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, author, and activist (born 1928)

2011James Arness, American actor and producer (born 1923)

2011Jan van Roessel, Dutch footballer (born 1925)

2010Rue McClanahan, American actress (born 1934)

2009David Carradine, American actor (born 1936)

2009Koko Taylor, American singer (born 1928)

2006Clinton Jones, American Episcopal priest and gay rights activist (born 1916)

2005Harold Cardinal, Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1945)

2003Felix de Weldon, Austrian-American sculptor, designed the Marine Corps War Memorial (born 1907)

2002Lew Wasserman, American talent agent and manager (born 1913)

2001Anthony Quinn, Mexican-American actor and producer (born 1915)

1997Dennis James, American actor and game show host (born 1917)

Quote of the day

“Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.”

Seneca

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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