On this day in history

August 3

26 births · 16 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

112

Western Front

112 years ago

Born this day

1963

James Hetfield

Turns 63

Photo (modified): Kreepin Deth · CC BY-SA 4.0

Oldest record

566th

James II of Scotland

death anniversary

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Famous births26

1770 · 256 yrs

Frederick William III of Prussia

Frederick William III (German: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Thomas Lawrence · Public domain

1853 · 173 yrs

Aleksey Brusilov

Aleksei Alekseyevich Brusilov (US also; Russian: Алексе́й Алексе́евич Бруси́лов, IPA:; 31 August 1853 – 17 March 1926) was a Russian and later Soviet general most noted for the development of new offensive tactics used in the 1916 Brusilov offensive, which was his greatest achievement.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 72

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1856 · 170 yrs

Alfred Deakin

Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was the second prime minister of Australia. He served three terms from 1903 to 1904, from 1905 to 1908, and from 1909 to 1910.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 63

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1867 · 159 yrs

Stanley Baldwin

Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (3 August 1867 – 14 December 1947), was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was prominent in the political leadership of the United Kingdom between the world wars.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 80

View profile Photo (modified): Bain News Service · Public domain

1872 · 154 yrs

Haakon VII of Norway

Haakon VII (Norwegian:; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 1872 – 21 September 1957) was King of Norway from 1905 until his death in 1957.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 85

View profile Photo (modified): National Library of Norway · No restrictions

1903 · 123 yrs

Habib Bourguiba

Habib Bourguiba (3 August 1903 – 6 April 2000) was a Tunisian politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia from 1956 to 1957, and then as the first president of Tunisia from 1957 to 1987.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 123

View profile Photo (modified): Habib Osman · Public domain

1903 · 123 yrs

Fahri Korutürk

Fahri Sabit Korutürk (15 August 1903 – 12 October 1987) was a Turkish admiral, diplomat and politician who was the president of Turkey from 1973 to 1980. Before his presidency, he served as the commander of the Turkish Naval Forces from 1957 to 1960.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 123

View profile Photo (modified): Anonymous Unknown author · Public domain

1904 · 122 yrs

Clifford D. Simak

Clifford Donald Simak (August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer and journalist. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 122

View profile Photo (modified): Stellar Publishing / unidentified staff artist(s) · Public domain

1926 · 100 yrs

Tony Bennett

Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 100

View profile Photo (modified): Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

1934 · 92 yrs

Jonas Malheiro Savimbi

Jonas Malheiro Sidónio Sakaita Savimbi (Portuguese:; 3 August 1934 – 22 February 2002) was an Angolan revolutionary, politician, and rebel military leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, also known as UNITA.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryWould be 92

View profile Photo (modified): Ernmuhl · CC BY-SA 3.0

1940 · 86 yrs

Martin Sheen

Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans more than six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and four Actor Awards.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmAge 86

View profile Photo (modified): Brian McGuirk from Providence, RI · CC BY-SA 2.0

1941 · 85 yrs

Hage Geingob

Hage Gottfried Geingob (3 August 1941 – 4 February 2024) was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the country's first prime minister from 1990 to 2002, and served again from 2012 to 2015.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 85

View profile Photo (modified): Brussels - EC/Berlaymont · CC BY 4.0

Showing 12 of 26

Famous deaths16

1460 · 566 yrs

James II of Scotland

James II (16 October 1430 – 3 August 1460) was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460. The eldest surviving son of James I of Scotland, he succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of six.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 29

View profile Photo (modified): anonymous · Public domain

1780 · 246 yrs

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac ( KON-ih-yak; French:; 30 September 1714 – 2 August or 3 August 1780) was a French philosopher and Catholic priest who focused on psychology and the philosophy of the mind.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 65

View profile Photo (modified): Pierre-Michel Alix / After Giuseppe Baldrighi · Public domain

1792 · 234 yrs

Richard Arkwright

Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

BusinessDied aged 59

View profile Photo (modified): Joseph Wright of Derby · Public domain

1857 · 169 yrs

Eugène Sue

Marie-Joseph "Eugène" Sue (French pronunciation:; 26 January 1804 – 3 August 1857) was a French novelist. He was one of several authors who popularized the genre of the serial novel in France with his very popular and widely imitated The Mysteries of Paris, which was published in a newspaper from 1842 to 1843.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 53

View profile Photo (modified): François Gabriel Guillaume Lépaulle · Public domain

1924 · 102 yrs

Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, Polish:; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and story writer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 66

View profile Photo (modified): George Charles Beresford · Public domain

1929 · 97 yrs

Thorstein Veblen

Thorstein Bunde Veblen ( THOR-styn VEH-blən; July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an American economist and sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known critic of capitalism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 72

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1942 · 84 yrs

Richard Willstätter

Richard Martin Willstätter FRS(For) HFRSE (German pronunciation:, 13 August 1872 – 3 August 1942) was a German organic chemist whose study of the structure of plant pigments, chlorophyll included, won him the 1915 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1954 · 72 yrs

Colette

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (French:; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette or as Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 81

View profile Photo (modified): Henri Manuel · Public domain

1964 · 62 yrs

Flannery O'Connor

Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 101

View profile Photo (modified): Cmacauley · CC BY-SA 3.0

1968 · 58 yrs

Konstantin Rokossovsky

Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky (9 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish general who served as a top commander in the Red Army during World War II and achieved the ranks of Marshal of the Soviet Union and Marshal of Poland. He also served as Defence Minister of Poland from 1949 to 1956.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryWould be 137

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · CC BY 4.0

1977 · 49 yrs

Makarios III

Makarios III (born Michael Christodoulou Mouskos; 13 August 1913 – 3 August 1977) was a Greek Cypriot prelate and politician who served as Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977 and as the first president of Cyprus between 1960 and July 1974, with a second term between December 1974 and 1977.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionWould be 113

View profile Photo (modified): New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer: Fernandez, Orlando, photographer. Cropped by Badseed using The G · Public domain

1979 · 47 yrs

Bertil Ohlin

Bertil Gotthard Ohlin (Swedish:) (23 April 1899 – 3 August 1979) was a Swedish economist and politician. He was a professor of economics at the Stockholm School of Economics from 1929 to 1965.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 127

View profile Photo (modified): Gunnar Lantz · Public domain

Showing 12 of 16

Events5

1914 · 112 yrs

Western Front

The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1914 · 112 yrs

Balkans Theater

The Balkan Front, Balkans theatre or Balkan campaign was a theatre of World War I fought between the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and the Ottoman Empire) and the Allies (Serbia, Montenegro, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and later, Greece).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1926 · 100 yrs

Cristero War

The Cristero War (Spanish: La guerra cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or La Cristiada, was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularist and anticlerical articles of the 1917 Constitution.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2001 · 25 yrs

2001 World Championships in Athletics

The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 and 12 August 2001 and was the first time the event had visited North America.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

2019 · 7 yrs

2019 El Paso shooting

On August 3, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, United States. The gunman, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, shot 45 people, killing 23 and injuring 22 others.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tragedy

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