- October 3, 0042 BC – First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar’s assassins Brutus and Cassius.
- October 3, 1264 Comet said to predict the death of Pope Urban IV is last seen
- October 3, 1283 “Dafydd ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwynedd in Wales, becomes the first person executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered.”
- October 3, 1574 The Siege of Leiden is lifted by the Watergeuzen.
- October 3, 1683 The Qing Dynasty naval commander Shi Lang reaches Taiwan (under the Kingdom of Tungning) to receive the formal surrender of Zheng Keshuang and Liu Guoxuan after the Battle of Penghu.
- October 3, 1712 The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor.
- October 3, 1712 “Warrant issued for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor, Highland Freebooter, by the Lord Advocate at the instigation of the Duke of Montrose.”
- October 3, 1739 “The Treaty of Nissa is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia at the end of the Russian-Turkish War, 1736-1739.”
- October 3, 1778 British Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska.
- October 3, 1789 Washington proclaims the First national Thanksgiving Day on Nov 26
- October 3, 1795 General Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence being named to defend the French National Convention against armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the three year old revolutionary government.
- October 3, 1862 “Battle of Corinth, Miss”
- October 3, 1863 Lincoln designates last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day
- October 3, 1863 Thanksgiving Day declared as the fourth Thursday in November by President Abraham Lincoln.
- October 3, 1873 Captain Jack and companions are hanged for their part in the Modoc War.
- October 3, 1883 “The Holyhead was a steamer owned by the London and North Western Railway which rammed the barque Alhambra amidships in the Irish Sea between Dublin and Holyhead in clear weather. The Holyhead’s general cargo included 300 pigs, and 17 horses. The Alhambra was carrying coal as ballast and was almost cut in two and sank in a few minutes. The Holyhead sank shortly afterwards. The loss of life from the Holyhead totalled 13, including the Captain, C.W.Hicks, and his daughter. Loss of life on the Alhambra not known, but there was a crew of 25.”
- October 3, 1904 Mary McLeod Bethune opens Daytona Normal and Industrial School
- October 3, 1908 “The Pravda newspaper founded by Leon Trotsky, Adolph Joffe, Matvey Skobelev and other Russian exiles in Vienna.”
- October 3, 1913 Federal Income Tax signed into law (at 1%)
- October 3, 1918 Boris becomes king of Bulgaria
- October 3, 1918 King Boris III of Bulgaria takes the throne.
- October 3, 1922 “First facsimile photo send over city telephone lines, Washington, DC”
- October 3, 1928 “French sub “”Ondine”” sinks returning to Toulon, drowning 42″
- October 3, 1935 Italy invades Ethiopia under General de Bono.
- October 3, 1942 Launch of the First A-4/V-2 rocket to altitude of 53 miles (85 km)
- October 3, 1942 “Spaceflight: First successful launch of a V-2 /A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemnde, Germany: the first man-made object to reach space.”
- October 3, 1945 World Federation of Trade Unions formed; CIO a member
- October 3, 1947 “First telescope lens 200″” (508 cm) in diameter completed”
- October 3, 1951 “Battle of Maryang-San, Korea starts”
- October 3, 1951 “Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 1 (HS-1), first of its kind in the Navy, was established at NAS Key West, Fla.”
- October 3, 1952 “First video recording on magnetic tape, LA, Ca”
- October 3, 1952 United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon.
- October 3, 1953 Petrobras is founded by the Brazilian government.
- October 3, 1954 “””Father Knows Best”” premieres”
- October 3, 1955 Captain Kangaroo debuts on CBS.
- October 3, 1955 “Soviet battleship “”Novorossiisk”” strikes WW II mine in Baltic Sea”
- October 3, 1955 The Mickey Mouse Club debuts on ABC.
- October 3, 1957 Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems is ruled not obscene.
- October 3, 1962 “Project Mercury: Sigma 7 launched from Cape Canaveral, with Astronaut Wally Schirra aboard for a six-orbit, nine-hour flight.”
- October 3, 1967 “William Knight sets X-15 speed rec of 7,297 KPH/4,534 MPH/Mach 6.72”