- August 3, 0008 Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus.
- August 3, 0435 “Deposed Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, was exiled by Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II to a monastery in Egypt.”
- August 3, 0881 “Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu, where Louis III of France defeated the Vikings, an event celebrated in the poem Ludwigslied”
- August 3, 1492 “Columbus sets sail from Palos, Spain for “”Indies”””
- August 3, 1492 The Jews of Spain are expelled by the Catholic Monarchs.
- August 3, 1527 “First known letter was sent from North America by John Rut while at St. John’s, Newfoundland.”
- August 3, 1635 “The third of the Tokugawa shoguns, Iemitsu, establishes the system of alternate attendance (sankin kotai) by which the feudal daimy are required to spend one year at Edo Castle in Tokyo and one year back home at their feudal manor, while their families remained in Tokyo as virtual political hostages. (Traditional Japanese Date: June 21, 1635).”
- August 3, 1645 “Thirty Years’ War: Second Battle of Nrdlingen (Battle of Allerheim) – A French army under the command of Louis de Bourbon, Duc d’Enghien and Marshal Henri, Vicomte de Turenne attacks and defeats an Imperial army, led by Field Marshal Franz Baron (Freiherr) von Mercy at Alerheim, near Nrdlingen, Germany.”
- August 3, 1678 “Robert LaSalle builds first ship in America, Griffon”
- August 3, 1783 “Mount Asama erupts in Japan, killing 35,000 people.”
- August 3, 1852 “First Boat Race between Yale and Harvard, the first American intercollegiate athletic event. Harvard won.”
- August 3, 1852 “First intercollegiate rowing race, Harvard beats Yale by 4 lengths”
- August 3, 1860 American Canoe Association founded at Lake George NY
- August 3, 1860 Second Maori War begins
- August 3, 1860 The Second Maori War begins in New Zealand.
- August 3, 1861 “First manned balloon from a ship used to observe Confederate artillery position at Hampton Roads, VA”
- August 3, 1882 Congress passes first law restricting immigration
- August 3, 1900 Firestone Tire & Rubber Company founded.
- August 3, 1913 Wheatland Hop Riot
- August 3, 1914 “Australian government offers to place the vessels of the Royal Australian Navy under control of the British Admiralty and to raise a force of 20,000 troops in event of war”
- August 3, 1914 World War I: Germany declares war against France.
- August 3, 1916 “Australian Light Horse in battle of Romani, Egypt”
- August 3, 1921 First aerial cropdusting in Troy Ohio to kill caterpillars
- August 3, 1923 “Calvin Coolidge is sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, following the death of Warren G. Harding.”
- August 3, 1923 The deceased Warren G. Harding was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge as the 30th President of the United States.
- August 3, 1934 Adolf Hitler becomes the supreme leader of Germany by joining the offices of President and Chancellor into Fhrer.
- August 3, 1934 “Three days of anti-Jewish rioting in Constantine, Algeria leave 23 Jews killed and 35 wounded. The pogroms are traced to Radio-Berlin and Radio-Stuttgart Nazi broadcasts.”
- August 3, 1936 Jesse Owens wins the 100 meter dash by defeating Ralph Metcalfe at Berlin Olympics.
- August 3, 1936 “SS Calyx, built at Eems, Germany in 1929 and renamed in 1936, she sank at the entrance to Ipswich dock. Declared a total loss and later broken up at Ipswich.”
- August 3, 1936 The U.S. State Department urges Americans living in Spain to leave because of the Spanish civil war.
- August 3, 1940 Lithuanian is accepted into the USSR
- August 3, 1943 “A private in an army hospital in Sicily is slapped by U.S. General George S. Patton, who accused the soldier of cowardice. Patton later apologized for the incident, at the request of General Dwight D. Eisenhower.”