What happened today in history
What happened on April 3
On April 3 history recorded 50 notable events. 160 people who left a mark were born on this day, and 103 died. Here is the full almanac.
- 50events
- 160births
- 103deaths
- 7observances
Highlights
Highlights
Edward the Confessor, usually considered to be the last king of the House of Wessex, was crowned King of England.
Edward the Confessor was King of the English from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex.
Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain signed the second treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, ending the Italian War of 1551–1559.
Henry II was King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis in 1536.
Robert Walpole took office as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons, becoming the first de facto prime minister of Great Britain.
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain, serving from 1721 to 1742. His formal titles included First Lor
April 3
On this day
VII century
- 686
686Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
X century
XI century
XVI century
XVIII century
XIX century
- 1851
1851Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand after the death of his half-brother, Rama III. - 1860
1860The first successful United States Pony Express run from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, begins. - 1865
1865American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America. - 1882
1882American Old West: Robert Ford kills Jesse James. - 1885
1885Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for a light, high-speed, four-stroke engine, which he uses seven months later to create the world's first motorcycle, the Daimler Reitwagen. - 1888
1888Jack the Ripper: The first of 11 unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurs. - 1895
1895The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
XX century
- 1905
1905Association football club Boca Juniors is founded in Buenos Aires, Argentina - 1920
1920Attempts are made to carry out the failed assassination attempt on General Mannerheim, led by Aleksander Weckman by order of Eino Rahja, during the White Guard parade in Tampere, Finland. - 1922
1922Joseph Stalin becomes the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. - 1933
1933First flight over Mount Everest, the British Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston. - 1936
1936Bruno Richard Hauptmann is executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the infant son of pilot Charles Lindbergh. - 1942
1942World War II: Japanese forces begin an assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula. - 1946
1946Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March. - 1948
1948Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries. - 1948
1948In Jeju Province, South Korea, a civil-war-like period of violence and human rights abuses known as the Jeju uprising begins. - 1955
1955The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg's book Howl against obscenity charges. - 1956
1956Hudsonville–Standale tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado. - 1961
1961LAN-Chile Flight 621 crashes in the Andes mountains, killing 21 people, including Argentinian football player Eliseo Mouriño. - 1968
1968Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech; he was assassinated the next day. - 1969
1969Vietnam War: United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to "Vietnamize" the war effort. - 1973
1973Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the first handheld mobile phone call to Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs. - 1974
1974The 1974 Super Outbreak occurs, the second largest tornado outbreak in recorded history (after the 2011 Super Outbreak). The death toll is 315, with nearly 5,500 injured. - 1975
1975Vietnam War: Operation Babylift, a mass evacuation of children in the closing stages of the war begins. - 1975
1975Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default. - 1980
1980US Congress restores a federal trust relationship with the 501 members of the Shivwits, Kanosh, Koosharem, and the Indian Peaks and Cedar City bands of the Paiute people of Utah. - 1981
1981The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. - 1989
1989The US Supreme Court upholds the jurisdictional rights of tribal courts under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 in Mississippi Choctaw Band v. Holyfield. - 1993
1993The outcome of the Grand National horse race is declared void for the first (and only) time. - 1996
1996Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is captured at his Montana cabin in the United States. - 1996
1996A United States Air Force Boeing T-43 crashes near Dubrovnik Airport in Croatia, killing 35, including Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. - 1997
1997The Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas. - 2000
2000United States v. Microsoft Corp.: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust law by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.
XXI century
- 2004
2004Islamic terrorists involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves. - 2007
2007Conventional-Train World Speed Record: A French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line sets an official new world speed record of 574.8 km/h (159.6 m/s, 357.2 mph). - 2008
2008ATA Airlines, once one of the ten largest U.S. passenger airlines and largest charter airline, files for bankruptcy for the second time in five years and ceases all operations. - 2008
2008Texas law enforcement cordons off the FLDS's YFZ Ranch. Eventually 533 women and children will be taken into state custody. - 2009
2009Jiverly Antares Wong opens fire at the American Civic Association immigration center in Binghamton, New York, killing thirteen and wounding four before committing suicide. - 2010
2010Apple Inc. released the first generation iPad, a tablet computer. - 2013
2013More than 50 people die in floods resulting from record-breaking rainfall in La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina. - 2016
2016The Panama Papers, a leak of legal documents, reveals information on 214,488 offshore companies. - 2017
2017A bomb explodes in the St Petersburg metro system, killing 14 and injuring several more people. - 2018
2018YouTube headquarters shooting: A 38-year-old gunwoman opens fire at YouTube Headquarters in San Bruno, California, injuring three people before committing suicide.
Best known
Born on April 3
Best known
Died on April 3
Philip of Milly
Seventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar
Arthur I of Brittany
Duke of Brittany from 1196 to 1203
Richard of Chichester
13th-century Bishop of Chichester and saint
Pope Honorius IV
Head of the Catholic Church from 1285 to 1287
Nizamuddin Auliya
Indian Sufi saint
Odo IV of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy from 1315-1349
Holidays and observances
- Christian feast day: Agape, Chionia, and Irene
- Christian feast day: Burgundofara
- Christian feast day: Joseph the Hymnographer
- Christian feast day: Luigi Scrosoppi
- Christian feast day: Piotr Edward Dankowski
- Christian feast day: Richard of Chichester
- Christian feast day: April 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Frequently asked questions
What happened on April 3?
50 documented historical events happened on April 3, from antiquity to the present day. The best known is this: Edward the Confessor, usually considered to be the last king of the House of Wessex, was crowned King of England. On the same day, in another year: Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain signed the second treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, ending the Italian War of 1551–1559. On Almanaccolo every event is listed in chronological order, grouped by century, and links to the Wikipedia article it comes from, so you can always read further or check the source. Alongside the events you find who was born and who died on this date, and which observances are celebrated around the world.
Who was born on April 3?
160 people with a Wikipedia article were born on April 3, including Fazlur Rahman Khan, Lawton Chiles, Helmut Kohl. The list spans every era and every field — art, science, politics, sport, entertainment — ordered by year of birth, from the earliest to the most recent. The six featured people are those most has been written about: the ordering uses the length of their Wikipedia article as an indicator of prominence. For each one you find their occupation, year of birth and a link to the full biography.
Who died on April 3?
103 people with a Wikipedia article died on April 3, including Philip of Milly, Arthur I of Brittany, Richard of Chichester. The list is in chronological order by year of death and spans all of documented history, from antiquity to the present day. For each person you find their occupation, the year and a link to the Wikipedia biography, where the full story and its sources can be read.
What is celebrated on April 3?
7 observances are celebrated on April 3 around the world: Christian feast day: Agape, Chionia, and Irene, Christian feast day: Burgundofara, Christian feast day: Joseph the Hymnographer, Christian feast day: Luigi Scrosoppi, Christian feast day: Piotr Edward Dankowski, Christian feast day: Richard of Chichester. The list gathers national holidays, international days and religious or civil observances falling on this date in different countries, as recorded on Wikipedia. Some are fixed and recur on the same day every year; others depend on the local calendar. Each links to the article explaining its origin and meaning.
Keep exploring
Free app
Every day’s history, in your pocket
Almanaccolo greets you each morning with the almanac of the day, sunrise and sunset times and your saved events.
- Today’s almanac, every morning
- Save the events that strike you
- Sunrise, sunset and weather for your city
- Free, no account required

Source: Wikipedia · Calendar