July 3

Events

* 324 - Battle of Adrianople Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
* 987 - Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty which ruled France till the French Revolution in 1792.
*1250 - Louis IX of France is captured by Baibars' Mamluk army at the Battle of Fariskur while he is in Egypt conducting the Seventh Crusade; he later has to ransom himself.
*1608 - Québec City founded by Samuel de Champlain.
*1754 - French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.
*1767 - Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret.
* 1767 - Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded (first edition published this date).
*1775 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
*1778 - American Revolutionary War: British forces massacre 360 men, women and children in the Wyoming Valley massacre.
*1819 - The first savings bank in the United States (The Bank of Savings in New York City) opens.
*1839 - The first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today's Framingham State College, opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with 3 students.
*1844 - The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
*1848 - Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten.
*1849 - The French entered Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification.
*1852 - Congress establishes the United States's 2nd mint in San Francisco, California.
*1863 - U.S. Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett's Charge.
*1866 - Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.
*1884 - Dow Jones published its 1st stock average.
*1886 - Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen - the first purpose-built automobile.
*1886 - The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.
*1890 - Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
*1898 - Spanish-American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.
*1913 - Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.
*1938 - World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the "Mallard", which reaches a speed of 126 mph.(203 km/h)
* 1938 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.
*1944 - World War II: Minsk was liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration.
*1952 - Puerto Rico's Constitution is approved by the Congress of the United States.
*1962 - The Algerian War of Independence against the French ends.
*1969 - The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad.
*1970 - A British Dan-Air De Havilland Comet chartered jetliner crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 113 people.
*1977 - The Senegalese Republican Movement (MRS) is founded.
*1979 - US President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
*1986 - US President Ronald Reagan presides over the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.
*1988 - United States Navy warship USS "Vincennes" shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
*1988 - The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus.
*1994 - The deadliest day in Texas traffic history, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Forty six people were killed in crashes.
*1996 - Stone of Scone returned to Scotland.
*2001 - A Vladivostok Avia Tupolev TU-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145 people.
*2004 - Official opening of Bangkok's subway system.
*2005 - The national law legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect in Spain.
*2006 - Asteroid labeled as 2004 XP14 flies 432,308 km (268,624 miles) by Earth.

Births

*1423 - King Louis XI of France (d. 1483)
*1442 - Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1500)
*1530 - Claude Fauchet, French historian (d. 1601)
*1676 - Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal (d. 1747)
*1683 - Edward Young, English poet (d. 1765)
*1685 - Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, British cavalry officer (d. 1768)
*1728 - Robert Adam, Scottish architect (d. 1792)
*1738 - John Singleton Copley, American painter (d. 1815)
*1743 - Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, queen consort of Sweden (d. 1813)
*1851 - Charles Bannerman, Australian cricketer (d. 1930)
*1854 - Leoš Janáček, Czech composer (d. 1928)
*1866 - Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter
*1870 - Richard Bedford Bennett, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1947)
*1875 - Ferdinand Sauerbruch, German surgeon (d. 1951)
*1878 - George M. Cohan, American actor, director, singer and dancer (d. 1942)
*1879 - Alfred Korzybski, Polish linguist (d. 1950)
*1880 - Carl Schuricht, Polish-born German conductor (d. 1967)
*1883 - Franz Kafka, Czech writer (d. 1924)
*1900 - Alessandro Blasetti, Italian film director (d. 1987)
*1903 - Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1992)
*1906 - George Sanders, British actor (d. 1972)
* 1906 - Jack Earle, American actor and sideshow performer (d. 1952)
*1908 - M. F. K. Fisher, American writer (d. 1992)
* 1908 - Robert B. Meyner, American politician (d. 1990)
*1913 - Dorothy Kilgallen, American columnist (d. 1965)
*1917 - João Saldanha, Brazilian journalist and football manager (d. 1990)
*1918 - S. V. Ranga Rao, South Indian actor (d. 1974)
*1920 - Paul O'Dea, American baseball player (d. 1978)
*1921 - Susan Peters, American actress (d. 1952)
*1924 - S. R. Nathan, 6th president of Singapore
*1927 - Ken Russell, British director
*1930 - Carlos Kleiber, Austrian conductor (d. 2004)
* 1930 - Tommy Tedesco, American musician (d. 1997)
* 1930 - Pete Fountain, American clarinetist
*1933 - Edward Brandt, American doctor and public health official (d. 2007)
*1935 - Harrison Schmitt, American astronaut and politician
*1937 - Tom Stoppard, Czech-born, British playwright
*1938 - Bolo Yeung, Hong Kong actor
*1939 - László Kovács, Hungarian politician and diplomat
* 1939 - Brigitte Fassbaender, German mezzo-soprano
*1940 - César Tovar, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 1994)
* 1940 - Lamar Alexander, American politician
* 1940 - Jerzy Buzek, Prime Minister of Poland
* 1940 - Fontella Bass, American soul singer
*1942 - Eddy Mitchell, French singer and actor
* 1942 - Paco Stanley, Mexican TV personality (d. 1999)
*1943 - Kurtwood Smith, American actor
*1944 - Michel Polnareff, French singer and songwriter
*1945 - Michael Cole, American TV actor
*1946 - Leszek Miller, Prime Minister of Poland
*1947 - Dave Barry, American humorist and author
* 1947 - Betty Buckley, American actress
*1948 - Tarmo Koivisto, Finnish comics artist
*1949 - Jan Smithers, American actress
* 1949 - Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American singer (Heatwave) (d. 2006)
* 1950 - James Hahn, American politician
* 1950 - Ewen Chatfield, New Zealand cricketer
*1951 - Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
* 1951 - Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian politician
*1955 - Sanma Akashiya, Japanese television performer
*1956 - Montel Williams, American talk show host
* 1956 - Don Vito, American "Viva La Bam" castmember
*1957 - Laura Branigan, American singer (d. 2004)
*1958 - Matthew Fraser, Canadian-British journalist
* 1958 - Siân Lloyd, Welsh weather presenter
* 1958 - Aaron Tippin, American singer
*1959 - Julie Burchill, British journalist and author
* 1959 - Stephen Pearcy, American singer (Ratt)
*1960 - Vince Clarke, British songwriter (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure)
*1961 - Pedro Romeiras, Portuguese dancer
* 1961 - Tim Smith, English musician (Cardiacs)
*1962 - Tom Cruise, American actor
* 1962 - Hunter Tylo, American actress
* 1962 - Thomas Gibson, American actor
*1964 - Joanne Harris, British author
* 1964 - Yeardley Smith, French-born American actress
*1965 - Shinya Hashimoto, Japanese wrestler (d. 2005)
* 1965 - Connie Nielsen, Danish actress
*1966 - Moisés Alou, Dominican baseball player
*1967 - Brian Cashman, American major league baseball executive
*1968 - Aku Louhimies, Finnish film director and screenwriter
*1969 - Kevin Hearn, Canadian musician (Barenaked Ladies)
*1970 - Teemu Selänne, Finnish ice hockey player
* 1970 - Shawnee Smith, American actress
* 1970 - Serhiy Honchar, Ukrainian cyclist
*1973 - Johnny Terris, Canadian actor and director
* 1973 - Patrick Wilson, American actor
* 1973 - Emma Cunniffe, British actress
*1976 - Andrea Barber, American actress
* 1976 - Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1976 - Henry Olonga, Zimbabwean cricketer
* 1976 - Wanderlei Silva, Brazilian mixed martial artist
* 1976 - Bobby Skinstad, Springbok Rugby player
*1979 - Ludivine Sagnier, French actress
* 1979 - Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Greek footballer
* 1979 - David Bacani, American baseball player
*1980 - Roland Mark Schoeman, South African swimmer
* 1980 - Kevin Boyle, American basketballer
*1982 - Kanika, Indian actress
*1983 - Steph Jones, American singer and model
*1984 - Syed Rasel, Bangladeshi cricketer
* 1984 - Corey Sevier, Canadian actor
* 1984 - Manny Lawson, American Football player
*1985 - Minami Keisuke, Japanese singer and actor.
*1987 - Sebastian Vettel, German racing driver

Deaths

*1570 - Aonio Paleario, Italian humanist
*1642 - Maria de' Medici, wife of Henry IV of France (b. 1573)
*1672 - Francis Willughby, English biologist (b. 1635)
*1704 - Sophia Alekseyevna, regent of Russia (b. 1657)
*1749 - William Jones, Welsh mathematician (b. 1675)
*1778 - Anna Maria Pertl Mozart, mother of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (b. 1720)
*1790 - Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle, French chemist (b. 1736)
*1795 - Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (b. 1714)
* 1795 - Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and governor of Louisiana (b. 1716)
*1809 - Joseph Quesnel, French-Canadian composer and playwright (b. 1746)
*1858 - Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, Russian painter (b. 1806)
*1863 - George Hull Ward, American general (b. 1826)
*1904 - Theodor Herzl, Austrian Zionist (b. 1860)
* 1904 - Edouard Beaupré, Canadian giant and strongman (b. 1881)
*1914 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (b. 1836)
*1916 - Hetty Green, American businesswoman (b. 1834)
*1918 - Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1844)
*1933 - Hipólito Yrigoyen, President of Argentina (b. 1852)
*1935 - André Citroën, French automobile pioneer (b. 1878)
*1942 - Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general (b. 1856)
*1954 - Siegfried Handloser, German physician (b. 1895)
*1957 - Dolf Luque, baseball player (b. 1890)
*1969 - Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (b. 1942)
*1971 - Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (b. 1943)
*1977 - Alexander M. Volkov, Russian novelist and mathematician (b. 1891)
*1978 - James Daly, American actor (b. 1918)
*1979 - Louis Durey, French composer (b. 1888)
*1981 - Ross Martin, Polish-American actor (b. 1920)
*1985 - Frank Selke, Canadian ice hockey manager (b. 1893)
*1986 - Rudy Vallee, American singer (b. 1901)
*1989 - Jim Backus, American actor (b. 1913)
*1993 - Joe DeRita, American actor and comedian (b. 1909)
* 1993 - Don Drysdale, American baseball player (b. 1936)
*1994 - Lew Hoad, Australian tennis player (b. 1934)
*1995 - Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (b. 1928)
* 1995 - Eddie Mazur, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
*1998 - Danielle Bunten Berry, American software developer (b. 1949)
*1999 - Mark Sandman, American musician (b. 1952)
*2000 - Kemal Sunal, Turkish actor (b. 1944)
*2001 - Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (b. 1931)
*2001 - Johnny Russell, American country singer and songwriter (b. 1940)
*2003 - Gaetano Alibrandi, Papal diplomat (b. 1914)
*2004 - Andrian Nikolayev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1929)
*2005 - Alberto Lattuada, Italian film director (b. 1914)
* 2005 - Gaylord Nelson, American politician (b. 1916)
*2006 - Joseph Goguen, American computer scientist (b. 1941)
* 2006 - Benjamin Hendrickson, American actor (b. 1950)
*2007 - Alice Timander, Swedish dentist (b. 1915)
* 2007 - Boots Randolph, American saxophonist (b. 1927)
*2008 - Ernie Cooksey, English Footballer (b. 1980)
* 2008 - Larry Harmon, American entertainer and TV producer (b. 1925)
* 2008 - Clive Hornby, English soap actor - Emmerdale (b. 1944)
* 2008 - Oliver Schroer, Canadian fiddler and composer (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances

* Start of the Dog Days
* Independence Day in Belarus (when German forces lost Belarus to the Red Army in 1944)
* Aaron and Julius
* Saint Leo II (d. 683)
* Saint Heliodorus
* Saint Marinus, bishop, martyr
* Saint Mucian
* Saint Phocas, martyr
* Saint Raymond, confessor at Toulouse
* Translation of Saint Thomas
* Saint Tryphon

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/3 BBC: On This Day]
*
* [http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Jul&day=03 On This Day in Canada] ----