October 2

Events

• 1187 - Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule.
• 1535 - Jacques Cartier discovers Montreal, Quebec.
• 1780 - American Revolutionary War: British spy John Andre is hanged by American forces.
• 1835 - Texas Revolution begins: Battle of Gonzales - Mexican soldiers attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas but encounter stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.
• 1836 - Naturalist Charles Darwin returns to Falmouth, England aboard the HMS Beagle after a 5-year journey collecting biological data he will later use to develop his theory of evolution.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Saltville - Union forces attack Saltville, Virginia but are defeated by Confederate troops.
• 1889 - In Washington, DC, the first international Conference of American States begins.
• 1919 - US President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partiallyparalyzed.
• 1924 - The Geneva Protocol is adopted as a means to strengthen the League of Nations.
• 1935 - Italy invades Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
• 1941 - World War II: Operation Typhoon - Germany begins an all-out offensive against Moscow.
• 1944 - Holocaust: Nazi troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
• 1950 - The comic stip Peanuts by Charles Schulz is first published in seven US newspapers.
• 1955 - The ENIAC computer is deactivated.
• 1955 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents debuts (last new episode aired on June 26, 1962).
• 1958 - Guinea declares itself independent from France.
• 1959 - The Twilight Zone debuts.
• 1962 - Johnny Carson debuts as host of The Tonight Show.
• 1967 - Thurgood Marshall sworn in as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court.
• 1968 - A peaceful student demonstration in Mexico City ends in the Tlatelolco massacre.
• 1990 - A Chinese airline Boeing 737-247 is hijacked; after landing at Guangzhou, crashes into an empty Boeing 707-3J6B and then a Boeing 757-21B on the ground killing 132
• 1996 - The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• 1996 - A Aeroperu Boeing 757 crashes in Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru killing 70

Births

• 1452 - King Richard III of England
• 1798 - Charles Albert of Savoy
• 1800 - Nat Turner, American leader of slave uprising († 1831)
• 1832 - Edward Burnett Tylor, anthropologist
• 1847 - Paul von Hindenburg, German officer and politician († 1934)
• 1851 - Ferdinand Foch, French soldier († 1929)
• 1852 - William Ramsay, Scottish chemist
• 1869 - Mohandas Gandhi, Indian political leader († 1948)
• 1871 - Cordell Hull, United States Secretary of State († 1955)
• 1879 - Wallace Stevens, poet († 1955)
• 1890 - Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor († 1977)
• 1895 - Bud Abbott, comedian, actor († 1974)
• 1901 - Alice Prin, singer/artist: "Kiki" († 1953)
• 1904 - Graham Greene, British novelist († 1991)
• 1911 - Jack Finney, author († 1995)
• 1928 - George McFarland, American actor
• 1932 - Maury Wills, baseball star
• 1937 - Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., attorney
• 1938 - Rex Reed, movie critic, actor
• 1943 - Franklin Rosemont, co-founder of the Surrealist Movement in the United States
• 1945 - Don McLean, American songwriter
• 1948 - Avery Brooks, actor
• 1948 - Donna Karan, fashion designer
• 1949 - Richard Hell, musician
• 1951 - Sting, British singer, actor
• 1954 - Lani O'Grady, actress († 2001)
• 1955 - Lorraine Bracco, actress
• 1961 - Edmond Yu
• 1967 - Frankie Fredericks, Namibian athlete
• 1970 - Kelly Ripa, actress, television host

Deaths

• 1782 - Charles Lee, British and U.S. officer
• 1853 - François Jean Dominique Arago, French mathematician
• 1927 - Svante Arrhenius, Swedish scientist
• 1962 - Boris Y. Bukreev, Soviet mathematician, dies at 103
• 1968 - Marcel Duchamp, French artist
• 1973 - Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner
• 1981 - Hazel Scott, singer
• 1985 - Rock Hudson, actor
• 1998 - Gene Autry, singer, actor, entrepreneur
• 2003 - Gunther Philipp, Austrian comedian and actor

Holidays and observances

October 1 - October 3 - September 2 - November 2 - more historical anniversaries

Referenced By