August 3 facts for kids

August 3 is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 150 days remain until the end of the year. August 3rd is a day filled with many interesting events throughout history! From famous explorers setting sail to important inventions and big sports moments, this day has seen a lot happen. Let's explore some of the exciting things that have taken place on August 3rd.

Historical Events on August 3rd

Ancient Times and Middle Ages

• 8 – A Roman general named Tiberius won a battle against the Dalmatae people near the Bosna River.
• 435 – Nestorius, a church leader from Constantinople, was sent away to a monastery in Egypt by Emperor Theodosius II.
• 881 – In the Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu, Louis III of France defeated the Vikings. This victory was even celebrated in a poem!
• 908 – A Hungarian army defeated an East Frankish army in the Battle of Eisenach.
• 1031 – Olaf II of Norway was recognized as Saint Olaf by an English bishop.
• 1057 – Frederick of Lorraine was chosen to become Pope Stephen IX.
• 1342 – The Siege of Algeciras began in Spain during a time when Christian kingdoms were trying to take back land from Muslim rule.
• 1492 – The famous explorer Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, on his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1527 – The first known letter from North America was sent by John Rut from St. John's, Newfoundland.

From the 1600s to the 1900s

• 1601 – During the Long Turkish War, Austria captured Transylvania in the Battle of Goroszló.
• 1645 – In the Thirty Years' War, French forces defeated the Holy Roman Empire in the Second Battle of Nördlingen.
• 1678 – Robert LaSalle built the Le Griffon. This was the first known ship built on the Great Lakes in North America.
• 1778 – The famous La Scala opera house opened in Milan, Italy, with a new opera by Antonio Salieri.
• 1795 – The Treaty of Greenville was signed, bringing an end to the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio Country.
• 1811 – Brothers Johann Rudolf and Hieronymus Meyer were the first to climb Jungfrau, a tall mountain in the Swiss Alps.
• 1829 – The Treaty of Lewistown was signed. It allowed the Shawnee and Seneca peoples to exchange land in Ohio for land west of the Mississippi River.
• 1852 – Harvard University won the first ever Boat Race against Yale University. This was also the very first intercollegiate sports event in America!
• 1859 – The American Dental Association was started in Niagara Falls, New York.
• 1900 – The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded.

Modern History: 1901 to Today

• 1903 – Rebels in Kruševo declared the Kruševo Republic. It only lasted ten days before Ottoman forces took over the town.
• 1907 – Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis fined Standard Oil of Indiana a huge amount of money for unfair business practices.
• 1914 – World War I: Germany declared war against France. Meanwhile, Romania announced it would remain neutral.
• 1921 – Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis confirmed the ban of the eight Chicago Black Sox players. This happened the day after they were found not guilty in court.
• 1936 – At the Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens won the 100-meter dash, beating Ralph Metcalfe.
• 1936 – A large forest fire in Russia killed 1,200 people in Kursha-2. Only 20 people survived.
• 1940 – World War II: Italian forces began to invade British Somaliland.
• 1946 – Santa Claus Land, the world's first themed amusement park, opened in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States.
• 1948 – Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of being a communist and a spy for the Soviet Union.
• 1949 – The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League joined together to create the National Basketball Association (NBA).
• 1958 – The world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, became the first ship to travel underwater across the North Pole.
• 1960 – Niger gained its independence from France.
• 1972 – The United States Senate approved the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
• 1975 – A privately rented Boeing 707 plane crashed near Agadir, Morocco, killing 188 people.
• 1977 – Tandy Corporation announced the TRS-80, one of the first personal computers made for many people to buy.
• 1981 – Opposition parties in Senegal launched a new political group.
• 1997 – The Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opened. It is the tallest free-standing building in the Southern Hemisphere.
• 2004 – The base of the Statue of Liberty reopened after being closed since the September 11 attacks.
• 2005 – The President of Mauritania was removed from power in a military takeover while attending a funeral.
• 2007 – Raúl Iturriaga, a former deputy director of the Chilean secret police, was captured after being on the run.
• 2010 – Large riots broke out in Karachi, Pakistan, after a local politician was killed. This resulted in many deaths and significant damage.
• 2014 – A strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake in Yunnan, China, killed at least 617 people and injured more than 2,400.
• 2014 – The terrible persecution of the Yazidis by ISIL began.
• 2023 – Major parts of Slovenia were hit by the worst floods in their history.

Famous People Born on August 3rd

Before the 1600s

• 1442 – Galeotto I Pico, a Duke from Italy.
• 1491 – Maria of Jülich-Berg, a German noblewoman.
• 1509 – Étienne Dolet, a French scholar and translator.

From the 1600s to the 1900s

• 1622 – Wolfgang Julius, Count of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein, a German field marshal.
• 1692 – John Henley, an English minister and poet.
• 1724 – Alvise Foscari, a Venetian admiral.
• 1766 – Aaron Chorin, a Hungarian rabbi and author.
• 1770 – Frederick William III of Prussia, a King of Prussia.
• 1803 – Joseph Paxton, an English gardener and architect who designed The Crystal Palace.
• 1808 – Hamilton Fish, an American lawyer and politician who was the 26th United States Secretary of State.
• 1811 – Elisha Otis, an American businessman who started the Otis Elevator Company.
• 1817 – Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen, an Austrian Archduke.
• 1823 – Thomas Francis Meagher, an Irish-American revolutionary and military leader.
• 1832 – Ivan Zajc, a Croatian composer and conductor.
• 1840 – John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey, an English judge and politician.
• 1850 – Reginald Heber Roe, an English-Australian swimmer and academic.
• 1856 – Alfred Deakin, an Australian lawyer and politician who was the 2nd Prime Minister of Australia.
• 1860 – William Kennedy Dickson, a French-Scottish actor and director.
• 1863 – Géza Gárdonyi, a Hungarian author and journalist.
• 1867 – Stanley Baldwin, an English businessman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1871 – Vernon Louis Parrington, an American historian and scholar.
• 1872 – Haakon VII of Norway, a King of Norway.
• 1886 – Maithili Sharan Gupt, an Indian poet and playwright.
• 1887 – Rupert Brooke, an English poet.
• 1890 – Konstantin Melnikov, a Russian architect.
• 1894 – Harry Heilmann, an American baseball player.
• 1895 – Allen Bathurst, Lord Apsley, an English politician.
• 1896 – Ralph Horween, an American football player and coach.
• 1899 – Louis Chiron, a Monegasque race car driver.
• 1900 – Ernie Pyle, an American soldier and journalist.
• 1900 – John T. Scopes, an American educator.

Born in the 1900s and 2000s

• 1901 – John C. Stennis, an American lawyer and politician.
• 1901 – Stefan Wyszyński, a Polish cardinal.
• 1902 – Regina Jonas, a German rabbi.
• 1903 – Habib Bourguiba, a Tunisian politician who became the 1st President of Tunisia.
• 1904 – Dolores del Río, a Mexican actress.
• 1905 – Franz König, an Austrian cardinal.
• 1907 – Lawrence Brown, an American trombonist.
• 1907 – Ernesto Geisel, a Brazilian general and politician who was the 29th President of Brazil.
• 1907 – Yang Shangkun, a Chinese politician who was the 4th President of China.
• 1909 – Walter Van Tilburg Clark, an American author.
• 1911 – Alex McCrindle, a Scottish actor.
• 1912 – Fritz Hellwig, a German politician.
• 1913 – Mel Tolkin, an American screenwriter.
• 1916 – Shakeel Badayuni, an Indian poet.
• 1916 – José Manuel Moreno, an Argentinian footballer.
• 1917 – Les Elgart, an American trumpet player.
• 1918 – James MacGregor Burns, an American historian.
• 1918 – Larry Haines, an American actor.
• 1920 – Norman Dewis, an English test driver.
• 1920 – P. D. James, an English author.
• 1920 – Charlie Shavers, an American trumpet player.
• 1921 – Richard Adler, an American composer.
• 1921 – Marilyn Maxwell, an American actress.
• 1922 – John Eisenhower, an American historian and general.
• 1923 – Jean Hagen, an American actress.
• 1923 – Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, a Coptic Orthodox Pope.
• 1924 – Connie Converse, an American musician.
• 1924 – Leon Uris, an American author.
• 1925 – Marv Levy, an American-Canadian football coach.
• 1926 – Tony Bennett, a famous American singer.
• 1926 – Gordon Scott, an American actor.
• 1928 – Cécile Aubry, a French actress and director.
• 1930 – James Komack, an American actor and director.
• 1934 – Haystacks Calhoun, an American wrestler.
• 1934 – Jonas Savimbi, an Angolan general.
• 1935 – Martin Sheen, a well-known American actor.
• 1941 – Martha Stewart, an American businesswoman and author.
• 1943 – Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson of Sweden.
• 1944 – Nino Bravo, a Spanish singer.
• 1946 – Jack Straw, an English politician.
• 1949 – John Landis, an American director and producer.
• 1951 – Marcel Dionne, a Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1951 – Jay North, an American actor.
• 1952 – Osvaldo Ardiles, an Argentinian footballer.
• 1953 – Marlene Dumas, a South African painter.
• 1956 – Kirk Brandon, an English singer.
• 1959 – John C. McGinley, an American actor.
• 1959 – Koichi Tanaka, a Japanese chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1961 – Molly Hagan, an American actress.
• 1963 – James Hetfield, an American singer and guitarist for the band Metallica.
• 1963 – Isaiah Washington, an American actor.
• 1964 – Lucky Dube, a South African singer.
• 1964 – Nate McMillan, an American basketball player and coach.
• 1967 – Creme Puff, the oldest recorded cat ever!
• 1970 – Masahiro Sakurai, a Japanese video game designer.
• 1973 – Michael Ealy, an American actor.
• 1977 – Tom Brady, a famous American football player.
• 1979 – Evangeline Lilly, a Canadian actress.
• 1980 – Nadia Ali, a Libyan-American singer.
• 1984 – Ryan Lochte, an American swimmer who has won many Olympic medals.
• 1985 – Sonny Bill Williams, a New Zealand rugby player and boxer.
• 1986 – Charlotte Casiraghi, a Monégasque journalist.
• 1986 – Darya Domracheva, a Belarusian biathlete.
• 1989 – Jules Bianchi, a French race car driver.
• 1990 – Jourdan Dunn, an English model.
• 1992 – Karlie Kloss, an American fashion model.
• 1994 – Esther Earl, an American author and online personality, celebrated annually on Esther Day.
• 1994 – Todd Gurley, an American football player.

Notable People Who Passed Away on August 3rd

Before the 1600s

• 908 – Burchard, a duke from Thuringia.
• 925 – Cao, a Chinese empress.
• 979 – Thietmar, a margrave from Meissen.
• 1003 – At-Ta'i, an Abbasid caliph.
• 1355 – Bartholomew de Burghersh, 1st Baron Burghersh, an English nobleman.
• 1460 – James II, the King of Scotland.
• 1527 – Scaramuccia Trivulzio, an Italian cardinal.
• 1530 – Francesco Ferruccio, an Italian captain.
• 1546 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, an Italian architect.
• 1546 – Étienne Dolet, a French scholar and translator.

From the 1600s to the 1900s

• 1604 – Bernardino de Mendoza, a Spanish commander.
• 1621 – Guillaume du Vair, a French lawyer and author.
• 1712 – Joshua Barnes, an English historian.
• 1720 – Anthonie Heinsius, a Dutch politician.
• 1721 – Grinling Gibbons, a Dutch-English sculptor.
• 1761 – Johann Matthias Gesner, a German scholar.
• 1773 – Stanisław Konarski, a Polish poet.
• 1780 – Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, a French philosopher.
• 1792 – Richard Arkwright, an English engineer and businessman.
• 1797 – Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, an English field marshal and politician.
• 1805 – Christopher Anstey, an English author.
• 1835 – Wenzel Müller, an Austrian composer.
• 1839 – Dorothea von Schlegel, a German author.
• 1857 – Eugène Sue, a French author.
• 1866 – Gábor Klauzál, a Hungarian politician.
• 1867 – Philipp August Böckh, a German historian.
• 1877 – William B. Ogden, an American businessman and the 1st Mayor of Chicago.
• 1879 – Joseph Severn, an English painter.
• 1894 – George Inness, an American painter.

Passed Away in the 1900s and 2000s

• 1913 – William Lyne, an Australian politician.
• 1916 – Roger Casement, an Irish poet and activist.
• 1917 – Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, a German mathematician.
• 1920 – Peeter Süda, an Estonian organist and composer.
• 1924 – Joseph Conrad, a famous Polish-born British novelist.
• 1929 – Emile Berliner, a German-American inventor who created the phonograph.
• 1929 – Thorstein Veblen, an American economist.
• 1936 – Konstantin Konik, an Estonian surgeon and politician.
• 1942 – Richard Willstätter, a German-Swiss chemist who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1943 – Frumka Płotnicka, a Polish resistance fighter during World War II.
• 1949 – Ignotus, a Hungarian poet.
• 1954 – Colette, a French novelist.
• 1958 – Peter Collins, an English race car driver.
• 1964 – Flannery O'Connor, an American short story writer and novelist.
• 1966 – Lenny Bruce, an American comedian.
• 1968 – Konstantin Rokossovsky, a Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II.
• 1974 – Edgar Johan Kuusik, an Estonian architect.
• 1977 – Makarios III, the 1st President of the Republic of Cyprus.
• 1979 – Bertil Ohlin, a Swedish economist who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1983 – Carolyn Jones, an American actress.
• 1995 – Ida Lupino, an English-American actress and director.
• 1998 – Alfred Schnittke, a Russian composer.
• 2004 – Henri Cartier-Bresson, a famous French photographer.
• 2006 – Arthur Lee, an American singer.
• 2008 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Russian novelist and historian who won a Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 2010 – Bobby Hebb, an American singer-songwriter.
• 2011 – Bubba Smith, an American football player and actor.
• 2015 – Robert Conquest, an English-American historian and poet.
• 2020 – John Hume, a Northern Irish politician.
• 2022 – Jackie Walorski, an American politician.
• 2023 – Mark Margolis, an American actor.
• 2023 – Bram Moolenaar, a Dutch software engineer.

Holidays and Observances

• Anniversary of the Killing of Pidjiguiti (Guinea-Bissau)
• Armed Forces Day (Equatorial Guinea)
• Christian feast day:
  • George Freeman Bragg, W. E. B. Du Bois (Episcopal Church)
  • Lydia of Thyatira
  • Myrrhbearers (Lutheran Church)
  • Nicodemus
  • Olaf II of Norway (Translation of the relic)
  • Stephen (Discovery of the relic)
  • Waltheof of Melrose
  • August 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Flag Day (Venezuela)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Niger from France in 1960.
  • Arbor Day (Niger)
• National Guard Day (Venezuela)

See also

In Spanish: 3 de agosto para niños