Historical Events on June 3

Our archives currently hold 68 major historical events, 24 famous births, and 24 notable deaths that took place on June 3. From world-changing treaties to the birth of modern icons, discover the legacy of this day.

Verified Source: Automatically curated and fact-checked via the Wikimedia Foundation Archives.

Jun 03

Events

2025

Prime minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigned after weeks of protests.
2025

Reconstitution of the Academy of the Distrustful in the Sala Dalmases of the Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona in Barcelona.
2019

Khartoum massacre: In Sudan, over 100 people are killed when security forces accompanied by Janjaweed militiamen storm and open fire on a sit-in protest.
2013

The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland.
2013

At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China.
2012

A plane carrying 153 people crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board plus six people on the ground.
2012

The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames.
2006

The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence.
1998

After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people.
1992

Australian Aboriginal land rights are recognised in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Torres Strait Islander Eddie Mabo which led to the Native Title Act 1993 overturning the long-held colonial assumption of terra nullius.
1991

Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.
1989

The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.
1984

Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.
1982

A failed assassination attempt was made on Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, triggering an Israeli decision to invade Lebanon three days later.
1982

The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed.
1980

The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, United States, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $1172 million in 2025) worth of damage.
1979

Having invaded Uganda and deposed President Idi Amin, Tanzanian forces secured Uganda's western border, ending a seven-month war.
1979

A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.
1973

At the Paris Air Show, a Tupolev Tu-144 broke up in mid-air, killing all six members of its crew and eight bystanders on the ground.
1973

A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.
1969

During a SEATO exercise in the South China Sea, a collision between HMAS Melbourne and USS Frank E. Evans resulted in the latter vessel being cut in two and the deaths of 74 personnel.
1969

Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half; resulting in 74 deaths.
1968

American radical feminist Valerie Solanas shot and wounded visual artist Andy Warhol and two others at Warhol's New York City studio, the Factory.
1965

The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk.
1963

Buddhist crisis: South Vietnamese soldiers attacked Buddhist protesters in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalised.
1963

Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.
1962

At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130.
1950

Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, members of the French Annapurna expedition, became the first climbers to reach the summit of a peak higher than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) above sea level.
1950

Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.
1943

In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines attack Latino youths in the five-day Zoot Suit Riots.
1942

World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island.
1941

World War II: In reprisal for the participation of the local population in the Battle of Crete, the German Wehrmacht destroyed the village of Kandanos, Greece, and killed about 180 of its inhabitants.
1941

World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants.
1940

Franz Rademacher, a Nazi official, proposed that the island of Madagascar be made available as a destination for the resettlement of the Jewish population of Europe.
1940

World War II: During the Battle of France, the Luftwaffe bombs Paris.
1937

Half a year after abdicating the British throne, Edward, Duke of Windsor, married American socialite Wallis Simpson in a private ceremony in France.
1937

The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson.
1935

One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa.
1921

At his trial for the assassination of Talaat Pasha, viewed as the main orchestrator of the Armenian genocide, Soghomon Tehlirian was acquitted after arguing: "I have killed a man, but I am not a murderer."
1917

A socialist convention in Leeds, United Kingdom, called for an end to the First World War and the establishment of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates across the country.
1916

The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.
1892

Liverpool F.C. (stadium pictured), one of England's most successful football clubs, was founded.
1892

Liverpool F.C. is founded by John Houlding.
1889

The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.
1885

In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police.
1882

The British merchant ship Virago sank off Alderney with the loss of 26 crew.
1864

American Civil War: Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant sustain heavy casualties attacking Confederate troops under Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Virginia.
1863

American Civil War: Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia begin marching to invade the North for a second time, starting the Gettysburg campaign.
1861

American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia.
1844

The last known pair of great auks (one pictured), the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus of flightless birds, were killed on Eldey, Iceland.
1844

The last pair of great auks is killed.
1839

In Humen, China, Lin Zexu destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War.
1781

American Revolutionary War: Jack Jouett rode 40 miles (64 km) to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of British cavalry who had been sent to capture them.
1781

Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending British raid.
1770

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, a historic Catholic mission church in present-day Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and the site of the first Christian confirmation in Alta California, was established.
1700

Foundation of the Academy of the Distrustful in the library room of the Palau Dalmases in Barcelona.
1665

James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.
1658

Pope Alexander VII appointed François de Laval as the first apostolic vicar of New France.
1621

The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland.
1608

Samuel de Champlain lands at Tadoussac, Quebec, in the course of his third voyage to New France, and begins erecting fortifications.
1602

Anglo-Spanish War: The English navy defeated a Spanish–Portuguese fleet off Sesimbra, Portugal, and captured a carrack.
1602

An English naval force defeats a fleet of Spanish galleys, and captures a large Portuguese carrack at the Battle of Sesimbra Bay.
1539

Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain.
1326

The Treaty of Novgorod established the border between Norway and the Novgorod Republic in Finnmark.
1140

The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.
1098

After a five-month siege during the First Crusade, the Crusaders seize Antioch.
713

The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army.
350

The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.

Births

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Deaths

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Historical Events on June 3

Events

Prime minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigned after weeks of protests.

Reconstitution of the Academy of the Distrustful in the Sala Dalmases of the Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona in Barcelona.

Khartoum massacre: In Sudan, over 100 people are killed when security forces accompanied by Janjaweed militiamen storm and open fire on a sit-in protest.

The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland.

At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China.

A plane carrying 153 people crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board plus six people on the ground.

The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames.

The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence.

After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people.

Australian Aboriginal land rights are recognised in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Torres Strait Islander Eddie Mabo which led to the Native Title Act 1993 overturning the long-held colonial assumption of terra nullius.

Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.

The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.

Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.

A failed assassination attempt was made on Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, triggering an Israeli decision to invade Lebanon three days later.

The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed.

The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, United States, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $1172 million in 2025) worth of damage.

Having invaded Uganda and deposed President Idi Amin, Tanzanian forces secured Uganda's western border, ending a seven-month war.

A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.

At the Paris Air Show, a Tupolev Tu-144 broke up in mid-air, killing all six members of its crew and eight bystanders on the ground.

A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.

During a SEATO exercise in the South China Sea, a collision between HMAS Melbourne and USS Frank E. Evans resulted in the latter vessel being cut in two and the deaths of 74 personnel.

Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half; resulting in 74 deaths.

American radical feminist Valerie Solanas shot and wounded visual artist Andy Warhol and two others at Warhol's New York City studio, the Factory.

The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk.

Buddhist crisis: South Vietnamese soldiers attacked Buddhist protesters in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalised.

Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.

At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130.

Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, members of the French Annapurna expedition, became the first climbers to reach the summit of a peak higher than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) above sea level.

Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.

In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines attack Latino youths in the five-day Zoot Suit Riots.

World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island.

World War II: In reprisal for the participation of the local population in the Battle of Crete, the German Wehrmacht destroyed the village of Kandanos, Greece, and killed about 180 of its inhabitants.

World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants.

Franz Rademacher, a Nazi official, proposed that the island of Madagascar be made available as a destination for the resettlement of the Jewish population of Europe.

World War II: During the Battle of France, the Luftwaffe bombs Paris.

Half a year after abdicating the British throne, Edward, Duke of Windsor, married American socialite Wallis Simpson in a private ceremony in France.

The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson.

One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa.

At his trial for the assassination of Talaat Pasha, viewed as the main orchestrator of the Armenian genocide, Soghomon Tehlirian was acquitted after arguing: "I have killed a man, but I am not a murderer."

A socialist convention in Leeds, United Kingdom, called for an end to the First World War and the establishment of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates across the country.

The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.

Liverpool F.C. (stadium pictured), one of England's most successful football clubs, was founded.

Liverpool F.C. is founded by John Houlding.

The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.

In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police.

The British merchant ship Virago sank off Alderney with the loss of 26 crew.

American Civil War: Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant sustain heavy casualties attacking Confederate troops under Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Virginia.

American Civil War: Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia begin marching to invade the North for a second time, starting the Gettysburg campaign.

American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia.

The last known pair of great auks (one pictured), the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus of flightless birds, were killed on Eldey, Iceland.

The last pair of great auks is killed.

In Humen, China, Lin Zexu destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War.

American Revolutionary War: Jack Jouett rode 40 miles (64 km) to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of British cavalry who had been sent to capture them.

Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending British raid.

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, a historic Catholic mission church in present-day Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and the site of the first Christian confirmation in Alta California, was established.

Foundation of the Academy of the Distrustful in the library room of the Palau Dalmases in Barcelona.

James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.

Pope Alexander VII appointed François de Laval as the first apostolic vicar of New France.

The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland.

Samuel de Champlain lands at Tadoussac, Quebec, in the course of his third voyage to New France, and begins erecting fortifications.

Anglo-Spanish War: The English navy defeated a Spanish–Portuguese fleet off Sesimbra, Portugal, and captured a carrack.

An English naval force defeats a fleet of Spanish galleys, and captures a large Portuguese carrack at the Battle of Sesimbra Bay.

Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain.

The Treaty of Novgorod established the border between Norway and the Novgorod Republic in Finnmark.

The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.

After a five-month siege during the First Crusade, the Crusaders seize Antioch.

The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army.

The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.