On this day: October 2

Events on October 2

• 48 BC Julius Caesar arrives in Ptolemaic Egypt in his pursuit of Pompey and learns of the latter's death. Wikipedia
• 829 Theophilos succeeds his father Michael II as Byzantine Emperor. Wikipedia
• 939 Battle of Andernach: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard of Franconia and other Frankish dukes. Wikipedia
• 1187 Saladin wins Jerusalem after the city surrendered to his forces following a prolonged siege. Wikipedia
• 1470 The Earl of Warwick's rebellion forces King Edward IV of England to flee to the Netherlands, restoring Henry VI to the throne. Wikipedia
• 1766 The Nottingham Cheese Riot breaks out at the Goose Fair in Nottingham, UK, in response to the excessive cost of cheese. Wikipedia
• 1780 American Revolutionary War: John André, a British Army officer, is hanged as a spy by the Continental Army. Wikipedia
• 1864 American Civil War: Confederates defeat a Union attack on Saltville, Virginia. A massacre of wounded Union prisoners ensues. Wikipedia
• 1870 By plebiscite, the citizens of the Papal States accept annexation by the Kingdom of Italy. Wikipedia
• 1879 Qing China signed the Treaty of Livadia with the Russian Empire, but the terms were so unfavorable that the Chinese government refused to ratify the treaty. Wikipedia
• 1913 The Shubert Theatre opened on Broadway with a production of Hamlet. Wikipedia
• 1919 Seven days after suffering a "physical collapse" following a speech in Pueblo, Colorado, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson has a catastrophic stroke at the White House, leaving him physically and mentally incapacitated for the remainder of his presidency. Wikipedia
• 1920 Ukrainian War of Independence: Mikhail Frunze orders the Red Army to immediately cease hostilities with the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine. Wikipedia
• 1942 Second World War: HMS Curacoa was accidentally rammed and sunk by RMS Queen Mary while escorting the liner to provide protection from submarine attacks. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Ocean Liner RMS Queen Mary accidentally rams and sinks HMS Curacoa, killing over 300 crewmen aboard Curacoa. Wikipedia
• 1958 Guinea declares its independence from France. Wikipedia
• 1967 Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Wikipedia
• 1967 Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of the United States Supreme Court. Wikipedia
• 1968 Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz orders soldiers to suppress a demonstration of unarmed students, ten days before the start of the 1968 Summer Olympics. Wikipedia
• 1971 Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was re-elected unopposed as President of South Vietnam. Wikipedia
• 1980 Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War. Wikipedia
• 2004 The first parkrun, then known as the Bushy Park Time Trial, takes place in Bushy Park, London, UK. Wikipedia
• 2007 President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea goes to North Korea for an Inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Wikipedia
• 2018 The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Wikipedia
• 2018 The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Wikipedia
• 2025 2 people are killed and at least 4 others injured in an attack on a synagogue in Manchester, UK, during Yom Kippur. Wikipedia

Born on October 2

• 1452 Richard III of England (died 1485) Wikipedia
• 1470 Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal, Daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (died 1498) Wikipedia
• 1538 Charles Borromeo, Italian cardinal and saint (died 1584) Wikipedia
• 1828 Charles Floquet, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1896) Wikipedia
• 1847 Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal and politician, 2nd President of Germany (died 1934) Wikipedia
• 1851 Ferdinand Foch, French field marshal (died 1929) Wikipedia
• 1852 William Ramsay, Scottish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1916) Wikipedia
• 1869 Mahatma Gandhi, Indian freedom fighter, activist and philosopher (died 1948) Wikipedia
• 1871 Cordell Hull, American politician, United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955) Wikipedia
• 1890 Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1904 Graham Greene, English novelist, playwright, and critic (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1904 Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian and politician, Prime Minister of India (died 1966) Wikipedia
• 1907 Alexander R. Todd, Scottish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997) Wikipedia
• 1917 Christian de Duve, Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1933 John Gurdon, English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1935 Omar Sívori, Italian-Argentine footballer and manager (died 2005) Wikipedia
• 1951 Sting, English singer-songwriter and actor Wikipedia
• 1963 Maria Ressa, Filipino-American journalist Wikipedia
• 1978 Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer, songwriter, actress Wikipedia
• 1984 Marion Bartoli, French tennis player Wikipedia
• 1991 Roberto Firmino, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia
• 1992 Alisson Becker, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia

Died on October 2

• 1264 Pope Urban IV (born c. 1200) Wikipedia
• 1709 Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian diplomat (born 1639) Wikipedia
• 1764 William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1720) Wikipedia
• 1803 Samuel Adams, American politician, Governor of Massachusetts (born 1722) Wikipedia
• 1853 François Arago, French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and politician (born 1786) Wikipedia
• 1927 Svante Arrhenius, Swedish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1859) Wikipedia
• 1953 Émilie Busquant, French anarcho-syndicalist, sewed the first Flag of Algeria (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 1968 Marcel Duchamp, French painter and sculptor (born 1887) Wikipedia
• 1973 Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 1985 Rock Hudson, American actor (born 1925) Wikipedia
• 1987 Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1915) Wikipedia
• 2007 Dan Keating, Irish Republican Army volunteer (born 1902) Wikipedia
• 2017 Tom Petty, American musician (born 1950) Wikipedia
• 2018 Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi journalist (born 1958) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Batik Day (Indonesia) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Antoine Chevrier Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Denha I of Tikrit (Syriac Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Jan Beyzym Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Antonina Kratochwil Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed María Francisca Ricart Olmos Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Leodegar Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: October 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Gandhi's birthday-related observances: Gandhi Jayanti (India) Wikipedia
• Gandhi's birthday-related observances: International Day of Non-Violence Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guinea from France in 1958 Wikipedia
• National Grandparents Day (Italy) Wikipedia
• International Day of Non-Violence Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “October 2” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.