On this day: September 3

Events on September 3

• 36 BC The Sicilian revolt against the Second Triumvirate of the Roman Republic ended when the fleet of Sextus Pompey, the rebel leader, was defeated at the Battle of Naulochus. Wikipedia
• 301 San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, is founded by Saint Marinus. Wikipedia
• 590 Consecration of Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great). Wikipedia
• 863 Arab–Byzantine wars: The Byzantine Empire decisively defeated the Emirate of Melitene at the Battle of Lalakaon, beginning the era of Byzantine ascendancy. Wikipedia
• 1189 Richard I of England (a.k.a. Richard "the Lionheart") is crowned at Westminster. Wikipedia
• 1260 The Mamluks defeat the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine, marking their first decisive defeat and the point of maximum expansion of the Mongol Empire. Wikipedia
• 1411 The Treaty of Selymbria was concluded between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman prince Musa Çelebi. Wikipedia
• 1650 Under Oliver Cromwell, the English New Model Army ambushed a poorly prepared Scottish force at the Battle of Dunbar, the first battle of the Third English Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1651 English Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell won the Battle of Worcester, the final battle of the English Civil War.* 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The British Army and their Hessian allies defeated an American militia at the Battle of Cooch's Bridge. Wikipedia
• 1666 The Royal Exchange burns down in the Great Fire of London. Wikipedia
• 1783 American Revolutionary War: The war ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain. Wikipedia
• 1838 Future abolitionist Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery. Wikipedia
• 1878 The passenger steamship SS Princess Alice sank in the River Thames after colliding with the collier Bywell Castle, killing more than 600 people. Wikipedia
• 1901 At the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, the flag of Australia flew for the first time. Wikipedia
• 1935 On the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, British racing motorist Malcolm Campbell became the first person to drive an automobile over 300 mph (480 km/h). Wikipedia
• 1936 The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America was founded in Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada. Wikipedia
• 1941 The mass expulsion of Soviet Germans from the Volga German ASSR began. Wikipedia
• 1942 The Holocaust: In possibly the first Jewish ghetto uprising, residents of the Łachwa Ghetto in occupied Poland, informed of the upcoming "liquidation" of the ghetto, unsuccessfully fought against their Nazi captors. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: British and Canadian troops land on the Italian mainland. On the same day, Walter Bedell Smith and Giuseppe Castellano sign the Armistice of Cassibile, although it is not announced for another five days. Wikipedia
• 1950 "Nino" Farina becomes the first Formula One Drivers' champion after winning the 1950 Italian Grand Prix. Wikipedia
• 1967 Dagen H in Sweden: Traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight. Wikipedia
• 1987 While he was abroad, Burundian president Jean-Baptiste Bagaza was deposed in a military coup d'état by Pierre Buyoya. Wikipedia
• 1991 A fire killed 25 people locked inside a burning chicken processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina, U.S. Wikipedia
• 2001 The Troubles: Ulster loyalists resumed a picket outside a Catholic girls' primary school in the Protestant portion of Ardoyne, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Wikipedia
• 2004 Beslan school siege ends, resulting in over 330 fatalities, including 186 children. Wikipedia
• 2017 North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test at Punggye-ri, causing a magnitude-6.3 earthquake. Wikipedia

Born on September 3

• 1814 James Joseph Sylvester, English mathematician and academic (died 1897) Wikipedia
• 1856 Louis Sullivan, American architect and educator, designed the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building (died 1924) Wikipedia
• 1869 Fritz Pregl, Slovenian chemist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1930) Wikipedia
• 1875 Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian-German engineer and businessman, founded Porsche (died 1951) Wikipedia
• 1899 Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1900 Urho Kekkonen, Finnish journalist, lawyer, and politician, 8th President of Finland (died 1986) Wikipedia
• 1905 Carl David Anderson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1926 Irene Papas, Greek actress (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1936 Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisian soldier and politician, 2nd President of Tunisia (died 2019) Wikipedia
• 1938 Ryōji Noyori, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1940 Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan journalist and author (died 2015) Wikipedia
• 1941 Sergei Dovlatov, Russian-American journalist and author (died 1990) Wikipedia
• 1947 Mario Draghi, Italian banker and economist Wikipedia
• 1948 Levy Mwanawasa, Zambian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Zambia (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1953 Jean-Pierre Jeunet, French director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1957 Sadhguru, Indian yogi, mystic Wikipedia
• 1965 Charlie Sheen, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1970 Gareth Southgate, English footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1971 Kiran Desai, Indian-American author Wikipedia
• 1979 Júlio César, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia
• 1988 Jérôme Boateng, Ghanaian-German footballer Wikipedia
• 1995 Niklas Süle, German footballer Wikipedia

Died on September 3

• 931 Uda, emperor of Japan (born 867) Wikipedia
• 1467 Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress (born 1434) Wikipedia
• 1658 Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician, Lord Protector of England (born 1599) Wikipedia
• 1877 Adolphe Thiers, French historian and politician, 2nd President of France (born 1797) Wikipedia
• 1883 Ivan Turgenev, Russian author and playwright (born 1818) Wikipedia
• 1948 Edvard Beneš, Czech academic and politician, 2nd President of Czechoslovakia (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1962 E. E. Cummings, American poet and playwright (born 1894) Wikipedia
• 1989 Gaetano Scirea, Italian footballer (born 1953) Wikipedia
• 1991 Frank Capra, Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 1994 Billy Wright, English footballer and manager (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 2007 Steve Fossett, American aviator (born 1944) Wikipedia
• 2012 Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor (born 1957) Wikipedia
• 2012 Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader and businessman, founded the Unification Church (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2017 John Ashbery, American poet (born 1927) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Blessed Bartholomew Gutierrez Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Brigida Morello Zancano Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mansuetus of Toul Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Marinus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Phoebe Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Gregory I Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Remaclus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Prudence Crandall (Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: September 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• China's victory over Japan commemoration related observances: Armed Forces Day (Republic of China) Wikipedia
• China's victory over Japan commemoration related observances: V-J Day (People's Republic of China) Wikipedia
• Feast of San Marino and the Republic, celebrates the foundation of the Republic of San Marino in 301. Wikipedia
• Flag Day (Australia) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the second independence of Qatar from the United Kingdom in 1971. Wikipedia
• Levy Mwanawasa Day (Zambia) Wikipedia
• Merchant Navy Remembrance Day (Canada) Wikipedia
• Merchant Navy Day (United Kingdom) Wikipedia
• National Welsh Rarebit Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Tokehega Day (Tokelau, New Zealand) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “September 3” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/September 3” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “September 3” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for September 3 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.