1862 – Pleasant Adam Hackleman, Union brigadier general, dies in battle at 47
1929 – Gustav Stresemann, German chancellor (1923) who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926, dies of a stroke at 51
1936 – John Heisman, American football coach (legalised forward pass, originated the center-snap; Heisman Trophy named after him), dies from pneumonia at 66
1967 – Woody Guthrie [Woodrow Wilson], American folk singer-songwriter (“This Land Is Your Land”), peace activist, and father of Arlo, dies of Huntington’s disease at 55
1983 – Kurt Kusenberg, German writer (Wein Auf Lebenszeit), dies at 79
1989 – Hans Deutgen, Swedish archer (World C’ship gold individual 1947, 48, 49, 50; team 1948), dies at 72
2012 – (Kathryn) “Kathi” McDonald, American blues and rock singer (Ike and Tina Turner Revue; Big Brother and The Holding Company), and songwriter, dies at 64
2016 – Joan Marie Johnson, American pop singer (The Dixie Cups – “Chapel Of Love”; “Iko Iko”), dies of congestive heart failure at 72
2016 – Ljupka Dimitrovska, Macedonian-Croat pop singer (“Adio”), dies at 70
2023 – Bob Wagner, American college football coach (University of Hawaiʻi 1988-95), dies at 76
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 3rd October 2025
1683 – Qing Dynasty naval commander Shi Lang reaches Taiwan (under the Kingdom of Tungning) to receive the formal surrender of Zheng Keshuang and Liu Guoxuan after the Battle of Penghu
1913 – US federal income tax at 1% is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson
1941 – French right-wing Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire (MSR) blows up six synagogues in Paris with Nazi-provided explosives
1943 – British 8th Army lands at Termoli, East Italy
1974 – Future Basketball Hall of Fame guard Jerry West (“Mr. Clutch”) retires after 14 NBA seasons with the LA Lakers; West scores 25,192 career points and averages 29.1 ppg in 153 playoff games
2004 – Seattle Mariners’ Japanese right fielder Ichiro Suzuki adds two more singles in a 3-0 defeat to Texas to finish the season with an MLB record of 262 hits
2017 – Nobel Prize for Physics is awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish, and Kip S. Thorne “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves”
2021 – MLB Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Hector Neris strikes out three Miami Marlins, setting a new franchise record of 520 in his last game before becoming a free agent
Today in History for 3rd October 2025
Historical Events
1974 – Future Basketball Hall of Fame guard Jerry West (“Mr. Clutch”) retires after 14 NBA seasons with the LA Lakers; West scores 25,192 career points and averages 29.1 ppg in 153 playoff games
1993 – Battle at TV station Ostankino, Moscow town hall; about 25 killed
2004 – New England Patriots win their 18th consecutive NFL game, beating the Buffalo Bills 31-17 at Ralph Wilson Stadium; Tom Brady goes 17-for-30 for 298 yards and two touchdowns
2015 – Host nation England crashes out of the Rugby World Cup in the pool stage, losing to Australia 33-13 at Twickenham; Bernard Foley scores 2 tries and kicks 4 penalties and 3 conversions for the Wallabies
2021 – Pandora Papers investigation reveals secret wealth of 30 current and former world leaders including Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Czech PM Andrej Babis and former UK PM Tony Blair
Famous Birthdays
1938 – Dave Obey, American politician (US Representative from Wisconsin, 1969-2011), and lobbyist, born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma
1939 – Velibor Vasović, Serbian soccer sweeper (32 caps Yugoslavia; Partizan Belgrade, Ajax) and manager (Partizan, PSG, Red Star Belgrade), born in Požarevac, Serbia (d. 2002)
1944 – Roy Horn, German-American Las Vegas entertainer (Siegfried and Roy), born in Nordenham, Germany (d. 2020)
1946 – (Richard) “Biff” Henderson, American television personality (Late Night/Late Show with David Letterman), born in Durham, North Carolina
1950 – Pamela Hensley, American actress (Buck Rogers in 25th Century), born in Glendale, California
Famous Deaths
1703 – Pieter van Wooden, Amersfoorts rebel leader, beheaded
1919 – Daniel Brink Towner, American hymn composer (“He’s A Friend of Mine”; “Though the Fig Tree Shall Not Blossom”), and music director, dies at 69
1990 – Stefano Casiraghi, Italian speedboat racer, businessman and husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, dies in a motor boat race at 30
2022 – Charles Fuller, American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (A Soldier’s Play; Zooman and the Sign; The Brownsville Raid), and screenwriter (A Soldier’s Story; A Gathering of Old Men), dies at 83
2023 – Bob Wagner, American college football coach (University of Hawaiʻi 1988-95), dies at 76
Famous Deaths for 2nd October 2025
1729 – Arnold Boonen, Dutch portrait painter, dies at 60
1901 – Rudolph Koenig, German physicist, dies at 68
1902 – John Whiteaker, American farmer, soldier (Mexican-American War), goldminer, politician (1st Governor of Oregon, 1859-62; US Representative, 1879-81), and judge, dies at 82
1919 – Ernest Halliwell, South African cricket wicketkeeper (8 Tests), dies at 55
1931 – Thomas Lipton, Scottish yachtsman (5-time America’s Cup challenger) and tea merchant (Lipton Tea), dies at 81
1985 – (Georgios) “George” Savalas, Greek-American actor (Kojak; Kelly’s Heroes), dies of leukemia at 58
1998 – D. French Slaughter Jr, American politician (Rep-R-VA, 1985-91), dies at 73
2003 – John T. Dunlop, U.S. Secretary of Labor (b. 1914)
2005 – August Wilson [né Kittel], American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Fences; The Piano Lesson), dies of liver cancer at 60
2020 – Bob Gibson, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (NL Cy Young Award 1968, 70; NL MVP 1968; 9 x MLB All Star; St. Louis Cardinals), dies from pancreatic cancer at 84
Historical Events for 2nd October 2025
1134 – Storm flood ravages Zeeland County
1941 – Germany launches an attack on Moscow
1942 – WWII: British Royal Navy boards floundering German U-boat U-559, retrieving abandoned Enigma code machine before it sinks; two British sailors go down with the sub
1974 – Future Baseball Hall of Fame right fielder Hank Aaron hits his final home run as a member of the Atlanta Braves in a 13-0 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds, Aaron’s 733rd career home run in his last NL at-bat
1979 – Pope John Paul II visits New York City and at the UN denounces all concentration camps and torture
1983 – Green Bay Packers erupt for an NFL record 49 points in the first half (35 in the second quarter) to clobber the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 55-14 at Tampa Stadium
1990 – Radio Berlin International’s final transmission links to Deutsche Welle of West Germany; the final song is “The End” by The Doors
1998 – With his team struggling at 28 for 3, Australian cricket batsman Steve Waugh smashes a brilliant 157 to guide the tourists to an innings and 99-run win over Pakistan in the first Test in Rawalpindi
Today in History for 2nd October 2025
Historical Events
1908 – Cleveland Naps and future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Addie Joss hurl a classic perfect game, beating Ed Walsh and the Chicago White Sox 1-0
1910 – Henry Wijnmalen flies to an altitude of 2,800 meters, setting a world record
1972 – Montreal Expos pitcher Bill Stoneman no-hits the New York Mets 7-0 at Parc Jarry, the first MLB no-hitter ever pitched in Canada
1977 – Austrian Ferrari driver Niki Lauda finishes fourth in the US Grand Prix East at Watkins Glen to clinch his second Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship, while Englishman James Hunt wins the race
1988 – In a season-ending 7-5 win in St. Louis, NY Mets outfielder Kevin McReynolds sets an MLB record by stealing 21 bases without being caught during the season
Famous Birthdays
1832 – Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (Primitive Culture), born in London (d. 1917)
1873 – Stephen Warfield Gambrill, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland), born in Savage, Maryland (d. 1938)
1879 – Wallace Stevens, American poet (Ideas of Order), born in Reading, Pennsylvania (d. 1955)
1933 – Dimiter Khristov, Bulgarian composer, born in Sofia, Bulgaria (d. 2017)
1963 – Keith Bradshaw, Australian cricket administrator (Secretary and Chief Executive Marylebone Cricket Club; CEO South Australian Cricket), born in Hobart, Australia (d. 2021)
Famous Deaths
1564 – Andreas Vesalius [Andries van Wesel], Flemish physician and anatomist (De humani corporis fabrica), dies after being shipwrecked at 49
1892 – Ernest Renan, French philosopher, historian and scholar of religion, dies at 69
1916 – Benjamin Kidd, English sociologist (Social Evolution), dies of heart disease at 58
1958 – Marie Stopes, British birth control pioneer, dies at 77
1970 – Bo Linde, Swedish neo-classical composer, dies at 37
Famous Deaths for 1st October 2025
1684 – Pierre Corneille, French poet and dramatist (El Cid, Horace), dies at 42
1704 – Cornelis Dusart, Dutch painter and engraver, dies at 44
1837 – Robert Clark, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from New York (1819-21), dies at 60
1936 – Oscar Da Costa, West Indian cricket all-rounder (5 Tests), dies at 29
1961 – Donald Cook, American actor (Too Young To Go Steady), dies at 60
1988 – Sacheverell Sitwell, English writer (People’s Palace), dies at 90
1992 – Petra Kelly, German politician (co-founder of German Green Party), activist, and writer (Nonviolence Speaks to Power), killed by her lover in murder-suicide at 44 (date approximate)
2004 – Richard Avedon, American photographer (Harper’s Bazaar, The New Yorker), dies at 81
2007 – Ned Sherrin, English broadcaster, author and stage director (b. 1931)
2017 – Arthur “Art” Janov, American psychologist and psychotherapist notable for creating primal therapy (The Primal Scream), dies of natural causes at 93
Historical Events for 1st October 2025
1800 – Spain cedes Louisiana to France in a secret treaty
1847 – German inventor and industrialist Werner von Siemens founds Siemens AG and Halske
1922 – St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Rogers Hornsby goes 3-for-5 in a 7-1 regular season-ending win against the Chicago Cubs, improving his batting average to .401; he is the only MLB player to bat .400 and hit 40 home runs in the same season
1939 – After a one-month Siege of Warsaw, hostile forces enter the city
1946 – Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller claims his MLB record 348th strikeout of the season in a 4-1 win over Detroit; the record stands for 19 years
1950 – US Open Women’s Golf, Rolling Hills CC: Babe Zaharias ties Open scoring record, -9 291, to beat amateur Betsy Rawls by 9 strokes
1953 – KYTV TV channel 3 in Springfield, MO (NBC) begins broadcasting
2023 – Ryder Cup Golf, Marco Simone GandCC, Rome, Italy: Europe dominates the United States 16½-11½ to regain the title; Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm, and Robert MacIntyre unbeaten for Europe
Today in History for 1st October 2025
Historical Events
1606 – Spanish troops under Spinola occupy Fort Rhine Birch
1958 – Britain transfers Christmas Island (south of Java) to Australia
1979 – Nigeria adopts a constitution, and Alhaji Shagari becomes president
1981 – US’s largest private investment bank, Salomon Brothers, is sold to commodities trader Phibro Corporation for $483 million
1990 – Meteorite explodes above Pacific Ocean
Famous Birthdays
1901 – Jimmie Reese, American baseball infielder and coach (LA Angels Hall of Fame), born in New York City (d. 1994)
1967 – Mike Pringle, American Canadian Football Hall of Fame running back (CFL MOP 1995, 98; Montreal Alouettes), born in Los Angeles, California
1972 – Danielle Scott-Arruda, American volleyball middle blocker (International Volleyball HOF; Olympic silver 2008, 12), born in Baton Rouge Louisiana
1981 – Deborah James, British teacher, journalist, author (You, Me and the Big C), and charity campaigner, born in London, England (d. 2022)
1986 – Jurnee Smollett-Bell, American actress (Lovecraft Country), born in New York City
Famous Deaths
1500 – John Alcock, English bishop and chancellor (founded Jesus College, Cambridge), dies at about 70
1901 – Abdur Rahman Khan, Emir of Afghanistan (1880-1901)
1947 – Olive Borden, “the Joy Girl,” American silent film and stage actress (Chloe, Love Is Calling You; 3 Bad Men, Fig Leaves), dies of a stomach ailment and pneumonia at 40
1979 – Roy Harris, American composer (When Johnny Comes Marching Home: An American Overture), dies at 81
2019 – Karel Gott, Czech singer ‘Sinatra of the East’, dies at 80
Famous Deaths for 30th September 2025
1612 – Ercole Bottrigari, Italian composer, dies at 81
1770 – George Whitefield, English-born Methodist leader and preacher, dies in Newburyport, Massachusetts, at age 55
1862 – Isaac Peace Rodman, American banker and Brigadier General (Union Army), dies of injury at about 40
1963 – Arnold Foster, English composer, dies at 66
1978 – Beryl Booker, American swing and cool jazz pianist (Dinah Washington), dies at 56
1984 – Ellsworth Bunker, US ambassador (South-Vietnam, dies at 90)
1985 – Herbert Bayer, Austrian-American Bauhaus trained graphic artist (invented Universal typeface), photographer and designer, dies at 85
1991 – Frank Ervin, American harness racer (Hambletonian 1959, 66), dies at 87
2021 – John J. Rigas, American entrepreneur and founder of Adelphia Communications Corporation, dies at 96
2024 – Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese Basketball HOF center (8 x NBA All-Star; 4 × NBA Defensive Player of the Year; Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets), dies of brain cancer at 58