Notable Deaths on October 3

October 3 has 107 recorded notable deaths across history, from 42 BC to 2025. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.

Gary Gordon

1993 — Gary Gordon

American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1960)

By · Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 107 source records 42 BC – 2025

Major events on October 3

See what else happened on this day in history.

  1. 1990 The German Democratic Republic is abolished and becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany; the event is afterwards celebrated as German Unity Day. Source
  2. 2023 Wab Kinew is elected to be the first First Nations Premier of a Canadian province in the 2023 Manitoba general election Source

Did you know about Gary Gordon

Together with his fellow soldier Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart, Gordon was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle.

Did you know about Denis Healey

To the public at large, Healey became well known for his bushy eyebrows, his avuncular manner and his creative turns of phrase.

Did you know about Myles Standish

On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elected him as its first commander and continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life.

Did you know about Gustav Stresemann

Gustav Stresemann's most notable achievement was the reconciliation between Germany and France, for which he and French Prime Minister Aristide Briand received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.

Did you know about Todd Akin

William Todd Akin was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 2nd congressional district from 2001 to 2013.


More major people who died on October 3

Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.

2015 Denis Healey

Denis Healey

English soldier and politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1917)
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey was a British Labour Party politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he remains the longest-serving Defence Secretary to date. He was a Member of Parliament from 1952 to 1992, and was Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983. To the public at large, Healey became well known for his bushy eyebrows, his avuncular manner and his creative turns of phrase.
1656 Myles Standish

Myles Standish

English captain (born 1584)
Myles Standish was an English military officer and colonist. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States, by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on the ship Mayflower and played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its foundation in 1620. On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elected him as its first commander and continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life. Standish served at various times as an agent of Plymouth Colony on a return trip to England, as assistant governor of the colony, and as its treasurer.
1929 Gustav Stresemann

Gustav Stresemann

German politician, Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1878)
Gustav Ernst Stresemann was a German statesman during the Weimar Republic who served as chancellor of Germany from August to November 1923 and as foreign minister from 1923 to 1929. His most notable achievement was the reconciliation between Germany and France, for which he and French Prime Minister Aristide Briand received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926. During a period of political instability and fragile, short-lived governments, Stresemann was seen at his death as "the person who maintained the precarious balance of the political system."
2021 Todd Akin

Todd Akin

American politician (born 1947)
William Todd Akin was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 2nd congressional district from 2001 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party. Born in New York City, Akin grew up in the Greater St. Louis area. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, Akin served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and worked in the computer and steel industries. In 1988, he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives. He served in the state house until 2000, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, in which he served until 2013.
1987 Jean Anouilh

Jean Anouilh

French playwright and screenwriter (born 1910)
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 production of Sophocles's Antigone, which, though performed without objection by censors, was nevertheless seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's Vichy government. His plays are less experimental than those of his contemporaries, having clearly organized plot and eloquent dialogue. One of France's most prolific writers after World War II, much of Anouilh's work deals with themes of maintaining integrity in a world of moral compromise.
1873 Kintpuash

Kintpuash

American tribal leader (born 1837)
Kintpuash, also known as Kientpoos, Keintpoos, or by his English name Captain Jack, was a Modoc leader from present-day northern California and southern Oregon. His name in the Modoc language translates to "strikes the water brashly." Kintpuash is best known for leading his people in resisting forced relocation during the Modoc War of 1872–1873. Using the rugged terrain of the Lava Beds in California, his small band of warriors held off vastly superior US Army forces for several months. He remains the only Native American leader to be charged with war crimes. Kintpuash was executed by hanging, along with three others, for their role in the deaths of General Edward Canby and Reverend Eleazar Thomas during peace negotiations.
1967 Malcolm Sargent

Malcolm Sargent

English organist, composer, and conductor (born 1895)
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated included the Ballets Russes, the Huddersfield Choral Society, the Royal Choral Society, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, and the London Philharmonic, Hallé, Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Royal Philharmonic orchestras. Sargent was held in high esteem by choirs and instrumental soloists, but because of his high standards and a statement that he made in a 1936 interview disputing musicians' rights to tenure, his relationship with orchestral players was often uneasy. Despite this, he was co-founder of the London Philharmonic, was the first conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic as a full-time ensemble, and played an important part in saving the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from disbandment in the 1960s.
1611 Charles

Charles

Duke of Mayenne (born 1554)
Charles de Lorraine, duc de Mayenne was a French noble, governor, military commander and rebel during the latter French Wars of Religion. Born in 1554, the second son of François de Lorraine, duke of Guise and Anne d'Este, Mayenne inherited his fathers' position of Grand Chambellan in 1563 upon his death. He fought at the siege of Poitiers for the crown in 1569, and crusaded against the Ottomans in 1572. He served under the command of the king's brother Anjou during the siege of La Rochelle in the fourth war of religion, during which he was wounded. While the siege progressed, his uncle was killed by a cannonball, and he inherited his position as governor of Bourgogne. That same year, his marquisate of Mayenne was elevated to a duché pairie. He travelled with Anjou when he was elected as king of the Commonwealth and was a member of his court there until early 1574 when he departed on crusade again. Returning to France, he served in the fifth war of religion for Anjou, now king Henri III of France, but his badly underfunded army was unable to seriously impede the Protestant mercenary force under Casimir. He aligned himself with the Catholic Ligue that rose up in opposition to the generous Peace of Monsieur and fought in the sixth war of religion that resulted, serving at the sieges of La Charité-sur-Loire and Issoire. During 1576, he married Henriette de Savoie-Villars, securing a sizable inheritance in the south west, and the title of Admiral on the death of her father in 1578. Mayenne was granted full command of a royal army during the seventh war of religion in 1580, besieging the Protestant stronghold of La Mure successfully, and clearing several holdout towns after the peace. In 1582, he was obliged to surrender his title of Admiral to Joyeuse, a favourite of Henri. The following year, he was involved in an abortive plan to invade England, though it came to nothing due to lack of funds.
2024 Mary O'Rourke

Mary O'Rourke

Irish politician (born 1937)
Mary O'Rourke was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Leader of the Seanad and Leader of Fianna Fáil in the Seanad from 2002 to 2007, Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2002, Minister for Public Enterprise from 1997 to 2002, Minister for Health from 1991 to 1992 and Minister for Education from 1987 to 1991. She also served as a Minister of State from 1992 to 1994. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1982 to 2002 and 2007 to 2011. She served as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel from 1981 to 1982 and from 2002 to 2007, after being nominated by the Taoiseach.
2024 Cid Moreira

Cid Moreira

Brazilian journalist and television anchor (born 1927)
Cid Moreira was a Brazilian journalist and television anchor who was active from 1947 onwards. He was born in Taubaté, São Paulo, and was mostly recognized for his work as the main anchor on Rede Globo's primetime news program Jornal Nacional between 1969 and 1996. He became widely known by his grave, resonating voice. Moreira was also a narrator, having recorded several audiobook versions of Biblical works. He died in Petrópolis on 3 October 2024, at the age of 97 due to a multiple organ failure after a nearly one-month hospital stay, initially due to chronic kidney failure. Moreira was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
1629 Giorgi Saakadze

Giorgi Saakadze

Georgian commander and politician (born 1570)
Giorgi Saakadze was a Georgian politician and military commander who played an important role in the politics of the early 17th-century Georgia. He is credited with playing off the rival Ottoman and Persian empires against each other to help the fractured Georgian nation survive. Saakadze was a controversial figure and his risky schemes ultimately caught up with him with tragic personal consequences - his son was executed by the Persians and later he himself was put to death by the Turks.
1838 Black Hawk

Black Hawk

American tribal leader (born 1767)
Mahkatêwe-meshi-kêhkêhkwa, known in English as Black Hawk, was a Sauk leader and warrior who lived in what is now the Midwestern United States. Although he had inherited an important historic sacred bundle from his father, he was not a hereditary civil chief. Black Hawk earned his status as a war chief or captain by his actions: leading raiding and war parties as a young man and then a band of Sauk warriors during the Black Hawk War of 1832.
2012

Abdul Haq Ansari

Indian theologian and scholar (born 1931)
Muhammad Abdul Haq Ansari was an Islamic scholar from India. He was the Amir (president) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) from 2003 to 2007. He was the member of Central Advisory Council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. He was also the Chancellor of Al Jamia Al Islamia, Shantapuram, Kerala. His book Sufism and Shariah is a synthesis of Sufi and Shariah thought, especially a Tatbiq of Shaikh Ahmed Sir Hindi and Shah Waliullah's thought. It grew out of his in-depth engagement with kalam, tasawwuf and fiqh in Islamic history. His other major contributions are a book on Mishkawah's philosophy and an English translation of Ibn Taymiyyah's fatwas with an introduction. He also wrote 'Learning the Language of Quran' it is one of the best English guides for the beginners learning to read the Qur'an. In New Delhi he established the Islami Academy, aimed at training graduates from secular educational background in Islamic Sciences based on the madrasa curriculum.
900

Muhammad ibn Zayd

Tabaristan emir
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Zayd ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismaʿīl ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Zayd, also known as al-Dāʿī al-Ṣaghīr, was an Alid who succeeded his brother, Hasan, as ruler of the Zaydid dynasty of Tabaristan in 884. Little is known of his early life, before coming to Tabaristan after Hasan established Zaydid rule there in 864. He served his brother as a general and governor, and continued his policies after his accession. His reign was troubled by rebellions and wars, most notably by the invasion of Rafi' ibn Harthama in 889–892, which occupied most of his domains. After Rafi' fell out of favour with the Abbasids, Muhammad recovered his position and secured the allegiance of Rafi', but did not particularly support him against the Saffarids. In 900, following the Saffarids' defeat by the Samanids, he tried to invade Khurasan, but was defeated and died of his wounds, whereupon Tabaristan fell to the Samanids.
1653 Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn

Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn

Dutch linguist and academic (born 1612)
Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn was a Dutch scholar. Born in Bergen op Zoom, he was professor at the University of Leiden. He discovered the similarity among Indo-European languages, and supposed the existence of a primitive common language which he called 'Scythian'. He included in his hypothesis Dutch, Greek, Latin, Persian, and German, later adding Slavic, Celtic and Baltic languages. He excluded languages such as Hebrew from his hypothesis. He died in Leiden.
1990 Eleanor Steber

Eleanor Steber

American soprano and educator (born 1914)
Eleanor Steber was an American soprano and voice teacher. She was particularly celebrated for her performances in the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss. A native of West Virginia, she was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where she began her performance career in the 1930s. She made her opera debut in 1936 at the Boston Opera House as Senta in Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman.
2004 Janet Leigh

Janet Leigh

American actress (born 1927)
Jeanette Helen Morrison, known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, businesswoman and author. Leigh was established as one of the earliest scream queens for starring in horror films, and is also known for starring in dramatic productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). She amassed several screen and stage credits over five decades, and received accolades such as a Golden Globe Award, a Laurel Award, and a nomination for an Academy Award.
-42 Gaius Cassius Longinus

Gaius Cassius Longinus

Roman politician (born 85 BC)
Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the conspiracy. He commanded troops with Brutus during the Battle of Philippi against the combined forces of Mark Antony and Octavius, Caesar's former supporters, and died by suicide after being defeated by Mark Antony.
1795 Tula

Tula

Curaçao slave leader (date of birth unknown; executed)
Tula, also known as Tula Rigaud, was an African man enslaved on the island of Curaçao, in the Dutch West Indies, who liberated himself and led the Curaçao Slave Revolt of 1795. The revolt, which began on 17 August 1795, lasted for more than a month. He was executed on 3 October 1795. He is revered on Curaçao today as a fighter for human rights and independence.

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