Did you know
He wrote four plays, the most successful of which were HIM (1927) and Santa Claus: A Morality (1946)
Notable Deaths on September 3
102 people
264 – 2024
September 3 has seen 102 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 264 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1962 — E. E. Cummings
American poet and playwright (born 1894)
Did you know
During World War I, he worked as an ambulance driver and was imprisoned in an internment camp, which provided the basis for his novel The Enormous Room (1922)
Did you know
He wrote EIMI (1933), a travelog of the Soviet Union, and delivered the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures in poetry, published as i—six nonlectures (1953)
Did you know
Fairy Tales (1965), a collection of short stories, was published posthumously.
Did you know
Edward Estlin Cummings, commonly known as e e cummings or E
264
618
Arab emir
ʿUmar ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Marwān or ʿAmr ibn ʿUbaydallāh ibn Marwān, surnamed al-Aqtaʾ, and found as Amer or Ambros in Byzantine sources, was the semi-independent Arab emir of Malatya (Melitene) from the 830s until his…
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863
931
founder of the Knights Hospitaller (born c. 1040)
Gerardo Sasso, also known as Blessed Gérard, was an Italian lay brother in the Benedictine Order in the Catholic Church who was appointed as rector of the hospice in Jerusalem at Muristan in 1080. In the wake of the…
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1120
French Jewish scholar
Jacob of Orléans was a noted Jewish scholar. Jacob was a tosafist in Orléans, France, who studied under Rabbenu Tam. He remained in Orléans until at least 1171, leaving at a later date to go to London, most likely to…
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1189
Lord of Verona
Alberto I della Scala was Lord of Verona from 1277, a member of the Scaliger family.
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1301
Anne of Bohemia was the eldest surviving daughter of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland and his first wife Judith of Habsburg. Her siblings included Elizabeth of Bohemia and Wenceslaus III of Bohemia.
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1313
Serbian patriarch and saint
Joanikije II was the Serbian Archbishop (1338–1346) and first Serbian Patriarch (1346–1354). He was elected Serbian Archbishop on January 3, 1338. Prior to his election, he served as a logotet, royal chancellor, to the…
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1354
1st Duke of Exeter (born c. 1352)
John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, 1st Earl of Huntingdon of Dartington Hall in Devon, was a half-brother of King Richard II (1377–1399), to whom he remained strongly loyal. He is primarily remembered for being suspected…
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1400
Italian son of Galeazzo II Visconti (born 1351)
Gian Galeazzo Visconti, was the first duke of Milan (1395) and ruled that late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò. He was the founding patron of…
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1402
Duke of Albany (born 1340)
Robert Stewart was a Scottish prince and nobleman who ruled the Kingdom of Scotland as its effective monarch, under the title of Governor of Scotland, from 1406 until his death. Robert governed on behalf of his exiled…
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1420
Holy Roman Empress (born 1434)
Eleanor of Portugal was Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. A Portuguese infanta (princess), daughter of King Edward of Portugal and Eleanor of Aragon, she was the consort of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III and the…
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1467
English author and playwright (born 1558)
Robert Greene (1558–1592) was a popular Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer. He is said to have been born in Norwich. He attended Cambridge where he received a BA in 1580, and an M.A. in 1583 before moving to London,…
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1592
Belgian diplomat (born 1540)
Jean Grusset dict Richardot, knight was a statesman and diplomat from the Franche-Comté, who held high political office during the Dutch Revolt and played an important role in restoring Habsburg rule in the Southern…
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1609
English lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (born 1552)
Sir Edward Coke was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.
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1634
French scholar and author (born 1588)
Claude Saumaise, also known by the Latin name Claudius Salmasius, was a French classical scholar.
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1653
English general and politician, Lord Protector of England (born 1599)
Oliver Cromwell was an English statesman, farmer and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially as a senior…
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1658
Earl of Galway, French general and diplomat (born 1648)
Henri de Massue, 2nd Marquis de Ruvigny, Earl of Galway, was a French Huguenot soldier and diplomat who was influential in the English service in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession.
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1720
French historian and scholar (born 1646)
Jean Hardouin, was a French priest and classical scholar who was well known during his lifetime for his editions of ancient authors, and for writing a history of the ecumenical councils. However, he is best remembered…
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1729
Scottish historian and author (born 1686)
Archibald Bower was a Scottish historian noted for his complicated and varying religious faith and the accounts he gave of it. Scholars now consider them lacking in credibility.
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1766
American merchant and politician (born 1722)
John Montgomery was an Irish-American merchant from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress for Pennsylvania from 1782 until 1784. Montgomery was one of the founders of Dickinson College,…
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1808
Canadian-American businessman (born 1784)
John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver from 1824 to 1845. He was…
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1857
Russian painter (born 1830)
Konstantin Dmitriyevich Flavitsky was a Russian painter, best known for his history paintings, typical of late Romantic style.
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1866
French historian and politician, 2nd President of France (born 1797)
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French statesman and historian who served as President of France from 1871 to 1873. He was the second elected president and the first of the Third French Republic.
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1877
Russian author and playwright (born 1818)
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, translator and popularizer of Russian literature in the West.
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1883
American lawyer and politician (born 1812)
William W. Snow was an American businessman and politician who served one term as a United States representative from New York from 1851 to 1853.
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1886
Scottish-Australian engineer, journalist, and politician (born 1816)
James Harrison was a Scottish Australian newspaper printer, journalist, politician, and pioneer in the field of mechanical refrigeration.
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1893
English classical scholar (born 1843)
Evelyn Abbott was an English writer and classical scholar. He is best known for his book History of Greece, which includes a sceptical viewpoint of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. He is also very well known as being the…
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1901
Hungarian author and poet (born 1846)
Mihály Kolossa was a Slovene ploughman and writer in Hungary.
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1906
French composer and educator (born 1865)
Lucien Denis Gabriel Albéric Magnard was a French composer, somewhat influenced by César Franck and Vincent d'Indy. Magnard became a national hero in 1914 when he refused to surrender his property to German invaders and…
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1914
1st Viscount Mersey, English jurist and politician (born 1840)
John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey was a British jurist and politician. After early success as a lawyer and a less successful spell as a politician, he was appointed a judge and worked in commercial law.
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1929
Armenian-Russian puppeteer and director (born 1876)
Nikita Fyodorovich Balieff was a Russian Armenian vaudevillian, stage performer, writer, impresario, and director. He is best known as the creator and master of ceremonies of La Chauve-Souris theater group.
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1936
Serbian Orthodox hegumen and painter (born 1875)
Rafailo Momčilović was a Serbian Orthodox cleric, abbot of the Šišatovac Monastery, and painter. He was murdered in the Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia which took place during the Second World War.
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1941
Canadian-American author and illustrator (born 1892)
William Roderick James was a Canadian-American artist and writer of the American West. He is known for writing Smoky the Cowhorse, for which he won the 1927 Newbery Medal, and numerous "cowboy" stories for adults and…
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1942
French painter (born 1864)
Séraphine Louis, known as Séraphine de Senlis, was a French painter and artist. Self-taught, she was inspired by her religious faith and by stained-glass church windows and other religious art.
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1942
Irish physician, founded the St. John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland (born 1869)
Sir John Lumsden was an Irish physician. He was famous for his role as Chief Medical Officer of Guinness Brewery, during which time he founded both St James's Gate F.C. and the St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland.…
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1944
Czech academic and politician, 2nd President of Czechoslovakia (born 1884)
Edvard Beneš was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czechoslovak…
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1948
Greek actress (born 1887)
Marika Kotopouli was a Greek stage actress during the first half of the 20th century.
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1954
American businessman (born 1897)
Robert Ellsworth Gross was an American businessman involved in the field of aviation. His first venture, the Viking Flying Boat Company, failed with the loss of the aircraft market brought on by the Great Depression. He…
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1961
Irish poet and playwright (born 1907)
Frederick Louis MacNeice was an Irish poet, playwright and producer for the BBC. Known for its exploration of introspection, empiricism, and belonging, his poetic work is now considered among the twentieth century's…
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1963
American golfer and banker (born 1893)
Francis DeSales Ouimet was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton elected Captain of the…
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1967
American cricketer and soccer player (born 1871)
John Ashby Lester was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and a teacher. Lester was one of the Philadelphian cricketers who played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak…
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1969
Bulgarian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1891)
Vasil Gendov was a Bulgarian film and stage actor, film director and screenwriter. Gendov wrote, directed and had a starring role as an actor in the first feature-length film released in Bulgaria; the 1915 silent film…
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1970
American football player and coach (born 1913)
Vincent Thomas Lombardi was an American professional football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be among the greatest coaches and leaders in American sports. He…
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1970
American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1943)
Alan Christie Wilson, nicknamed "Blind Owl", was an American musician, best known as the co-founder, leader, co-lead singer, and primary composer of the blues rock band Canned Heat. He sang and played harmonica and…
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1970
American composer and theorist (born 1901)
Harry Partch was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century composers in the…
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1974
Maltese artist (born 1885)
Gianni Vella was a Maltese artist. After studying in Rome, he produced many religious works which can be found in many churches in the Maltese Islands, but he also produced some secular works, including landscape…
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1977
American actress (born 1910)
Barbara O'Neil was an American film and stage actress. She appeared in the film Gone with the Wind (1939) and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in All This, and Heaven…
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1980
Romanian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1904)
Renault Renaldo Duncan, better known as Duncan Renaldo, was a Romanian-born American actor best remembered for his portrayal of The Cisco Kid in films and on the 1950–1956 American TV series The Cisco Kid.
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1980
English soldier and author (born 1898)
Alexander Raban Waugh was a British novelist, the elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh, uncle of Auberon Waugh and son of Arthur Waugh, author, literary critic and publisher. His first wife was Barbara Jacobs…
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1981
American songwriter (born 1909)
John David Marks was an American songwriter. He specialized in Christmas songs and wrote many holiday standards, including "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", "A Holly Jolly…
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1985
American composer and educator (born 1926)
Morton Feldman was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was an important exponent of indeterminacy in music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of…
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1987
Turkish civil servant and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1906)
Ferit Sadi Melen was a Turkish civil servant, politician and Prime Minister of Turkey.
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1988
Italian footballer (born 1953)
Gaetano Scirea was an Italian professional footballer who is considered one of the greatest defenders in football history. He spent most of his career with Juventus.
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1989
Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1897)
Frank Russell Capra was an Italian-born American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind several major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Italy and raised in Los…
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1991
English businessman (born 1904)
Sir David Brown was an English industrialist, managing director of his grandfather's gear and machine tool business David Brown Limited and more recently David Brown Tractors, and once the owner of shipbuilders Vosper…
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1993
Jr., American screenwriter and producer (born 1918)
James Thomas Aubrey Jr. was an American television and film executive. As president of the CBS television network from 1959 to 1965, he produced some of television's most enduring series on the air, including Gilligan's…
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1994
English footballer and manager (born 1924)
William Ambrose Wright was an English footballer who played as a centre-back. He spent his entire club career at Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first footballer in the world to earn 100 international caps, Wright also…
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1994
English painter (born 1904)
Mary Adshead was an English painter, muralist, illustrator and designer.
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1995
Australian painter (born 1910)
Emily Kam Kngwarray, also spelled Kame Kngwarreye, was an Aboriginal Australian artist from Alhalker, in the Sandover region of the Northern Territory. Kngwarray’s unique style and powerful creative vision came to…
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1996
American auctioneer and author (born 1910)
Emma Bailey was an American auctioneer and author, credited with being the first American woman auctioneer. She held her first auction in Brattleboro, Vermont, on May 12, 1950, as a way to supplement her family's…
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1999
American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1914)
Edward Anhalt was an American screenwriter, producer, and documentary filmmaker. After working as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for Pathé and CBS-TV, he teamed with his wife Edna Anhalt, one of his five wives,…
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2000
American film critic and author (born 1919)
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the consensus of her…
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2001
Canadian climatologist and academic (born 1919)
Frederick Kenneth Hare, was a Canadian climatologist and academic, who researched atmospheric carbon dioxide, climate change, drought, and arid zone climates and was a strong advocate for preserving the natural…
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2002
American businessman, philanthropist, and author (born 1902)
William Clement Stone was an American businessman, philanthropist and New Thought self-help book author.
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2002
2003
German businessman (born 1914)
Rudolf Leiding was the third post-war chairman of the Volkswagen automobile company, succeeding Kurt Lotz in 1971.
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2003
English biologist and author (born 1913)
Richard Sidney Richmond Fitter was a British naturalist and author. He was an expert on wildflowers and authored several guides for amateur naturalists.
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2005
American lawyer and jurist, 16th Chief Justice of the United States (born 1924)
William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American attorney who served as the 16th chief justice of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2005, having previously been an associate justice from 1972 to 1986. Considered a…
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2005
American keyboard player and guitarist (born 1973)
Jeffrey Carter Albrecht was an American musician best known for his keyboard and guitar work in Edie Brickell & New Bohemians.
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2007
New Zealand trade union leader and activist (born 1939)
Sydney Keepa Jackson was a prominent Māori activist, trade unionist and leader.
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2007
English runner (born 1964)
Jane Emily Tomlinson, was an amateur English athlete who raised £1.85 million for charity by completing a series of athletic challenges, despite suffering from terminal cancer.
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2007
American aviator (born 1944)
James Stephen Fossett was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraft. He made his…
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2007
American colonel and pilot (born 1917)
Donald James Matthew Blakeslee was an American pilot and officer in the United States Air Force, whose aviation career began as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force flying Spitfire fighter aircraft during World War…
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2008
2010
American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (born 1950)
Robert George Schimmel was an American stand-up comedian who was known for his blue comedy. While the extremely profane nature of his act limited his commercial appeal, he had a reputation as a "comic's comic" due to…
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2010
Colombian drug lord (born 1943)
Griselda Blanco Restrepo was a Colombian drug lord who was prominent in the cocaine-based drug trade and underworld of Miami, during the 1970s through the early 2000s, and who has also been claimed by some to have been…
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2012
American race car driver and pilot (born 1933)
Harold Glenn Dunaway was an American stock car and sprint car driver. He made one start in the NASCAR Grand National Series.
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2012
American actor (born 1957)
Michael Clarke Duncan was an American actor best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and other honors. He also…
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2012
Russian-German soldier and pilot (born 1917)
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded for a wide…
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2012
Korean religious leader and businessman, founded the Unification Church (born 1920)
Sun Myung Moon was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unification Church, whose members,…
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2012
American lawyer and politician (born 1939)
Charles Grandison Rose III was an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for North Carolina's 7th congressional district from 1973 to 1997.
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2012
American lawyer and judge (born 1914)
Ralph Milo Holman was an attorney and judge in the state of Oregon, United States. He was the 74th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Previously he was a circuit court judge for Clackamas County, Oregon. His great…
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2013
Mexican-American journalist (born 1921)
Pedro Ferriz Santa Cruz was a veteran radio and television presenter in Mexico.
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2013
Spanish director and screenwriter (born 1929)
José Ramón Larraz Gil was a Spanish director of exploitation and horror films such as the erotic and bloody Vampyres (1974), The House that Vanished (1973), Symptoms (1974), Black Candles (1982) and Rest in Pieces…
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2013
American author and scholar (born 1933)
Janet Lembke, née Janet Nutt, was an American author, essayist, naturalist, translator and scholar.
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2013
American basketball player (born 1930)
Don "Monk" Meineke was an American basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Dayton and was a consensus second-team All-American in 1952. He later played professionally in the National…
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2013
2013
Finnish singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1944)
Aarno Raninen was a Finnish singer, songwriter and musician. His main instrument was piano but he has also mastered violin, cello and accordion.
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2014
Indian soldier and politician, 14th Foreign Secretary of India (born 1930)
Ayilam Panchapakesha Venkateswaran was an Indian diplomat, former Foreign Secretary of India and former chairman of Asia Centre, Bangalore, rated by many as one of the most efficient foreign secretaries of India. The…
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2014
English rower and businessman (born 1929)
Sir George Adrian Hayhurst Cadbury, was an English businessman who served as the chairman of Cadbury and Cadbury Schweppes for 24 years. He was also a British Olympic rower. Cadbury was a pioneer in raising the…
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2015
English actress and comedian (born 1939)
Joyce Audrey Botterill, known professionally as Judy Carne, was an English actress. She appeared on American television in the late 1960s in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, where she employed the catch phrase "Sock it to…
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2015
American businessman and philanthropist (born 1971)
Jessy Chapman Carter Lay was an American businessman, philanthropist, and an heir to part of the Frito-Lay family fortune. Herman Lay sold Frito-Lay to Pepsico in 1965. Lay, 44, a recovering heroin addict, had 2…
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2015
Chinese general and politician (born 1914)
Zhang Zhen was a general of the People's Liberation Army of China and a member of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party.
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2015
world record holder for shortest man (born 1939)
Chandra Bahadur Dangi was a Nepali man who was the shortest man in recorded history, measuring 54.6 cm. He broke the record previously set by Gul Mohammed (1957–1997), whose height was 57 cm.
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2015
American musician, songwriter, and record producer (born 1950)
Walter Carl Becker was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.
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2017
2017
21st Lady Saltoun, Scottish peer (born 1930)
Flora Marjorie Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun, was a Scottish noblewoman and Crossbench peer. Until her retirement on 12 December 2014, she was the only holder of a lordship of Parliament with a seat in the House of Lords as…
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2024
American baseball player and coach (born 1936)
Wayne Leon Graham was an American college baseball head coach. He is known for being the head baseball coach for the Rice Owls in Houston, Texas. He coached one College World Series championship team and five NJCAA…
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2024
American football player (born 1938)
Charley Lane Johnson was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the New Mexico State Aggies. Johnson played in the NFL for 15…
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2024
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Notable deaths
Who died on September 3?
E. E. Cummings — American poet and author (1894–1962)
Explore September 3
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on September 3 in History
2017
North Korea conducts its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. Wikipedia →
2016
The U.S. and China, together responsible for 40% of the world's carbon emissions, both formally ratify the Paris global climate agreement. Wikipedia →
2010
See all events on September 3
After taking off from Dubai International Airport, UPS Airlines Flight 6 develops an in-flight fire in the cargo hold and crashes near Nad Al Sheba, killing both crew members on board. Wikipedia →
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