Did you know
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948.
April 3 in History
1948 — In Jeju Province, South Korea, a civil-war-like period of violence and human rights abuses known as the Jeju uprising begins
April 3 spans 50 recorded events across recorded history, from 686 to 2018. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
50 events
686 – 2018
Today in history
More major events on April 3
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1981 The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. Source
- 2008 ATA Airlines, once one of the ten largest U.S. passenger airlines and largest charter airline, files for bankruptcy for the second time in five years and ceases all operations. Source
- 1933 First flight over Mount Everest, the British Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston. Source
- 1948 Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries. Source
Did you know
South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2005 to investigate human rights abuses, including those that occurred during the Jeju uprising.
Did you know
The Jeju uprising resulted in the deaths of an estimated 10 to 30 percent of the island's population.
Did you know
The Republic of Korea's National Human Rights Commission was established in 2001 to promote and protect human rights in the country.
Did you know
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects human rights worldwide, came into force on March 23, 1976.
686
Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
Mesoamerican civilization (c. 2000 BC – 1697 AD)
The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period.
956
Polyeuctus of Constantinople is elected as patriarch of Constantinople.
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 956 to 970
Polyeuctus of Constantinople was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (956–970). His orthodox feast is on 5 February.
1043
Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
King of the English from 1042 to 1066
Edward the Confessor was King of the English from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex.
1077
The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created.
Historical region in northeast Italy
Friuli is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language.
1559
The second of two treaties making up the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis is signed, ending the Italian Wars.
Peace treaty that ended the Italian Wars
The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in April 1559 ended the Italian Wars (1494–1559). It consisted of two separate treaties, one between England and France on 2 April, and another between France and Spain on 3 April.
1589
The janissaries revolt in response to the debasement of coins.
Elite infantry units and standing army of the Ottoman Empire (active 1363–1826)
A janissary was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops.
1721
Robert Walpole becomes, in effect, the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, though he himself denied that title.
Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1721 to 1742
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain, serving from 1721 to…
1851
Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand after the death of his half-brother, Rama III.
King of Siam from 1851 to 1868
Mongkut, posthumously honoured as King Mongkut the Great was the king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IV. He reigned from 1851 until his death in 1868.
1860
The first successful United States Pony Express run from St.
Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, begins.
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company.
1865
American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
1861–1865 conflict in the United States
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States.
1882
American Old West: Robert Ford kills Jesse James.
Historical region of Western United States, c. 1607–1912
The American frontier encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial settlements in the early…
1885
Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for a light, high-speed, four-stroke engine, which he uses seven months later to create the world's first motorcycle, the Daimler Reitwagen.
German engineer, industrialist and automotive pioneer (1834–1900)
Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development.
1888
Jack the Ripper: The first of 11 unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurs.
Unidentified serial killer in London in 1888
Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888.
1895
The trial in the libel case brought by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
Communication causing harm to reputation
Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country.
1905
Association football club Boca Juniors is founded in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Association football club in Argentina
Club Atlético Boca Juniors (CABJ) is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.
1920
Attempts are made to carry out the failed assassination attempt on General Mannerheim, led by Aleksander Weckman by order of Eino Rahja, during the White Guard parade in Tampere, Finland.
Finnish military leader and statesman (1867–1951)
Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was a Finnish military commander and statesman.
1922
Joseph Stalin becomes the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Soviet revolutionary and politician who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953.
1933
First flight over Mount Everest, the British Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston.
Earth's highest mountain
Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its summit.
1936
Bruno Richard Hauptmann is executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the infant son of pilot Charles Lindbergh.
German-American executed for kidnapping and murder (1899–1936)
Bruno Richard Hauptmann was a German-American carpenter and criminal who was convicted of the abduction and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne…
1942
World War II: Japanese forces begin an assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers.
1946
Japanese Lt.
General Masaharu Homma is executed in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.
Lieutenant general is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normally…
1948
Cold War: U.S.
President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc.
1955
The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg's book Howl against obscenity charges.
Legal advocacy organization in the United States
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
1956
Hudsonville–Standale tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado.
Tornado outbreak in the central United States
From April 2–3, 1956, a large, deadly tornado outbreak affected the Great Plains, parts of the South, and the upper Midwest in the contiguous United States, especially the Great Lakes region.
1961
LAN-Chile Flight 621 crashes in the Andes mountains, killing 21 people, including Argentinian football player Eliseo Mouriño.
1961 aviation accident
LAN-Chile Flight 621 crashed in the Andes on 3 April 1961. All twenty-four people on board were killed, including eight professional footballers and two members of the coaching staff from CD Green Cross.
1968
Martin Luther King Jr.
delivers his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech; he was assassinated the next day.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.
1969
Vietnam War: United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to "Vietnamize" the war effort.
1955–1975 war in Southeast Asia
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies.
1973
Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the first handheld mobile phone call to Joel S.
Engel of Bell Labs.
Martin Cooper is an American engineer. He is a pioneer in the wireless communications industry, especially in radio spectrum management, with eleven patents in the field.
1974
The 1974 Super Outbreak occurs, the second largest tornado outbreak in recorded history (after the 2011 Super Outbreak).
The death toll is 315, with nearly 5,500 injured.
The 1974 Super Outbreak was one of the most intense tornado outbreaks on record, occurring on April 3–4, 1974, across much of the United States. It was one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.
1975
Vietnam War: Operation Babylift, a mass evacuation of children in the closing stages of the war begins.
Mass evacuation of children at the end of the Vietnam War
Operation Babylift was a mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other Western countries at end of the Vietnam War, in April 1975.
1975
Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.
American chess grandmaster (1943–2008)
Robert James Fischer was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14.
1980
US Congress restores a federal trust relationship with the 501 members of the Shivwits, Kanosh, Koosharem, and the Indian Peaks and Cedar City bands of the Paiute people of Utah.
Bicameral legislature of the United States
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S.
1981
The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.
Early portable microcomputer
The Osborne 1 is the first commercially successful portable computer, released on April 3, 1981, by Osborne Computer Corporation. It weighs 24.5 lb (11.1 kg), cost US$1,795, and runs the CP/M 2.2 operating system.
1989
The US Supreme Court upholds the jurisdictional rights of tribal courts under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 in Mississippi Choctaw Band v.
Holyfield.
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S.
1993
The outcome of the Grand National horse race is declared void for the first (and only) time.
English steeplechase horse race at Aintree Racecourse
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England, near Liverpool.
1996
Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is captured at his Montana cabin in the United States.
American domestic terrorist (1942–2023)
Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist.
1996
A United States Air Force Boeing T-43 crashes near Dubrovnik Airport in Croatia, killing 35, including Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown.
Air service branch of the U.S. military
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces.
1997
The Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but one of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
Massacre of villagers by Islamists during the Algerian Civil War
The Thalit massacre took place in Thalit village, some 70 km from Algiers, on April 3–4, 1997 during the Algerian Civil War.
2000
United States v.
Microsoft Corp.: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust law by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.
United States of America v. Microsoft Corporation, 253 F.3d 34, was a landmark American antitrust law case at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The U.S.
2004
Islamic terrorists involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves.
Terrorist acts by groups of individuals who profess Islamic motivations or goals
Islamic terrorism is a form of religious terrorism carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists with the aim of achieving various political or religious objectives, such as jihad and caliphate.
2007
Conventional-Train World Speed Record: A French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line sets an official new world speed record of 574.8 km/h (159.6 m/s, 357.2 mph).
Speed record achieved by TGV train
The TGV holds a series of land speed records for rail vehicles achieved by SNCF, the French national railway, and its industrial partners.
2008
ATA Airlines, once one of the ten largest U.S.
passenger airlines and largest charter airline, files for bankruptcy for the second time in five years and ceases all operations.
ATA Airlines, Inc., formerly known as American Trans Air and commonly referred to as ATA, was an American low-cost and charter airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
2008
Texas law enforcement cordons off the FLDS's YFZ Ranch.
Eventually 533 women and children will be taken into state custody.
Texas is the most populous state in the Southern United States. It borders the American states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, and New Mexico to the west.
2009
Jiverly Antares Wong opens fire at the American Civic Association immigration center in Binghamton, New York, killing thirteen and wounding four before committing suicide.
Mass shooting in New York, U.S.
On April 3, 2009, a mass shooting occurred at the American Civic Association immigration center in Binghamton, New York. At approximately 10:30 a.m.
2010
Apple Inc.
released the first generation iPad, a tablet computer.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley, and known for consumer electronics, software and online services.
2013
More than 50 people die in floods resulting from record-breaking rainfall in La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2013 natural disaster in northern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Between 1 and 3 April 2013, the northeastern section of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, experienced several flash floods that claimed the lives of 101 people.
2016
The Panama Papers, a leak of legal documents, reveals information on 214,488 offshore companies.
2016 document leak scandal
The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents published from April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities.
2017
A bomb explodes in the St Petersburg metro system, killing 14 and injuring several more people.
Terrorist attack in Russia
On 3 April 2017, a terrorist attack using an explosive device took place on the Saint Petersburg Metro between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations.
2018
YouTube headquarters shooting: A 38-year-old gunwoman opens fire at YouTube Headquarters in San Bruno, California, injuring three people before committing suicide.
2018 attack in San Bruno, California, US
On April 3, 2018, at approximately 12:46 p.m. PDT, a shooting occurred at the headquarters of the American video-sharing website YouTube in San Bruno, California.