On This Day — 3 June

2025

Reconstitution of the Academy of the Distrustful in the Sala Dalmases of the Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona in Barcelona.

Academy of the Distrustful

2013

The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland.

United States v. Manning

2013

At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China.

Jilin Baoyuanfeng poultry plant fire

2012

A plane carrying 153 people crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board plus six people on the ground.

Dana Air Flight 0992

2012

The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames.

Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant

2006

The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence.

Serbia and Montenegro

1998

After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people.

Eschede train disaster

1992

Australian Aboriginal land rights are recognised in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Torres Strait Islander Eddie Mabo which led to the Native Title Act 1993 overturning the long-held colonial assumption of terra nullius.

Mabo v Queensland (No 2)

1991

Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.

Mount Unzen

1989

The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.

Tiananmen Square

1984

Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.

Operation Blue Star

1982

The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed.

Shlomo Argov

1980

The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, United States, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $1172 million in 2025) worth of damage.

1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak

1979

A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.

Ixtoc I oil spill

1973

A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.

Soviet Union

1969

Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half; resulting in 74 deaths.

Melbourne–Evans collision

1965

The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk.

Gemini 4

1963

Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.

Huế chemical attacks

1962

At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130.

Orly Airport

1950

Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.

Maurice Herzog

1943

In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines attack Latino youths in the five-day Zoot Suit Riots.

Los Angeles

1942

World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island.

Empire of Japan

1941

World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants.

Wehrmacht

1940

World War II: During the Battle of France, the Luftwaffe bombs Paris.

World War II

1940

Franz Rademacher proposes plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland", an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl.

Franz Rademacher

1937

The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson.

Edward VIII

1935

One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa.

On-to-Ottawa Trek

1916

The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.

National Defense Act of 1916

1892

Liverpool F.C. is founded by John Houlding.

Liverpool F.C.

1889

The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.

Electric power transmission

1885

In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police.

Cree

1864

American Civil War: Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant sustain heavy casualties attacking Confederate troops under Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Virginia.

Ulysses S. Grant

1863

American Civil War: Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia begin marching to invade the North for a second time, starting the Gettysburg campaign.

Robert E. Lee

1861

American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia.

American Civil War

1844

The last pair of great auks is killed.

Great auk

1839

In Humen, China, Lin Zexu destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War.

Humen Town

1781

Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending British raid.

Jack Jouett

1700

Foundation of the Academy of the Distrustful in the library room of the Palau Dalmases in Barcelona.

Academy of the Distrustful

1665

James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.

James II of England

1658

Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France.

Pope Alexander VII

1621

The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland.

Dutch West India Company

1608

Samuel de Champlain lands at Tadoussac, Quebec, in the course of his third voyage to New France, and begins erecting fortifications.

Samuel de Champlain

1602

An English naval force defeats a fleet of Spanish galleys, and captures a large Portuguese carrack at the Battle of Sesimbra Bay.

Galley

1326

The Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark.

Treaty of Novgorod (1326)

1140

The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.

Peter Abelard

1098

After a five-month siege during the First Crusade, the Crusaders seize Antioch.

First Crusade

713

The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army.

Byzantine Empire

350

The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.

List of Roman usurpers