On This Day — 2 October
2000s
2025
2 people are killed and at least 4 others injured in an attack on a synagogue in Manchester, UK, during Yom Kippur.
2025 Manchester synagogue attack
2019
A privately owned Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress conducting a living history exhibition flight crashes shortly after takeoff from Windsor Locks, Connecticut, killing seven.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
2018
The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Washington Post
2016
Ethiopian protests break out during a festival in the Oromia region, killing dozens of people.
2014–2016 Oromo protests
2007
President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea goes to North Korea for an Inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Roh Moo-hyun
2006
Five Amish girls are murdered in a shooting at a school in Pennsylvania, United States.
West Nickel Mines School shooting
2004
The first parkrun, then known as the Bushy Park Time Trial, takes place in Bushy Park, London, UK.
Parkrun
2002
The Beltway sniper attacks begin in Washington, D.C., extending over three weeks and killing 10 people.
D.C. sniper attacks
1900s
1996
Aeroperú Flight 603 crashes into the ocean near Peru, killing all 70 people on board.
Aeroperú Flight 603
1996
The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Freedom of Information Act (United States)
1992
Military police storm the Carandiru Penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil during a prison riot. The resulting massacre leaves 111 prisoners dead.
Carandiru massacre
1990
Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301 is hijacked and lands at Guangzhou, where it crashes into two other airliners on the ground, killing 132.
1990 Guangzhou Baiyun airport collisions
1980
Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War.
Michael Myers (Pennsylvania politician)
1971
South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu is re-elected in a one-man election.
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
1971
British European Airways Flight 706 crashes near Aarsele, Belgium, killing 63.
British European Airways Flight 706
1970
An aircraft carrying the Wichita State University football team, administrators, and supporters crashes in Colorado, killing 31 people.
Wichita State University football team plane crash
1968
Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz orders soldiers to suppress a demonstration of unarmed students, ten days before the start of the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
1967
Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Thurgood Marshall
1958
Guinea declares its independence from France.
Guinea
1944
World War II: German troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
Warsaw Uprising
1942
World War II: Ocean Liner RMS Queen Mary accidentally rams and sinks HMS Curacoa, killing over 300 crewmen aboard Curacoa.
World War II
1937
Rafael Trujillo orders the execution of Haitians living in the border region of the Dominican Republic.
Rafael Trujillo
1928
The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded.
Opus Dei
1920
Ukrainian War of Independence: Mikhail Frunze orders the Red Army to immediately cease hostilities with the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
Ukrainian War of Independence
1919
Seven days after suffering a "physical collapse" following a speech in Pueblo, Colorado, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson has a catastrophic stroke at the White House, leaving him physically and mentally incapacitated for the remainder of his presidency.
Stroke
1800s
1870
By plebiscite, the citizens of the Papal States accept annexation by the Kingdom of Italy.
Referendum
1864
American Civil War: Confederates defeat a Union attack on Saltville, Virginia. A massacre of wounded Union prisoners ensues.
American Civil War
1835
Texas Revolution: Mexican troops attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, but encounter stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.
Battle of Gonzales
Before 1800
1789
The United States Bill of Rights is sent to the various States for ratification.
United States Bill of Rights
1780
American Revolutionary War: John André, a British Army officer, is hanged as a spy by the Continental Army.
American Revolutionary War
1766
The Nottingham Cheese Riot breaks out at the Goose Fair in Nottingham, UK, in response to the excessive cost of cheese.
Nottingham cheese riot
1552
Russo-Kazan Wars: Russian troops enter Kazan.
Siege of Kazan
1470
The Earl of Warwick's rebellion forces King Edward IV of England to flee to the Netherlands, restoring Henry VI to the throne.
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
1263
The Battle of Largs is fought between Norwegians and Scots.
Battle of Largs
1187
Saladin won Jerusalem after the city surrendered to his forces following a prolonged siege.
Saladin
939
Battle of Andernach: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard of Franconia and other Frankish dukes.
Battle of Andernach
829
Theophilos succeeds his father Michael II as Byzantine Emperor.
Theophilos (emperor)