October 2nd is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining.

Events

1100-1899

• 1187 - Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule.
• 1535 - Jacques Cartier discovers Montreal, Quebec.
• 1780 - British spy John Andre is hanged by American forces.
• 1835 - Texas Revolution begins: Battle of Gonzales - Mexican soldiers attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas but encounter stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.
• 1836 - Naturalist Charles Darwin returns to Falmouth, England aboard the HMS Beagle after a 5-year journey collecting biological data he will later use to develop his theory of evolution.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Saltville - Union forces attack Saltville, Virginia but are defeated by Confederate troops.
• 1889 - In Washington, DC, the first international Conference of American States begins.

1900-1999

• 1919 - US President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.
• 1924 - The Geneva Protocol is adopted as a means to strengthen the League of Nations.
• 1928 - The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, was founded by Saint Josemaría Escrivá.
• 1935 - Italy invades Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
• 1941 - World War II: Operation Typhoon - Germany begins an all-out offensive against Moscow.
• 1944 - Holocaust: Nazi troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
• 1950 - The comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published in seven US newspapers.
• 1955 - The ENIAC computer is deactivated at 11:45 PM.
• 1955 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents debuts (last new episode aired on June 26, 1962).
• 1958 - Guinea declares itself independent from France.
• 1959 - The Twilight Zone pilot premieres.
• 1962 - Johnny Carson debuts as host of The Tonight Show.
• 1967 - Thurgood Marshall sworn in as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court.
• 1968 - A peaceful student demonstration in Mexico City ends in the Tlatelolco massacre.
• 1990 - A Chinese airline Boeing 737-247 is hijacked; after landing at Guangzhou, crashes into an empty Boeing 707-3J6B and then a Boeing 757-21B on the ground killing 132
• 1992 - Hero opens in theaters, starring Dustin Hoffman.
• 1992 - The Carandiru Massacre takes place after a riot in the Carandiru prison system in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• 1996 - The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• 1996 - An Aeroperu Boeing 757 crashes in Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru killing 70.

2000-2099

• 2004 - American Samoa joins the North American Numbering Plan.

Births

1400-1899

• 1452 - King Richard III of England (d. 1485)
• 1737 - Francis Hopkinson, American author and signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1791)
• 1798 - Charles Albert of Savoy (d. 1849)
• 1800 - Nat Turner, American leader of slave uprising (d. 1831)
• 1832 - Edward Burnett Tylor, anthropologist (d. 1917)
• 1847 - Paul von Hindenburg, German officer and politician (d. 1934)
• 1851 - Ferdinand Foch, French soldier (d. 1929)
• 1852 - William Ramsay, Scottish chemist (d. 1916)
• 1869 - Indian political leader (d. 1948)
• 1871 - Cordell Hull, United States Secretary of State (d. 1955)
• 1879 - Wallace Stevens, poet (d. 1955)
• 1890 - Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor (d. 1977)
• 1895 - Bud Abbott, comedian, actor (d. 1974)

1900-1999

• 1901 - Alice Prin, singer/artist: "Kiki" (d. 1953)
• 1904 - Graham Greene, British novelist (d. 1991)
• 1911 - Jack Finney, author (d. 1995)
• 1928 - George McFarland, American actor (d. 1993)
• 1932 - Maury Wills, baseball star
• 1937 - Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., attorney
• 1938 - Rex Reed, movie critic, actor
• 1943 - Franklin Rosemont, co-founder of the Surrealist Movement in the United States
• 1945 - Don McLean, American songwriter
• 1948 - Avery Brooks, actor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
• 1948 - Donna Karan, fashion designer
• 1949 - Richard Hell, musician
• 1950 - Persis Khambatta, actress (d. 1998)
• 1951 - Sting, British singer, actor
• 1954 - Lani O'Grady, actress (d. 2001)
• 1955 - Lorraine Bracco, actress
• 1961 - Edmond Yu (d. 1997)
• 1967 - Frankie Fredericks, Namibian athlete
• 1970 - Kelly Ripa, actress, television host
• 1971 - Tiffany, American singer
• 1973 - Susana Gonzalez, Mexican actress
• 1978 - Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese pop singer

Deaths

1200-1899

• 1264 - Pope Urban IV (b. c. 1195)
• 1782 - Charles Lee, British and U.S. officer (b. 1732)
• 1803 - Samuel Adams (b. 1722)
• 1850 - Sarah Biffen, painter (b. 1784)
• 1853 - French mathematician (b. 1786)

1900-1999

• 1927 - Svante Arrhenius, Swedish scientist (b. 1857)
• 1962 - Boris Y. Bukreev, Soviet mathematician (b. 1859)
• 1968 - Marcel Duchamp, French artist (b. 1887)
• 1973 - Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner (b. 1897)
• 1981 - Hazel Scott, singer (b. 1920)
• 1981 - Harry Golden, U.S. journalist (b. 1902)
• 1985 - Rock Hudson, actor (b. 1925)
• 1998 - Gene Autry, singer, actor, entrepreneur (b. 1907)

2000-2099

• 2002 - Heinz von Foerster, physicist and philosopher, one of the founders of constructivism
• 2003 - John T. Dunlop, Secretary of Labor under Gerald Ford
• 2003 - Gunther Philipp, Austrian comedian and actor

Links to October 2

Holidays and observances

Feast of Guardian angels

October 1 - October 3 - September 2 - November 2 - more historical anniversaries