This is a list of selected November 3 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Before doing so, please review the selected anniversaries guidelines. If your suggestion is potentially controversial or relates to a day currently or soon to appear on the Main Page, post it on the talk page instead.
Please note:
- Events listed on the Main Page are selected based on article quality and to provide a diverse range of topics, rather than solely on the importance or significance of the events.
- Only four or five events are featured each day; therefore, not all important or significant events can be included.
- An event is generally excluded if it is already the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
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Staging area
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke
Olympe de Gouges
Battle of Vyazma monument
Harry S. Truman
Pervez Musharraf
Postage stamp depicting Laika
George II of Greece
Remains of the trenches at Majdanek where Jews were shot
Truman showing the "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| Independence Day in Dominica (1978), the Federated States of Micronesia (1986), and Panama (1903) | Dominica: refimprove section, expansion; Micronesia: unreferenced section; Panama: multiple issues |
| 644 – Umar, the second Caliph in Sunni Islam after Muhammad's death, was fatally stabbed by Piruz Nahavandi, a Persian slave. | lots of CN tags (34) |
| 1838 – The Times of India, the world's highest-circulation English-language daily broadsheet newspaper, was founded as the The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce. | recentism |
| 1887 – The Coimbra Academic Association, Portugal's oldest students' union, was founded at the University of Coimbra. | refimprove, refimprove section |
| 1918 – The German Revolution began when 40,000 sailors took over the port of Kiel. | Revolution needs more footnotes; Kiel mutiny needs more refs |
| 1967 – Vietnam War: A series of major engagements that were some of the hardest-fought and bloodiest battles of the war began at Đắk Tô in the Central Highlands. | refimprove section |
| 1971 – The Unix Programmer's Manual was first published. | date not cited |
| 1979 – Five members of the U.S. Communist Workers' Party were shot and killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party while in a protest in Greensboro, North Carolina. | refimprove section |
| 1991 – The Peruvian paramilitary death squad Grupo Colina massacred at least fifteen people in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima. | needs more footnotes |
| 2007 – Pakistani president and chief of army staff Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency across Pakistan, suspending the Pakistani Constitution. | refimprove section |
| John III Doukas Vatatzes |d|1254| | Deathday not cited |
| Carlo Fornasini |b|1854| | Birthday not cited |
Eligible
- 1534 – The Parliament of England passed the first Act of Supremacy, making King Henry VIII head of the Church of England, supplanting the pope and the Catholic Church.
- 1793 – French Revolution: Playwright, journalist and outspoken feminist Olympe de Gouges was guillotined.
- 1805 – War of the Third Coalition: The Treaty of Potsdam was signed compelling Prussia to join the coalition if it failed to negotiate peace between Russia and France.
- 1848 – A new constitution drafted by Johan Rudolph Thorbecke was proclaimed, limiting the powers of the Dutch monarchy.
- 1880 – The current melody of Kimigayo, the national anthem of Japan, was adopted.
- 1898 – The Fashoda Incident ended with French forces withdrawing after several months of military stalemate with the British in Fashoda (now in South Sudan).
- 1935 – In a widely criticised referendum, almost 98 percent of Greek voters supported the restoration of George II (pictured) as King of the Hellenes.
- 1942 – World War II: U.S. Marines and U.S. Army forces began an attempt to encircle and destroy a regiment of Imperial Japanese Army troops on Guadalcanal.
- 1948 – The Chicago Daily Tribune published the erroneous headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" (pictured) in its early morning edition shortly after incumbent U.S. president Harry S. Truman officially upset the heavily favored governor of New York Thomas Dewey in the presidential election.
- 1956 – Suez Crisis: During an invasion of the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers shot and killed hundreds of Palestinian refugees and local inhabitants in Khan Yunis.
- 1957 – The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, carrying the space dog Laika as the first living creature to enter orbit around Earth.
- 1969 – U.S. president Richard Nixon made a plea for support from the "silent majority", referring to those Americans who did not join in the large demonstrations against the Vietnam War at the time.
- Born/died this day: Petronilla de Meath |d|1324| Achilles Gasser |b|1505| Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom |b|1777| Kinjirō Ashiwara |b|1850| Carrie Steele Logan |b|1877| Rosalie Edge |b|1877| Bangalore Nagarathnamma |b|1878| Karel Zeman |b|1910| Gus Winckel |d|1912| Olav Aukrust |d|1929| Adi Da |b|1939| Dawn Marie Psaltis |b|1970| Ronald Barnes |d|1997| Dick Cheney |d|2025|
Notes
- Félicette appears on October 18, so Laika should not appear in the same year
- George I of Greece appears on October 30, so George II should not appear in the same year
November 3: Constitution Day in the Dominican Republic (2025); Culture Day in Japan
Godzilla film poster
- 1812 – French invasion of Russia: As Napoleon's Grande Armée began its retreat, its rear guard was defeated at the Battle of Vyazma.
- 1881 – Indigenous Mapuche began an uprising against the occupation of Araucanía by Chile.
- 1943 – The Holocaust: The largest massacre of Jews by German forces began at Majdanek concentration camp.
- 1954 – The first film featuring the giant monster known as Godzilla was released (poster pictured) nationwide in Japan.
- 1996 – Abdullah Çatlı, a leader of the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves, was killed in a car crash near Susurluk, Turkey, sparking a scandal that exposed the depth of the state's complicity in organized crime.
- Andrew Báthory (d. 1599)
- Bert Jansch (b. 1943)
- Anna Wintour (b. 1949)
- Kim Yong-nam (d. 2025)
More anniversaries: