3 July in history
8 events that happened on 3 July, from 324 to 1988.
✦ Anniversary of the day
324 CE 1,702 years ago
Constantine I defeats Licinius at the Battle of Adrianople
In their second civil war, Emperor Constantine I soundly defeated his rival and former colleague Licinius at Adrianople in Thrace. After a further defeat at Chrysopolis, Licinius surrendered and was executed in 325.
987 CE 1,039 years ago
Hugh Capet is crowned King of the Franks
Hugh Capet was crowned, replacing the Carolingian line with his own family. The Capetians and their cadet branches would rule France almost without a break until 1848.
1608 CE 418 years ago
Samuel de Champlain founds Quebec
Samuel de Champlain established a fortified trading post at Quebec on the St Lawrence. It became the capital of New France and the heart of French-speaking North America, a culture that endures in Canada today.
1754 CE 272 years ago
George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to the French
Outnumbered and rain-soaked, the 22-year-old Washington surrendered Fort Necessity in western Pennsylvania. It was the only surrender of his military career and an opening clash of the French and Indian War.
1775 CE 251 years ago
George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge
General George Washington, newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and dispatched by the Second Continental Congress, took command of the Patriot soldiers camped on Cambridge Common, now regarded as the birthplace of the American army.
1863 CE 163 years ago
Pickett's Charge fails on the final day of Gettysburg
Some 12,500 Confederates advanced across open fields against the Union centre on Cemetery Ridge and were cut down. The repulse ended Lee's invasion of the North and is often called the high-water mark of the Confederacy.
1886 CE 140 years ago
Karl Benz drives his Motorwagen in public in Mannheim
Karl Benz made the first public drive of his three-wheeled Patent-Motorwagen on the Ringstrasse in Mannheim. Patented that January, it is widely regarded as the first practical petrol-powered motor car.
1988 CE 38 years ago
USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655
The US cruiser Vincennes, mistaking the Airbus for an attacking fighter, shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 on board. The tragedy deepened hostility between Washington and Tehran.
Born on 3 July 4
Died on 3 July 4
Dates as the sources give them: in the Julian calendar before 1582, and in some countries for longer (Britain until 1752, Russia until 1918). Only people whose day of birth or death the records agree on are listed.