Discover · History

On this day — October 2

A hand-curated thread of what happened on this date, across centuries.

2025

Milestone

2 people are killed and at least 4 others injured in an attack on a synagogue in Manchester

UK, during Yom Kippur.

2019

Milestone

A privately owned Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress conducting a living history exhibition flight crashes shortly after takeoff from Windsor Locks, Connecticut, killing seven.

2018

Milestone

The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul

Turkey.

2016

Milestone

Ethiopian protests break out during a festival in the Oromia region

killing dozens of people.

2007

Politics

President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea goes to North Korea for an Inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

2006

Milestone

Five Amish girls are murdered in a shooting at a school in Pennsylvania

United States.

2004

Milestone

The first parkrun

then known as the Bushy Park Time Trial, takes place in Bushy Park, London, UK.

2002

Milestone

The Beltway sniper attacks begin in Washington

D.C., extending over three weeks and killing 10 people.

1996

Milestone

Aeroperú Flight 603 crashes into the ocean near Peru

killing all 70 people on board.

1996

Politics

The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S

President Bill Clinton.

1992

Milestone

Military police storm the Carandiru Penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil during a prison riot

The resulting massacre leaves 111 prisoners dead.

1990

Milestone

Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301 is hijacked and lands at Guangzhou

where it crashes into two other airliners on the ground, killing 132.

1980

Politics

Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War.

1971

Politics

South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu is re-elected in a one-man election.

1971

Milestone

British European Airways Flight 706 crashes near Aarsele

Belgium, killing 63.