On This Day: 2 October

2 October in world history

• 2019A privately owned Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress conducting a living history exhibition flight crashes shortly after takeoff from Windsor Locks, Connecticut, killing seven.
• 2018The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
• 2016Ethiopian protests break out during a festival in the Oromia region, killing dozens of people.
• 2006A gunman killed five Amish girls before committing suicide in a one-room schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania.
• 2005Typhoon Longwang made landfall in China as the deadliest tropical cyclone in that year to impact the country.
• 1996The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• 1990A hijacked airliner collided with two other planes while attempting to land at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China, killing 128 and injuring 71.
• 1980Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War.
• 1967Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1944World War II: German troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
• 1942Second World War: HMS Curacoa was accidentally rammed and sunk by RMS Queen Mary while escorting the liner to provide protection from submarine attacks.
• 1920Ukrainian War of Independence: Mikhail Frunze orders the Red Army to immediately cease hostilities with the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
• 1879Qing China signed the Treaty of Livadia with the Russian Empire, but the terms were so unfavorable that the Chinese government refused to ratify the treaty.
• 1835Mexican dragoons dispatched to disarm settlers at Gonzales in Mexican Texas encountered stiff resistance from a Texian militia at the Battle of Gonzales, the first armed engagement of the Texas Revolution.
• 1789The United States Bill of Rights is sent to the various States for ratification.
• 1780American Revolutionary War: John André, a British Army officer, is hanged as a spy by the Continental Army.
• 1766As part of wider food riots, citizens in Nottingham, England, looted large quantities of cheese; one man was killed during attempts to restore order.
• 1470The Earl of Warwick's rebellion forces King Edward IV of England to flee to the Netherlands, restoring Henry VI to the throne.

Born on 2 October

• 1939Budhi Kunderan, Indian cricketer (died 2006)India
• 1938Rex Reed, American film critic (died 2026)
• 1871Cordell Hull, American politician, United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955)
• 1869Mahatma Gandhi, Indian freedom fighter, activist and philosopher (died 1948)India
• 1866Swami Abhedananda, Indian mystic and philosopher (died 1939)India
• 1852William Ramsay, Scottish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1916)

Died on 2 October

• 2000David Tonkin, Australian politician, Premier of South Australia (born 1929)
• 1987Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1915)
• 1975K. Kamaraj, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1903)India
• 1938Alexandru Averescu, Romanian military leader and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Romania (born 1859)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 2 October in history?

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. 2018: The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. 2016: Ethiopian protests break out during a festival in the Oromia region, killing dozens of people. 2006: A gunman killed five Amish girls before committing suicide in a one-room schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania.

Which famous people were born on 2 October?

Budhi Kunderan, Indian cricketer (died 2006) (1939); Rex Reed, American film critic (died 2026) (1938); Cordell Hull, American politician, United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955) (1871); Mahatma Gandhi, Indian freedom fighter, activist and philosopher (died 1948) (1869).

Which day is observed on 2 October?

Gandhi Jayanti & International Day of Non-Violence; Gandhi's birthday-related observances: Gandhi Jayanti (India); Batik Day (Indonesia); Gandhi's birthday-related observances: International Day of Non-Violence; Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guinea from France in 1958.