On This Day – What Happened on October 3
1995 – OJ Simpson acquitted in the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman
The former football player had been accused of murdering his ex-wife and her friend on June 13, 1994. The high profile case and the subsequent trial of Simpson captured widespread media and public attention in the United States and around the world.
1952 – UK tests its first atomic bomb
Called Operation Hurricane the test was conducted near the Montebello Islands in Western Australia. The operation made the UK the third country to have nuclear weapons, the United States and the Soviet Union were the first two.
1932 – Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom
The West Asian country came under British control in 1920, after the end of the First World War. After taking control of the country, the British installed the deposed Syrian King Faisal I as the King of Iraq.
1863 – National Thanksgiving Day proclamation
American president Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day. The holiday has been celebrated annually since that year.
1849 – Edgar Allen Poe seen in public for the last time
The Baltimore, Maryland-based American poet and author, best known for his poem The Raven was found sick and delirious on the streets and taken to Washington College Hospital, where he died a few days later. He was 40 years old at the time of his death.