Wednesday 3rd of August 1492

41-year-old Explorer, navigator, cartographer and captain Christophorus Columbus sails off on the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina on his way to discover America in Palos de la Frontera, Andalucía, Spain.

Saturday 3rd of August 1901

Cardinal Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw Stefan Wyszyński aka The Primate of the Millennium is born in Zuzela, Województwo Mazowieckie, Poland.

Tuesday 3rd of August 1915

52-year-old Marie-Angélique Guillin is murdered by serial killer Henri Désiré Landru aka Le Barbe-Bleue de Gambais in The Lodge, 47 Rue de Mantes, Vernouillet, Île-de-France, France.

Mr Petit as Landru was known to Guillin, tricked her into bringing a large trunk with all her valuables as they were to leave for Australia where he was to be appointed as Consul. The day after he had all her belongings moved to his warehouse at 43 Rue Parmontan in Neuilly. Guillin's decomposed body was found six months later in her trunk, sent to a Mme Jacques at Gare Arachon, but never collected.

Sunday 3rd of August 1924

Writer Joseph Conrad dies of a heart attack at the age of 67 in Oswalds, Bishopsbourne, Kent, United Kingdom.

Sunday 3rd of August 1924

Writer Leon Marcus Uris is born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

Saturday 3rd of August 1929

Inventor Emile Berliner known for developing the disc record gramophone dies of a heart attack at the age of 78 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States.

Monday 3rd of August 1936

23-year-old Black Olympic legend Jesse James Cleveland Owens wins the Olympics 100m sprint with a time of 10.3s, defeating teammate college friend Ralph Metcalfe by a tenth of a second and Tinus Osendarp of the Netherlands by two tenths of a second in Olympiastadion, Berlin, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany.

Wednesday 3rd of August 1938

Actress and singer Ingrid Caven is born as Ingrid Schmidt in Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany.

Thursday 3rd of August 1939

Murderer Arthur Perry is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 29 in Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States.

Saturday 3rd of August 1940

Actor Martin Sheen is born as Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez in Dayton, Ohio, United States.

Thursday 3rd of August 1950

The house of 51-year-old Serial killer John Reginald Halliday Christie aka The Strangler of 10 Rillington Place is sold to Mr. Charles Brown, a Jamaican who wanted to turn it into a lodging house for fellow-countrymen in 10 Rillington Place, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Unknown to Mr. Brown there were 7 bodies hidden in Christie's house and backyard.

Tuesday 3rd of August 1954

Rapist and murderer Clarence Allen Lackey is born in El Paso, Texas, United States.

Thursday 3rd of August 1961

38-year-old Hijacker Leonard Bearden and his 16-year-old son Cody are the first men ever to sky-jack a commercial Continental Airlines Flight 54 Boeing 707 to Cuba in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.

Bearden's adventure ended in El Paso when a dozen federal agents opened fire with submachine guns, shredding the jet’s landing gear and destroying one of its engines during takeoff after a refuel.

Thursday 3rd of August 1961

Victim of William Bonin aka The Freeway Killer Ronald Craig Gatlin is born in La Puente, California, United States.

Friday 3rd of August 1962

16-year-old Mass murderer Dennis Roger Ottoson fatally shoots his neighbours Hugh and Lorraine Paulson and their children 6-year-old Leanne, 9-year-old Anita and 13-year-old Karlyn in Brookings, South Dakota, United States.

Ottoson confessed to the murders the next day but didn’t provide a reason other than “I just had to do something, that’s all.”

Monday 3rd of August 1964

39-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey assaults an unidentified mentally retarded boy in Grouville, Jersey, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 3rd of August 1966

Stand-up comedian, social critic and satirist Lenny Bruce dies of acute morphine poisoning caused by an accidental overdose at the age of 41 in 8825 W. Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood Hills, California, United States.

The official photo taken at the scene showed Bruce lying naked on the floor, a syringe and burned bottle cap nearby, along with various other narcotics paraphernalia.

Friday 3rd of August 1973

14-year-old James Stanton Dreymala is tortured and strangled by serial killer Dean Corll aka The Candyman in 2020 Lamar Drive, Pasadena, Texas, United States.

Dreymala was Corll's last victim and the first to be found.

Saturday 3rd of August 1974

25-year-old Thomas Paxton Lee is found strangled by serial killer Randy Kraft aka The Scorecard Killer in Long Beach Oil Field, Long Beach, California, United States.

Sunday 3rd of August 1975

188 die in Royal Air Maroc Boeing 707-321C crash on landing in Agadir Inezgane Airport, Agadir, Souss-Massa-Drâa, Morocco.

Tuesday 3rd of August 1976

46-year-old Serial killer Rudi Paul Zimmermann tries to commit suicide in prison in Wuppertal, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Zimmermann was suspected of 90 murders in hospitals and homes for the elderly.

Thursday 3rd of August 1978

Mark Henry is stabbed in the chest by serial killer Larry Eyler aka The Leather Boy Killer in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.

Henry survived and never pursued charges against Eyler. In the next five years Eyler killed over 20 boys and young men.

Friday 3rd of August 1979

An unidentified woman is attacked by serial killer Peter Sutcliffe aka The Yorkshire Ripper in Derby, Derbyshire, United Kingdom.

Saturday 3rd of August 1991

89 die in schoolbus crash in Troutbeck, Manicaland, Zimbabwe.

The bus with 82 schoolchildren left the road while travelling to the Roman Catholic Regina Coeli School following a school sports day at the St Killian's Mission school.

Wednesday 3rd of August 1994

27-year-old Serial killer Heriberto Eddie Seda aka The New York Zodiac Killer sends a letter to the New York Post claiming the lives of 4 victims in New York City, New York, United States.

Sunday 3rd of August 2003

Indian workers stocking up goods for the coming week in Singapore, Little India, Singapore.

Tuesday 3rd of August 2004

Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson aka The Master of Candid Photography dies of unknown causes at the age of 96 in Céreste, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

Thursday 3rd of August 2006

Child killer William E. Wyatt is executed by lethal injection at the age of 42 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Sunday 3rd of August 2008

Writer Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn dies of heart failure at the age of 90 in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

Monday 3rd of August 2009

Kidnapper and murderer Ferdi Paul Robert Ferdinand Elsas is hit by an excavator while riding his bike at the age of 67 in Vorden, Gelderland, Netherlands.

Elsas died on arrival at Het Spittaal hospital in Zutphen.

Tuesday 3rd of August 2010

A street near the birthplace of inventor and photography pioneer Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.

Wednesday 3rd of August 2011

The Loreley statue in Loreley, Rheinstraße 46, St. Goarshausen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.

Monday 3rd of August 2015

Mass murderess Shirley Marie Curry dies of natural causes at the age of 78 in McPherson Unit, Newport, Arkansas, United States.