October 3 in History

1863 – The last Thursday in November was declared Thanksgiving Day by US President Abraham Lincoln.

1872 – The Bloomingdale brothers opened their first store at 938 Third Avenue in New York City.

1949 – WERD, the first black-owned radio station in the United States, opened in Atlanta. WERD was at 860 AM, and is now WAEC.

1952 – The United Kingdom successfully conducted a nuclear test to become the world’s third nuclear power on October 3rd, 1952

1955 – Captain Kangaroo premiered on CBS

1955 – The Mickey Mouse Club premiered on ABC

1957 – The California State Superior Court ruled that Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems was not obscene.

1960 – The Andy Griffith Show premiered on CBS

1961 – The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered on CBS

1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its first flight.

1988 – Turner Network Television (TNT) began on cable, with Gone With The Wind

1992 – Singer Sinead O’Conner stirred up controversy when she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live

1995 – Millions of people stopped what they were doing and tuned in for the announcement of the verdict in the O.J. Simpson trial. The “Not Guilty” verdict was met with both praise and shock, but millions of Americans were sitting by a radio or TV when it was announced. So many people (100 million+) were watching/listening to the O.J. Simpson verdict that the afternoon cost about $480 million in lost productivity, about $750 million today.

#1 Hit October 3, 1998 – October 16, 1998: Monica – The First Night

2004 – Desperate Housewives premiered on ABC

#1 Hit October 3, 2015 – November 13, 2015: The Weeknd – The Hills

#1 Hit October 3, 2020 – October 9, 2020: Dynamite – BTS