Today in history: Oct. 3

Today is Thursday, Oct. 3, the 277th day of 2024. There are 89 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 3, 1990, West Germany and East Germany ended 45 years of postwar division, declaring the creation of a reunified country.

Also on this date:

In 1944, during World War II, U.S. Army troops cracked the Siegfried Line north of Aachen, Germany.

In 1951, the New York Giants captured the National League pennant by a score of 5-4 as Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers, which became known as the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.”

In 1974, Frank Robinson was named the American League’s first Black manager after he was hired by the Cleveland Indians.

In 1993, 18 U.S. service members and hundreds of Somalis were killed in the Battle of Mogadishu — the deadliest battle for U.S. troops since the Vietnam War inspired the film “Black Hawk Down.”

In 1995, the jury in the O.J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles found the former football star not guilty of the 1994 slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman.

In 2008, O.J. Simpson was found guilty of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room. (Simpson was later sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison; he was granted parole in July 2017 and released from prison in October of that year.)

In 2011, an Italian appeals court freed Amanda Knox of Seattle after four years in prison, tossing murder convictions against Knox and an ex-boyfriend in the stabbing of their British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

In 2013, a smugglers’ ship packed with African migrants sank off the coast of a southern Italian island, killing more than 365 people.

In 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — the first time in U.S. history a Speaker had been ousted from the position.

Today’s Birthdays: Composer Steve Reich is 88. Rock and roll star Chubby Checker is 83. Musician Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) is 75. Blues musician Keb’ Mo’ is 73. Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield is 73. Baseball Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley is 70. Golf Hall of Famer Fred Couples is 65. Rock drummer Tommy Lee is 62. Actor Clive Owen is 60. Film director Denis Villeneuve is 57. Singer-TV personality Gwen Stefani is 55. Pop singer Kevin Richardson (Backstreet Boys) is 53. Actor Neve Campbell is 51. Actor Lena Headey is 51. Singer India.Arie is 49. Rapper Talib Kweli is 49. Actor Seann William Scott is 48. Soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimović is 43. Actor Tessa Thompson is 41. Actor-singer Ashlee Simpson is 40. Actor Alicia Vikander is 36. Rapper A$AP Rocky is 36. Actor Ayo Edebiri is 29. Actor Noah Schnapp (TV: “Stranger Things”) is 20.

– Associated Press