Today in History: October 3, Germany reunifies after 45 years

Today is Saturday, Oct. 3, the 276th day of 2026. 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 1873, Modoc leader Kintpuash was hanged at Fort Klamath, Oregon, after being convicted of his role in the deaths of U.S. negotiators during the Modoc War, a conflict in which his people resisted relocation. Kintpuash was the only Native American leader charged and convicted of a war crime by the U.S..

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 became 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. The battle 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 killings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend 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 in October of that year. He died at age 76 on April 10, 2024, after battling prostate cancer.)

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. An Italian high court definitively vindicated Knox in 2015, throwing out the convictions once and for all.

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. Though McCarthy had the support of many fellow Republicans, several hard-right detractors from his party essentially forced him out.

In 2025, Sean “Diddy” Combs was sentenced to four years and two months in prison for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters, capping a federal case marked by harrowing testimony and a forceful reckoning over one of hip-hop's most influential figures.

Today’s Birthdays: Composer Steve Reich is 90. Rock 'n' roll star Chubby Checker is 85. Musician Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) is 77. Blues musician Keb’ Mo’ is 75. Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield is 75. Baseball Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley is 72. Rock drummer Tommy Lee is 64. Actor Clive Owen is 62. Film director Denis Villeneuve is 59. Singer-TV personality Gwen Stefani is 57. Pop singer Kevin Richardson (Backstreet Boys) is 55. Actor Neve Campbell is 53. Actor Lena Headey is 53. Rapper Talib Kweli is 51. Actor Seann William Scott is 50. Actor Tessa Thompson is 43. Actor-singer Ashlee Simpson is 42. Actor Alicia Vikander is 38. Rapper A$AP Rocky is 38. Actor Ayo Edebiri is 31. Actor Noah Schnapp (TV: “Stranger Things”) is 22.