October 2 in history — What Happened Today in History

Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War.

South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu is re-elected in a one-man election.

British European Airways Flight 706 crashes near Aarsele, Belgium, killing 63.

An aircraft carrying the Wichita State University football team, administrators, and supporters crashes in Colorado, killing 31 people.

Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz orders soldiers to suppress a demonstration of unarmed students, ten days before the start of the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Guinea declares its independence from France.

World War II: German troops end the Warsaw Uprising.

World War II: Ocean Liner RMS Queen Mary accidentally rams and sinks HMS Curacoa, killing over 300 crewmen aboard Curacoa.

Rafael Trujillo orders the execution of Haitians living in the border region of the Dominican Republic.

The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded.

Ukrainian War of Independence: Mikhail Frunze orders the Red Army to immediately cease hostilities with the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.

Seven days after suffering a "physical collapse" following a speech in Pueblo, Colorado, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson has a catastrophic stroke at the White House, leaving him physically and mentally incapacitated for the remainder of his presidency.

By plebiscite, the citizens of the Papal States accept annexation by the Kingdom of Italy.

American Civil War: Confederates defeat a Union attack on Saltville, Virginia. A massacre of wounded Union prisoners ensues.

Texas Revolution: Mexican troops attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, but encounter stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.

The United States Bill of Rights is sent to the various States for ratification.

American Revolutionary War: John André, a British Army officer, is hanged as a spy by the Continental Army.

The Nottingham Cheese Riot breaks out at the Goose Fair in Nottingham, UK, in response to the excessive cost of cheese.

Russo-Kazan Wars: Russian troops enter Kazan.

Josh Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player

Aaron Hicks, American baseball player

George Nash, English rower

Brittany Howard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Joe Ingles, Australian basketball player

Phil Kessel, American ice hockey player

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., American race car driver

Camilla Belle, American actress

Çağlar Birinci, Turkish footballer

Marion Bartoli, French tennis player

Tyson Chandler, American basketball player

Esra Gümüş, Turkish volleyball player

Luke Wilkshire, Australian footballer

Robert Flower, Australian footballer (born 1955)

Abraham Nemeth, American mathematician and academic (born 1918)

Nguyễn Chí Thiện, Vietnamese-American poet and activist (born 1939)

Charles Roach, Trinidadian-Canadian lawyer and activist (born 1933)

J. Philippe Rushton, English-Canadian psychologist, theorist, academic (born 1943)

Kwa Geok Choo, Singaporean lawyer and scholar (born 1920)

Tex Coulter, American football player (born 1924)

George Grizzard, American actor (born 1928)

Dan Keating, Irish Republican Army volunteer (born 1902)

Helen Chenoweth-Hage, American politician (born 1938)

Paul Halmos, Hungarian-American mathematician (born 1916)

Nipsey Russell, American comedian and actor (born 1918)

August Wilson, American author and playwright (born 1945)