Date·Lore

On This Day · The 275th day of the year

October 2

October 2 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1187 and 2018. Saladin won Jerusalem after the city surrendered to his forces following a prolonged siege.

♎ZodiacLibra ◈BirthstoneOpal ❀Birth flowerMarigold

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on October 2?

October 2 is the 275th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1187 and 2018. Famous people born on October 2 include Mahatma Gandhi, Paul von Hindenburg and Leopold Figl.

The shape of the day

October 2's record stretches 831 years, from 1187 to 2018. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

Libra is the sign for October 2 — read more on the Libra page, or see October's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on October 2

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Game Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve

2025

  • Game Ghost of Yotei
  • TV Fated Hearts

2024

  • Game Kill Knight

2023

  • TV Secret Mission - Undercover Agents Never Back Down!
  • TV MF GHOST

2022

  • TV Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1187

    Saladin

    Saladin won Jerusalem after the city surrendered to his forces following a prolonged siege.

  2. 1864

    American Civil War

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

  3. 1919

    Stroke

    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.

  4. 1942

    World War II

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

  5. 1958

    Guinea

    Guinea declares its independence from France.

  6. 1967

    Thurgood Marshall

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

  7. 1971

    Nguyễn Văn Thiệu

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

  8. 2006

    West Nickel Mines School shooting

    Five Amish girls are murdered in a shooting at a school in Pennsylvania, United States.

  9. 2007

    Roh Moo-hyun

    President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea goes to North Korea for an Inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

  10. 2018

    The Washington Post

    The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Famous birthday twins

Born on October 2

Mahatma Gandhi

b. 1869

Indian freedom fighter, activist and philosopher

Paul von Hindenburg

b. 1847

German field marshal and politician, 2nd President of Germany

Leopold Figl

b. 1902

Austrian politician, Chancellor of Austria

Frank Malina

b. 1912

American engineer and painter

Leroy Shield

b. 1893

American composer and conductor

Boris Shaposhnikov

b. 1882

Russian colonel

Don McLean

b. 1945

American singer-songwriter

Wolfhart Pannenberg

b. 1928

Polish-German theologian and academic

Deaths

  • 2002Heinz von Foerster
  • 1999Heinz G. Konsalik
  • 1988Hamengkubuwono IX
  • 1968Marcel Duchamp
  • 1938Alexandru Averescu
  • 829Michael II

Holidays & observances

  • —Batik Day (Indonesia)
  • —Christian feast day: Denha I of Tikrit (Syriac Orthodox Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
  • —Christian feast day: Leodegar
  • —Christian feast day: October 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Gandhi's birthday-related observances: Gandhi Jayanti (India)
  • —Gandhi's birthday-related observances: International Day of Non-Violence
  • —Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guinea from France in 1958

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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