- 1187 3 Oct Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, captures Jerusalem after a siege, ending 88 years of Christian rule.
- 1980 3 Oct The Housing Bill gives more than five million council tenants in Britain the right to buy their homes.
- 1990 3 Oct East and West Germany are reunited after 45 years. An all-Germany Reichstag sits in Berlin the next day.

