On the morning of August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus along with the Niña (Santa Clara), the Pinta & the Santa Maria departed a port in Palos, Spain to find a western route to Asia. As history would have it, they landed in the Bahamas in October of 1492.

The Santa Maria (La Gallega) was the flagship of Columbus, but it was wrecked off the coast of present day Haiti during the return voyage.
Wood from the shipwrecked vessel was used to construct a fort there called La Navidad (The Nativity) because the incident occurred on Christmas Eve.

Image: Despedida de Cristóbal Colón en Palos de la Frontera via Wikimedia Commons, no known restrictions

Born August 3, 1823 Thomas Francis Meagher’s nationalist activities in his native Ireland led British authorities to transport him to Tasmania. Meagher came to the US in 1852 and joined the Union cause at the start of the Civil War, leading the famed Irish Brigade through bitter, costly battles. He died in 1867 as Montana’s territorial governor.

Image by Matthew Brady via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.

Americans Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe and Frank Wykoff on the deck of the S.S. Manhattan before sailing to Germany for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin

On August 3, 1936 Jesse Owens wins gold in the Men’s 100 metres with a time of 10.3 seconds.
Ralph Metcalfe got the silver at 10.4 seconds and Frank Wykoff finished 4th at 10.6 seconds.

Together, these athletes won the gold in the 4×100 metres relay just six days later with American Foy Draper (not in the photo).

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

American elevator safety mechanism inventor Elisha Otis was born on August 3, 1811 in Halifax, Vermont.

Image: Elisha Otis demonstrating his elevator safety mechanism in 1854
via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Position record of the USS Nautilus on August 3, 1958 when it became the first submarine to pass under the Arctic ice of the North Pole.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Born August 3, 1900, Ernest Taylor Pyle, Ernie to his readers, built a reputation as a roving reporter and aviation correspondent in the 1930’s. During WW2 he wrote movingly about the servicemen and women with whom he shared foxholes, rations, and danger. He was killed in action on the island of Iejima in April, 1945.

Image from USAMHI via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US

On August 3, 1886 Congress ordered construction of U.S. Navy battleships, the USS Texas and the USS Maine.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

The First Meeting of Washington and Lafayette—Philadelphia, August 3, 1777

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On August 3, 1852 the first intercollegiate athletic competition occurred in Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H. when Yale and Harvard competed in a boat rowing race. Franklin Pierce, before taking office as President of the United States the following year, was a spectator.

Above is an image of the race when it was later moved to the Thames River in New London, Connecticut.

Image: “Finish of a Yale-Harvard race, New London” via NYPL Digital Collections, no known restrictions

Four-time American League batting champion (1921, 1923, 1925, 1927) Harry Heilmann was born on August 3, 1894 in San Francisco, California. After his career as a baseball player he was a radio announcer for the Detroit Tigers from the early 1930s until 1950.

Image of Detroit Tiger Harry Heilmann via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Daguerreotype of a dentist and his patient from 1855

On August 3, 1859 the American Dental Association (ADA) was founded in Niagara Falls, New York.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

26th U.S. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish was born on August 3, 1808 in Greenwich Village in New York City.

He negotiated the Treaty of Washington between the U.S. & Great Britain who paid the U.S. over $15 million for damages caused by Confederate ships that were built by the British during the American Civil War.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Actor and U.S. Navy veteran, Jay North, was born on August 3, 1951, in Hollywood, California.

Image: Jay North as Dennis The Menace c. 1959 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain