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◆ On this day

October 3

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4 sourced moments from October 3 in history: Lincoln set the national Thanksgiving holiday (1863); The V-2's first successful 1942 flight fell short of space; Britain's first atomic bomb exploded inside a ship in 1952, plus 1 more.

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4 things happened on October 3

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1990 History · Modern

Germany reunified in 1990; its final treaty took effect in 1991

East Germany joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990. The wartime Allies suspended their rights that day, but the Two Plus Four Treaty only took force in March 1991.

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1952 Science · Physics

Britain's first atomic bomb exploded inside a ship in 1952

Operation Hurricane hid Britain's first atomic bomb in a frigate off Western Australia — a test so secret Australia's own cabinet wasn't consulted.

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1942 Space · Space Exploration

The V-2's first successful 1942 flight fell short of space

Germany's A-4 rocket first flew successfully on October 3, 1942, but its roughly 85–97 km climb stopped short of the 100 km line.

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1863 History · Modern

Lincoln set the national Thanksgiving holiday

Amid the Civil War, Lincoln's October 3, 1863 proclamation fixed Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November.

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