This Day In History, June 3rd

What happened on this day in history: The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson, the Zoot Suit Riots begin in Los Angeles, and other important events from June 3rd.

1937: The Duke Of Windsor Marries Wallis Simpson

Edward And Simpson

National Media Museum/Wikimedia CommonsKing Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson in Yugoslavia in 1936.

The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Warfield Simpson in France. The year before, he had given up his title as King Edward VIII and abdicated the British throne so that he could be with Simpson, an American socialite. They remained married until his death in 1972.


1943: The Zoot Suit Riots Begin

Today In History June 3

Public DomainVictims of the Zoot Suit Riots, stripped and beaten in Los Angeles.

The Zoot Suit Riots begin in Los Angeles. These bloody clashes — which lasted from June 3 until June 8 — were largely between white American servicemen and young male Latinos, who wore loose-fitting “zoot suits” popularized in Harlem dance halls. Both racism and anger about the material used to make the suits during a period of wartime rationing led to the riots and saw scores injured before the violence finally subsided.


1968: Valerie Solanas Shoots Andy Warhol

Valerie Solanas shoots iconic artist and impresario Andy Warhol in New York City. She believed that he wanted to steal her work — a play called Up Your Ass and SCUM Manifesto, which argued for a world without men. Warhol survived, and Solanas spent time in psychiatric hospitals and prison before her death in 1988.


2011: Lauren Spierer Disappears

Lauren Spierer

FacebookLauren Spierer in an undated photograph shortly before her disappearance.

Twenty-year-old Lauren Spierer goes missing after a night out in Bloomington, Indiana. She left her friend’s apartment around 4:30 AM to walk home but never made it there.