1. On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the American Revolutionary War and formally recognizing the United States as an independent nation.

2. In 1856, a group of pro-slavery militants attacked the town of Lawrence, Kansas, which had been established as a center for anti-slavery activism. The incident, known as the Lawrence Massacre, contributed to the tensions and violence leading up to the American Civil War.

3. On September 3, 1901, President William McKinley was shot by an anarchist while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He died eight days later, making him the third U.S. president to be assassinated.

4. In 1967, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech at a rally in Washington, D.C. in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. The speech, known as "I've Been to the Mountaintop," would be King's last before he was assassinated the following day.

5. On September 3, 1995, the iconic Seattle music festival known as Bumbershoot marked its 25th anniversary. The festival, which features music, art, and other performances, continues to be a popular event in the Pacific Northwest.