1878 over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat princess alice c 09 03
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1878 148 years ago Historical Events September 3 3 sources

Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.

On September 3, in the year 1878, Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of September 3, one of 429 recorded events on this date across all of history.

SS Princess Alice, formerly PS Bute, was a British passenger paddle steamer that sank on 3 September 1878 after a collision with the collier SS Bywell Castle on the River Thames. Between 600 and 700 people died, all from Princess Alice, the greatest loss of life of any British inland waterway shipping accident. No passenger list or headcount was made, so the exact figure of deaths has never been known.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on September 3, 1878 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
  • The event is associated with a specific geographical location (see map below).
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 12 August 2026.

On This Date in History 429

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2024 Sep 3 Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun, Scottish peer (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2024 Sep 3 Wayne Graham, American baseball player and coach (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2024 Sep 3 Charley Johnson, American football player (born 1938)
Historical Events 2017 Sep 3 North Korea conducts its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.
Notable Deaths 2017 Sep 3 Walter Becker, American musician, songwriter, and record producer (born 1950)
Notable Deaths 2017 Sep 3 John Ashbery, American poet (born 1927)
Selected Events 2017 Sep 3 North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test at Punggye-ri, causing a magnitude-6.3 earthquake.
Historical Events 2016 Sep 3 The U.S. and China, together responsible for 40% of the world's carbon emissions, both formally ratify the Paris…
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 3 Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 3 Judy Carne, English actress and comedian (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 3 Carter Lay, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1971)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 3 Zhang Zhen, Chinese general and politician (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 3 Chandra Bahadur Dangi, world record holder for shortest man (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2014 Sep 3 Aarno Raninen, Finnish singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1944)
Notable Deaths 2014 Sep 3 A. P. Venkateswaran, Indian soldier and politician, 14th Foreign Secretary of India (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 3 Ralph M. Holman, American lawyer and judge (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 3 Pedro Ferriz Santacruz, Mexican-American journalist (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 3 José Ramón Larraz, Spanish director and screenwriter (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 3 Janet Lembke, American author and scholar (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 3 Don Meineke, American basketball player (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 3 Lewis Morley, Hong Kong-Australian photographer (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 3 Griselda Blanco, Colombian drug lord (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 3 Harold Dunaway, American race car driver and pilot (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 3 Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor (born 1957)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 3 Siegfried Jamrowski, Russian-German soldier and pilot (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 3 Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader and businessman, founded the Unification Church (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 3 Charlie Rose, American lawyer and politician (born 1939)
Historical Events 2010 Sep 3 After taking off from Dubai International Airport, UPS Airlines Flight 6 develops an in-flight fire in the cargo hold…
Notable Births 2010 Sep 3 Tanitoluwa Adewumi, Nigerian-American chess player
Notable Deaths 2010 Sep 3 Noah Howard, American saxophonist (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2010 Sep 3 Robert Schimmel, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (born 1950)
Notable Deaths 2008 Sep 3 Donald Blakeslee, American colonel and pilot (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2007 Sep 3 Carter Albrecht, American keyboard player and guitarist (born 1973)
Notable Deaths 2007 Sep 3 Syd Jackson, New Zealand trade union leader and activist (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2007 Sep 3 Jane Tomlinson, English runner (born 1964)
Notable Deaths 2007 Sep 3 Steve Fossett, American aviator (born 1944)
Notable Deaths 2005 Sep 3 R. S. R. Fitter, English biologist and author (born 1913)
Notable Deaths 2005 Sep 3 William Rehnquist, American lawyer and jurist, 16th Chief Justice of the United States (born 1924)
Historical Events 2004 Sep 3 Beslan school siege results in over 330 fatalities, including 186 children.
Notable Births 2003 Sep 3 Jack Dylan Grazer, American actor
Notable Deaths 2003 Sep 3 Alan Dugan, American soldier and poet (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2003 Sep 3 Rudolf Leiding, German businessman (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 2002 Sep 3 Kenneth Hare, Canadian climatologist and academic (born 1919)
Notable Deaths 2002 Sep 3 W. Clement Stone, American businessman, philanthropist, and author (born 1902)
Historical Events 2001 Sep 3 In Belfast, Protestant loyalists begin a picket of Holy Cross, a Catholic primary school for girls.
Notable Births 2001 Sep 3 Kaia Gerber, American model and actress
Notable Deaths 2001 Sep 3 Pauline Kael, American film critic and author (born 1919)
Selected Events 2001 Sep 3 The Troubles: Ulster loyalists resumed a picket outside a Catholic girls' primary school in the Protestant portion of…
Notable Births 2000 Sep 3 Brandon Williams, English footballer
Notable Deaths 2000 Sep 3 Edward Anhalt, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1914)

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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