Reuters historical calendar - October 3

London, Oct 2 (Reuters) Following are some of the major events to have occurred on October 3 since 1900: 1906 - ''SOS'' was established as an international distress signal at the Berlin Radio Conference.

1929 - Yugoslavia became the official name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

1932 - Iraq became independent after the British mandate ended, and joined the League of Nations.

1977 - Former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was arrested on corruption charges.

1990 - East and West Germany formally united at midnight, ending 45 years of Cold War division.

1995 - The trial of the former American football star OJ Simpson ended when he was cleared of murdering his wife and a male friend.

In 1997 he was found guilty in a civil suit.

1997 - A Japanese magnetically levitated train broke the world speed record for a manned train when it clocked 451 kph (280 mph) on an experimental track west of Tokyo.

2002 - Turkey's state security court formally lifted the death sentence passed on Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan after his capture and trial in 1999.

2003 - UN member states agreed on an international treaty to combat corruption after two years of haggling. The Convention against Corruption was approved at the end of October.

2005 - British comedian Ronnie Barker, the big half of the famous TV duo ''The Two Ronnies'' and the indomitable Fletcher in prison sitcom ''Porridge,'' died aged 76.

**2006 - Peter Norman, the Australian sprinter who won silver in the controversial 200 metres final at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, died aged 64.

REUTERS SZ RK1231