December 3
is the 337th (in
leap years the 338th) day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar. There are 28 days remaining. It is also interesting to note that December the 3rd is the last day that can be found in the digits of π, whether as the European 0312 or the American 1203.
*
1805 -
Lewis and Clark Expedition mark their explorations from the
Missouri River overland to the
Columbia River on a
pine tree.
*
1818 -
Illinois becomes the 21st
U.S. state.
*
1828 - In the
U.S. Presidential election of 1828, challenger
Andrew Jackson beats incumbent
John Quincy Adams and is elected
President of the United States.
*
1854 -
Eureka Stockade: In what is claimed by many to be the birth of Australian democracy, more than 20 goldminers at
Ballarat,
Victoria,
Australia are killed by state troopers in an uprising over mining licences.
*
1901 - US President
Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the
House of Representatives asking Congress curb the power of
trusts "within reasonable limits".
*
1904 - The
Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by
Charles Dillon Perrine at California's
Lick Observatory.
*
1912 -
Bulgaria,
Greece,
Montenegro, and
Serbia (the
Balkan League) sign an armistice with
Turkey, ending the two-month long First
Balkan War.
*
1917 - After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, the
Quebec Bridge opens to traffic.
*
1925 -
George Gershwin's
Piano Concerto in F is premiered at
Carnegie Hall.
*
1929 -
Great Depression: US President
Herbert Hoover announces to the
U.S. Congress that the worst effects of the recent
stock market crash are behind the nation and the American people have regained faith in the
economy.
*
1936 -
New York City radio station
WQXR is officially founded.
*
1937 -
The Dandy, the world's longest-running comic, is first published.
*
1944 - The
Greek Civil War breaks out in a newly-liberated
Greece, between
communists and
royalists.
*
1947 -
Tennessee Williams' play
A Streetcar Named Desire opens on
Broadway.
*
1953 - The
Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the
United States and the
Republic of China, is signed in
Washington, DC.
*
1964 -
Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the
University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property.
*
1967 - At
Groote Schuur Hospital in
Cape Town,
South Africa, a transplant team headed by
Christiaan Barnard carries out the first
heart transplant on a human (53-year-old
Louis Washkansky).
* 1967 - The luxury train
20th Century Limited completes its last run from
New York City to
Chicago (the train was inaugurated on
June 15,
1902).
*
1970 -
October Crisis: In
Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner
James Cross is released by the
Front de Libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Canadian government grants five terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to
Cuba.
*
1971 -
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: After
Pakistan launches airstrikes on Indian airfields,
India retaliates by invading
East Pakistan.
*
1973 -
Pioneer program:
Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of
Jupiter.
*
1976 - Attempted assassination of
Bob Marley at
56 Hope Road. In the shooting,
Bob Marley received two gunshot wounds; however his manager
Don Taylor took a majority of the bullets. Both lived.
*
1976 -
Patrick Hillery becomes the sixth
President of Ireland.
* 1976 - The
Sex Pistols begin their controversial UK tour, where they are banned from performing at many venues.
*
1979 - In
Cincinnati, Ohio, eleven fans are killed during a stampede for seats before a
Who concert at
Riverfront Coliseum.
*
1979 -
Shadow Traffic begins broadcasts in the
New York City metropolitan area.
*
1982 - A soil sample is taken from
Times Beach, Missouri that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of
dioxin.
*
1984 -
Bhopal Disaster: A
methyl isocyanate leak from a
Union Carbide pesticide plant in
Bhopal,
India, kills more than 3,800 people outright and injures 150,000-600,000 others (some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries) in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.
*
1989 -
Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of
Malta, US President
George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the
cold war between their nations may be coming to an end (some commentators from both nations exaggerated the wording and independently declared the Cold War over).
*
1990 - At
Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 collides with Northwest Airlines Flight 299 on the runway, killing 8 passengers and 4 crew members aboard flight 1482.
* 1990 - Government of
Pakistan formed National Highway Authority.
*
1992 -
UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of
United Nations peacekeepers led by the
United States to form
UNITAF, tasked with establishing peace and ensuring that humanitarian aid is distributed in
Somalia.
* 1992 - The Greek
oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80,000 tonnes of
crude oil, runs aground in a storm while approaching
La Coruña,
Spain, and spills much of its cargo.
*
1997 - In
Ottawa,
Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a
treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel
landmines. The
United States,
People's Republic of China, and
Russia do not sign the treaty, however.
*
1999 -
NASA loses radio contact with the
Mars Polar Lander moments before the spacecraft enters the
Martian atmosphere.
*
2005 - International Day of Action On Climate Change, to mark the first meeting of the Parties to the
Kyoto Protocol. Includes
images of demonstrations around the world.
* 2005 -
XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California.
*
1368 - King
Charles VI of France (d.
1422)
*
1560 -
Jan Gruter, Dutch critic (d.
1627)
*
1596 -
Nicolo Amati, Italian violin maker (d.
1684)
*
1684 -
Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian historian and writer (d.
1754)
*
1755 -
Gilbert Stuart, American painter (d.
1828)
*
1776 -
Johann Spurzheim, German neuroscientist (d.
1832)
*
1800 -
France Prešeren, Slovenian poet (d.
1849)
*
1826 -
George McClellan, U.S. Civil War general (d.
1885)
*
1838 -
Cleveland Abbe, American meteorologist (d.
1916)
* 1838 -
Octavia Hill, British housing and open-space activist (d.
1912)
*
1842 -
Ellen Swallow Richards, American scientist (d.
1911)
*
1857 -
Joseph Conrad, Polish-born British writer (d.
1924)
*
1880 -
Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (d.
1945)
*
1883 -
Anton Webern, Austrian composer (d.
1945)
*
1884 -
Rajendra Prasad, first
President of India (d.
1963)
*
1886 -
Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist and
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1978)
*
1887 -
Prince Naruhiko, Japanese prince and prime minister (d.
1990)
*
1895 -
Anna Freud, Austrian-born British psychoanalyst (d.
1982)
*
1899 -
Ikeda Hayato,
Prime Minister of Japan (d.
1965)
*
1900 -
Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountain guide (d.
2004)
* 1900 -
Richard Kuhn, Austrian biochemist and
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1967)
*
1911 -
Nino Rota, Italian composer (d.
1979)
*
1921 -
Phyllis Curtin, American soprano
*
1922 -
Sven Nykvist, Swedish cinematographer
*
1925 -
Ferlin Husky, American singer
*
1927 -
Andy Williams, American singer
*
1930 -
Jean-Luc Godard, French film director
*
1931 -
Franz Josef Degenhardt, German author and singer
*
1932 -
Corry Brokken, Dutch singer
*
1933 -
Paul J. Crutzen, Dutch chemist and
Nobel Prize laureate
*
1934 -
Viktor Gorbatko, Soviet cosmonaut
*
1937 -
Bobby Allison, American race car driver
*
1942 -
Alice Schwarzer, German journalist
*
1946 -
Joop Zoetemelk, Dutch cyclist, World Cycling Champion and Olympic gold medalist
*
1948 -
Ozzy Osbourne, British singer
*
1949 -
John Akii-Bua, Ugandan athlete and Olympic gold medalist (d.
1997)
* 1949 -
Mickey Thomas, American singer (
Jefferson Starship)
*
1951 -
Ray Candy, American wrestler (d.
1994)
* 1951 -
Riki Choshu, Japanese professional wrestler
* 1951 -
Rick Mears, American race car driver
*
1953 -
Franz Klammer, Austrian skier
*
1955 -
Steven Culp, American actor
*
1959 -
Eamonn Holmes, Northern Irish television presenter
*
1960 -
Daryl Hannah, American actress
* 1960 -
Igor Larionov, Russian ice hockey player
* 1960 -
Julianne Moore, American actress
*
1965 -
Steve Harris, American actor
* 1965 -
Katarina Witt, German figure skater, World Figure Skating Champion and Olympic gold medalist
*
1968 -
Brendan Fraser, American actor
*
1970 -
Christian Karembeu,
French international footballer and World Cup winner
*
1972 -
Bucky Lasek, professional skateboarder
*
1973 -
Holly Marie Combs, American actress
* 1973 -
Super Crazy, Mexican professional wrestler
*
1977 -
Adam Małysz, Polish ski-jumper
*
1978 -
Trina, rapper
*
1979 -
Daniel Bedingfield, English pop singer and songwriter
* 1979 -
Rainbow Sun Francks, Canadian actor
*
1980 -
Anna Chlumsky, American actress
*
1982 -
Michael Essien, Ghanaian international footballer
*
1983 -
Sherri DuPree, American guitarist and vocalist
*
1985 -
Amanda Seyfried, American actress
*
2005 -
Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway*
1154 -
Pope Anastasius IV*
1265 -
Odofredus, Italian jurist
*
1533 -
Vasili III, Grand Prince of Moscow (b.
1479)
*
1610 -
Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general (b.
1548)
*
1765 -
Lord John Philip Sackville, British cricketer (b.
1713)
*
1789 -
Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (b.
1714)
*
1815 -
John Carroll (priest), first Roman Catholic archbishop in the U.S. (b.
1735)
*
1882 -
Archibald Campbell Tait,
Archbishop of Canterbury (b.
1811)
*
1888 -
Carl Zeiss, German lens maker (b.
1816)
*
1892 -
Afanasy Fet, Russian poet (b.
1820)
*
1894 -
Robert Louis Stevenson, British writer (b.
1850)
*
1902 -
Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (b.
1833)
*
1910 -
Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science (b.
1821)
*
1912 -
Prudente José de Morais Barros,
President of Brazil (b.
1841)
*
1919 -
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French impressionist painter (b.
1841)
*
1941 -
Christian Sinding, Norwegian composer (b.
1856)
* 1941 -
Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (b.
1883)
*
1949 -
Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-born American actress (b.
1876)
*
1967 -
Harry Wismer, original owner of the
New York Jets (b.
1913)
*
1972 -
Bill Johnson, American musician (b.
1872)
*
1973 -
Emile Christian, American musician (b.
1895)
*
1979 -
Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey player and Olympic gold medalist (b.
1905)
*
1980 -
Oswald Mosley, British politician (b.
1896)
*
1981 -
Walter Knott, farmer and creator of
Knott's Berry Farm (b.
1889)
*
1996 -
Georges Duby, French historian specializing in the Middle Ages (b.
1919)
*
1999 -
Jarl Wahlström, the 12th General of
The Salvation Army (b.
1918)
* 1999 -
Madeline Kahn, American actress and comedian (b.
1942)
* 1999 -
Scatman John, American singer (b.
1942)
*
2000 -
Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (b.
1917)
*
2002 -
Glenn Quinn, Irish actor (b.
1970)
*
2003 -
David Hemmings, British actor (b.
1941)
*
2004 -
Shiing-Shen Chern, Chinese mathematician (b.
1911)
*
2005 -
Herb Moford, baseball player (b.
1928)
*
R.C. Saints - memorial of
Saint Francis Xavier; also Saint
Birinus*
International Day of Disabled Persons - [
1]
*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On this DayDecember 2 -
December 4 -
November 3 -
January 3 â€"
listing of all days
