From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 3 is the 337th (in leap years the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 28 days remaining.
[edit] Events
- 1800 - Battle of Hohenlinden, which was an Austrian Defeat
- 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 to 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 UK'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.
- 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, codenamed Operation Chengiz Khan.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.
- 1978 - The Southern Crescent passenger train derails at Shipman, Virginia, killing six, injuring 60.
- 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.
- 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 - XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California.
- 2005 - Iran blocks YouTube and several other sites in an attempt to impede "corrupting" foreign films and music.
- 2006 - St. Scholastica's College Manila in the Philippines celebrates its 100th year.
[edit] Births
- 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, American 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)
- 1875 - Max Meldrum, Scottish-born Australian painter (d. 1955)
- 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)
- 1884 - Walther Stampfli, Member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1965)
- 1886 - Manne Siegbahn, Nobel laureate (d. 1978)
- 1887 - Naruhiko, Prince Higashikuni of Japan (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-German biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1967)
- 1911 - Nino Rota, Italian composer (d. 1979)
- 1921 - Phyllis Curtin, American soprano
- 1921 - RHD (Bob) Phillips, Canadian journalist
- 1922 - Sven Nykvist, Swedish cinematographer
- 1925 - Ferlin Husky, American singer
- 1928 - Andy Williams, American singer
- 1930 - Jean-Luc Godard, French film director
- 1931 - Franz Josef Degenhardt, German author
- 1931 - Jaye P. Morgan, American singer
- 1932 - Corry Brokken, Dutch singer
- 1933 - Paul J. Crutzen, Dutch chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1934 - Viktor Gorbatko, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1937 - Bobby Allison, American race car driver
- 1937 - Binod Bihari Verma, Indian linguist
- 1942 - Alice Schwarzer, German journalist
- 1946 - Joop Zoetemelk, Dutch cyclist
- 1948 - Ozzy Osbourne, British singer
- 1949 - John Akii-Bua, Ugandan athlete (d. 1997)
- 1949 - Mickey Thomas, American singer (Jefferson Starship)
- 1949 - Heather Menzies, American actress
- 1951 - Ray Candy, American wrestler (d. 1994)
- 1951 - Riki Chōshū, Japanese wrestler
- 1951 - Rick Mears, American race car driver
- 1953 - Franz Klammer, Austrian skier
- 1955 - Steven Culp, American actor
- 1955 - Warren Jeffs, American convicted polygamist
- 1959 - Eamonn Holmes, Northern Irish TV presenter
- 1960 - Daryl Hannah, American actress
- 1960 - Igor Larionov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1960 - Julianne Moore, American actress
- 1960 - Mike Ramsey, American hockey player
- 1963 - Terri Schiavo, center of right to die case (d. 2006)
- 1965 - Steve Harris, American actor
- 1965 - Katarina Witt, German figure skater
- 1968 - Brendan Fraser, American actor
- 1969 - Bill Steer, British guitarist
- 1970 - Christian Karembeu, French footballer
- 1971 - Keegan Connor Tracy, Canadian actress
- 1971 - Frank Sinclair, Jamaican footballer
- 1972 - Bucky Lasek, American skateboarder
- 1973 - Holly Marie Combs, American actress
- 1973 - Super Crazy, Mexican wrestler
- 1976 - Byron Kelleher, New Zealand rugby player
- 1977 - Adam Małysz, Polish ski-jumper
- 1978 - Trina, American rapper
- 1979 - Daniel Bedingfield, English singer
- 1979 - Rainbow Sun Francks, Canadian actor
- 1980 - Anna Chlumsky, American actress
- 1980 - Jenna Dewan, American actress
- 1981 - David Villa, Spanish footballer
- 1981 - Ioannis Amanatidis, Greek footballer
- 1982 - Michael Essien, Ghanaian footballer
- 1983 - Sherri DuPree, American vocalist
- 1984 - Avraam Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1985 - Amanda Seyfried, American actress
- 1985 - Marcus Darrell Williams, American basketball player
- 1987 - Michael Angarano, American actor
- 2005 - Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway
[edit] Deaths
- 1154 - Pope Anastasius IV
- 1265 - Odofredus, Italian jurist
- 1533 - Vasili III, Grand Prince of Moscow (b. 1479)
- 1552 - St Francis Xavier, Jesuit missionary to the East (b. 1506)
- 1610 - Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general (b. 1548)
- 1706 - Emilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German countess and hymn writer (b. 1637)
- 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)
- 1890 - Billy Midwinter, Australian cricketer (b. 1851)
- 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)
- 1934 - Charles James O'Donnell, Irish politician (b. 1849)
- 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, American original owner of the New York Jets (b. 1913)
- 1969 - Mathias Wieman, German actor (b. 1902)
- 1972 - Bill Johnson, American musician (b. 1872)
- 1973 - Emile Christian, American musician (b. 1895)
- 1979 - Dhyan Chand, Indian Olympic gold medalist (b. 1905)
- 1980 - Oswald Mosley, British politician (b. 1896)
- 1981 - Walter Knott, American farmer (b. 1889)
- 1984 - Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin, Russian mathematician (b. 1919)
- 1993 - Lewis Thomas, American physician and essayist (b. 1913)
- 1995 - Gerard John Schaefer, American serial killer (b. 1946)
- 1996 - Georges Duby, French historian (b. 1919)
- 1999 - Jarl Wahlström, 12th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1918)
- 1999 - Madeline Kahn, American actress (b. 1942)
- 1999 - Scatman John, American singer (b. 1942)
- 2000 - Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (b. 1917)
- 2000 - Hoyt Curtin, American songwriter (b. 1922)
- 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, American baseball player (b. 1928)
- 2006 - Logan Whitehurst, American musician (b. 1977)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] Liturgical Calendar
[edit] External links
