December 3

2024 Calendar

December 3 is the 337th day of the year (338th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 28 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1960

915 - Pope John X crowns Berengar I of Italy as Holy Roman Emperor.
1799 - War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Wiesloch - Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal Szatary de Nagy-Mihaly defeats the French at Wiesloch.
1800 - War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Hohenlinden - French General Moreau decisively defeats Austrian Archduke John.
1818 – Illinois becomes the 21st State of the United States.
1834 – The Zollverein (German customs union) begins the first regular census in Germany.
1854 – Eureka Stockade rebellion occurs in Ballarat, Australia.
1904 - Jupiter's Moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at the California Lick Observatory.
1910 – Modern Neon lighting is first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.
1912 - Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia sign an armistice.
1919 - The Quebec Bridge opens to traffic.
1925 - The Locarno Treaty is signed in London, creating post-war territorial settlements.
1927 - Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's first movie, Putting Pants on Philip, is released.
1944 - Greek Civil War: Fighting breaks out in Athens between the Greek People's Liberation Army and Government forces supported by the British Army.
1959 – The current flag of Singapore is adopted.
1960 - The musical Camelot is first shown on Broadway.

From 1961

1967 – The first successful heart transplant operation is performed on Louis Washkansky by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in South Africa.
1970 – October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de la Liberation de Quebec, after 60 days in captivity.
1971 – Full-scale war erupts between India and Pakistan.
1972 - A Spantax Charter flight crashes on Tenerife, killing all 155 people on board.
1973 – The Pioneer 10 space probe sends back close-up images of Jupiter.
1974 - The Pioneer 11 space probe flies within 43,000 kilometers of Jupiter.
1976 – An assassination attempt is made on Bob Marley.
1979 - Ayatollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.
1979 - In Cincinnati, Ohio, 11 fans are crushed to death in a race for seats before a The Who concert.
1984 – A deadly chemical leak occurs in Bhopal, India. 8,000 people die instantly, and thousands die in the years following the accident.
1989 – George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Malta, signifying an end to the Cold War.
1992 – The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, with 80,000 tonnes of crude oil, runs aground off Galicia, causing an oil spill, affecting around 300 kilometres of coastline.
1992 - UN Security Resolution 794 is passed, approving UN peacekeepers' intervention in Somalia.
1999 – NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander before it enters the Martian atmosphere.
1999 - Six firefighters are killed in the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse fire in Massachusetts.
2007 – Kevin Rudd becomes Prime Minister of Australia.
2007 - Winter storms cause flooding of the Chehalis River in Washington, killing 8 people.
2009 – A suicide bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia, kills 25 people.
2012 - Typhoon Bopha strikes the Philippines, killing at least 475 people.

Births

Deaths

Up to 1900

312 – Diocletian, Roman Emperor (b. 244)
1048 – Al-Biruni, Iranian mathematician
1154 – Pope Anastasius IV
1265 – Odofredus, Italian jurist
1533 – Vasili III, Grand Prince of Moscow (b. 1479)
1552 - Saint Francis Xavier, Spanish missionary (b. 1506)
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, first Roman Catholic archbishop in the U.S. (b. 1735)
1839 – King Frederick VI of Denmark (b. 1768)
1845 - Gregor McGregor, Scottish adventurer (b. 1786)
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)

1901 – 2000

1902 – Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (b. 1833)
1910 – Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader (b. 1821)
1912 – Prudente José de Morais Barros, President of Brazil (b. 1841)
1919 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French impressionist painter (b. 1841)
1935 – Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (b. 1868)
1939 – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (b. 1848)
1941 – Christian Sinding, Norwegian composer (b. 1856)
1949 – Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-born American actress (b. 1876)
1956 - Mike Bandopadhyay, Indian-Bengali writer (b. 1908)
1956 - Alexander Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer (b. 1881)
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)
1984 - Vladimir Rokhlin, Soviet mathematician (b. 1919)
1987 – Luis Federico Leloir, Argentine chemist (b. 1906)
1989 - Fernando Martín Espina, Spanish basketball player (b. 1962)
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 (lung cancer) (b. 1942)
2000 – Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (b. 1917)

From 2001

2002 – Glenn Quinn, Irish actor (b. 1970)
2003 – David Hemmings, British actor (b. 1941)
2004 – Shiing-Shen Chern, Chinese mathematician (b. 1911)
2004 - Maria Perschy, Austrian actress (b. 1938)
2009 – Richard Todd, Irish-born actor (b. 1919)
2013 - Ida Pollock, English writer and academic (b. 1908)
2013 - Ahmed Fouad Negm, Egyptian poet (b. 1929)
2013 - Ronald Hunter, American actor (b. 1943)
2014 - Herman Badillo, American politician (b. 1929)
2014 - Jacques Barrot, French politician (b. 1937)
2014 - Sjefke Janssen, Dutch cyclist (b. 1919)
2014 - Ian McLagan, English musician (b. 1945)
2014 - Luc Oursel, French businessman (b. 1959)
2014 - Giulio Questi, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1924)
2014 - Walter Reyno, Uruguayan actor and director (b. 1935)
2014 - Nathaniel Branden, Canadian-American psychotherapist (b. 1930)
2015 - Scott Weiland, American musician (b. 1967)
2017 - John B. Anderson, American lawyer and politician (b. 1922)
2017 - Adam Darius, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1930)
2017 - Elmar Faber, German publisher (b. 1934)
2017 - Thomas Finlay, Irish judge and politician (b. 1922)
2017 - Kjell Opseth, Norwegian politician (b. 1936)
2017 - Ian Twitchin, English footballer (b. 1952)
2018 - Markus Beyer, German boxer (b. 1971)
2018 - Andrei Bitov, Russian writer (b. 1937)
2018 - Philip Bosco, American actor (b. 1930)
2018 - Geoff Murphy, New Zealand film director (b. 1938)
2018 - Josep Lluís Núñez, Spanish businessman (b. 1931)
2019 - Rawshan Ara Bachchu, Bangladeshi activist (b. 1932)

Obeservance

International Day for persons with Disabilities
International Day of the Basque language
Doctors' Day (Cuba)

December 3

Events

Up to 1960

From 1961

Births

Up to 1900

1901 – 1950

1951 – 1975

From 1976

Deaths

Up to 1900

1901 – 2000

From 2001

Obeservance