December 3 is the 337th (in Leap Year s the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar . There are 28 days remaining.
- 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 , challenger Andrew Jackson beats incumbent John Quincy Adams and is elected President Of The United States .
- , 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 .
- 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 .
- , 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 ).
- , 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 .
- launches airstrikes on Indian airfields, India retaliates by invading East Pakistan .
- sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter .
- 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 .
- 1982 - A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of Dioxin .
- 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.
- , 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.
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