A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 3rd. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On December 3, 1775, the Alfred, a merchant ship purchased by the Continental Congress was commissioned under Captain Dudley Saltonstall and became the first to fly what would become the American Flag.
On December 3, 1800, the Electoral College tallied votes in the Presidential election and found the two main contenders, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, were tied.
On December 3, 1910, the Paris Motor Show was the stage for the public introduction of modern neon lighting, that ubiquitous and colorful signage we see everywhere from the local gas station to the local beverage store to the glittering streets of Las Vegas.
On December 3, 1971, amid the background of the Bangladeshi War of Liberation when East Pakistan was attempting to secede from West Pakistan, the military forces of Pakistan launched a pre-emptive assault against India, attacking airfields and military installations and triggering the Indo-Pakistani War, 13 days on the brink of a far larger disaster.
On December 3, 1984, the terrible tragedy at Bhopal, India took place when a huge quantity of methyl isocyanate (MIC) escaped and exposed 500,000 people to this poison and other chemicals, over 2,200 of whom died immediately and perhaps 16,000 more deaths over the ensuing weeks.
On December 3, 1994, Sony Interactive Entertainment launched the original PlayStation in Japan.
On December 3, 1997, a conference of countries of the world decided on conditions to draft a treaty banning the use of anti-personnel land mines.
On December 3, 2005, Dick Rutan, record breaking aviator, became the first man to pilot a rocket powered airplane to deliver US Mail when he flew an XCOR Aerospace E-Z Rocket from Mojave, California to California City (both cities in the County of Kern).
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Which event that occurred on today’s date would you like to learn more about?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.