December 3 in History

Historical Events on December 3

1818 Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.

1912 Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia (the Balkan League) sign an armistice with the Ottoman Empire, temporarily halting the First Balkan War. (The armistice will expire on February 3, 1913, and hostilities will resume.)

1971 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: Pakistan launches a pre-emptive strike against India and a full-scale war begins claiming hundreds of lives.

1979 In Cincinnati, 11 fans are suffocated in a crush for seats on the concourse outside Riverfront Coliseum before a Who concert.

1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.

1989 Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the Cold War between NATO and the Soviet Union may be coming to an end.

1994 The PlayStation was released in Japan

1997 In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign the Ottawa 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.

All Events

Famous Birthdays on December 3

1857 Joseph Conrad

1937 Bobby Allison

1960 Julianne Moore

1981 David Villa

All Births

Famous Deaths on December 3

311 Diocletian

1894 Robert Louis Stevenson

1910 Mary Baker Eddy

2015 Scott Weiland

All Deaths

Choose Another Date