125 things happened on 3 December, from AD 311 to 2024. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1927 · 99 years ago
Putting Pants on Philip, a short silent comedy starring Laurel and Hardy, was released. It is described as the pair's first 'official' film as a team. Stan Laurel was English and Oliver Hardy was American. They became famous around the world for their slapsti…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
The Irish Free State, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom signed a final agreement confirming the partition, or division, of Ireland. The Irish Free State had been set up in 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Northern Ireland, in the north-east of the island, stayed part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland now shares an open border with the Republic of Ireland.
UK story
Putting Pants on Philip, a short silent comedy starring Laurel and Hardy, was released. It is described as the pair's first 'official' film as a team. Stan Laurel was English and Oliver Hardy was American. They became famous around the world for their slapstick comedy and worked together until 1955.
UK story
Neil Papworth, a test engineer for the company Sema Group, sent the world's first text message. It travelled over the Vodafone mobile phone network in the United Kingdom. He typed it on a personal computer, and it went to the mobile phone of his colleague Richard Jarvis. The message said 'Merry Christmas'.
UK story
Nigeria's first newspaper, missionary Henry Townsend's Iwe Irohin, was published.
UK story
Rupert Bruce-Mitford, the spiritus rector of research on the Sutton Hoo ship burial, joined the British Museum.
UK story
Greek Civil War: Fighting breaks out in Athens between the ELAS and government forces supported by the British Army.
UK story
The current flag and coat of arms of Singapore (pictured) were adopted, six months after the island became self-governing within the British Empire.
Australian mountaineer Freda Du Faur became the first woman to climb Aoraki / Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. It is about 3,724 metres tall and stands in the Southern Alps on New Zealand's South Island. Du Faur was one of the leading climbers of her day, even though she never lived in New Zealand.
At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, surgeon Christiaan Barnard carried out the first successful human heart transplant. A transplant means moving an organ from one person into another. His patient, Louis Washkansky, was given the heart of a donor. After the operation, Washkansky woke up and was able to talk with his wife.
NASA's space probe Pioneer 10 sent back the first close-up images of the planet Jupiter. Launched in 1972, it completed the very first mission to Jupiter. It was also the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt. Later it became the first of five human-made objects to reach the speed needed to leave the Solar System.
At a meeting off the coast of Malta, US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made statements suggesting that the Cold War might be coming to an end. The Cold War was a long rivalry between two groups of countries. One was NATO, which included the United States, and the other was the Warsaw Pact, which included the Soviet Union. Gorbachev turned out to be the last leader of the Soviet Union, which broke up in 1991.
Mary Robinson took office as President of Ireland, the first woman to hold the job. Before that, she had been a senator and had worked as a lawyer and university teacher. She became the most popular president in Irish history. In 1997 she left early to become the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Sony released its PlayStation home video games console in Japan. It went on sale in North America and Europe in September 1995. The PlayStation became the first games machine to ship 100 million units. Its main rivals were the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn.
The Japanese space agency, JAXA, launched the spacecraft Hayabusa2 on a six-year round trip to an asteroid. It reached the asteroid Ryugu in 2018, studied it for a year and a half and collected samples of rock. It brought the samples back to Earth in December 2020. The earlier Hayabusa mission had been the first to return asteroid samples, in 2010.
Pope John X crowns Berengar I of Italy as Holy Roman Emperor (probable date).
During the First Mongol invasion of Burma, the fort at Ngasaunggyan was overrun after a two-month siege.
American Revolution: USS Alfred becomes the first vessel to fly the Continental Union Flag (precursor to the "Stars and Stripes"); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones.
War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Wiesloch: Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal Anton Sztáray defeats the French at Wiesloch.
War of the Second Coalition: French forces defeated Austrian and Bavarian troops at the Battle of Hohenlinden, eventually resulting in the Austrians signing the Treaty of Lunéville.
United States presidential election: The Electoral College casts votes for president and vice president that result in a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.
The Zollverein (German Customs Union) begins the first regular census in Germany.
The first issue of Tamperean daily newspaper Aamulehti ("Morning Paper") is published.
The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club defeats an all-star collection of early football players 16–0, in what is considered to be the first all-star game for professional American football.
In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word report to the House of Representatives asking Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits". The speech was not delivered in person.
Himalia, Jupiter's largest irregular moon, was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory in California.
Modern neon lighting is first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.
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.)
Following more than a month of Turkish–Armenian War, the Turkish-dictated Treaty of Alexandropol is concluded.
President Herbert Hoover delivers his first State of the Union message to Congress. It is presented in the form of a written message rather than a speech.
Väinö Linna's war novel The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas) is published.
The musical Camelot debuts at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. It will become associated with the Kennedy administration.
American singer Elvis Presley's first television special and first live performance in seven years, Singer Presents ... Elvis, was broadcast by NBC.
With the Pakistani Air Force launching the unsuccessful pre-emptive airstrikes on several forward Indian Air Force airbases and radar installations, the 1971 India-Pakistan War begins and India also joins the Bangladesh Liberation War, siding with Bangladesh.
Following the result of a two-day referendum, the current Constitution of Iran was adopted.
Iranian Revolution: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.
A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri, that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.
The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil, runs aground in a storm while approaching A Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo.
Taiwan holds its first full local elections; James Soong elected as the first and only directly elected Governor of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian became the first directly elected Mayor of Taipei, Wu Den-yih became the first directly elected Mayor of Kaohsiung.
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.
XCOR Aerospace makes the first crewed rocket aircraft delivery of U.S. Mail in Kern County, California.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (pictured) declares martial law.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Laurel and Hardy's first official film as a team is released”?
A: 1927. 1927 — that’s 99 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “A final agreement confirms the partition of Ireland”?
A: 1925. 1925 — that’s 101 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: A final agreement confirms the partition of Ireland. 1927: Laurel and Hardy's first official film as a team is released · 1992: The world's first text message is sent in the UK · 1925: A final agreement confirms the partition of Ireland Find it on the page
“The world's first text message is sent in the UK” happened in 1992. How many years ago was that?
A: 34 years. 2026 − 1992 = 34. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 3 December.
UK story
Octavia Hill was an English social reformer and a founder of the National Trust. A social reformer works to make life better and fairer for people. She cared most about the well-being of people living in cities, especially London. Taught at home by her mother, she began working to help working people at the age of 14. She died in 1912.
Well-known people who died on 3 December.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 3 December somewhere in the world.
The United Nations has promoted this day since 1992. It aims to help people understand disability issues and to support the dignity, rights and well-being of disabled people. It also shows the benefits of including disabled people in every part of life. Until 2007 it was called the International Day of Disabled Persons.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “December 3” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.