What are the important events that happened on December 3? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

December 3: Facts & Myths About This Day

December 3 is the 337^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 28 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is November 20, 2025 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,412,000 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘trihectatriacontaheptagon’ day.

Sagittarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Turquoise is the modern birthstone for this month. Onyx is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 76 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,730 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

December 3 Historical Events

• 1818 –
  Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.
• 1834 –
  The Zollverein (German Customs Union) begins the first regular census in Germany.
• 1912 –
  First Balkan War: The Naval Battle of Elli takes place.
• 1960 –
  The musical Camelot debuted at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway, and would become associated with the Kennedy administration.
• 1971 –
  Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: Pakistan launches pre-emptive strike against India and a full scale war begins claiming hundreds of lives.
• 1982 –
  A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.
• 1990 –
  At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 collides with Northwest Airlines Flight 299 on the runway, killing 7 passengers and 1 crew member aboard flight 1482.
• 1992 –
  UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, with the task of establishing peace and ensuring that humanitarian aid is distributed in Somalia.
• 1997 –
  In Ottawa, 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.
• 2005 –
  XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California.

Who were born on December 3?

• 1368 –
  King Charles VI of France (d. 1422)
• 1842 –
  Ellen Swallow Richards, American scientist (d. 1911)
• 1880 –
  Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (d. 1945)
• 1924 –
  Wiel Coerver, Dutch football manager (d. 2011)
• 1934 –
  Viktor Gorbatko, Soviet cosmonaut
• 1965 –
  Katarina Witt, German figure skater
• 1971 –
  Vernon White, American mixed martial artist
• 1979 –
  Rainbow Sun Francks, Canadian actor
• 1979 –
  Sean Parker, American Internet technology businessman and entrepreneur
• 1985 –
  Sıla Şahin, German actress

Who died on December 3?

• 311 –
  Diocletian, Roman emperor (b. 244)
• 1765 –
  Lord John Sackville, British cricketer (b. 1713)
• 1902 –
  Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (b. 1833)
• 1912 –
  Prudente José de Morais Barros, President of Brazil (b. 1841)
• 1955 –
  Cow Cow Davenport, American pianist (b. 1894)
• 1981 –
  Walter Knott, American farmer (b. 1889)
• 1989 –
  Fernando Martin Espina, Spanish basketball player (b. 1962)
• 2000 –
  Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (b. 1917)
• 2003 –
  David Hemmings, English actor (b. 1941)
• 2004 –
  Shiing-Shen Chern, Chinese mathematician (b. 1911)