On This Day in History - December 3rd - Almanac

Today is Saturday, Dec. 3, the 337th day of 2022 with 27 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include Civil War-era Gen. George B. McClellan in 1826; U.S. Weather Bureau meteorologist Cleveland Abbe in 1838; English novelist Joseph Conrad in 1857; singer Andy Williams in 1927; French film director Jean-Luc Godard in 1930; former race car driver Bobby Allison in 1937 (age 85); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Ozzy Osbourne in 1948 (age 74); former race car driver Rick Mears in 1951 (age 71); Olympic gold medal skier Franz Klammer in 1953 (age 69); actor Mel Smith in 1952; actor Daryl Hannah in 1960 (age 62); actor Julianne Moore in 1960 (age 62); Olympic figure skater Katarina Witt in 1965 (age 57); singer Montell Jordan in 1968 (age 54); actor Brendan Fraser in 1968 (age 54); actor Holly Marie Combs in 1973 (age 49); actor Tiffany Haddish in 1979 (age 43); actor Jenna Dewan in 1980 (age 42); actor Anna Chlumsky in 1980 (age 42); actor/singer Brian Bonsall in 1981 (age 41); actor Dascha Polanco in 1982 (age 40); actor Amanda Seyfried in 1985 (age 37); actor Jake T. Austin in 1994 (age 28); rapper Lil Baby, born Dominique Armani Jones, in 1994 (age 28).

On this date in history:

In 1818, Illinois was admitted as the 21st state in the United States.

In 1833, Oberlin College in Ohio, the first truly coeducational college in the United States, opened with an enrollment of 29 men and 15 women.

In 1929, the Ford Motor Co. raised the pay of its employees from $6 to $7 a day despite the collapse of the U.S. stock market.

In 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful heart transplant at Cape Town, South Africa.

In 1984, poison gas leaked at a Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, in the world's worst chemical disaster. Death toll estimates varied widely. Government officials said about 3,000 people died shortly after the leak and many thousands more in the months and years ahead.

In 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared the Cold War over during a summit in Malta. Some historians believe the Cold War didn't end until 1991, though, when the Soviet Union collapsed.

In 1992, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to authorize sending a U.S.-led multinational force to Somalia.

In 1997, delegates from 131 countries met in Canada to sign the Convention on the Prohibition, Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines.

In 2006, Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. foreign policy, was re-elected for a third term as president of Venezuela.

In 2009, Comcast, the largest cable operator in the United States, bought 51 percent of NBC Universal from General Electric for $13.75 billion.

In 2013, a federal judge ruled that Detroit was eligible for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

In 2015, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced all combat roles in the U.S. armed forces would be opened to women.

In 2017, astronauts on the International Space Station held the first pizza party in space.

In 2019, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris withdrew from the 2020 race, citing a lack of campaign funds. She was ultimately elected as vice president in the race.

A thought for the day: "Each one of us has a fire in our heart for something. It's our goal in life to find it and keep it lit." -- American gymnast Mary Lou Retton