Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on December 3rd?

Roman Emperor Augustus celebrates the Ludi Saeculares, a secular games event, marking the end of a saeculum (a generation) and the beginning of a new one.

The beginning of the construction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, an iconic Islamic shrine.

Illinois is admitted into the United States Union becoming the 21st State.

The first successful human heart transplant is performed by South African surgeon Dr. Christiaan Barnard. More

The world’s worst industrial disaster, a toxic gas leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India , killing at least 5,000 people. After the gas disaster, Union Carbide ceased operations and left India, leaving behind toxic waste that continues to pollute the groundwater and soil. To this day, the site remains unremedied, and the pollution continues to harm the local community. More

The first text message is sent from a computer by Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old software programmer from the UK working for Vodaphone to his colleague Richard Jarvis. The message was “Merry Christmas.” One year later in 1993, Nokia introduced an SMS feature with a distinctive ‘beep’ to signal an incoming message. More

The Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty to combat climate change, is adopted.