Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

December 3

1984
Bhopal gas leak: A gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India kills 3,329 people.

1980
First long-distance solar-powered flight, by Janice Brown flying the Solar Challenger designed by Paul MacCready covering 6 miles in 22 minutes.

1979
Eleven people are trampled to death at a Who concert in Cincinnati.

1971
Smoke On The Water: The Montreux Casino, Switzerland, burns to the ground during a set by Frank Zappa. The group Deep Purple, who were recording there at the time, immortalized the event on their next album.

1967
First successful human heart transplant: Performed by a team led by Prof. Christiaan Barnard, South Africa. The patient lived for 18 days.

1964
Malcolm X: The civil-rights leader declares that if laws aren't enforced because of the color of a person's skin, those people are justified in using any means necessary to bring about justice.

1962
First black woman elected judge in the U.S.: Edith Spurlock Sampson is sworn in as associate judge of the Municipal Court of Chicago.

1881
Philadelphia streets become lit by electric light.

1818
Illinois becomes the 21st state. Illinois is Algonquin for "warriors."

1787
James Rumsey's steamboat goes against the current of the Potomac River (at a rate of 3 mph).

1963     d. 2005
Terri Schiavo, American medical case. After an accident that left her brain damaged, a major legal battle ensued over the right of her husband to have her feeding tube removed..

1951
Rick Mears, American auto racer, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner (1979, 84, 88, 91).

1948
Ozzy Osbourne (John Osbourne), English singer, bat-biting ex-member of Black Sabbath. Music: Paranoid (1970) and Suicide Solution (1985).

1945
Michael Anderson Jr., actor. TV: The Monroes (Clayt Monroe).

1930
Jean-Luc Godard, French film director. Film: Breathless (1959) and A Woman is a Woman (1961).

1930
Andy Williams, American singer and Emmy-winning TV host. Music: Butterfly (1957, #1) and Moon River (1962).

1928     d. 1989
Jack McMahon, American basketball player and coach with the NBA.

1927
Ferlin Husky, country singer. Music: A Dear John Letter (1953, #1), Gone (1957, #1), Country Music Is Here To Stay (1958), and Wings of a Dove (1960, #1).

1877     d. 1953
Richard Pearse, New Zealand farmer, aviation pioneer. He reportedly built and flew a monoplane craft in March of 1903 - eight months before the Wright brothers.

1842     d. 1911
Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards, American chemist, the first woman admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1870).  She earned her B.S. degree (1873) and became the first female professional chemist in the U.S.  In 1884, she became MIT's first woman faculty member.

1755     d. 1828
Gilbert Stuart, American artist, painted the portrait of Washington (1796) that appears on the $1 bill.

1993     b. 1913
Lewis Thomas, American physician, "Poet Laureate of 20th Century Medical Science." Writings: The Lives of the Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher (1974, National Book Award) and The Medusa and the Snail (1979, American Book Award).

1981     b. 1899
Walter Marvin Knott, American entrepreneur.  He turned a roadside stand selling boysenberries and pies into the amusement park Knott's Berry Farm.

1957     b. 1876
Frank Ernest Gannett, American publisher. He built a media network of 21 newspapers and 7 radio and TV stations.

1936     b. 1866
John Ringling, American circus operator, with Ringling Brothers Circus.

1926     b. 1863
Charles Ringling, American circus operator, with Ringling Brothers Circus.

1910     b. 1821
Mary Baker Eddy, founded the Church of Christ, Scientist (1879, Christian Science).

1905     b. 1820
John Bartlett, American publisher, editor, compiled A Collection of Familiar Quotations (1855).

1894     b. 1850
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson, British author. Writings: New Arabian Nights (1882), Treasure Island (1883) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).

1815     b. 1735
John Carroll, American clergyman, first American bishop (1790), was in charge of the Diocese of Baltimore, and founded (1789) the first Roman Catholic College in the U.S. (Georgetown College in Washington D.C.) (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1154     b. ????
Anastasius IV, Italian-born religious leader, 168th Pope (1153-54).

Please send Corrections and Omissions to epicidiot.com