Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.

On 3, Monday December 1894, Deiva Zivarattinam, Indian politician, born (d. 1975)
On 3, Monday December 1894, Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish author, died (b. 1850)
On 3, Wednesday December 1919, After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, including two collapses causing 89 deaths, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic.
On 3, Wednesday December 1919, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter, died (b. 1841)
On 3, Sunday December 1944, WWII: Fighting breaks out between Communists and royalists in newly liberated Greece, eventually leading to a full-scale Greek Civil War.
On 3, Sunday December 1944, The British Home Guard is stood down.
On 3, Sunday December 1944, Ralph McTell English singer songwriter, born
On 3, Sunday December 1944, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, died (b. 1882)
On 3, Thursday December 1959, Juozapas Skvireckas, Soviet Orthodox archbishop and reverend, died (b. 1873)
On 3, Wednesday December 1969, Bill Steer, English musician, born
On 3, Wednesday December 1969, Ruth White, American actress, died (b. 1914)
On 3, Monday December 1979, The Who concert disaster: eleven fans are killed during a crowd crush for unreserved seats before The Who rock concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.
On 3, Monday December 1979, The United States dollar exchange rate with the Deutsche Mark falls to 1.7079 DM, the all-time low so far; this record is not broken until November 5, 1987.
On 3, Monday December 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.
On 3, Monday December 1979, Daniel Bedingfield, English pop singer and songwriter, born
On 3, Monday December 1979, Rock Cartwright, American football player, born
On 3, Monday December 1979, Rainbow Sun Francks, Canadian actor and singer, born
On 3, Monday December 1979, Tiffany Haddish, American actress and comedian, born
On 3, Monday December 1979, Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey player, died (b. 1905)
On 3, Sunday December 1989, The entire leadership of the ruling Socialist Unity Party in East Germany, including Egon Krenz, resigns.
On 3, Sunday December 1989, Cold War: Malta Summit — In a meeting off the coast of Malta, U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the Cold War between their nations may be coming to an end.
On 3, Sunday December 1989, Bette Franke, Dutch model, born
On 3, Sunday December 1989, Sourou-Migan Apithy, Beninese political figure, 2nd President of Dahomey, died (b. 1913)
On 3, Sunday December 1989, Boris Stepanovich Lukoshkov, Soviet painter, died (b. 1922)
On 3, Sunday December 1989, Fernando Martín, Spanish basketball player (car accident), died (b. 1962)
On 3, Saturday December 1994, Taiwan held the first full local elections; James Soong elected as the first and only direct elected Governor of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian became the first direct elected Mayor of Taipei, Wu Den-yih became the first directed Mayor of Kaohsiung.
On 3, Saturday December 1994, Jake T. Austin, American actor, born
On 3, Friday December 1999, After rowing for 81 days and 2,962 nautical miles (5486 km), Tori Murden became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat alone, when she reached Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands.
On 3, Friday December 1999, NASA lost radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander, moments before the spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere.
On 3, Friday December 1999, Scatman John, American musician, died (b. 1942)
On 3, Friday December 1999, Madeline Kahn, American actress and singer, died (b. 1942)
On 3, Thursday December 2009, Richard Todd, Irish-born British actor, died (b. 1919)
On 3, Wednesday December 2014, The funeral of cricketer Phillip Hughes is held in his home town of Macksville.
On 3, Wednesday December 2014, The Japanese space agency, JAXA, launches unmanned spaceprobe Hayabusa2 from the Tanegashima Space Center on a six-year round trip mission to Ryugu to collect rock samples.
On 3, Wednesday December 2014, Jacques Barrot, French politician, died (b. 1937)
On 3, Wednesday December 2014, Ian McLagan, British musician, died (b. 1945)

Other On This Day days in history

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Neville Buch

Professional Historian at Professional Historians Association (Queensland) Inc.

Neville Buch (Pronounced Book) Ph.D. is a certified member of the Professional Historians Association (Queensland). Since 2010 he has operated a sole trade business in history consultancy. He was a Q ANZAC 100 Fellow 2014-2015 at the State Library of Queensland. Dr Buch was the PHA (Qld) e-Bulletin, the monthly state association’s electronic publication, and was a member of its Management Committee. He is the Managing Director of the Brisbane Southside History Network.

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