1. The Battle of Fort McAllister took place on December 3, 1864, during the American Civil War. Confederate troops successfully defended the fort from Union assault, marking a significant victory for the Confederacy in the Savannah Campaign.

2. The Virginia State Capitol was completed on December 3, 178 Capitol in Richmond. Thomas Jefferson, who designed the original building, called it "the most beautiful Capitol in America."

3. On December 3, 1984, a gas leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India killed thousands of people and injured hundreds of thousands more. The tragedy is considered one of the worst industrial disasters in history, and Union Carbide's handling of the incident was widely criticized.

4. The first edition of The Virginian-Pilot newspaper was published on December 3, 1865, in Norfolk, Virginia. The paper has since become one of the largest in the state, covering local and national news, sports, and cultural events.

5. On December 3, 1999, NASA launched the Mars Polar Lander, which was intended to search for water and study the Martian climate. Unfortunately, the lander failed to make contact with Earth during its descent and was subsequently lost. The incident led NASA to re-evaluate its approach to Mars missions.