TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2018

On this day in history:

1792 – The trial of France’s King Louis XVI began. He was eventually put to death for the 33 charges.

1797 – Bass departs Sydney to determine whether Van Diemen’s Land is an island or part of the Australian continent.

1800 – James Grant discovers and names Mount Gambier in South Australia.

1824 – Hume and Hovell discover the Goulburn River, naming it the “Hovell River”.

1828 – Andrew Jackson was elected president of the United States.

1831 – Controversial reformer Major–General Sir Richard Bourke is appointed as Governor of New South Wales.

1854 – The Battle of the Eureka Stockade is held near Ballarat, Victoria.

1910 – The neon lamp was displayed for the first time at the Paris Motor Show. The lamp was developed by French physicist Georges Claude.

1967 – In Cape Town, South Africa, a team of surgeons headed by Dr Christian Barnard, performed the first human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky. Washkansky only lived 18 days.

1983 – Three-foot-high concrete barriers were installed at two White House entrances.

1984 – In Bhopal, India, more than 2000 people were killed after a cloud of poisonous gas escaped from a pesticide plant. The plant was operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary.

1992 – The UN Security Council unanimously approved a US–led military mission to help starving Somalians.

1992 – The Greek tanker Aegean Sea ran aground at La Coruna, Spain and spilled 21.5 million gallons of crude oil.

1993 – Britain’s Princess Diana announced she would be limiting her public appearances because she was tired of the media’s intrusions into her life.

1993 – Angola’s government and its rebel enemies agreed to a ceasefire in their 18–year war.

1994 – Rebel Serbs in Bosnia failed to keep a pledge to release hundreds of UN peacekeepers.

1995 – Former South Korean president Chun Doo–hwan was arrested for his role in a 1979 coup.