This day in history

[December 03, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Friday, Dec. 3, the 337th day of 2010. There are 28 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 3, 1984, thousands of people died after a cloud of methyl isocyanate gas escaped from a pesticide plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India.

On this date:

In 1810, British forces captured Mauritius from the French, who had renamed the island nation off southeast Africa "Ile de France."

In 1818, Illinois was admitted as the 21st state.

In 1828, Andrew Jackson was elected president of the United States by the Electoral College.

In 1833, Oberlin College in Ohio -- the first truly coeducational school of higher learning in the United States -- began holding classes.

In 1910, Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, died in Chestnut Hill, Mass. at age 89.

In 1925, George Gershwin's Concerto in F had its world premiere at New York's Carnegie Hall, with Gershwin at the piano.

In 1960, the Lerner and Loewe musical "Camelot," starring Julie Andrews as Guenevere, Richard Burton as King Arthur and Robert Goulet as Lancelot, opened on Broadway.

In 1967, surgeons in Cape Town, South Africa led by Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky, who lived 18 days with the new heart. The 20th Century Limited, the famed luxury train, completed its final run from New York to Chicago.

In 1979, 11 people were killed in a crush of fans at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum, where the British rock group The Who was performing.

In 1980, Bernadine Dohrn, a former leader of the radical Weather Underground, surrendered to authorities in Chicago after more than a decade as a fugitive.

Ten years ago: Space shuttle Endeavour's astronauts attached the world's largest, most powerful set of solar panels to the international space station. Sandra Baldwin was elected the first female president of the U.S. Olympic Committee. (Baldwin resigned in May 2002 after she admitted lying about her academic credentials.) Poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize, died in Chicago at age 83.

Five years ago: Economic officials from the world's richest countries resumed their pressure on China to adopt a more flexible exchange rate as they concluded a meeting in London. Insurgents killed 19 Iraqi soldiers in a coordinated ambush northeast of Baghdad. Retired Navy vice admiral Frederick L. "Dick" Ashworth, the weaponeer aboard the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, died in Phoenix, Ariz. at age 93.

One year ago: President Barack Obama hosted a White House-sponsored jobs forum, where he said he'd heard many "exciting ideas" and proposals and expressed hope some could be put into action quickly. Pope Benedict XVI and visiting Russian President Dmitri Medvedev agreed to upgrade Vatican-Kremlin ties to full diplomatic relations. Comcast and GE announced joint venture plans, with Comcast owning a 51 percent controlling stake in NBC Universal. British actor Richard Todd died in Little Humby, Lincolnshire, England, at age 90.

Today's birthdays: Country singer Ferlin Husky is 85. Singer Andy Williams is 83. Movie director Jean-Luc Godard is 80. Singer Jaye P. Morgan is 79. Actor Nicolas Coster is 77. Actress Mary Alice is 69. Rock singer Ozzy Osbourne is 62. Actress Heather Menzies is 61. Rock singer Mickey Thomas is 61. Country musician Paul Gregg (Restless Heart) is 56. Actor Steven Culp is 55. Actress Daryl Hannah is 50. Actress Julianne Moore is 50. Olympic gold medal figure skater Katarina Witt is 45. Actor Brendan Fraser is 42. Singer Montell Jordan is 42. Actor Royale Watkins is 41. Actor Bruno Campos is 37. Actress Holly Marie Combs is 37. Actress Lauren Roman is 35. Pop-rock singer Daniel Bedingfield is 31. Actress Anna Chlumsky is 30. Actor Brian Bonsall is 29. Actress Amanda Seyfried is 25. Actor Michael Angarano is 23. Actor Jake T. Austin is 16.

Thought for today: "The well of Providence is deep. It's the buckets we bring to it that are small." -- Mary Webb, Scottish religious leader (c.1881-1927)

[Associated Press]

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