Today in History: December 3, toxic gas leak kills thousands in Bhopal

On Dec. 3, 1984, a cloud of methyl isocyanate gas escaped from a pesticide plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India, causing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 deaths and more than 500,000 injuries.

Also on this date:

In 1947, the Tennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire” opened on Broadway.

In 1967, a surgical team 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 donated organ from a 25-year-old woman who had died in a traffic accident.

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 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev concluded two days of positive bilateral discussions in Malta in a symbolic end to the Cold War.

In 1991, American hostage Alann Steen was freed by Shiite Muslim extremists in Lebanon. Steen was kidnapped from Beirut University College in January 1987. (He died in 2018.)

In 2015, Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the armed services to open all military jobs to women, removing the final barriers that had kept women from serving in combat.

In 2024, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, trying to overcome an opposition-dominated legislature that blocked his agenda. Yoon was later impeached, removed from office and rearrested in July 2025 after his conservative party lost a special election to choose his successor.

Today’s Birthdays: Singer Jaye P. Morgan is 94. Rock singer Mickey Thomas is 76. Actor Daryl Hannah is 65. Actor Julianne Moore is 65. Olympic figure skating gold medalist xKatarina Witt is 60. Actor Brendan Fraser is 57. Singer Montell Jordan is 57. Actor Holly Marie Combs is 52. Actor/comedian Tiffany Haddish is 46. Actor Anna Chlumsky (KLUHM’-skee) is 45. Actor Liza Lapira is 44. Actor Dascha Polanco is 43. Actor Amanda Seyfried is 40. Rapper Lil Baby is 31. Actor Jake T. Austin is 31.