TODAY IN HISTORY - DECEMBER 3RD

1818 – Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.

1842 – Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American businessman, founded the Pillsbury Company (d. 1899) is born.

1888 – Carl Zeiss, German physicist and lens maker, created the optical instrument (b. 1816) dies.

1901 – In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt asks Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".

1910 – Modern neon lighting is first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.

1910 – Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and author, founded Christian Science (b. 1821) dies.

1919 – After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, including two collapses causing 89 deaths, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic.

1927 – Putting Pants on Philip, the first Laurel and Hardy film, is released.

1960 – The musical Camelot debuts at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. It will become associated with the Kennedy administration.

1964 – Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest of the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property.

1973 – Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.

1976 – An assassination attempt is made on Bob Marley. He is shot twice, and plays a concert two days later.

1979 – In Cincinnati, 11 fans are suffocated in a crush for seats on the concourse outside Riverfront Coliseum before a Who concert.

1979 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.

1981 – Walter Knott, American farmer, founded Knott's Berry Farm (b. 1889) dies.

1982 – A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri, that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.

1985 – Amanda Seyfried, American actress is born.

1989 – Connie B. Gay, American businessman, founded the Country Music Association (b. 1914) dies.

1989 – Cold War: 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 NATO and the Soviet Union may be coming to an end.

1994 – The PlayStation was released in Japan

2005 – XCOR Aerospace makes the first manned rocket aircraft delivery of U.S. Mail in Kern County, California.