^B{^#!16!3 December^N! Feast day of Saints Claudius, Hilaria and their Companions, St Birinus, St Lucius of Britain, St Cassian of Tangier, and St Francis Xavier.
^B{1810^B} The British captured Mauritius from the French. ^B{1910^B} Neon lighting was displayed for the first time at the Paris Motor Show. ^B{1917^B} The Quebec Bridge, the world's longest cantilever, over the St Lawrence River, was opened - 87 lives were lost during its construction. ^B{1961^B} At the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Henri Matisse's painting ^I{Le Bateau^I}, which had been hanging upside-down for 46 days, was hung the right way up. ^B{1967^B} At Groote Schurr Hospital, Cape Town, Dr Christiaan Barnard carried out the world's first heart transplant. ^B{1984^B} A chemical leakage at a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India caused the deaths of over 2,500 people and blinded many thousands.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Niccol≥ Amati, Italian violin-maker, ^B{1596^B}; Joseph Conrad, British novelist, ^B{1857^B}; Anton von Webern, Austrian composer, ^B{1883^B}; Andy Williams, US singer, ^B{1930^B}; Jean-Luc Godard, French film director, ^B{1930^B}; Franz Klammer, Austrian skier, ^B{1953^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}Frederick VI, King of Denmark, ^B{1839^B}; Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist, ^B{1894^B}; Mary Baker Eddy, US founder of Christian Science, ^B{1910^B}; Pierre Auguste Renoir, French painter, ^B{1919^B}; Oswald Mosley, English fascist leader, ^B{1980^B}; Lewis Thomas, US physician and biologist, ^B{1993^B}; Frank Zappa, US composer and guitarist, ^B{1993^B}.
