SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2011

Today is Saturday, December 3, the 337th day of 2011. There are 28 days left in the year.

1557 _ First Covenant of Scottish protestants form

1586 _ Sir Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England, from Colombia

1621 _ Galileo perfects the telescope

1910 _ Neon lights, first publically seen (Paris Auto Show)

1946 _ U.S. government asks U.N. to order dictator Franco out of Spain

1947 _ Tennessee Williams play ``A Streetcar Named Desire" premieres in New York City

1964 _ ``Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" first airs on TV

1965 _ Beatles begin final U.K. concert tour in Glasgow

1967 _ First human heart transplant performed (Dr. Christiaan Barnard, South Africa)

1984 _ 2,000 die from Union Carbide poison gas emission in Bhopal, India