It's been 37 years since that fateful day of December 3, 1984, when a gas leak from the Union Carbide India Limited's (UCIL) pesticide plant in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal exposed more than 5,00,000 people to the highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas. Death tolls of the incident vary but the immediate count by the government stood at 2,259. In 2008, the State Government paid compensation to 3,787 victims killed by the gas release and to 5,74,366 injured victims. While activists say that the tragedy, considered one of the worst in history, occurred due to the negligence of authorities, the Union Carbide Corporation claim that it was sabotage.
But December 3 gave us some good memories too. PlayStation was launched on December 3, 1994. It's been 27 years and we are vying for the PS5 now. Sylvester Stallone's famous movie franchise, Rocky, has shown us boxer Rocky Balboa's journey from being the underdog to champion. The movie was released on December 3, 1976, after a premiere on November 21.
But that's not the only super hit movie franchise that saw the light of day on December 3. Immortal comedy kings Laurel and Hardy saw their first film release on this very day in 1927. The film, Putting Pants on Philip, was the first of the series of laugh riots churnedBesides the tragedy, December 3 gave us some good memories too. PlayStation was launched. Rocky and Laurel & Hardy's first film saw the light of day out by the duo.