Väinö Linna's war novel The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas) is published.

Väinö Linna was a Finnish author and a former soldier who fought in the Continuation War (1941–44). Linna gained literary fame with his third novel, Tuntematon sotilas, and consolidated his position with the trilogy Täällä Pohjantähden alla. Both have been adapted to a film format on several occasions; The Unknown Soldier was first adapted into a film in 1955 and Under the North Star in 1968 as Here, Beneath the North Star, both directed by Edvin Laine.

The Unknown Soldier or Unknown Soldiers is a war novel by Finnish author Väinö Linna, considered his magnum opus. Published in 1954, The Unknown Soldier chronicles the 1941–1944 Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union from the viewpoint of ordinary Finnish soldiers.

December 3 is the 337th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 28 days remain until the end of the year.