What is the meaning of “Page 3″?

“Page 3″ became famous when Rupert Murdoch bought over the Sun in 1969. The following year, every edition of the paper carried a picture of a topless woman on page 3; and as you may expect, the circulation went up dramatically. The bare breasted women began to be called “page 3 girls” and many of them became famous. So the original page 3 contained pictures of naked women. Nowadays, the meaning of the expression has changed somewhat. In addition to including some pictures of questionable taste, the page also informs the reader as to what is happening on the social scene — it tells you who is going out with whom and who is throwing the next big party. It provides the local gossip.

Source: ‘Know Your English’ Series – The Hindu Daily, July 18 , 2005.