Historical Events
- Dec 1 American Old West: Near Frisco, New Mexico, deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texan cowboys who want to kill him for arresting Charles McCarthy.
Event of Interest
Dec 1 Society of Independent Artists hold 1st exhibition in Polychrome Pavilion, Paris, includes Georges Seurat's "Bathers at Asnières"
Georges Seurat
Historic Publication
Dec 10 "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain is first published in the UK and Canada (US Feb 1885, due to printing error)
Mark Twain
- Dec 12 1st Test match played at the Adelaide Oval
- Dec 16 Great Britain recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State
- Dec 19 Italy recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State
- Dec 24 Austria-Hungary admits King Leopold II's Congo Free State
- Dec 27 Netherlands recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State
- Dec 30 Anton Bruckner's 7th Symphony in E, premieres in Leipzig
- Dec 30 William Morris, Eleanor Marx, and others establish the Socialist League, a revolutionary organization in the UK
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 1 Torben Myer, Danish actor (Girl Who Came Back, Judgment at Nuremberg, Sullivan's Travels), born in Århus, Denmark (d. 1975)
- Dec 1 Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, German painter (d. 1976)
- Dec 2 Ruth Draper, American lecture artist [or 1989]
- Dec 3 Rajendra Prasad, Indian leader, First President of India (1950-62), born in Zeradai, British India (d. 1963)
- Dec 3 Walther Stampfli, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1965)
- Dec 5 Evert Cornelis, Dutch conductor and pianist, born in Amsterdam (d. 1931)
- Dec 6 Rose Schneiderman, American socialist, feminist, trade union leader and secretary of labor for New York State (1937-44), born in Sawin, Poland (d. 1972)
- Dec 10 Zinaida Serebriakova, Russian painter, born in Kharkov, Russian Empire (d. 1967)
- Dec 14 Regina Ullmann, Swiss poet and writer, born in St. Gallen, Switzerland (d. 1961)
- Dec 14 Jane Cowl, American actress and playwright (Smilin' Through), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1950)
- Dec 18 Philippe van Isacker, Belgian minister
- Dec 19 Antonin Zapotocky, Czechoslovak president (Ceskoslovensky Spisouatel)
- Dec 19 Ferdinando Liuzzi, composer
- Dec 20 Max Blokzijl, Dutch singer, journalist, and Nazi collaborator, born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (d. 1946)
- Dec 25 [Florence] Evelyn Nesbit, American actress, born in Tarentum, Pennsylvania (d. 1967)
- Dec 27 Bernard van Dieren, composer
- Dec 28 Joseph Pholien, Belgian premier (1950-52)/communist hunter
- Dec 30 Karl Heinrich David, composer
Hideki Tojo
Dec 30 Hideki Tojo, Japanese Prime Minister during WW II (1941-44), born in Tokyo (d. 1948)
Hideki Tojo
- Dec 31 Bobby Byrne, American baseball player, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1964)