- Dec 1 US government holds its 1st draft lottery since WW II
- Dec 1 LAPD Police Chief Edward Davis announces warrants for the arrest of the Manson cult for murder
- Dec 2 "Buck White" opens at George Abbott Theater NYC for 7 performances
- Dec 2 Boeing 747 jumbo jet 1st public preview (Seattle to NYC)
- Dec 2 Two years after doubling its size from six to 12, the NHL announces 2 new teams would be joining the League the following year; Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks
- Dec 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Dec 5 Four-node ARPANET network is established
- Dec 6 "Buck White" closes at George Abbott Theater NYC after 7 performances
Music Concert
Dec 6 300,000 attend Altamont free concert in California, featuring The Rolling Stones. Marred by violence and four deaths.
Charlie Watts
- Dec 6 USSR performs nuclear test
- Dec 8 Greek DC-6B crashes in storm at Athens, 93 killed
- Dec 8 Police surprise attack on Black-Panthers in LA
- Dec 11 Libya adopts constitution
- Dec 12 Decathlon Bill Toomey achieves world record-score of 8417 points
- Dec 12 Offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed, killing 14
- Dec 13 Arlo Guthrie releases "Alice's Restaurant"
Event of Interest
Dec 13 MLB manager Billy Martin fired by the Minnesota Twins
Billy Martin
Music Single
Dec 14 "Leaving on a Jet Plane" single sung by Peter, Paul and Mary, written by John Denver is No. 1 on US Billboard's Hot Top 100
Mary Travers
John Denver
TV Show Appearance
Dec 14 Jackson Five make their 1st appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show"
Ed Sullivan
Event of Interest
Dec 16 "Hello Dolly" with Barbra Streisand premieres
Barbra Streisand
- Dec 16 British House of Commons votes 343-185 to abolish the death penalty
- Dec 16 "War is Over! If You Want It, Happy Christmas from John & Yoko" posters begin appearing
- Dec 17 USAF closes Project Blue Book, concluding no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings
- Dec 18 "Coco" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 333 performances
- Dec 18 House of Lords votes to abolish the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland (Northern Ireland 25 July 1973)
- Dec 18 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Dec 18 "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", 6th James Bond Film starring George Lazenby and Diana Rigg, premieres in London
- Dec 19 Beatle's 7th Christmas album is released
- Dec 20 Peter, Paul & Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" reaches #1
TV Show Appearance
Dec 21 Diana Ross' final TV appearance as a Supreme on "The Ed Sullivan Show", performing “Someday We’ll Be Together", after which Sullivan announced her upcoming departure from the group
Diana Ross
Ed Sullivan
- Dec 21 Vince Lombardi (Washington Redskins) coaches his last football game, a 20-10 loss to the Cowboys in Dallas, for a 7-5-2 season and 105-35-6 career
- Dec 22 Pete Marovich sets NCAA record of hitting 30 of 31 foul shots
- Dec 23 Ballon d'Or: Milan midfielder Gianni Rivera wins award for best European football player ahead of Cagliari forward Luigi Riva and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller
- Dec 24 Curt Flood writes to baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn refusing to accept the Cardinals’ right to deal him and in favor of free agency [1]
- Dec 25 5 Israeli gunboats escape from Cherbourg harbor
- Dec 25 India all out for 163 at Madras v Aust, Ashley Mallett 5-91
Event of Interest
Dec 28 Neil Simon's "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" premieres in NYC
Neil Simon
- Dec 28 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 28 Dallas Cowboy kicker Mike Clark, attempting an on-side kick against Cleveland, missed the ball
- Dec 30 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 31 Congo-Brazzaville becomes People's republic, under major Ngouabi