- 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 3 John Lennon is offered role of Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar
- 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
- Dec 6 300,000 attend Altamont California, rock concert feature Rolling Stones
- 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 Bomb attack on bank in Milan, 14 killed
- Dec 12 Strategia della tensione: Piazza Fontana bombing - The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
- Dec 13 Arlo Guthrie releases "Alice's Restaurant"
- Dec 13 MLB manager Billy Martin fired by the Minnesota Twins
- Dec 14 "La Strada" opens/closes at Lunt Fontanne NYC for 1 performance
- Dec 14 Bishen Bedi takes 7-98 (career-best) v Australia at Calcutta
- Dec 14 Jackson Five made their 1st appearance on "Ed Sullivan Show"
- Dec 15 Plastic Ono Band, play their only concert at London's Lyceum Ballroom
- Dec 15 San Francisco Fire Department replaces leather helmets with plastic ones
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
- Dec 21 Diana Ross final TV appearance as a Supreme (Ed Sullivan Show)
- Dec 21 Vince Lombardi (Redskins) coaches his last football game
- Dec 22 Pete Marovich sets NCAA record of hitting 30 of 31 foul shots
- 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 29 NY Times reports Curt Flood will sue baseball and challenge the reserve clause
- Dec 30 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 31 Congo-Brazzaville becomes People's republic, under major Ngouabi