- Dec 2 First day of World Series Cricket at VFL Park in Melbourne; barely 200 people see Australia dismissed for 256 by West Indies; Ray Bright top scores with 69; Michael Holding captures 4 wickets & Andy Roberts 3; WI go on to win 1st WSC 'Test' by 3 wickets
Dictator Bokassa I
Dec 4 Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowns himself Emperor of the Central African Empire in a lavish ceremony costing US$20 million - one third of the nation's budget
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- Dec 4 NFL's 5,000th game, Cincinnati beats KC 27-7
Event of Interest
Dec 4 Neil Simon's "Chapter Two" premieres in NYC
Neil Simon
- Dec 4 66th Davis Cup: Australia beats Italy in Sydney (3-1)
- Dec 4 West Indies win 1st World Series Cricket 'Test' against Australia at VFL Park in Melbourne by 3 wickets; chasing 235 for victory, Viv Richards with 56 and Clive Lloyd 44 guide WI to 237/7 with 2 days to spare
- Dec 4 Davis Cup Tennis, Sydney: John Alexander beats Adriano Panatta of Italy 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 8-6, 11-9 in a 3 hour, 54 minute classic to give Australia a 3-1 victory
- Dec 5 Egypt breaks off diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq & South Yemen
- Dec 6 South Africa grants Bophuthatswana independence
- Dec 7 Islander Billy Smith's 10th shut-out opponent-Black Hawks 4-0
- Dec 8 43rd Heisman Trophy Award: Earl Campbell, Texas (RB)
- Dec 10 Soyuz 26 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station
- Dec 11 Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, leaders of the group 'Peace People' (an organisation dedicated to encouraging a peaceful resolution of 'the Troubles' in Northern Ireland) receive the Nobel Peace Prize
- Dec 12 Yanks purchase Andy Messersmith from Braves
Saturday Night Fever Goes #1
Dec 12 "Saturday Night Fever", a film starring John Travolta, premieres in NYC
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- Dec 13 14 University of Evansville basketball players die in plane crash
- Dec 14 Egyptian & Israeli representatives gather in Cairo for first formal peace conference
- Dec 14 Red Sox trade Fergie Jenkins to Rangers for John Poloni & cash
- Dec 14 Test Cricket debut of Abdul Qadir, v England at Lahore
- Dec 14 War criminal Pieter Menten sentenced in Amsterdam to 15 years
- Dec 17 Bobby Simpson scores 176 Australia v India at the WACA, aged 41
- Dec 17 Elvis Costello & The Attractions 1st US TV appearance (SNL)
- Dec 17 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- Dec 17 Rookie defenseman Barry Beck scores first career hat trick and adds an assist in Colorado Rockies' 5-1 win v Minnesota North Stars; sets NHL record for rookie defensemen with a goal in his 6th straight game
- Dec 18 Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey # 42, Nate Thumond
- Dec 18 Dutch Antilles: premier Boy Rozendal points independence off
- Dec 19 Dutch government of Van Agt/Wiegel forms
- Dec 20 1st Space walk made by Soviet cosmonaut Georgy Grechko during Salyut 6 EO-1 mission
- Dec 20 RAF -terrorist Knut Folkerts sentenced to 20 years
- Dec 22 36 die as grain elevator at Continental Grain Company plant explodes
- Dec 24 "Ghost to the Post", Raiders tight end Dave Casper ("The Ghost") catches a 42-yard reception to set up the Raiders' tying field goal near the end of regulation (Raiders win in OT)
Meeting of Interest
Dec 25 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in Egypt
Menachem Begin
Anwar Sadat
- Dec 25 7th Fiesta Bowl: #8 Penn State beats #15 Arizona State, 42-30
- Dec 26 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 27 Ballon d'Or: Borussia Mönchengladbach's Danish forward Allan Simonsen is named Europe's best football player ahead of Hamburg forward Kevin Keegan and Nancy midfielder Michel Platini
- Dec 29 Ronald Ribman's "Cold Storage" premieres in NYC
- Dec 30 Carter holds 1st news conference by US President in Eastern Europe (Warsaw)
- Dec 30 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Evonne Goolagong Cawley wins her 6th career Grand Slam title; beats fellow Australian Helen Gourlay Cawley 6-3, 6-0
- Dec 31 "Bubbling Brown Sugar" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 766 performances
- Dec 31 "Man of La Mancha" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 124 performances
- Dec 31 Amir Sheikh Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah becomes leader of Kuwait
- Dec 31 Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with Vietnam
- Dec 31 Donald Woods, a banned anti-Apartheid white editor flees South Africa
- Dec 31 WFAT (Brooklyn New York pirate radio station) begins broadcasting on 1620 AM
- Dec 31 Australian Open Men's Tennis: American Vitas Gerulaitis wins his first and only Grand Slam event; beats Englishman John Lloyd 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 3-6, 6-2
- Dec 31 Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is imprisoned for co-writing a play critical of the Kenyan government