Film Premier
Dec 1 "Beverly Hills Cop" directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold premieres in Los Angeles
Eddie Murphy
- Dec 1 49th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 17-15 in Birmingham
- Dec 2 Bob Holland takes 9-83 for NSW against South Australia, SCG
- Dec 2 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 3 Bhopal disaster: Union Carbide pesticide plant leak 45 tons of methyl isocyanate and other toxic compounds in Bhopal, India, kills 2,259 (official figure) - other estimates as high as 16,000 (including later deaths) and over half a million injured
Music Single
Dec 3 "Do They Know It's Christmas" single written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and sung by Band Aid is released in the UK
Bob Geldof
- Dec 4 Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.
Event of Interest
Dec 4 6th ACE Cable Awards: David Bowie: Serious Moonlight by Anthony Eaton and HBO
David Bowie
Event of Interest
Dec 5 A's trade Rickey Henderson to Yankees for Jay Howell & Jose Rijo
Rickey Henderson
- Dec 5 French colonies killed 10 Kanaken in New Caledonia
- Dec 5 Yankees trade catcher Rick Cerone to Braves for pitcher Brian Fisher
- Dec 6 France performs nuclear test
- Dec 6 Hijackers aboard Kuwaiti jetliner kill 2nd hostage
- Dec 7 Allan Border's 1st Test Cricket match as captain (v WI Adelaide)
- Dec 8 Europe & 64 developing countries sign Lome III treaty
Event of Interest
Dec 8 Ringo Starr appears on "Saturday Night Live"
Ringo Starr
Lorne Michaels
Tennis Open
Dec 9 73rd Men's Australian Open: Mats Wilander beats Kevin Curren (6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2)
Mats Wilander
- Dec 9 73rd Women's Australian Open: Chris Evert-Lloyd beats Helena Suková 6-7, 6-1, 6-3
- Dec 10 1st "planet" outside our solar system discovered
Nobel Prize
Dec 10 South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu is presented with his Nobel Peace Prize
Desmond Tutu
- Dec 10 WNSY-AM in Newport News VA returns from WGH
- Dec 11 "Doug Henning & His World..." opens at Lunt-Fontanne NYC for 60 performances
- Dec 11 Mauretania military coup under Col Maawiya Ould Sid'ahmed Taya
- Dec 13 Artificial heart recipient William Schroeder suffers 1st stroke
- Dec 14 Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires from Monday Night Football
- Dec 15 USSR launches Vega 1 for rendezvous with Halley's Comet
- Dec 17 NJ Devils 1st penalty shot-Rocky Trottier scores against Edmonton
- Dec 17 NJ Devils 1st shutout, Glenn Resch makes 42 saves beat Minn, 2-0
- Dec 18 73rd Davis Cup: Sweden beats USA in Gothenburg (4-1)
Film Premier
Dec 18 "A Christmas Carol" directed by Clive Donner starring George C. Scott premieres in the US
George C. Scott
Treaty of Interest
Dec 19 Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997
Margaret Thatcher
Event of Interest
Dec 19 Wayne Gretzky, 23, is 18th & youngest NHL-er to score 1,000 points
Wayne Gretzky
Event of Interest
Dec 19 Scotty Bowman wins his 691st regular season game, the most wins by any coach in NHL history
Scotty Bowman
- Dec 22 Test Cricket debut of Craig McDermott, v WI at the MCG
- Dec 23 Viv Richards scores 208 in Test Cricket at MCG
- Dec 24 Palace coup in Mauritania
- Dec 25 NBA's Bernard King scores 60 points
- Dec 27 Padres' free agent pitcher Ed Whitson signs with NY Yankees
- Dec 28 Creosote bush determined to be 11,700 years old
- Dec 28 Rajiv Gandhi's Congress party wins election in India
- Dec 28 TV soap "Edge of Night" ends 28 year run
- Dec 28 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh, Semipalitinsk USSR
Event of Interest
Dec 28 Ted Hughes is appointed British Poet Laureate by Queen Elizabeth II
Ted Hughes
Elizabeth II
- Dec 29 5th United Negro College Fund
- Dec 29 Blues took 27 shots against Islanders in 1 period
- Dec 29 Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi claims victory in parlimetary elections
- Dec 31 Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen loses his arm in a car crash
- Dec 31 NYC subway gunman Bernhard Goetz surrenders to police in NH
- Dec 31 Rajiv Gandhi takes office as India's 7th Prime Minister succeeding his mother Indira Gandhi
- Dec 31 Test Cricket debut of Mohammad Azharuddin, v England at Calcutta
- Dec 31 US leaves UNESCO