Event of Interest
1273 Thomas Aquinas is thought to have a mystical experience in Naples, refuses to continue his work "I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me"
Thomas Aquinas
Event of Interest
1424 Don Alfonso V of Aragon grants Barcelona the right to exclude Jews
- 1527 Pope Clemens VII flees to Orvieto
- 1534 Quito, Ecuador, founded by Spanish
- 1631 1st predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed
- 1641 Don Francisco de Mello appointed land guardian of South Netherlands
- 1648 Pride's Purge: Thomas Pride prevents 96 presbyterians from sitting in English parliament
- 1723 Emperor Karel VI's Pragmatic Sanctie declares Constitution
- 1732 1st play in American colonies acted by professional players in New York
- 1735 First recorded appendectomy performed by Claudius Amyand at St George's Hospital in London
- 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's army retreats to Scotland
- 1756 British troops under Robert Clive occupy Fulta, India
- 1768 1st edition of "Encyclopedia Brittanica" published in Scotland
- 1787 Laurens Pieter van de Speigel is appointed Dutch pension advisor
- 1790 The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1822 Veterinary school in Utrecht opens
Event of Interest
1825 US President John Adams suggests establishment of a national observatory
John Adams
Event of Interest
1849 Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland for the 2nd and final time
Harriet Tubman
Event of Interest
1862 US President Abraham Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux Indians
Abraham Lincoln
- 1864 Battle of Deveaux's Neck, South Carolina
- 1865 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery
- 1866 Chicago water supply tunnel 3,227 m into Lake Michigan completed
- 1873 1st international football game in US: Yale 2, Eton (England) 1 in New Haven, Connecticut
- 1875 44th Congress (1875-77) convenes
- 1876 1st crematorium in US begins operation, Washington, Pennsylvania
Election of Interest
1876 US Electoral College casts their votes in the disputed election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden; two sets of conflicting results are returned to Congress the next day
Rutherford B. Hayes
Music Recording
1877 Thomas Edison records himself reciting "Mary had a little lamb"
Thomas Edison
- 1877 Washington Post publishes 1st edition
- 1882 Atmosphere of Venus detected during transit
- 1884 Aluminum capstone set atop Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.
- 1896 D T Suzuki found the awakening at Engakuji temple, in Kamakura
- 1897 London becomes the world's first city to host licenced taxicabs
- 1903 Sumatra Atjehs guerilla leader Panglima Polim surrenders
Event of Interest
1904 Theodore Roosevelt confirms Monroe-doctrine (Roosevelt Corollary)
Theodore Roosevelt
- 1906 The British grant Transvaal self-government
- 1907 Coal mine explosions in Monongah, West Virginia kills 361
- 1912 China votes for universal human rights
- 1913 White Sox beat Giants 9-4 in exhibition game in Tokyo
- 1914 German troops over run Lodz
- 1916 German army under Gen Mackensen occupies Bucharest
- 1916 World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest.
- 1917 French munition ship "Mont Blanc" explodes in Halifax, Canada killing 1,700
- 1917 Taking advantage of the temporary relaxation of authority in Russia, Finland declares itself a republic, following the Ukraine on 20 November
Anglo-Irish Treaty
1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty signed; Ireland receives dominion status; partition creates Northern Ireland
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Election of Interest
1921 Mackenzie King, leader of the Labor Party and architect of a liberal coalition, is voted Prime Minister of Canada
Mackenzie King
Historic Communication
1923 1st US Presidential address broadcast on radio by President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
Event of Interest
1933 Ban on James Joyce's "Ulysses" in US lifted
James Joyce
- 1938 117 Spanish knights under capt Piet Laros return to Netherlands
Treaty of Interest
1938 French/German non-attack treaty drawn (Ribbentrop-Bonnet Pact)
Joachim von Ribbentrop
- 1939 5th Heisman Trophy Award: Nile Kinnick, Iowa (HB)
- 1939 Cole Porter's musical "Du Barry was a Lady" premieres in NYC
- 1940 Gestapo arrest German resistance fighter/poster artist Helen Ernst
- 1940 Pietro Badoglio resigns as viceroy of Ethiopia
- 1941 Dutch & British pilots see Japanese invasion fleet at Singapore
- 1941 NYC Council agrees to build Idlewild (Kennedy) Airport in Queens
- 1942 Queen Wilhelmina announces Dutch Commonwealth
- 1942 RAF bombs Philips factory (150 die)
- 1944 US 95th Infantry division reaches Westwall
- 1947 The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.
- 1950 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Mirabile illud
- 1952 Czech government tells Israeli ambassador that he is persona non grata
- 1953 Brown's Lou "Toe" Groza kicks 8 PATs, beating Giants 62-14
Event of Interest
1954 Simone de Beauvoir receives the Prix Goncourt prize in French literature
Simone de Beauvoir
Event of Interest
1956 Nelson Mandela & 156 others arrested for political activities in South Africa
Nelson Mandela
- 1956 Australian swimmer David Theile sets world record 1:02.2 to win the 100m backstroke gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics
- 1956 Australian women's 4 × 100m freestyle relay team of Dawn Fraser, Faith Leech, Sandra Morgan & Lorraine Crapp swim world record 4:17.1 and beat powerful US team to win the gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics
- 1956 Against the background of the Soviet invasion of Hungary the nations square off at the Melbourne Olympics in a famous water polo match; game called off with Hungary leading 4-0 and near riot halted by police; Hungary goes on to win gold medal
- 1956 Randhir Singh Gentle scores the winner as India beats Pakistan, 1-0 in the Melbourne Olympics field hockey final to win it's 6th consecutive gold medal in the sport
- 1956 German WWII prisoner of war Helmut Bantz and Soviet gymnast Valentin Muratov tie for the vault gold medal with 18.85 points at the Melbourne Olympics
- 1956 Soviet gymnast Viktor Chukarin follows his parallel bars gold medal with the individual all-round title and teams gold at the Melbourne Olympics
- 1957 1st US attempt to launch a satellite fails-Vanguard rocket blows up
- 1957 AFL-CIO votes to expel Teamsters (readmitted in October 1987)
- 1957 Indonesia begins nationalizing Dutch possessions
Davis Cup
1957 Gardnar Mulloy becomes oldest American to win a Davis Cup tennis match at age 44 years, 14 days; teams with Vic Seixas to give US a match-clinching, 3-0 lead over the Philippines in the Inter Zone 1st round in Adelaide, Australia
Vic Seixas
- 1958 US lunar probe Pioneer 3 reaches 107,269 km, falls back
- 1960 AL grants American businessman Gene Autry a franchise, LA Angels
- 1961 27th Heisman Trophy Award: Ernie Davis, Syracuse (HB) (1st African American to win)
- 1962 US abandons Skybolt ballistic missile program
- 1963 The Beatles begin a tradition of releasing a Christmas record for fans
- 1963 Test Cricket debut of Graeme Pollock at the Gabba
- 1964 "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" 1st airs on TV
- 1964 KTVR TV channel 13 in La Grande, OR (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1964 President Antonio Segni of Italy resigns
- 1965 2 trucks crashed into a crowd of dancers in Sotouboua Togo, kills 125
- 1965 Pakistan's Islamic Ideology Advisory Committee recommends that Islamic Studies be made a compulsory subject for Muslim students from primary to graduate level.
- 1966 Polio vaccination becomes obligatory in Belgium
- 1967 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
- 1968 Baseball dismisses Commissioner William Eckert after 3 years
- 1968 PBA National Championship won by Wayne Zahn
- 1968 WKID (WSCV) TV channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale, FL (IND) 1st broadcast
- 1969 "Buck White" closes at George Abbott Theater NYC after 7 performances
Music Concert
1969 300,000 attend Altamont free concert in California, featuring The Rolling Stones. Marred by violence and four deaths.
Charlie Watts
- 1969 USSR performs nuclear test
- 1970 Cleveland Cavaliers 1st NBA home victory, beating Buffalo Braves 108-106
- 1971 Lewis Franklin Powell confirmed as US Supreme Court justice
- 1971 A woman dies trying to salvage property from the Salvation Army Citadel in Belfast after bomb which started a large fire in an adjoining building
- 1973 Bahrain's constitution goes into effect
Election of Interest
1973 Gerald Ford sworn-in as first unelected Vice President, succeeds Spiro Agnew who resigned over corruption allegations
Gerald Ford
Spiro Agnew
- 1973 NL votes to move San Diego Padres to Washington, D.C. (doesn't happen)
Event of Interest
1974 George Harrison releases "Ding Dong, Ding Dong"
George Harrison
- 1975 41st Heisman Trophy Award: Archie Griffin, Ohio State (RB)
- 1975 Balcombe Street Siege: for 6 days, four Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers hold two hostages at an apartment in London, England
- 1976 War criminal Pieter Menten arrested in Zurich
- 1977 South Africa grants Bophuthatswana independence
- 1978 Spain adopts constitution
- 1980 NASA launches Intelsat V satellite, no. 502
- 1981 Rob de Castella of Australia sets Marathon record at 2:08:18
Event of Interest
1981 Senior PGA Championship Men's Golf, Turnberry Isle CC: Miller Barber wins his first of 5 Champions Tour major titles by 2 strokes from Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer
- 1982 Droppin Well bombing: 11 British soldiers and 6 civilians are killed by an Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) time bomb at the Droppin’ Well Bar in Ballykelly, County Londonderry
- 1983 A bomb planted on a bus in Jerusalem explodes, kills 6 Israelis
- 1984 France performs nuclear test
- 1984 Hijackers aboard Kuwaiti jetliner kill 2nd hostage
Event of Interest
1984 Helena Suková snaps Martina Navratilova's 74-match winning streak 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the semi finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne; ends Navratilova's hopes of completing the Grand Slam
Martina Navratilova
Meeting of Interest
1988 Yasser Arafat meets prominent American Jews in Stockholm, Sweden
Yasser Arafat
- 1988 Carlos Andres Perez re-elected president of Venezuela
- 1988 Merv Hughes takes 13 wickets v WI at the WACA but Australia lose
- 1988 Milwaukee Bucks win their 1,000th NBA game (2nd fastest)
- 1988 Nelson Mandela is transferred to Victor Vester Prison, Capetown
- 1988 STS-27 Atlantis lands in California after secret mission
- 1988 Agnes Neil Williams purchases Baltimore Orioles for $70 million Eli Jacobs becomes CEO of Baltimore Orioles
- 1989 Mafia drug kingpin bombs security force at Bogota, kills 52
- 1989 Worst Canadian mass murder: Marc Lepine kills 14 women at U Montreal
- 1990 NHL grants conditional membership to Tampa Bay Lightning
Event of Interest
1990 Saddam Hussein announces release of all foreign hostages
Saddam Hussein
NFL Record
1992 San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice catches NFL record 101st touchdown in a 27-3 win over Miami Dolphins at Candlestick Park
Jerry Rice
Agreement of Interest
1992 San Francisco Giants sign record $43million USD pact with Pirates MLB outfielder Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
- 1992 Davis Cup Tennis, Ft. Worth, Texas: Jim Courier defeats Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to give the US a 3-1 victory
- 1993 Gunda Niemann skates ladies world record 5 km 7:13.29
- 1994 Maltese Falcon auctioned for $398,590
- 1994 Orange County California files for bankruptcy
- 1994 Warner Brothers announces a 5th TV network to begin on Jan 11, 1995
- 1995 6th Billboard Music Awards: TLC & Hootie & The Blowfish win
Event of Interest
1995 Michael Jackson collapses while rehearsing for an HBO special
Michael Jackson
- 1996 Mashonaland defeat England in first-class tour match
Election of Interest
1998 Hugo Chávez is elected President of Venezuela
Hugo Chávez
Film Premier
2002 "Adaption" directed by Spike Jonze, starring Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep premieres
Nicolas Cage
Meryl Streep
Event of Interest
2008 American pin-up model Bettie Page (85) is hospitalized in critical condition after suffering a heart attack
Bettie Page
- 2009 98th Davis Cup: Spain beats Czech Republic in Barcelona (5-0)
Event of Interest
2009 Final Broadway performance of "A Steady Rain", starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig
Hugh Jackman
Event of Interest
2010 Record price for a printed book when a first edition of "The Birds of America" by John James Audubon auctioned at Sotheby's, London, England, for £7,321,250
John James Audubon
Event of Interest
2013 Pope Francis gives his ascent to a proposal to create a permanent post on the Pontifical Commission on cases of sin and sexual abuse of minors
Pope Francis
Event of Interest
2017 US President Donald Trump officially recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, announcing plans to move US embassy there
Donald Trump
- 2017 Skirball wildfire near Los Angeles closes the Interstate 405 as thousands forced to evacuate
- 2017 Andrej Babiš is sworn as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
- 2017 Britain's top Brexit negotiator David Davis admits there has been "no systematic impact assessment" on effects of Brexit
- 2017 Brazilian drug lord Rogério da Silva arrested in Rio
- 2017 "Supermassive" most distant black hole discovery announced by astronomers in journal "Nature", 13 billion light-years away, 800 x bigger than the Sun
- 2018 Senegal's new Museum of Black Civilisations is opened in Dakar by President Macky Sall
- 2018 Luxembourg is the first country to make all public transport free
- 2018 Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry explodes for franchise-record 238 yards & 4 touchdowns in 30-9 win v Jacksonville Jaguars in Nashville; 99-yard TD run ties Dallas Cowboys HOF RB Tony Dorsett's longest run in NFL history
- 2018 Oldest-known plague sample found in 4,900-year-old remains of 20-year old woman in Gökhem, southern Sweden published in "Cell"
December in History
How the First Sherlock Holmes Story was Sold for a Song
How did an English publisher most famous for giving the world Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management come to publish the first Sherlock Holmes story?
December 1, 1887Mozart, the Incomparable Musical Genius
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a musical genius who composed over 600 works in his short lifetime, died mysteriously on this day and was buried unceremoniously.
December 5, 1791Real-life Tragedy for Theatrical Family
On this day a tragedy engulfed one of Britain’s noted theatrical families of the early 20th century.
December 8, 1926Coronation Street, King of the Soaps
Thought to have no great future when launched on this day, Coronation Street still reigns supreme
December 9, 1960
