- 1326 Daitokuji temple, Rinzai line, established in Kyoto by Daito Kokushi
- 1609 Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room, the second public library of Europe.
- 1659 Mexican border town Ciudad Juárez is founded by Fray García de San Francisco.
- 1710 Battle of Brihuega in the War of the Spanish Succession: British General James Stanhope captured by French & Spanish forces
Event of Interest
1776 George Washington's retreating army crosses Delaware River from NJ
George Washington
Event of Interest
1777 Captain James Cook leaves Society Islands
James Cook
Music Premiere
1813 Ludwig van Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A, premieres in Vienna with Beethoven conducting
Ludwig van Beethoven
- 1846 Hector Berlioz's "La Damnation de Faust" premieres
Music Premiere
1849 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Luisa Miller" premieres in Naples
Giuseppe Verdi
Event of Interest
1863 Abraham Lincoln issues his Amnesty Proclamation and plan for Reconstruction of the South
Abraham Lincoln
- 1864 Pope Pius IX publishes encyclical Quanta cura ("Syllabus errorum")
Event of Interest
1864 The Clifton Suspension Bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is finally opened in Bristol, England, 5 years after his death
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Event of Interest
1874 Jesse James gang takes train at Muncie Kansas
Jesse James
Election of Interest
1886 American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president
Samuel Gompers
Event of Interest
1902 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr became Associate Justice on US Supreme Court
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr
Event of Interest
1912 Wilhelm II of Germany calls 'War Council'
Wilhelm II
Music Premiere
1914 Irving Berlin's musical "Watch your Step" premieres in NYC
Irving Berlin
Event of Interest
1915 John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields" appears anonymously in "Punch" magazine
John McCrae
- 1921 Eamon de Valera publicly repudiates Anglo-Irish Treaty
- 1923 German-US friendship treaty signed
- 1923 Labour/Liberals win British parliament
- 1923 Salary & price freeze in Germany
- 1930 Broadway Theater opens at 1681 Broadway NYC
- 1930 Cole Porter's musical "NYCers" premieres in NYC
- 1931 Coaxial cable patented
- 1934 Friedrich Wolf's "Professor Mamlock" premieres in Zurich
- 1935 The Japanese military police launches a violent suppression of the religious sect Oomoto, beginning with a crackdown on the sect's operational bases of Ayabe and Kameoka in Kyoto Prefecture and the arrest of its leader Onisaburo Deguchi.
- 1936 Anastasio Somoza García elected President of Nicaragua
- 1936 NAACP files suit to equalize salaries of black & white teachers
- 1938 Highest temperature for December in US recorded in La Mesa Calif
- 1938 LP Beria follows Nikolai Jezjov as head of Russian secret police
- 1940 National Football League Championship, Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.: Chicago Bears beat Washington Redskins, 73-0; most one-sided victory in NFL history; first NFL title game broadcast on national radio
- 1941 Chełmno extermination camp opens, 50 kilometres from Łódź, Poland
- 1941 London: Dutch government-in-exile declares war on Japan
- 1941 Russian 16th army recaptures Krijukovo
- 1941 San Francisco 1st blackout, at 6:15 PM
- 1941 US & Britain declare war on Japan, US enters WW II
Attack on Pearl Harbor
1941 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers "Day of Infamy" speech to US Congress a day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor
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- 1942 8th Heisman Trophy Award: Frank Sinkwich, Georgia (HB)
- 1943 John Van Druten's "Voice of the Turtle" premieres in NYC
- 1946 US Army rocket plane XS-1 makes 1st powered flight
- 1947 "Caribbean Carnival" opens at International Theater NYC for 11 performances
- 1948 "Marinka" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 168 performances
- 1948 14th Heisman Trophy Award: Doak Walker, SMU (HB)
- 1948 Jordan annexs Arabic Palestine
- 1949 Jule Styne's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 740 performances
- 1949 Chinese Nationalist government moves from Chinese mainland to Formosa
Film Release
1949 "On the Town", the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen, is released
Vera-Ellen
Frank Sinatra
- 1951 "Tree Grows in Brooklyn" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 267 performances
- 1951 AL alters its restrictions on night games, adopting NL's suspended game rule & lifting its ban on lights for Sunday games
- 1952 1st TV acknowledgement of pregnancy (I Love Lucy)
- 1952 French troops shoot on demonstrators at Casablanca, 50 die
- 1952 Isaak Ben-Zwi elected president of Israel
- 1953 19th Heisman Trophy Award: John Lattner, Notre Dame (HB)
United Nations Speech
1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "Atoms for Peace" speech at the United Nations in New York
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Event of Interest
1955 Brooklyn catcher Roy Campanella wins his 3rd MVP Award
Roy Campanella
- 1955 Turkish government of Menderes forms
Film Release
1955 Black Ealing comedy "The Ladykillers", directed by Alexander Mackendrick and starring Alec Guinness is released in the UK
Alec Guinness
- 1956 1st test firing of Vanguard satellite program, TV-0
- 1956 Guy Mitchell's "Singing the Blues" single goes #1 for 10 weeks
- 1956 Start of an Olympic tradition; amidst international tensions, athletes mingle together as they parade into and around arena for a final appearance to close Melbourne Games
- 1959 Dom Mintoff demands independence for Malta
- 1959 President Eisenhower watches Pakistan v Aust Test Cricket at Karachi
- 1960 Expansion LA Angels sign a 4 year lease to use Dodger Stadium
- 1961 Antwerp Belgium diocese forms
- 1961 Larry Costello scores 32 consecutive pts without a miss (NBA rec)
- 1961 South Africa v NZ, Durban debuts for Eddie Barlow & Peter Pollock
Event of Interest
1961 Wilt Chamberlain scores the 2nd highest total in the NBA - 78
Wilt Chamberlain
- 1962 "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" closes at Shubert NYC after 300 performances
- 1962 114-day newspaper strike begins in NYC
- 1962 Attempted coup in British-controlled Brunei
- 1962 Funeral for Queen Wilhelmina of Holland (New Kerk, Delft)
- 1963 "Girl Who Came to Supper" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 112 performances
- 1963 Frank Sinatra Jr is kidnapped
- 1963 Pan Am Flight 214 crashes outside Elkton, Maryland with 81 killed
- 1965 Abe Burrows' "Cactus Flower" premieres in NYC
- 1965 Nikolai Podgorny succeeds Mikojan as president of USSR
- 1965 Pope Paul VI signs 2nd Vatican council
Event of Interest
1966 A terrible Yankee trade, Roger Maris for Card's Charlie Smith
Roger Maris
- 1966 US & USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space
- 1967 The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" album is released in UK
- 1967 NHL California Seals change name to Oakland Seals
- 1969 Greek DC-6B crashes in storm at Athens, 93 killed
- 1969 Police surprise attack on Black-Panthers in LA
- 1970 Head of the Catholic Church in Ireland Cardinal William Conway publishes a pamphlet on the topic of segregation in education in Northern Ireland
- 1972 United Airlines crashes at Chicago's Midway Airport killing 45
- 1973 "Seesaw" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 296 performances
- 1973 39th Heisman Trophy Award: John Cappelletti, Penn State (RB)
Event of Interest
1973 Romanian tennis star Ilie Năstase wins his 3rd consecutive season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix title with a 6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win over Dutchman Tom Okker in Boston, Massachusetts
Ilie Năstase
- 1974 Greek monarchy rejected by referendum
- 1974 Irish Republican Socialist Party forms
- 1974 Soyuz 16 returns to Earth
- 1975 "Raisin" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 847 performances
- 1976 UN General Assembly re-elects Kurt Waldheim Secretary-General
- 1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1977 43rd Heisman Trophy Award: Earl Campbell, Texas (RB)
- 1978 Commencement of the 1st day/night World Series Cricket supertest at VFL Park, Melbourne
Film Premier
1978 "The Deer Hunter", directed by Michael Cimino and starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep, premieres in Los Angeles (Academy Awards Best Picture 1979)
- 1980 "Bravo" network premieres on cable TV
Event of Interest
1980 Annie Leibovitz has a photo-shoot with John Lennon, the last person to professionally photograph him before his death
John Lennon
Annie Leibovitz
- 1981 France performs nuclear test
- 1982 "Herman Van Veen: All of Him" opens at Ambassador NYC for 6 performances
- 1982 Clark Gilles fails in 7th Islander penalty shot
- 1982 Suriname army leader Bouterse murders 15 opponents
- 1982 Norman Mayer holds Washington Monument hostage, demanding an end to nuclear weapons. Is killed by police after 10 hrs (he had no explosives)
Nobel Prize
1982 Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez receives the Nobel Prize for Literature
Gabriel García Márquez
Film Release
1982 "Sophie's Choice", directed by Alan J. Pakula and based on William Styton's 1979 novel of the same name, starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, is released (Academy Awards Best Actress 1983)
Meryl Streep
Kevin Kline
Event of Interest
1984 Ringo Starr appears on "Saturday Night Live"
Ringo Starr
Lorne Michaels
Tennis Open
1984 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Chris Evert-Lloyd beats Helena Suková 6-7, 6-1, 6-3; continues streak of winning at least 1 major per year since 1973
Chris Evert
- 1985 Ken O'Brien's 96 yard TD pass (NY Jet record) to Wesley Walker
- 1985 Laurie Rinker/Larry Rinker wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
- 1985 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Stefan Edberg wins 1st career Grand Slam singles title; beats defending champion & fellow Swede Mats Wilander 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
- 1985 NBC premiere of thriller "Final Jeopardy", starring Richard Thomas and Mary Crosby
- 1986 House Dems select majority leader Jim Wright as 48th speaker
- 1986 NBC premiere of miniseries "Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna" (Part 2)
Event of Interest
1987 Flyers' Ron Hextall becomes 1st goalie to actually score a goal
Ron Hextall
- 1987 Occupied Palestinians start "intefadeh" (uprising) against Israel
Treaty of Interest
1987 US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty eliminating medium range nuclear missiles
Mikhail Gorbachev
Ronald Reagan
- 1987 The Alianza Lima air disaster.
- 1988 Knick's set NBA record of 11 3-pointers & sink Bucks, 113-109
- 1989 Great Britain performs nuclear test
- 1990 Galileo Earth-1 Flyby
- 1990 Indians agree to a lease new ballpark in Gateway (Jacobs Field)
- 1991 "Homecoming" closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 49 performances
- 1991 "Nick & Nora" opens at Marquis Theater NYC for 9 performances
- 1991 Kris Tschetter/Billy Andrade wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
- 1991 Russia, Belorussia & Ukraine form Commonwealth of Ind States
- 1991 The Romanian Constitution is adopted in a referendum.
- 1992 Galileo's nearest approach to Jupiter (303 km)
- 1992 NBC announces that "Cheers" will go off the air in May 1993
- 1993 30 killed at religious rebellion in Algeria
Music Awards
1993 4th Billboard Music Awards: Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard Soundtrack win
Whitney Houston
Event of Interest
1994 Darryl Strawberry indicted on tax evasion charges
Darryl Strawberry
Music Awards
1997 8th Billboard Music Awards: LeAnn Rimes & Spice Girls win
- 1998 Tadjena massacre: 81 people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.
- 2002 The Caribbean Community Heads of Government meet with the Government of Cuba and declare the date to be "CARICOM-Cuba Day" - To celebrate diplomatic ties between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba.
- 2004 The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.
- 2005 Ante Gotovina, Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife by the Spanish police.
- 2007 73rd Heisman Trophy Award: Tim Tebow, Florida (QB)
- 2008 Kirsty Williams elected as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. The first female leader of a political party in Wales.
- 2009 Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 and injure 448.
Event of Interest
2018 US President Trump announces John Kelly will be stepping down as White House Chief of Staff at the end of the year
Donald Trump
December in History
Mozart, 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, 1791
Real-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, 1926
Coronation Street, King of the Soaps
Thought to have no great future when launched on this day, Coronation Street still reigns supreme
December 9, 1960
Marconi's Dream: Telegraphy Without Wires
Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi's career received a big boost on this day with backing from the British Post Office.
December 11, 1896