Events in History
- Dec 1 Erie Canal closes for entire month due to cold weather
- Dec 5 Former US President John Q Adams takes his seat as a member of House of Representatives
- Dec 25 Louisiana & Arkansas are first states to observe Christmas as holiday
Event of Interest
Dec 27 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board departs England for a survey of South America, a voyage Darwin later said "determined my whole career"
Charles Darwin
- Dec 31 Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City
Birthdays in History
- Dec 6 Joshua Woodrow Sill, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Chillicothe, Ohio (d. 1862)
- Dec 10 Alexander Conze, German archaeologist, born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1914)
- Dec 19 Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian philanthropist (d. 1884)
- Dec 22 Mark Rutherford [Hale White], English writer, born in Bedford, England (d. 1913)
- Dec 22 Robert Ogden Tyler, Bvt Major General (Union Army), born in Hunter, New York (d. 1874)
- Dec 27 Lucius Fairchild, American politician, diplomat, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Kent, Ohio (d. 1896)
- Dec 29 Adam Badeau, American author, Union Army officer, and diplomat, born in NYC, New York (d. 1895)