Events in History
- Dec 1 Arabic Congress names Abdullah of Trans Jordan as King of Palestine
- Dec 1 Piet Roozenburg becomes world champion checker player
- Dec 3 "Pumpkin Papers" come to light (claimed to be from Alger Hiss)
- Dec 3 1st US woman army officer not in medical corps sworn in
- Dec 3 Chinese refugee ship "Kiangya" explodes in East China Sea killing 1,100
- Dec 4 SS Kiangya hits mine in Whangpoo River, China, sinks killing 2,750
- Dec 8 Jordan annexs Arabic Palestine
- Dec 9 UN General Assembly unanimously approves Convention on Genocide
Event of Interest
Dec 10 UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

John Peters Humphrey
- Dec 12 Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre - 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
- Dec 15 Former state department official Alger Hiss indicted in NYC for perjury
- Dec 18 Indonesia begins its 2nd political election
- Dec 19 2nd political action of Java/Sumatra
- Dec 19 8th largest snowfall in NYC history (15.3")
- Dec 20 Second Chamber accept 2nd Police Action in Indonesia
- Dec 21 O'Neil Place in the Bronx erroneously renamed O'Neill Place
- Dec 21 State of Eire (formerly Irish Free State) declares its independence
- Dec 24 First US completely solar heated house is occupied (Dover, Mass)
- Dec 24 Greek government disbands due to state of war, press censorship
- Dec 26 Hungarian cardinal József Mindszenty arrested
- Dec 28 IDF crosses Egyptian border
- Dec 28 Middel-Java as a whole in Dutch hands
- Dec 28 US announced a study to launch an Earth satellite
- Dec 28 The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami, Florida.
- Dec 29 Canada recognizes Israel
- Dec 29 US State Department announces work on placing objects into Earth orbit
- Dec 31 Dutch police actions up Java gone on strike
Birthdays in History
- Dec 1 Tom Wright, English bishop and theologian
- Dec 2 T. C. Boyle, American novelist (World's End), born in Peekskill, New York
- Dec 4 Lin Onus, Australian Aboriginal artist (Michael and I are just slipping down to the pub for a minute), born in Melbourne, Victoria (d. 1996)
- Dec 6 Don Nickles, American politician (Sen-R-Okla, 1981-2005), born in Ponca City, Oklahoma
Yoshihide Suga
Dec 6 Yoshihide Suga, Japanese politician, Prime Minister of Japan (2020-), born in Yuzawa, Japan

Yoshihide Suga
Jimmy Lai
Dec 8 Jimmy Lai [Lai Chee-Ying], Chinese businessman (founder of Giordano), born in Guangzhou, China

Jimmy Lai
- Dec 8 Roscoe Nance, American sportswriter (USA Today; Mississippi’s first African American sportswriter at mainstream newspaper), born in Enterprise, Alabama (d. 2020)
- Dec 10 Abu Abbas [Muhammad Zaidan], Palestinian founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLO), born in Yarmouk Camp (d. 2004)
- Dec 13 Brian Wilson, British Labour politician, born in Dunoon, Scotland
- Dec 14 Kim Beazley, Australian politician (33rd Governor of Western Australia), born in Perth, Western Australia
- Dec 18 Edmund "Ed" Kemper, American serial killer, born in Burbank, California
- Dec 21 Willem AFG Vermeend, Dutch economist & politician, born in Zuilen, Netherlands
- Dec 25 Alia al Hussein, of Jordan (d. 1977)
- Dec 31 Viktor Mikhailovich Afanasieyv, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-11, TM-18)
Deaths in History
Hideki Tojo
Dec 23 Hideki Tojo, Japanese Prime Minister during WW II (1941-44), hanged for war crimes at 64

Hideki Tojo
- Dec 28 Mahmud Nokrashy Pasha, Prime Minister of Egypt (19..-48), assassinated