Events in History
- Dec 1 LAPD Police Chief Edward Davis announces warrants for the arrest of the Manson cult for murder
- Dec 1 US government holds its 1st draft lottery since WW II
- Dec 2 Boeing 747 jumbo jet 1st public preview (Seattle to NYC)
- Dec 5 Four-node ARPANET network is established
- Dec 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Dec 6 USSR performs nuclear test
- Dec 8 Greek DC-6B crashes in storm at Athens, 93 killed
- Dec 8 Police surprise attack on Black-Panthers in LA
- Dec 11 Libya adopts constitution
- Dec 12 Offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed, killing 14
- Dec 14 Bishen Bedi takes 7-98 (career-best) v Australia at Calcutta
- Dec 15 San Francisco Fire Department replaces leather helmets with plastic ones
- Dec 16 British House of Commons votes 343-185 to abolish the death penalty
- Dec 17 USAF closes Project Blue Book, concluding no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings
- Dec 18 House of Lords votes to abolish the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland (Northern Ireland 25 July 1973)
- Dec 18 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Dec 25 5 Israeli gunboats escape from Cherbourg harbor
- Dec 25 India all out for 163 at Madras v Aust, Ashley Mallett 5-91
- Dec 28 Dallas Cowboy kicker Mike Clark, attempting an on-side kick against Cleveland, missed the ball
- Dec 28 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 30 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 31 Congo-Brazzaville becomes People's republic, under major Ngouabi
Birthdays in History
- Dec 5 Sajid Javid, British politician, Home Secretary (2018-), born in Littleborough, England
- Dec 9 André Heinz, American environmentalist and son of Senator Henry John Heinz III and Teresa Heinz
- Dec 12 Sophie Kinsella, English author (Confessions of a Shopaholic), born in London, United Kingdom
- Dec 16 Adam Reiss, American astrophysicist (2011 Nobel Prize for Physics for discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe), born in Washington D.C.
Lei Jun (53 years old)
Dec 16 Chinese businessman and founder of Xiaomi Inc, born in Xiantao, Hubei
- Dec 17 Chuck Liddell, American mixed martial artist
- Dec 24 Ed Milliband, British politician (Leader of the Labour Party, 2010–15), born in Fitzrovia, London
- Dec 25 Bernhard Jr., Prince of Netherlands, born in Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Dec 27 Sarah Vowell, American author and journalist
- Dec 28 Katie Hobbs, American politician (Governor of Arizona 2023-), born in Phoenix, Arizona
Linus Torvalds (53 years old)
Dec 28 Finnish-American software engineer (developed Linux operating system), born in Helsinki, Finland
- Dec 31 Dominik Diamond, Scottish presenter & newspaper columnist, born in Arbroath, United Kingdom
Deaths in History
- Dec 2 Kliment Voroshilov, Russian politician and military officer under Stalin (President of the USSR 1953-60), dies at 88
- Dec 2 Stephen Potter, English writer and humorist (School for Scoundrels, Shipbuilders), dies of pneumonia at 69
- Dec 4 Fred Hampton, American activist (Black Panther Party leader; Rainbow Coalition co-founder) shot and killed by the FBI and Chicago police at 21
- Dec 13 Raymond A Spruance, U.S. Navy admiral (Battle of Midway), dies at 83
- Dec 17 Arturo da Costa e Silva, 27th President of Brazil (1967-69), dies at 67
- Dec 22 Josef von Sternberg, Austrian-American director (Shanghai Express), dies at 75
- Dec 26 Johannes Gerard van Dillen, Dutch economic historian (Of Wealth & Oligarchists), dies at 86
- Dec 26 Josef Hromádka, Czech Protestant theologist (Christian Peace Conference founder; Lenin Prize, 1957), dies following a heart attack at 80 [1]
- Dec 26 Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin, French poet and author (History d'aimer), dies at 67
- Dec 31 Joseph A Yablonski, American labor leader, and candidate for United Mine Workers (UMW) president, murdered in his home by hitmen hired by then-president of UMW. at 59
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists