December 2016 in History

Events in History

Dec 1 Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn is declared King of Thailand, succeeding his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Event of Interest

Dec 1 French President Francois Hollande announces he will not seek a 2nd term - 1st modern French leader not to do so

Election of Interest

Dec 1 Gambia presidential election: dictator Yahya Jammeh is defeated by Adama Barrow after 22 years in power

Dec 1 UN admits its peacekeepers were responsible for the cholera epidemic in Haiti in 2010 that killed 30,000

Event of Interest

Dec 2 Donald Trump takes a call with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen, in a break from America's long standing "One China" policy

Dec 3 US army decides it will not allow an oil pipeline to be built in North Dakota, after months of protests by The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Dec 4 Austria elects liberal independent Alexander Van der Bellen as President, after original vote in May annulled

Event of Interest

Dec 4 New Zealand Prime Minister John Key resigns after 8 years in office

Dec 4 Tens of thousands march throughout Brazil against a vote to undermine anti-corruption investigations
Dec 4 Venezuela issues new higher-value notes after currency falls 60% in 1 months against the US dollar
Dec 5 Malta becomes the 1st country in Europe to outlaw conversion therapy
Dec 7 6.5 earthquake in Aceh province, Indonesia kills at least 97 people
Dec 7 Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigns 3 days after losing a referendum to reform the constitution
Dec 9 Ghanaian Presidential election won by Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party
Dec 9 Mosconi Cup nine-ball pool, London, England: Europe wins 7th consecutive title convincingly beating US, 11-3; MVP: Albin Ouschan (Austria)

Event of Interest

Dec 9 South Korean MPs vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye

Dec 10 Terrorist bomb attacks outside a stadium in Istanbul kill 38 and injure 166
Dec 11 Bombing at a chapel in Cairo, Egypt, kills 25 and wounds 45
Dec 11 Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh says he will contest his election defeat in court, after his 1st election loss in 22 years
Dec 11 Kyrgyzstan votes in a referendum to change the constitution to give the government more power
Dec 12 Bill English is sworn in as New Zealand Prime Minister, succeeding John Key
Dec 12 Paolo Gentiloni is sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy, succeeding Matteo Renzi

Event of Interest

Dec 12 Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte boasts he killed susected criminals personally when mayor of Davao City

Dec 13 UN claims 82 civilians have been summary executed in Aleppo by pro-government forces
Dec 14 Amazon announces its 1st delivery by drone 2 km from their warehouse in the UK
Dec 14 University of Toronto scientists present findings of the world's oldest water - 2 billion years old from a mine in Canada
Dec 15 Ceasefire declared in Aleppo to allow hundreds to be evacutated from last rebel held area
Dec 15 White supremacist Dylann Roof is found guilty of the Charleston Church Massacre which killed 9
Dec 16 5 day pollution red alert declared in Beijing and 21 other Chinese cities, classified by officials as a “meteorological disaster”

Event of Interest

Dec 16 US State Department increases reward for information on Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to $25 million

Dec 19 At least 48 people die after drinking bath lotion in Irkutsk, Siberia, thinking it contained alcohol
Dec 19 Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead at an art gallery in Ankara by Turkish gunman
Dec 19 Truck driven into a Christmas market in Berlin kills 12, injures 48
Dec 19 US electoral collage votes 304 to 227 to nominate Donald Trump for President over the objections of seven faithless electors

Event of Interest

Dec 21 Carl Icahn is announced as Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform, under President Donald Trump

Dec 22 Ebola vaccine VSV-EBOV is found to be 70-100% effective in a study published in The Lancet, becoming the world's first proven vaccine against Ebola
Dec 23 United Nations Security Council adopts a landmark resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. Resolution 2334 was moved by New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela and passed 14-0 with a US abstention.
Dec 25 Russian military defence plane crashes into the Black Sea after takeoff from Sochi airport, killing all 92 on board

Event of Interest

Dec 29 US President Barack Obama retaliates against Russia for hacking American computer systems and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election by ejecting 35 Russian spies and imposing sanctions

Dec 30 A ceasefire organised by Russia, Iran and Turkey between Syria's government and opposition groups takes effect
Dec 30 Last day Indians are able to deposit in banks 500 and 1,000 rupee notes which were scrapped only 50 days earlier in an anti-corruption measure

Appointment of Interest

Dec 31 Chris Ofili is appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to art

Deaths in History

Dec 1 Ousmane Sow, Senegalese sculptor, dies at 81
Dec 2 Paul de Wispelaere, Flemish writer and critic, dies at 88
Dec 3 S. Newman Darby, American inventor of the sailboard, dies at 88
Dec 5 E. R. Braithwaite, Guyanese diplomat and writer (To Sir with Love), dies at 104
Dec 5 Mogens Camre, Danish politician (Folketing (Danish Parliament), 1968-1987, 3 days in 2007; European Parliament, 1999-2009, dies at 80
Dec 5 Robert Sumner, American evangelist and author, dies at 94
Dec 5 Shirley Hazzard, Australian-born author (Transit of Venus), dies at 85
Dec 7 Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, German politician, dies at 95
Dec 8 Florence Finch, Filipino-American war hero who fought against the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II, dies at 101 [1]

John Glenn (1921-2016)

Dec 8 American astronaut (1st American to orbit the earth) and politician (Senator D-Ohio), dies at 95

Dec 8 Sheila Quinn, British nurse and adviser (British Red Cross), dies at 96
Dec 10 A. A. [Adrian Anthony] Gill, British critic (The Sunday Times), dies of cancer at 62
Dec 12 Jim Lowe, American DJ (WNEW) "King of Trivia", dies at 93
Dec 13 Thomas Schelling, American economist, (Nobel Prize 2005 - game-theory analysis), dies at 95
Dec 17 Henry Heimlich, American surgeon and inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, dies at 96
Dec 22 Margaret Pereira, English forensic scientist (Nicholls and Pereira method), dies at 88
Dec 23 Piers J Sellers, English astronaut and climate scientist, dies of cancer at 61
Dec 24 Richard Adams, English author (Watership Down), dies at 96
Dec 24 Vera Rubin, American astronomer who discovered dark matter, dies at 88