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- 0755 An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during the Tang Dynasty of China.
- 1392 Nanboku-ch - Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.
- 1431 Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.
- 1497 Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
- 1598 Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point - The final battle of the Seven Year War is fought between the Korean and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive Korean victory.
- 1631 Mount Vesuvius, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages & kills 4,000
- 1653 English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
- 1653 Oliver Cromwell became lord protector of England, Scotland & Ireland
- 1653 Oliver Cromwell is named lord protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
- 1689 Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.
- 1689 English Parliament adopts Bill of Rights after Glorious Revolution
- 1707 Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.
- 1761 Seven Years' War: After four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg.
- 1770 Ludwig Van Beethoven was born on Dec. 16, 1770 (baptized on Dec. 17, 1770)
- 1773 American Revolution: Boston Tea Party - Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
- 1773 Big tea party in Boston harbor-Indians welcome
- 1773 The Boston Tea Party occurs when American colonists board a British ship and dump overboard more than 300 chests of tea to protest high taxes.
- 1809 Napoleon Bonaparte and the Empress Josephine are divorced by an act of the French Senate.
- 1811 Most violent & prolonged quakes in US begins in Midwest region
- 1811 The first two in a series of severe earthquakes occurs, in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri.
- 1826 Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican controlled Nacogdoches, Texas and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.
- 1835 Disaster struck Wall Street on this day in 1835, as a fire ravaged the hub of the financial community in lower Manhattan. The inside of the Merchants' Exchange building was nearly destroyed by the fire, leaving the New York Stock and Exchange Board without a home
- 1835 Fire consumes over 600 buildings in New York NY
- 1835 The Wall Street area of New York City is destroyed by fire.
- 1838 Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius combat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- 1838 Boers beat Zulu chieftain Dingaan in South Africa
- 1838 The Boers defeat the Zulus in South Africa.
- 1850 History of New Zealand: The Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton.
- 1852 The Evening Star newspaper begins publication in Washington, DC.
- 1857 Earthquake in Naples, Italy
- 1862 Kingdom of Nepal accepts its constitution
- 1863 American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Army of Tennessee.
- 1864 American Civil War: Franklin-Nashville Campaign - Battle of Nashville - Major General George H. Thomas's Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee.
- 1864 Battle of Nashville
- 1870 The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is lit for the first time.
- 1893 Antonn Dvok's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From The New World" was given its world premiere at Carnegie Hall.
- 1897 The first submarine with an internal combustion engine demonstrated
- 1903 Majestic Theater, New York NY, becomes first in US to employ women ushers
- 1905 "Variety," covering all phases of show business, first published
- 1907 Great White Fleet sails from Hampton Downs on its World Cruise
- 1907 Great White Fleet started its circumnavigation of the world
- 1909 US pressure forces Nicaraguan President Jose Santos Zelaya from office
- 1910 During a ground test of his Coand-1910 plane, Henri Coand, caught unaware by the power of the engine, finds himself briefly airborne and loses control of the machine which crashes to the ground.
- 1912 The first US postage stamp picturing an airplane, $0.20 parcel post, issued
- 1913 Charles Chaplin, one of the most famous actors in the silent-film era comes to work for the first time at Keystone Studios.
- 1914 World War I: German battle ships under Franz Von Hipper bombard the English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough.
- 1916 Gregory Rasputin, a monk with considerable influence over the Russian court, is murdered by noblemen.
- 1920 A magnitude 8.5 earthquake rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000.
- 1920 Over 180,000 die when earthquake destroys 15,000 miles (Kansu China)
- 1922 Florence E. Allen becomes the first woman justice of a state supreme court (Ohio).
- 1922 Gabriel Narutowicz first President of Polish Republic assassinated
- 1922 President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachta Gallery in Warsaw.
- 1925 A regular broadcasting service is instituted in Ceylon.
- 1925 Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity is founded at Lafayette College.
- 1929 The first NHL game at Chicago Stadium (Black Hawks)
- 1937 Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.
- 1941 Sarawak occupied by the Japanese
- 1942 Holocaust: Porajmos - Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination be deported to Auschwitz.
- 1943 "Tamiami Champion" trains collide, kills 73 & injures 200
- 1944 Battle of the Bulge begins in Belgium
- 1944 Germans begin Battle of the Bulge to strike back at U.S. troops.
- 1944 The Battle of the Bulge begins in WWII as Germany launches a surprise counter-attack against Allied forces in Belgium.
- 1946 Lon Blum becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1946 Thailand joins the United Nations.
- 1947 William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor.
- 1949 Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, later knows as SAAB, is founded in Sweden.
- 1949 Swedish Carmaker DebutsA Swedish company by the name of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget produced its first motorcar. In 1965 the concern changed its name to Saab Aktiebolag, and a few years later simply to Saab. The first Saab automobiles were engineered with the precision of fighter planes--the company's other main product.
- 1950 President Harry S. Truman declares a state of emergency, after Chinese troops enter the fight with communist North Korea in the Korean War.
- 1950 Truman proclaims state of emergency against "Communist imperialism"
- 1951 The detective show Dragnet previews on the anthology show Chesterfield Sound-Off Time.
- 1953 The Delaware Water Gap Bridge, linking New Jersey with Pennsylvania, opens to traffic.
- 1955 Visitor posting - dave pridham born - Australia
- 1957 Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
- 1959 Snow falling in Lowarai Pass West Pakistan kills 48
- 1960 134 die when a United DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collide in the skies over New York City.
- 1960 1960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York's Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding snowstorm over Staten Island, killing 134.
- 1962 Constitutional Monarchical Hindu State of Nep l adopts new constitution
- 1963 Kenya joins the United Nations.
- 1965 Gemini 6 returns to Earth
- 1965 Number one hit on UK music charts - The Beatles - Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out
- 1965 Pioneer 6 launched into solar orbit
- 1965 Vietnam War: General William Westmoreland sends U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a request for 243,000 more men by the end of 1966.
- 1965 W Somerset Maugham English author ("Of Human Bondage"), dies at 91
- 1966 Beatles release "Everywhere it's Christmas" in the UK
- 1969 "War is Over! If You Want It, Happy Christmas from John & Yoko" posters begin appearing
- 1970 The first successful landing on Venus (USSR)
- 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army brings an end to both conflicts.
- 1971 Independence Day of the State of Bahrain from British Protectorate Status
- 1971 Pakistan army surrenders to Indian army in Bangladesh
- 1972 Miami Dolphins become first undefeated NFL team (14-0-0)
- 1972 Vietnam War: Henry Kissinger announces that North Vietnam has left private negotiations for peace in Paris.
- 1973 O.J. Simpson becomes first NFLer to rush 2,000 yard in a season
- 1973 O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills becomes the first NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
- 1976 George a goose that lived to 49 years 8 months
- 1976 Government halts swine flu vaccination program following reports of paralysis
- 1977 Saturday Night Fever debuts at the movies - USA
- 1978 Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first post-Depression era city to default on its loans, owing $14,000,000 to local banks.
- 1978 Cleveland, Ohio, become the first city in the post-Depression era to default on its loans.
- 1978 Ronald Reagan denounces President Jimmy Carter's recognition of China PR
- 1979 Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, having an immediate dramatic effect on the United States.
- 1980 Pres-elect Reagan announces Alexander Haig as secretary of state
- 1981 Golden Knights Premier Clemson University
- 1981 Visitor posting - my third son Moustapha Bayo is born in Conakry - Guinea at ratoma hospital
- 1982 The Federal Reserve announces that the operating capacity of factories has gone down to 67.8%.
- 1983 Riverside, Cal judge denies cerebral palsy victim Elizabeth Bouviato request to starve herself to death in a county hospital
- 1983 Yogi Berra named Yankee manager for 2nd time
- 1985 Mafia: In New York City, Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the Gambino family.
- 1985 Paul Castellano Organized-crime chief shot dead by a NYC restaurant
- 1986 Revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist party, known as Zheltoksan, which becomes the first sign of ethnic strife during Gorbachev's tenure
- 1987 Roh Tae Woo wins Presidential Election in South Korea
- 1988 Political cult leader Lyndon LaRouche convicted of tax, mail fraud
- 1989 Number one hit on UK music charts - Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers - Let's Party
- 1989 Protest breaks out in Timioara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor, Lszl Tks.
- 1989 Walter LeRoy Moody begins his terrorist bombing streak when he sends Judge Robert Smith Vance a bomb in the mail, instantly killing him near his house in Birmingham, Alabama.
- 1991 Independence of The Republic of Kazakhstan.
- 1991 Visitor posting - Brock Lee Brassfield was born in Ft. Collins, Colorado - USA [email protected]
- 1991 UN reverses ruling that Zionism is racism by 111-25 (13 abstain) vote
- 1991 Visitor posting - Keaston Kraig Evitt was born. - USA
- 1992 IBM said it would make its first layoffs in fifty years. The company announced it would trim its staff by 25,000 employees and dispose of some of the assets of its mainframebusiness.
- 1992 Israel orders deportation of 415 Palestinians after escalating terrorist activity
- 1995 Visitor posting - Katia Sharkey born. My pet cats are called Parsnip and Caterpillar - USA
- 1996 IBM announced on this day in 1996 it would stop selling computers that used that PowerPC chip and ran Windows NT. IBM, Motorola, and Apple had teamed up to challenge Intel Corporation's dominance in chips and Microsoft's near monopoly on operating systems
- 1996 Visitor posting - Sandor Baird is born - Canada
- 1998 Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox - The United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq.
- 2005 Visitor posting - Angel was born
- 2006 Leona Lewis wins the third series of British UK talent show The X Factor (TV series), winning a 1 million record deal, and releases her debut single A Moment Like This.
- 2007 Presidential Candidate Ron Paul breaks record for 1 day fundrasing, raising 6 million dollars, a record previously held by John Kerry, at 5.7 million dollars.
- 2009 An unarmed 26-year-old man is detained after attempting to enter the hospital room of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as he recuperates from the recent assault.
- 2009 Archaeologists in Jerusalem say they have discovered a burial shroud from around the time of Jesus in a tomb.
- 2009 Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen replaces Connie Hedegaard in a "procedural move" as president of the U.N. climate talks, as further clashes take place around the perimeter of the summit.
- 2009 Kelly Kwalik, leader of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), is fatally shot by police in Indonesia.
- 2009 Malawi recognizes the independence of Kosovo
- 2009 Mexican drug lord Arturo Beltrán Leyva, leader of the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, is killed by personnel of the Mexican Navy during a shootout in Cuernavaca, Morelos.
- 2009 Nauru recognizes the independence of South Ossetia, one day after also establishing diplomatic relations with Abkhazia.
- 2009 North Korea reportedly bans all foreigners from entering the country until early February 2010, for unknown reasons.
- 2009 Roy E. Disney, head of Disney Animation and responsible for guiding the studio through a golden age of animation, dies in a California hospital in the United States.
- 2009 Russian economist Yegor Gaidar, the architect of the neoliberal reforms of the early 1990s as the first finance minister of post-Soviet Russia, dies unexpectedly in his home.
- 2009 The Philippine province of Albay is put under a "state of imminent disaster" as activity at the Mayon Volcano increases.
- 2009 The Supreme Court of Pakistan declares NRO as unconstitutional, paving way for the reopening of the corruption cases involving the President and other senior officials.
- 2009 Toumba Diakite, an aide to Guinea's military leader Moussa Dadis Camara admits to shooting him after the junta leader wanted him to take responsibility for the massacre of opposition protesters in September.
- 2009 UK airline Flyglobespan goes into administration, with the cancellation of all scheduled flights.
- 2010 Important Islamic date - Aashura: December 16, 2010
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