Promises, Promises
Dec 1 Burt Bacharach and Hal David's musical "Promises, Promises", based on the 1960 Billy Wider film "The Apartment", opens at Shubert Theatre, NYC; runs for 1,281 performances, wins a Grammy and 2 Tony Awards
- Dec 1 Gonzalo Barrios, Venezuelan presidential candidate
Henry Kissinger
Dec 2 US President Richard Nixon names Henry Kissinger security advisor
Elvis' Comeback Special
Dec 3 Elvis Presley's Comeback Special airs on NBC, his 1st live performance in seven years, re-launching his singing career
- Dec 3 MLB Rules Committee adopts a series of changes designed to increase amount of offensive run production; decreases strike zone size and lowers height of pitcher's mound from 15" to 10"; changes are successful
- Dec 4 Following a civil rights march in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, there is a violent clash between Loyalists and those who are taking part in the march
Esposito Scores on Brother's Debut
Dec 5 Future Hockey Hall of Fame center Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins scores 2 goals in his goaltender brother Tony's (also HOF) NHL debut for the Montreal Canadiens; 2-2 tie
Beggar's Banquet
Dec 6 Decca Records releases Rolling Stones album "Beggar's Banquet" in UK, the last during Brian Jones' lifetime (US release the next day)
- Dec 6 Major League Baseball dismisses Commissioner William Eckert after 3 years
- Dec 6 PBA National Bowling Championship won by Wayne Zahn (29)
- Dec 6 WKID (WSCV) TV channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (IND) 1st broadcast
- Dec 7 London Records releases Rolling Stones album "Beggar's Banquet" in US, the last during Brian Jones' lifetime
- Dec 7 Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 launched into Earth orbit
- Dec 7 Richard Dodd returns a library book his great grandfather took out in 1823 from the University of Cincinnati
"The Mother of All Demos"
Dec 9 Douglas Engelbart demonstrates in "The Mother of All Demos" the computer system NLS (oN-Line System) to a live audience in San Francisco. Shows for the first time, the mouse, word processing, windows, hypertext links, video conferencing, real-time collaboration, and other modern computing concepts. [1]
- Dec 9 KRNE TV channel 12 in Merriman, NB (PBS) begins broadcasting
'Ulster stands at the Crossroads'
Dec 9 Terence O'Neill, Northern Ireland Prime Minister, makes a television appeal for moderate opinion in what became known as the 'Ulster stands at the Crossroads' speech
- Dec 9 The Derry Citizen's Action Committee (DCAC) calls for a halt to all marches and protests for a period of one month
- Dec 10 Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", occurs in Tokyo.
Frazier vs. Bonavena
Dec 10 Joe Frazier beats Oscar Bonavena in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
- Dec 11 KECC (now KECY) TV channel 9 in El Centro, CA (CBS) 1st broadcast
- Dec 11 Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O'Neill sacks Home Affairs Minister, William Craig
- Dec 11 US Soccer Football Association refuses to let NASL disband
Ashe 1st Black No. 1
Dec 12 Arthur Ashe becomes 1st black person be ranked #1 in tennis
- Dec 12 Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O'Neill receives overwhelming support from Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs) at Stormont
Missing Stones Film
Dec 12 Rolling Stones film TV show "Rock and Roll Circus"- guest performers include The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono; the program never airs aired
- Dec 12 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Dec 13 Brazilian President Da Costa e Silva issues Ato Institucional Número Cinco degree
- Dec 16 KFIZ TV channel 34 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin begins broadcasting
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Dec 16 Musical-fantasy film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", co-written by Roald Dahl and director Ken Hughes, starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes, with songs by Sherman and Sherman, premieres at the Odeon Leicester Square theater, London
- Dec 16 Official revocation of the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain at Second Vatican Council
- Dec 18 Musical-fantasy film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", co-written by Roald Dahl and director Ken Hughes, starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes, with songs by Sherman and Sherman, premieres in NYC
- Dec 18 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh, Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 19 WCWB (now WMGT) TV channel 41 in Macon, GA (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Dec 20 Learie Constantine becomes UK's first person of African descent to be named a life peer (to sit in the House of Lords) in the Crown's New Year's Honours list
- Dec 20 The People's Democracy (PD) announce that its members will undertake a protest march from Belfast to Derry beginning 1 January 1969
- Dec 20 The Zodiac Killer murders teenagers Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday while on their first date together in Vallejo, California [1]
- Dec 21 David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash) premiere together in California
Apollo 8 Launched
Dec 21 First manned Moon voyage launched with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders aboard Apollo 8
"Wichita Lineman"
Dec 21 Glen Campbell's album "Wichita Lineman" goes to #1 in the US
- Dec 23 1st US case of space motion sickness
- Dec 23 82 members of US intelligence ship Pueblo released by North Korea
- Dec 23 Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders become the 1st people to orbit the Moon aboard Apollo 8
- Dec 24 Apollo 8 astronauts read passages from Book of Genesis
- Dec 24 Ballon d'Or: Manchester United's winger George Best wins award for best European football player ahead of teammate Bobby Charlton and Red Star Belgrade winger Dragan Džajić; first Northern Irish national to win the award
- Dec 24 WATU (now WAGT) TV channel 26 in Augusta, GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Dec 25 42 Dalits are burned alive in Kilavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, India, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit labourers
- Dec 25 NASA Apollo 8 crew broadcast while orbiting the moon amd read passages from the Bible to celebrate Christmas
- Dec 26 Arab terrorists in Athens fire on El Al plane, kills 1
- Dec 26 Bruin Ted Green sets NHL penalty record of 3 minors, 2 majors & 2 game misconducts in a game against NY Rangers in NY's Madison Square Garden
- Dec 26 Jay Allens "Forty Carats" premieres in NYC
- Dec 26 Led Zeppelin's US concert debut in Denver, Colorado, as opening act for Vanilla Fudge
- Dec 27 Apollo 8 returns to Earth
- Dec 27 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
Miami Pop Festival
Dec 28 100,000 attend Miami Pop Festival in Florida; performers included: The Jimi Hendrix Experience; The Mothers of Invention; Chuck Berry; John Lee Hooker; The Crazy World of Arthur Brown; and Blues Image
- Dec 28 57th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Adelaide (4-1)
- Dec 28 Israeli assault on Beirut Airport
- Dec 28 KVOF (KUDO, now KWBB) TV channel 38 in San Francisco, California (IND) 1st broadcast
- Dec 28 The Beatles' "The Beatles" aka "The White Album" goes #1 & stays #1 for 9 weeks
NY Jets Beat Oakland Raiders
Dec 29 AFL Championship, Shea Stadium, NYC: New York Jets beat Oakland Raiders 27-23; Joe Namath 3 TD passes sparks Jets to win
- Dec 29 Israeli commandos destroy 13 Lebanese airplanes
- Dec 29 NFL Championship, Cleveland Municipal Stadium: Baltimore Colts shutout Cleveland Browns, 34-0
- Dec 30 -48°F (-44°C), Mazama & Winthrop, Washington (state record)
My Way
Dec 30 Frank Sinatra first records "My Way" with lyrics were written by Paul Anka and based on the French song "Comme d'habitude"
- Dec 31 NY Jets win AFL championship
- Dec 31 Record high barometric pressure (1083.8 mb, 32 inches) recorded at Agata in Siberia, Soviet Union
- Dec 31 Soviet TU-144 makes its maiden flight, the first by a commercial supersonic airliner
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