Beverly Hills Cop
Dec 1 "Beverly Hills Cop" directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold premieres in Los Angeles
- Dec 1 49th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 17-15 in Birmingham
Doug Flutie
Dec 1 50th Heisman Trophy Award: Doug Flutie, Boston College (QB)
- Dec 1 American boxer Greg Page KOs home town favourite Gerrie Coetzee in 8th round to win WBA heavyweight title in Sun City, South Africa
Chris Evert's 1,000th
Dec 1 American tennis icon Chris Evert wins her 1,000th career professional match; beats Pascale Paradis of France 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 in the round of 16 at the Australian Open; Evert goes on to win the event
- Dec 1 France performs nuclear test
- Dec 2 Australian Test cricket spin bowler Bob Holland takes a career best 9-83 for NSW in the Sheffield Shield match against South Australia in Sydney
Dan Marino
Dec 2 Miami quarterback Dan Marino breaks NFL single-season touchdown pass record when he throws his 37th in the Dolphins' 45-34 loss to the Raiders; finishes season with 48 TD passes
- Dec 2 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Do They Know It's Christmas
Dec 3 "Do They Know It's Christmas" single written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and sung by an all-star cast under the banner of Band Aid is released in the UK
- Dec 3 Bhopal disaster: A Union Carbide pesticide plant leaks 45 tons of methyl isocyanate and other toxic compounds in Bhopal, India, officially killing 2,259 - other estimates are as high as 16,000 (including later deaths) and over half a million injured
- Dec 4 6th ACE Cable Awards: "David Bowie: Serious Moonlight" by Anthony Eaton and HBO win
- Dec 4 Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.
- Dec 5 French colonies killed 10 Kanaken in New Caledonia
- Dec 5 New York Yankees trade catcher Rick Cerone to Atlanta Braves for pitcher Brian Fisher
Rickey Henderson to the Yankees
Dec 5 Oakland Athletics trade Rickey Henderson to the NY Yankees for Jay Howell and Jose Rijo
- Dec 6 France performs nuclear test
- Dec 6 Helena Suková snaps Martina Navratilova's 74-match winning streak 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the semi finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne; ends Navratilova's hopes of completing the Grand Slam
- Dec 6 Hijackers aboard Kuwaiti jetliner kill 2nd hostage
Border Captains Australia
Dec 7 Allan Border's 1st Test Cricket match as captain (v WI Adelaide)
- Dec 8 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Chris Evert-Lloyd beats Helena Suková 6-7, 6-1, 6-3; continues streak of winning at least 1 major per year since 1973
- Dec 8 Europe & 64 developing countries sign Lome III treaty
Ringo Starr Hosts SNL
Dec 8 Ringo Starr hosts "Saturday Night Live"; Herbie Hancock is the musical guest
Wilander 2nd Straight Win
Dec 9 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Sweden's Mats Wilander wins 2nd straight Australian title; beats Kevin Curren of South Africa 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2
- Dec 9 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Dec 9 Iranian commandos end 5-day hijacking of Kuwaiti plane
Dickerson Rush Record
Dec 9 LA Ram Eric Dickerson rushes 215 yards for season record 2,105 yards
Thomson Wins Seniors
Dec 9 Senior PGA Championship, PGA National GC: Australian Peter Thomson wins his lone Champions Tour major title by 3 strokes from Don January
- Dec 10 1st "planet" outside our solar system discovered
Nobel to Archbishop Tutu
Dec 10 South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu is presented with his Nobel Peace Prize
- Dec 10 WNSY-AM in Newport News VA returns from WGH
- Dec 11 "Doug Henning & His World..." opens at Lunt-Fontanne NYC for 60 performances
- Dec 11 Mauretania military coup under Col Maawiya Ould Sid'ahmed Taya
- Dec 13 Artificial heart recipient William Schroeder suffers 1st stroke
- Dec 14 Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires from Monday Night Football
- Dec 15 USSR launches Vega 1 for rendezvous with Halley's Comet
A Christmas Carol
Dec 18 "A Christmas Carol" directed by Clive Donner starring George C. Scott premieres in the US
Hong Kong Back to China
Dec 19 Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997
- Dec 19 Fire at Wilberg Mine in central Utah killed 27 people
Bowman's Record NHL Win
Dec 19 Scotty Bowman wins his 691st regular season game, the most wins by any coach in NHL history
Gretzky Youngest to Score 1,000
Dec 19 Wayne Gretzky, 23, is 18th & youngest NHL-er to score 1,000 points
- Dec 20 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Dec 21 Brigham Young University (BYU) beats Michigan, 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego to remain undefeated and secure their first ever NCAA Division I-A football title
- Dec 21 Islander Kelly Hrudy's 1st shut-out win-Whalers 1-0
- Dec 21 USSR launches Vega 2 for fly-by of Halley's Come
- Dec 22 Bernhard Goetz shoots 4 black muggers on NYC subway train
- Dec 22 Test Cricket debut of Craig McDermott, v WI at the MCG
Richards Bats 208
Dec 23 West Indies batsman Viv Richards scores 208 vs Ausatralia in test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Dec 24 Palace coup in Mauritania
Michel Platini's Second in a Row
Dec 25 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Michel Platini is named Europe's best football player for the 2nd consecutive time; beats Bordeaux midfielder Jean Tigana and Verona striker Preben Elkjær
Rajiv Gandhi Wins Election
Dec 28 Rajiv Gandhi's Congress party wins the general election in India
Hughes Poet Laureate
Dec 28 Ted Hughes is appointed British Poet Laureate by Queen Elizabeth II
- Dec 28 TV soap "Edge of Night" ends 28 year run
- Dec 28 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh, Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 29 5th United Negro College Fund
- Dec 29 Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi claims victory in parliamentary elections
- Dec 29 NHL St. Louis Blues launch 27 shots in 1 period during 5-1 loss to visiting New York Islanders; NY goaltender Kelly Hrudey finishes game with 47 saves
- Dec 29 Wayne Gretzky scores his NHL career 32nd hat trick & adds 3 assists in Edmonton's 6-3 win over Detroit Red Wings for his 100th point in just 35 games; 2nd fastest in history - recorded 100 points in 34 games in 1983
- Dec 31 Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen loses his arm in a car crash
- Dec 31 NYC subway gunman Bernhard Goetz surrenders to police in NH
- Dec 31 Test Cricket debut of Mohammad Azharuddin, v England at Calcutta
- Dec 31 US leaves UNESCO
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