- Dec 1 Exxon announces a $73.7 billion USD deal to buy Mobil, creating Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest company.
- Dec 4 The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched
- Dec 5 3rd Big 12 Championship Game: #10 Texas A&M beats #2 Kansas State, 36-33 (2 OT)
- Dec 5 7th SEC Championship Game: #1 Tennessee beats #23 Mississippi State, 24-14
- Dec 6 87th Davis Cup: Sweden beats Italy in Milan (4-1)
Hugo Chávez Elected
Dec 6 Hugo Chávez is elected President of Venezuela
- Dec 8 Tadjena massacre: 81 people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.
Sen Awarded Economics Nobel
Dec 10 Indian Professor Amartya Sen is awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics for his contributions to welfare economics
- Dec 11 Thai Airways Airbus A310-200 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101
International Team's 1st Win
Dec 13 Presidents Cup Golf, Royal Melbourne GC: International team wins for first time; Shigeki Maruyama and Steve Elkington unbeaten as Internationals beat US 20½–11½
You've Got Mail
Dec 18 Romantic comedy film "You've Got Mail", starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, directed by Nora Ephron, and written by sisters Nora and Delia Ephron, is released
US House Impeaches Clinton
Dec 19 US House of Representatives votes to impeach President Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal, forwarding the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial
Award to Zidane
Dec 22 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Zinedine Zidane is named best football player in Europe ahead of Real Madrid striker Davor Šuker and Inter forward Ronaldo
- Dec 26 Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones
- Dec 26 Severe gales over Ireland, northern England, and southern Scotland cause widespread disruption and widespread power outages in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland
- Dec 29 Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over a million people
- Dec 31 Exchange rates between the euro and legacy currencies in the Eurozone become fixed.
- Dec 31 US movie box office hits record $6.24 billion for year
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