The Return of the King
Dec 1 "The Return of the King", 3rd and final film in the Lord of the Rings series, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen premieres in Wellington, New Zealand
The Simple Life
Dec 2 US reality TV show "The Simple Life" with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie premieres on Fox-TV
Thalia Hollywood Star
Dec 5 Mexican singer Thalia the "Queen of Latin Pop" is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles
Film & TV History
Dec 9 "Peter Pan" live action adventure film adaptation of the 1904 play and 1911 by J.M. Barrie premieres in London; flops at the box office
- Dec 9 A blast in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds several more.
50 Cent, Twain Win
Dec 10 14th Billboard Music Awards: 50 Cent and Shania Twain win
Martin Becomes Prime Minister
Dec 12 Paul Martin becomes Prime Minister of Canada after resignation of Jean Chretien
- Dec 13 69th Heisman Trophy Award: Jason White, Oklahoma (QB)
Saddam Hussein Captured
Dec 13 Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit, during Operation Red Dawn by US forces
- Dec 14 President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt
- Dec 14 US President George W. Bush announces the capture of Saddam Hussein
- Dec 17 "The Return of the King" 3rd Lord of the Ring films is released. Makes US$72 million opening weekend, 2nd film to gross over 1 billion worldwide.
- Dec 17 SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight
- Dec 17 The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
- Dec 22 A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits near San Simeon, California.
Ballon d'Or
Dec 22 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' Czech midfielder Pavel Nedvěd is named best football player in Europe ahead of Arsenal forward Thierry Henry and Milan defender Paolo Maldini
NY Knicks Hire Isiah Thomas
Dec 22 The New York Knicks hire Isiah Thomas as President of Basketball Operations
- Dec 23 PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai, Chongqing, China, killing at least 234.
- Dec 24 Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.
- Dec 25 The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe which was released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing.
- Dec 26 A magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, killing tens of thousands and destroying the citadel of Arg-é Bam.
- Dec 29 50th National Film Awards (India): "Mondo Meyer Upakhyan" wins the Golden Lotus
- Dec 30 U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recuses himself and his office from the Plame affair.
Authors
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