Elliot Page
Dec 1 Actor Elliot Page, formerly known as Ellen Page, reveals he is transgender
- Dec 1 Chinese robotic spacecraft Chang’e-5 lands on the Moon as part of two-day mission to retrieve rock samples
Spotify's Most Streamed 2020
Dec 1 Spotify's most streamed artist of 2020 was Bad Bunny, its most streamed song "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd
- Dec 2 The UK becomes the first western country to authorize a vaccine for COVID-19, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine
No Presidential Voter Fraud
Dec 2 US Attorney General William Barr says there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, despite claims by President Donald Trump
- Dec 2 US records its largest daily death toll for COVID-19 at 2,885 and for the first time patient numbers in hospital exceed 100,000
- Dec 3 AT&T Inc’s Warner Bros studio announces all its 2021 movies will stream online the same day they appear in theatres because of the pandemic
- Dec 3 “I actually believe they’re going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation,” warns Dr. Robert Redfield, head of US CDC about the months ahead with COVID-19
- Dec 4 Mosconi Cup nine-ball pool, Coventry, England: Europe ends US 2-year run with emphatic 11-3 win; MVP: Jayson Shaw (Scotland)
- Dec 4 New Zealand cricket captain Kane Williamson smashes 251 to set up the home side's innings & 134 run win over the West Indies in the 1st Test in Hamilton
- Dec 5 Russia begins vaccinating people with its Sputnik V vaccine in Moscow, despite the vaccine not finishing clinical trials
- Dec 6 Japanese space capsule Hayabusa-2 lands safely back on earth in Australia, carrying first significant rock samples from an asteroid, the Ryugu
- Dec 6 US President Donald Trump orders about 700 troops withdrawn from Somalia
- Dec 7 Australian states celebrate "Freedom Day" easing COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria and New South Wales
- Dec 7 Breaking, the competitive form of breakdancing, confirmed as an Olympic sport for the Paris 2024 games
- Dec 7 Coca-Cola named the world's No. 1 plastic polluter, in Break Free From Plastic's annual brand audit
- Dec 7 Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo wins a second term in the country's general elections
- Dec 7 Most of California begins second lockdown as hospitals come under strain and the state records average of 21,000 COVID-19 cases a day
- Dec 8 Former Israeli space security chief Haim Eshed says Aliens and a Galactic Federation exist and Donald Trump knows about it, in article published in the Jerusalem Post
- Dec 8 The UK begins vaccinating for COVID-19 using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine
- Dec 9 Canada approves the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19
- Dec 9 United Arab Emirates is the first country to authorize China's Sinopharm vaccine for COVID-19 saying it is 86% effective
- Dec 11 America's FDA authorizes the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
- Dec 11 European Union leaders agree to cut net carbon emissions by 55% in the next decade
- Dec 11 First same-sex civil union registered in Bolivia after a two-year legal battle by activists
- Dec 11 Gunmen storm a school in Kankara, Katsina state, northern Nigeria, kidnapping more than 300 students (Boko Haram later claims responsibility)
Carbon Reduction
Dec 12 Chinese leader Xi Jinping says the country will reduce its carbon intensity by 65% by 2030
Hilton's TikTok Ban
Dec 12 Media personality Perez Hilton is banned from TikTok
Guterres Urges "Climate Emergency"
Dec 12 UN Chief Antonio Guterres urges world's leaders to declare "climate emergency" to avoid catastrophic global warning on 5th anniversary of Paris Climate Accord
Hamilton Record 7th Title
Dec 13 British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finishes 3rd in season-ending Abu Dhabi GP to claim record equalling 7th F1 World Drivers C'ship by 124 points from teammate Valtteri Bottas; Mercedes' 7th straight Constructors title
- Dec 13 Germany announces a strict lockdown till Jan 10 after looser restrictions failed to prevent COVID-19 numbers surging
- Dec 14 America begins its first COVID-19 vaccinations using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on the same day it records over 300,000 deaths
- Dec 14 Russia revealed to have been behind massive cyberattack on US government agencies and private companies since the Spring
- Dec 14 Total solar eclipse visible across southern Chile and Argentina
- Dec 14 US Attorney General William Barr resigns
- Dec 14 US Electoral College votes 306-232 to officially affirm Joe Biden's presidential election victory
- Dec 14 US Open Women's Golf, Champions GC, Houston: Kim A-lim wins her first major title by 1 stroke from fellow South Korean Ko Jin-young and American Amy Olson
MacKenzie Scott Gives $4 Billion
Dec 15 MacKenzie Scott announces she has given away more than $4 billion to 384 nonprofit organizations across the US
Tom Cruise Berates Crew
Dec 15 UK newspaper "The Sun" publishes recording of Tom Cruise berating his film crew for breaking COVID-19 protocols
- Dec 16 14 people found guilty of 2015 terror attacks on Charlie Hebdo office and supermarket in Paris
- Dec 16 China blocks imports of coal, from Australia, the world's second biggest market for the world's biggest coal exporter
- Dec 16 Major winter storm hits US Northeast resulting in at least seven deaths and Binghamton, New York, receiving record 41 inches of snow
- Dec 16 Nine-year-old girl who died of an asthma attack in 2013 becomes first person in the world to officially have air pollution listed as cause of death
- Dec 16 US Major League Baseball announces it is elevating the Negro Leagues to Major League status
- Dec 17 China's Chang'e-5 mission successfully returns from collecting rock samples from the Moon, landing in Siziwang Banner, Mongolia
- Dec 17 Cyclone Yasa makes landfall as a category 5 storm over Bula province, Fiji, killing two people
- Dec 17 French President Emanuel Macron tests positive for COVID-19, sending other European leaders into isolation
- Dec 17 King Carl XVI Gustaf says Swedish authorities have failed in their response to COVID-19, criticizing the country's controversial anti-lockdown strategy
- Dec 17 More than 300 school boys rescued after they were kidnapped from their school in Katsina state, northern Nigeria
- Dec 18 International body Covax, established to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to low and middle income countries, announces deals with vaccine manufacturers and method for countries to share excess vaccines
- Dec 18 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine granted emergency authorization by US Food and Drug Administration
- Dec 18 South Africa announces detection of new variant of COVID-19, called 501.V2, which is driving a second wave of infections
VP Pence Receives Vaccine
Dec 18 US Vice President Mike Pence receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine live on TV
Kamakawiwoʻole's "Over the Rainbow"
Dec 21 Hawaiian vocalist Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's official music video for his rendition of Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg's "Over the Rainbow" reaches a billion views on YouTube
- Dec 21 United States attorney general announces charges against Libyan Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, accusing him of involvement in constructing the bomb that destroyed Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on the 32nd anniversary of the disaster
- Dec 21 US begins vaccinating for COVID-19 using the Moderna vaccine
- Dec 21 US President-elect Joe Biden receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine live on TV
Messi Overtakes Pele Record
Dec 22 Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi scores his 644th goal for FC Barcelona during 3-0 win over Real Valladolid to break Pele's record for most goals for one club; Pele, 643 goals for Santos 1956-74
Sports History
Dec 22 Caitlin Clark registers her first triple-double at Iowa with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists against Western Illinois
- Dec 25 An RV detonates in downtown Nashville, Tennessee causing damage to people and property; prior to detonating, a recorded message playing from speakers warned anyone in earshot to evacuate prior to an explosion
- Dec 25 Historical romance "Bridgerton" debuts on Netflix based on the books by Julia Quinn, starring Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page in Season One
- Dec 25 New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara equals Ernie Nevers 1929 NFL record of 6 touchdowns in a match in the Saints' 52-33 win over the Minnesota Vikings at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome
- Dec 29 Milwaukee Bucks break NBA record for most 3-pointers made by a team in a single game with 29 in a dominant 144-97 victory over the Heat in Miami
- Dec 30 Argentina is the first major Latin American country to legalize abortion (signed into law 14 Jan 2021)
- Dec 30 San Antonio assistant Becky Hammon becomes first female to coach an NBA team after Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is ejected in a 121-107 loss to the LA Lakers
- Dec 31 WHO grants the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine emergency authorization, paving the way for worldwide distribution
Authors
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