First Biden State Dinner
Dec 1 US President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden host their first state dinner at the White House for French President Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron [1]
Trump: Terminate All Rules
Dec 3 Former US President Donald Trump calls in a Truth Social post for the "termination" of all rules, including the US Constitution, to overturn the 2020 election, which he again falsely claims that he won. [1]
- Dec 3 Mosconi Cup nine-ball pool, Las Vegas, Nevada: two-time defending champions Team Europe dominate US, 11-7; MVP: Joshua Filler (Germany)
A Beautiful Noise
Dec 4 "A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical" opens at Broadhurst Theatre, NYC
- Dec 4 At least 27 people killed after a bus is buried in a landslide in Risaralda province, western Colombia [1]
Kennedy Center Honors
Dec 4 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony held for singers Gladys Knight and Amy Grant, actor George Clooney, rock band U2, and composer Tania León, in Washington D.C.
- Dec 4 Mt Semeru, Indonesia’s highest volcano, erupts releasing gas clouds and rivers of lava on the island of Java [1]
- Dec 5 Construction begins on world's biggest radio telescope - the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in South Africa and Australia with collection area of nearly 500,000 square meters. Built to test Einstein's theories and search for extraterrestrial life [1]
- Dec 5 Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) opens in Montreal, Canada
- Dec 5 Iranian senior official confirms the country's Morality Police has been shut down in a concession to three months of nationwide protests, though may take on a different form [1]
- Dec 6 Argentine Vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner found guilty of fraud, sentenced to six years in prison and banned from holding office [1]
- Dec 6 Donald Trump's real estate company Trump Organization convicted of tax fraud in New York [1]
- Dec 6 Indonesia passes a new criminal code outlawing sex outside marriage, even for foreigners [1]
Avatar: The Way of Water
Dec 6 James Cameron's sci-fi film sequel "Avatar: The Way of Water" starring Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña premieres in London
- Dec 6 The 1,574th - and last - Boeing 747 jumbo jet rolls off of production line in Everett, Washington [1]
- Dec 7 After widespread public protests China announces a major loosening of COVID-19 restrictions for the whole country, allowing home quarantine and scrapping QR codes, effectively ending China's zero-COVID policy [1]
- Dec 7 Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock wins re-election over Republican Herschel Walker in run-off for the Georgia Senate seat, taking the US Senate to a clearer 51-49 Democratic majority [1]
- Dec 7 Peruvian president Pedro Castillo ousted from office after trying to dissolve Congress, who were about to impeach him on corruption charges. Vice president, Dina Boluarte sworn in as country's first woman president. [1]
- Dec 7 Twenty-five right-wing extremists arrested in Germany suspected of organizing a coup to overthrow the government and install a monarchy, including prince Heinrich XIII and army officers [1]
- Dec 8 American basketball star Brittany Griner is released by Russian authorities in a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; Griner detained on drug smuggling charges since February 2022
Celine Dion Reveals Diagnosis
Dec 8 Canadian pop singer Celine Dion reveals via Instagram that she has been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder
Harry & Meghan
Dec 8 Documentary series "Harry & Meghan" about Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex begins streaming on Netflix
- Dec 8 Iran announces first known execution of a protester from recent anti-government unrest, after convicting a man in a revolutionary court of "moharebeh" (enmity against God) [1]
Trevor Noah's Final Show
Dec 8 Trevor Noah hosts his final episode of late-night talk and satirical news television program "The Daily Show"
- Dec 8 UN investigation in DR Congo finds 131 people were massacred in November by M23 rebel group in Kishishe and Bambo villages, in east of the country [1]
- Dec 9 Dark fantasy game "Elden Ring", created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George RR Martin, awarded Game of the Year at the Game Awards [1]
Darwin Papers Record Price
Dec 9 Sheet of paper on which scientist Charles Darwin defended his theory of evolution in 1865 sells for a record $882,000 at Sotheby's [1]
- Dec 10 88th Heisman Trophy Award: Caleb Williams, USC (QB)
Event of Interest
Dec 10 Tens of thousands of people protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, against the government demanding resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and new elections amid cost of living crisis [1]
- Dec 11 Brock Purdy wins his first career start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
LA's First Female Mayor
Dec 11 Karen Bass sworn in as first female mayor of Los Angeles by Vice President Kamala Harris, declares a Homelessness state of emergency in the city
- Dec 11 Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's musical "Some Like It Hot", based on the 1959 feature film comedy, opens at the Shubert Theatre, NYC; garners 13 Tony Award nominations
- Dec 11 NASA's Orion spacecraft returns to earth after completing Artemis I test flight around the moon in 25.5 days - record distance traveled by a spacecraft designed to carry humans [1]
Lockerbie Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Dec 11 US authorities announce that the Libyan man accused of making the bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103, Abu Agila Mas’ud, is now in US custody [1]
- Dec 12 'Calculated and targeted execution' leaves three people shot and killed, including two police officers, with the three killers also killed in a six hour gun fight near Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, Australia [1]
- Dec 12 Emma Tucker appointed editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal, first woman to lead the paper [1]
- Dec 12 The city of Richmond, Virginia, capital of the Confederacy during the US Civil War, removes its last Confederate statue, of Ambrose P. Hill [1]
- Dec 13 First nuclear fusion reaction in a laboratory setting, replicating the same energy that powers the sun - announced by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California [1]
- Dec 13 New Zealand passes world's first tobacco ban, outlawing smoking for those born after 2009 [1]
- Dec 13 Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is arrested in the Bahamas after US files criminal charges against him, including wire fraud and money laundering [1]
Ovechkin Scores 800
Dec 13 Washington Capitals center Alex Ovechkin scores a hat trick in 7-3 away win over Chicago Blackhawks to join Wayne Gretzky & Gordie Howe as the only players in NHL history to score 800 goals
- Dec 14 HSBC, Europe's largest bank, says it will stop financing new oil and gas fields, in attempt to lower global greenhouse gas emissions [1]
- Dec 14 Peru declares 30-day nationwide state of emergency, following a week of political protests after the removal and arrest of former President Pedro Castillo [1]
- Dec 14 President Joe Biden vows to extend US involvement in Africa in address at US-Africa Leaders summit in Washington, amid competition from China on the continent [1]
- Dec 15 Tens of thousands of nurses go on strike in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in largest strike in NHS history [1]
- Dec 16 Japan announces its biggest military build-up since WWII, amid concerns over China and North Korea [1]
- Dec 16 Landslide sweeps through a campsite in Batang Kali township, Selangor state, Malaysia, killing at least 21 people during the night [1]
- Dec 16 Pokemon producers announce main man Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu will leave the anime series after 25 years [1]
- Dec 17 Minnesota Vikings recover from 33-0 down at halftime to beat Indianapolis Colts, 39-36 in overtime at US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN; biggest comeback in NFL history
A New Cinderella Interpretation
Dec 18 Cinderella's glass slipper really a witty literary joke, by Charles Perrault, poking fun at French King Louis XIV's love of shoes and Versailles' Hall of Mirrors according to Scottish professor Genevieve Warwick [1]
Argentina Defeats France
Dec 18 FIFA World Cup Final, Lusail Stadium, Qatar: Argentina beats France, 4-2 in penalty shootout after teams locked at 3-3 after extra time; Lionel Messi scores 2 for Argentina, Kylian Mbappé a hat-trick for France
Dutch Apologise for Slave Trade
Dec 19 Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte formally apologies for the slave trade on behalf of the Dutch state in a speech at the national archives in The Hague [1]
- Dec 19 US House Jan. 6 committee votes to refer criminal charges to the Justice Department for Donald Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and encourage a mob to attack the Capitol [1]
- Dec 20 6.4-magnitude earthquake near Eureka, northern California kills at least two people [1]
Rabuka Forms Fiji Government
Dec 20 Fiji's main opposition parties, led by Sitiveni Rabuka form a coalition government, ending 16 years of rule by Frank Bainimarama's Fiji First government [1]
Zelensky Visits White House
Dec 21 Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Washington, DC, meets with US President Joe Biden at the White House, and addresses Congress [1]
- Dec 22 "American life expectancy is now at its lowest in nearly two decades" - 76.4 years, according to new report by CDC, biggest factors in the fall among many, COVID-19 and drug overdoses [1]
- Dec 22 Major winter storm across the US causes widespread disruption, prompting states of emergency to be issued in Wisconsin and New York [1]
- Dec 22 US Drug Enforcement Administration says it seized enough fentanyl in 2022 to kill every American, more than 379 million doses of [1]
- Dec 23 Washington Capitals center Alex Ovechkin scores two goals to move past Gordie Howe on most NHL career goals list in 4-1 win over visiting Winnipeg Jets
- Dec 25 Rare polar rain aurora, stretching for 3,000 km, is visible across the North Pole, caused by charged particles flowing from the Sun [1]
Dončić 1st 60-20 Triple Double
Dec 27 Luka Dončić becomes the first player to register a 60-21-10 triple-double in NBA history as the Dallas Mavericks beat the NY Knicks, 126-121; first 60-point game in Mavs franchise history
- Dec 29 Rashid Khan is named the captain of Afghanistan's T20I team
- Dec 29 Social medial personality Andrew Tate arrested in Romania on charges of sex trafficking and rape, following an exchange with Greta Thunberg over Twitter [1]
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists