Yuan Dynasty Begins
1271 Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China
- 1352 Etienne Aubert elected as Pope Innocentius VI
- 1385 Peace of Tournai (Dutch - Doornik) signed between the Burgundian Duke Philip II and the rebellious city of Ghent
- 1406 Anton of Burgundy becomes Duke of Brabant
- 1603 First fleet of the Dutch East India Company under Admiral Steven van der Haghen departs for the East-Indies
- 1621 English parliament accept unanimously, Protestation
Tasman Reaches NZ
1642 Abel Tasman's expedition is the first European voyage to reach New Zealand sailing into Wharewharangi Bay at the top of the South Island, making the first confirmed contact with Maori [1]
- 1719 Thomas Fleet publishes "Mother Goose's Melodies For Children" in Boston, Massachusetts
Cook's Skirmish with Maori
1773 A skirmish at Grass Cove in Queen Charlotte Sound results in the deaths of two Māori and nine members of James Cook's expedition, New Zealand
Portland's Government Dismissed
1783 British King George III dismisses Duke of Portland's Whig government after eight months [1]
Constitution of the United States
1787 New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the US constitution
Washington Interred
1799 George Washington's body interred at Mount Vernon
- 1813 British take Fort Niagara in War of 1812
HMS Beagle Reaches Tierra del Fuego
1832 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard reaches Tierra del Fuego for the first time
Famous Photo
1839 John William Draper takes 1st portrait photograph of a female face made in US
- 1849 William Bond obtains 1st photograph of Moon through a telescope
George Hamilton-Gordon Prime Minister
1852 George Hamilton-Gordon (Peelite party) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after the downfall of the Conservative government of Edward Smith-Stanley
- 1862 Battle at Lexington, Tennessee (part of Forrest's Second Raid)
- 1865 1st US cattle importation law passed
- 1867 Around 49 victims of "Angola Horror" train wreck burn to death in Angola, New York
- 1869 Canada's Hamilton Football Club plays its 1st game
- 1878 French SS Byzantin sinks after collision in Dardanelles, 210 killed
- 1878 John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires, is executed in Pennsylvania
- 1888 Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Anasazi ruins of Mesa Verde, Colorado
- 1890 Frederick Lugard's British expedition to Meng and Kampala, Uganda
Bruckner's 8th Symphony
1892 Anton Bruckner's 8th Symphony premieres at the Vienna Musikverein, with Hans Richter leading the Vienna Philharmonic
The Nutcracker
1892 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker" premieres in Saint Petersburg, Russia, now the world's most performed ballet; his final opera "Isolanta" also premieres
- 1894 Day 4 of the 1st cricket test Australia v England, England following on 4-268, 7 in front
- 1898 First automobile speed record set of 63 kph (39 mph) by French Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat of Paris
- 1899 Field Marshal Lord Roberts appointed British supreme commander in South Africa
- 1900 The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic.
UK Education Act
1902 British parliament passes the Education Act, which will come to be regarded as the most important legislation of Arthur Balfour's government
- 1905 H V Hordern takes 8-81 in 2nd innings of First Class debut (NSW v Qld)
Bare Bones of the Great Ape-Man Hoax
1912 Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is supposedly found in the Piltdown Gravel Pit, by Charles Dawson
Prohibition Passes
1917 The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, authorizing prohibition of alcohol, is approved by the US congress and sent to the states for ratification [1]
Finnish Independence Recognized
1917 The Soviet government issues a decree recognizing Finland's newly-declared independence [N.S. December 31]
Beneš Succeeds Masaryk
1935 Edvard Beneš becomes President of Czechoslovakia after Tomáš Masaryk retires
- 1935 The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon
- 1936 Queensland cricket all out for 49 v Vic, Fleetwood-Smith 7-17
- 1936 Su-Lin, 1st giant panda to come to US from China, arrives in San Francisco
- 1939 Finnish army recaptures Agläjärvi (Karelia)
- 1941 44 surviving crewmen of German U-434 surrender to the HMS Blankney after scuttling their wounded submarine. Two are lost.
- 1941 Japanese troops land on Hong Kong
- 1944 Nazi occupiers of Amsterdam destroy electricity plants
- 1944 US Destroyers Hull, Spence & Monaghan sink in typhoon (Philippines)
- 1945 Uruguay joins the United Nations
- 1946 TV's 1st network dramatic serial "Faraway Hill" ends 2 month run in US
- 1948 Indonesia begins its 2nd political election
- 1948 WDSU TV channel 6 in New Orleans, LA (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1952 Ellis W. Ryan resigns as Cleveland Indians president
- 1953 KATV TV channel 7 in Little Rock, AR (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1953 KMID TV channel 2 in Midland & Odessa, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1956 "To Tell the Truth" debuts on CBS-TV
Inaugural Ballon d'Or
1956 Ballon d'Or: Blackpool & England winger Stanley Matthews wins inaugural award for best football player in Europe; beats Real Madrid pair Alfredo Di Stéfano & Raymond Kopa
- 1956 Israeli flag hoisted on Mount Sinai
- 1956 Japan admitted to UN
Rizzuto for the Yankees
1956 Phil Rizzuto signs as NY Yankees radio-TV announcer
- 1957 World's first full scale nuclear power plant, for peacetime use only, begins to generate electricity at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania
- 1958 Niger gains autonomy within French Community (National Day)
- 1958 Project SCORE, world’s 1st communications satellite launched from Cape Canaveral
Baugh 1st Titans' Coach
1959 Sammy Baugh named 1st coach of NY Titans (AFL)
- 1960 General Meeting of UN condemns apartheid
Sports History
1961 For second consecutive year, AP names Wilma Rudolph female athlete of year
- 1961 India annexes Portuguese colonies of Goa, Damao & Diu
- 1961 KAIL TV channel 53 in Fresno, CA (IND) begins broadcasting
- 1962 Ballon d'Or: Dukler Prague midfielder Josef Masopust wins award for best European football player; beats Benfica striker Eusébio and FC Köln defender Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
Shostakovich's 13th Symphony
1962 Dmitri Shostakovich's 13th Symphony premieres in Moscow
- 1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1962 WAIQ TV channel 26 in Montgomery, AL (PBS) begins broadcasting
The Pink Panther
1963 "The Pink Panther" film premieres, directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Peter Sellers and David Niven, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini
- 1963 Muskegon, Michigan gets 3' of snow
- 1963 Ron Clarke runs world record 10k (28:15.6)
- 1964 "The Pink Panther" cartoon series premieres (Pink Phink)
Star Trek Pilot
1964 Filming is completed for "Star Trek" pilot "The Cage"; cast includes Jeffrey Hunter, Susan Oliver, Leonard Nimoy, and Majel Barret; although it never airs, some footage re-used in "Menagerie" episode of the series
- 1964 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Gemini 7 Slashes Down
1965 Frank Borman and Jim Lovell splash down in the Atlantic after two week Gemini 7 mission
- 1965 Kenneth LeBel jumps 17 barrels on ice skates
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
1966 Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" airs for 1st time on CBS; animated special directed by Chuck Jones, features voices of Boris Karloff, June Foray, and Thurl Ravenscroft, with songs by Albert Hague
- 1966 Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.
- 1966 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
1968 Musical-fantasy film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", co-written by Roald Dahl and director Ken Hughes, starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes, with songs by Sherman and Sherman, premieres in NYC
- 1968 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh, Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1969 "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", 6th James Bond Film starring George Lazenby and Diana Rigg, premieres in London
- 1969 House of Lords votes to abolish the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland (Northern Ireland 25 July 1973)
- 1969 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1970 Polish uprising fails
- 1970 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1971 1st Candlelight Processional at the EPCOT Center, Disney World
- 1971 CBS radio cancels Saturday morning band concerts
- 1971 People United To Save Humanity (PUSH) formed by Jesse Jackson in Chicago
- 1971 Three members of the Irish Republican Army die when the bomb they were transporting explodes prematurely in King Street, Magherafelt, County Derry.
- 1971 US dollar devalued 7.9% in Holland ($1=Ÿ3,245)
America’s Agony Is Over: Vietnam War Ends
1972 US launches Operation Linebacker II, its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam, as negotiations to end the Vietnam War collapse
A Star is Born
1976 Second remake of "A Star is Born" film, directed by Frank Pierson and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, premieres
- 1976 Soviet dissident Viktor Bukovskiexchanged for Chile CP-leader Corvalan
- 1977 NBA Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey # 42, Nate Thumond
- 1978 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1978 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1979 Stuntman Stanley Barrett unofficially breaks the land speed record and the sound barrier in his three-wheeled vehicle the Budweiser Rocket (739.666 mph or Mach 1.01). The speed was never officially recorded and the attempt remains controversial.
- 1980 Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts minister Van Agts abortion laws
- 1980 IRA's Sean McKenna becomes critically ill, ends hunger strike
- 1980 Vietnam adopts constitution
- 1982 Flight readiness firing of Challenger's main engines; 20 seconds
- 1983 NBA San Diego Clippers ends 29 game road losing streak
A Christmas Carol
1984 "A Christmas Carol" directed by Clive Donner starring George C. Scott premieres in the US
- 1985 UN Security Council unanimously condemns "acts of hostage-taking"
- 1987 American stockbroker Ivan Boesky sentenced to 3 years in prison for insider trading
- 1988 Seattle Seahawks win their 1st ever division title with 9-7 record
- 1989 "I Love Lucy" Christmas episode, shown for 1st time in over 30 years
- 1989 Athol Fugard's "My Children, My Africa" premieres in NYC
- 1990 Bush reiterates his "no concessions" stance against Iraq
- 1990 NL announces Buffalo, Denver, Miami, Orlando, Tampa-St Petersburg, & Washington, D.C. as 6 finalist for 1993 expansion (Miami & Denver win)
- 1991 DeForest Kelly (Dr McCoy on Star Trek) gets a star in Hollywood
- 1991 General Motors announces closing of 21 plants
- 1992 FCC vote 4-1 to allow Infinity to purchase Cook Inlet stations
- 1993 Kevin Scott skates world record 1K (1:12.54)
- 1993 The MGM Grand Las Vegas hotel and casino first opens as the largest hotel complex in the world (since surpassed)
Strawberry Pleads Not Guilty
1994 Darryl Strawberry pleads not guilty on tax evasion charges
- 1994 Socialist Party (ex-communist) wins Bulgaria parliamentary election
- 1996 During a press conference, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Maleki states that Iran supports the free flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, but reserves the option of closing off the shipping route if it is threatened
- 1996 Start of 1st Test Cricket match between Zimbabwe & England
- 1996 The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring "Ebonics" a language or dialect.
- 1996 US TV industry execs agree to adopt a ratings system
- 1997 HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium
You've Got Mail
1998 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
- 1999 NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
- 2001 Ballon d'Or: Liverpool forward Michael Owen is named best football player in Europe ahead of Real Madrid striker Raúl and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn
The Hours
2002 "The Hours" premieres in the US, based on the novel by Michael Cunningham and starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman
The Two Towers
2002 "The Two Towers", 2nd of the Lord of the Rings films is released. Makes US$62 opening weekend and $926 million total worldwide.
Calvin Klein Sells Company
2002 Fashion designer Calvin Klein announces he is selling his company to shirt-maker Phillips-Van Heusen for $430 million
- 2002 Governor of California Gray Davis announces the state faces a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier
Avatar Released
2009 James Cameron's "Avatar" starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver, released in the US, becomes highest-grossing film of all time
- 2012 Canadian police begin arresting 17 people for 'the Great Maple Syrup Heist', for stealing 3,000 tonnes from a storage facility in Quebec
- 2012 The Seleka rebel coalition kills 15 people during its capture of Bria, the Central African Republic
Event of Interest
2014 Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo is transferred from a maximum security prison to a medium security facility in Guadalajara due to declining health
- 2017 Australia regains cricket's Ashes against England, winning by an innings to take 3 game lead at the WACA in Perth
Kurz's Coalition Government
2017 Austria swears in new coalition government with Sebastian Kurz aged 31 of the People's Party made Chancellor
ANC Selects Ramaphosa
2017 South Africa's ANC selects Cyril Ramaphosa as leader, to succeed President Jacob Zuma
- 2018 Fire destroys 600 stilt homes in Manaus, northwestern Brazil
- 2018 Manchester United sacks high profile Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho; United in 6th place in EPL, 19 points behind league leaders Liverpool; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer new caretaker manager
- 2018 Meteor explodes in huge fireball over the Bering Sea with 10 times the energy of Hiroshima atomic bomb, 2nd largest in last 30 yrs
- 2018 Nevada becomes the first US state with a female-majority legislature with new appointments taking it to 51%
US House Impeaches Trump
2019 US House of Representatives votes to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198)
- 2020 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
- 2020 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine granted emergency authorization by US Food and Drug Administration
- 2020 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
2020 US Vice President Mike Pence receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine live on TV
A New Cinderella Interpretation
2022 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
2022 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
- 2023 6.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Jishishan county in Gansu Province killing at least 127 people - China's worst earthquake in 13 years [1]
- 2023 BP joins other companies in pausing transit of ships through the Red Sea, amid attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on commercial vessels, with serious implications for global shipping [1]
- 2023 Extreme rainfall and flooding after Cyclone Jasper breaks 100-year old weather records around Cairns and Daintree in northern Queensland, Australia [1]
- 2023 Icelandic volcano erupts on Reykjanes peninsula, 40km from country's capital Reykjavik [1]
Event of Interest
2023 Pope Francis will allow priests to bless same-sex couples, though not when connected to a civil or same-sex union [1]
- 2023 Utah YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke pleads guilty to child abuse charges, including convincing her children they are evil and possessed [1]
