- 380 Theodosius I makes his adventus, or first formal entry, into Constantinople
- 496 Anastasius II succeeds Gelasius I as Catholic Pope
- 642 Theodore I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
- 1105 Rabbi Nathan ben Yehiel of Rome completes Talmudic dictionary
Battle of the Indus
1221 Battle of the Indus: Genghis Khan's Mongol force defeats Shah Jalal ad-Din's army, last battle in Mongolian conquest of Khwarezmian Empire
- 1434 River Thames in London freezes over
Transit of Venus
1639 1st observation of transit of Venus by Jeremiah Horrocks and William Crabtree - helped establish size of the Solar System
Van Diemen's Land
1642 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman is the first European to discover Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
- 1643 Battle of Tuttlingen: Beiers army under Gen Mercy beats France
Churchill Meets William of Orange
1688 England's most influential general Lord John Churchill meets and pledges allegiance to William of Orange (later William III)
Humbodt, Bonpland Depart Caracas
1800 Naturalists Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland depart Caracas for Cuba to meet fellow botanist John Fraser, during their five-year expedition of Spanish America
- 1800 Weber's opera "Das Waldmadchen" premieres in Freiburg
- 1832 South Carolina passes Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 unconstitutional in and unenforceable in South Carolina, precipitating the Nullification Crisis which presaged the American Civil War
- 1835 Texas Rangers, mounted police force authorized by Texas Provisional Government
On the Origin of Species
1859 English naturalist Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species" radically changing the view of evolution and laying the foundation for evolutionary biology
- 1861 Luik-Visé-Maastricht railway opens
Historic Publication
1862 M Levy publishes Gustave Flaubert's historical novel "Salammbô"
- 1863 Battle of Chattanooga, Columbia & Lookout Mt begins in Tennessee
- 1869 American Woman's Suffrage Association forms (Cleveland)
- 1874 American inventor Joseph Glidden patents barbed wire
- 1877 English author Anna Sewell sells her manuscript "Black Beauty" to Norwich publisher for £40, the novel is published soon after
- 1887 Victorien Sardou's "La Tosca" premieres in Paris
- 1896 1st US absentee voting law enacted by Vermont
- 1897 Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union forms in Kingston
- 1898 The International Conference of Rome for the Social Defense Against Anarchists opens.
- 1903 Clyde Coleman of NYC patents automobile electric starter
- 1903 George Ade's "County Chairman" premieres in NYC
- 1905 Moshav Hertzlia forms in Israel
Alfred Stieglitz
1905 Photographer Alfred Stieglitz opens the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in Manhattan, New York
- 1912 Conflict in the Balkans grows into an acute international crisis with major powers supporting either Austria or Serbia
Mussolini Leaves Socialists
1914 Benito Mussolini leaves Italy's Socialist Party
- 1914 Dutch Overseas Trustmaatschappij (NOT) forms
- 1915 Serbian leader flees to Albania
- 1916 Mexican and US representatives sign a protocol at Atlantic City, under which Pershing's troops will withdraw and each nation's army will guard the border. President Carranza of Mexico will refuse to accept it
- 1917 Nine police officers and one civilian are killed when a bomb explodes at the Milwaukee, Wisconsin police headquarters building.
- 1918 Béla Can forms Hungarian Communist Party
- 1922 Italian parliament gives Benito Mussolini dictatorial powers "for 1 year"
- 1923 Radio Belgium's 1st transmission
Fokker F.VII
1924 1st Dutch airliner, Fokker F.VII lands in Batavia (Java) after flying from Amsterdam
- 1924 General Feng Yu-Hsiang, a warlord from the north of China, turns on his allies and seizes Peking
- 1925 1st radio-broadcast of Dutch KRO (Catholic Radio Broadcast)
- 1925 Eugene O'Neill Theater (Coronet, Forrest) opens at 230 W 49th St NYC
- 1926 KVI-AM in Seattle WA begins radio transmissions
- 1926 Sri Aurobindo retires to lead life of seclusion, hands responsibility for followers to Mirra Alfassa (founding of Sri Aurobindo ashram)
- 1930 Ruth Nichols sets women's transcontinental air flight record (Mineola, NY to California), in a Lockheed-Vega
- 1932 In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.
Event of Interest
1932 Newark-Jersey City Viaduct, a 3.5 mile long highway bridge-causeway over the Passaic and Hackensack rivers, and the New Jersey Meadowlands opens; later named the General Casimir Pulaski Skyway, in honor of the Polish military leader who fought in the US Revolutionary War [1]
Astaire's Film Debut
1933 Fred Astaire's 1st film, "Dancing Lady", released
Tonight at 8:30
1936 Noël Coward's anthology "Tonight at 8:30" premieres in NYC, runs for 118 performances
- 1938 Clifford Odets' "Rocket to the Moon" premieres in NYC
- 1938 National Semi-Pro Basketball Congress authorizes yellow basketball
'Hitler Will Have to Break Us or Lose the War'
1940 The Blitz: Luftwaffe bombs Bristol city centre, killing 200 people in the first German raid on the city
- 1941 "Life Certificates" issued to some Jews of Vilna, the rest are exterminated
- 1941 Indian infantry attacks German tanks at Sidi Omar
- 1941 US troops land on Suriname to protect bauxite mine
- 1942 French collaborator Marquis de Brinon establishes "African Falanx"
- 1942 German Fieldmarshal Erich von Manstein arrives in Starobelsk, Ukraine
- 1944 US bombers based on Saipan begin 1st attack on Tokyo
The Pearl
1947 John Steinbeck's novella "The Pearl" published
- 1947 The US House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities finds "Hollywood 10" in contempt because of their refusal to reveal whether they were communists
- 1948 "Bicycle Thieves", Italian film directed by Vittorio De Sica, starring himself and Cesare Zavattini, is released (Honorary Academy Award 1950)
- 1948 WAVE TV channel 3 in Louisville, Kentucky (NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1949 British steel & iron industry nationalised
- 1949 Syracuse Nationals beat Anderson Packers, 125-123 in 5 OTs
Guys & Dolls
1950 Frank Loesser's musical "Guys & Dolls", starring Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine, and Sam Levene, opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 1200 performances, winning 5 Tony Awards
- 1950 UN troops begin an assault intending to end Korean War by Christmas
- 1950 US infantry division conquers Chonju Korea
- 1951 British auto manufacturers Austin and Morris Motors merge
Dodgers Sign Alston
1953 Brooklyn Dodgers sign Walter Alston to a 1-year pact as manager for 1954; he signs 23 one-year agreements until his retirement after 1976 season
Olympic Gold
1956 Americans go 1-2 in the men's 100m final at the Melbourne Olympics; Bobby Morrow and Thane Baker both record hand-timed 10.50s but automatic timing gives gold medal to Morrow
- 1956 Glenn Davis leads an American trifecta in the men's 400m hurdles at the Melbourne Olympics; hurdles Olympic record equalling 50.1s to beat teammates Eddie Southern and Joshua Culbreath
- 1958 Mali becomes an autonomous state within French Community
Chamberlain's Record Rebounds
1960 Philadelphia center Wilt Chamberlain pulls down NBA record 55 rebounds in Warriors 132-129 defeat to Boston Celtics at Philadelphia Civic Center
- 1962 Last of Dutch military leave New Guinea
- 1964 30th Heisman Trophy Award: John Huarte, Notre Dame (QB)
- 1964 British rock band "The Who" begins a 22-week Tuesday night residency at the influential Marquee Club in London, England
- 1964 Cards' 3rd baseman Ken Boyer is voted NL MVP
- 1964 Rebellion ends in Zaire
Mobutu Sese Seko
1965 Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu becomes President of Zaire (President until 1997)
- 1966 1st TV station in Congo, Kinshasa (Zaire)
- 1966 400 die of respiratory failure & heart attacks in New York City smog, smoggiest day in city's history
- 1966 A Bulgarian plane with 82 people on board crashes near Bratislava, Slovakia.
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1966 The Beatles began recording sessions for their album "Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
One Million Years B.C.
1966 The cult classic "One Million Years B.C." starring Raquel Welch, is released 1st in West Germany
- 1969 Apollo 12 returns to Earth
- 1969 US Army Lt William L Calley charged with massacre of over 100 civilians in My Lai Vietnam in March 1968, ordered to stand trial by court martial
- 1969 West German President Heinemann visits The Netherlands
- 1970 36th Heisman Trophy Award: Jim Plunkett, Stanford (QB)
- 1971 A British Army bomb-disposal specialist is killed by a bomb in Lurgan, County Armagh
- 1971 A woman is killed after members of the Irish Republican Army carry out an attack on British soldiers in Strabane, County Tyrone
- 1971 American "Dan Cooper" hijacks a plane, extorts $200,000 in ransom, jumps out of the plane over Washington State and is never seen again
- 1971 Braves catcher-infielder Earl Williams, wins NL Rookie of Year
- 1971 Prison rebellion at Rahway State Prison, New Jersey
Lynch Approves Attlee Paper
1972 Taoiseach Jack Lynch meets with British PM Edward Heath in London to give Irish approval to Attlee's paper saying new arrangements should be 'acceptable to and accepted by the Republic of Ireland'
- 1972 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1974 2 truck hijackers freed (3/3/1974)
Vladivostok Summit
1974 Gerald Ford and Leonid Brezhnev agree to a framework for the SALT-II treaty to reduce each side's number of nuclear weapons, at the Vladivostok Summit
Morgan's Second NL MVP
1976 Reds Joe Morgan wins his 2nd straight NL MVP Award
- 1977 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1977 Miami Dolphins quarterback Bob Greise passes for 6 touchdowns in a 55-14 win over Cardinals in St. Louis
Salem's Lot
1979 "Salem's Lot", American two-part miniseries based on the horror novel of the same name by Stephen King, concludes in the United States
- 1979 Kings' Charley Simmer fails on 8th penalty shot against Islanders
Agent Orange in Vietnam
1979 Senate report proves US troops in Vietnam were exposed to the toxic chemical defoliant Agent Orange
- 1981 1st air-launched cruise missile tested
Ripken AL Rookie
1982 Orioles Cal Ripken is named AL Rookie of Year
The Colour of Magic
1983 "The Colour of Magic" by Terry Pratchett published by Colin Smythe in the UK, 1st book in the Discworld series
- 1983 PLO exchanges 6 Israeli prisoners for 4,500 Palestinians & Lebanese
- 1983 Test Cricket debut of Richie Richardson for the West Indies vs India in Bombay
- 1985 Egyptian commandos storm captured Boeing in Malta, 60 killed
- 1985 NBC miniseries "Mussolini: The Untold Story" starring George C. Scott premieres in the US
- 1986 Cards reliever Todd Worrell wins NL Rookie of Year
- 1986 Wrestler John Tatum charged with possession of marijuana
- 1987 "Make It Last Forever" debut album by Keith Sweat is released (Billboard Song of the Year 1988)
- 1987 Concert performance of Heitor Villa-Lobos' folk operetta "Magdalena" debuts at Alice Tully Hall in NYC's Lincoln Center
Event of Interest
1987 Li Peng succeeds Zhao Ziyang as Premier of the People's Republic of China
- 1989 Communist Party resigns in Czechoslovakia
- 1989 Elias Hrawi elected president of Lebanon
Sachin Tendulkar
1989 Sachin Tendulkar scores a Test Cricket fifty aged 16 years 214 days, a record
- 1991 1st international flight from Long Island's MacArthur Airport (to Mexico)
- 1991 After going 12-0, Washington Redskins lose to Dallas 24-21
Seles' Prize Money Record
1991 Monica Seles sets female tennis record, winning prize money of $2,457,758 in a year
- 1991 Rachmon Nabijev elected president of Tajikistan
- 1991 US 75th manned space mission "STS 44" Atlantis 10 launched
- 1991 Yugoslavian tennis star Monica Seles beats Martina Navratilova 6–4, 3–6, 7–5, 6–0 to win her 2nd straight WTA Tour Championship at Madison Square Garden, NYC
- 1992 Boeing 734 crashes into mountain in China, kills 141
- 1993 11-year-old Robert Thompson and Jon Venables are convicted of the murder of English 2-year-old James Bulger
- 1993 Brady bill passes establishing 5-day waiting period for US handgun sales
- 1993 End of world, according to Ukrainian sect White Brotherhood
- 1995 Ireland votes to end 58-year-old amendment on divorce (50.28% to 49.72%)
Sampras's Third ATP
1996 American Pete Sampras wins his 3rd ATP Tour World Championship tennis titles with a classic 3–6, 7–6, 7–6, 6–7, 6–4 victory over defending champion Boris Becker in Hanover, Germany
Graf Retains WTA
1996 German tennis star Steffi Graf retains her WTA Tour Championship with a 6–3, 4–6, 6–0, 4–6, 6–0 win over Martina Hingis at Madison Square Garden, NYC
- 1996 Mashonaland defeat Matabeleland to win the Logan Cricket Cup
- 1996 Mohammad Wasim scores 109 on Test Cricket debut, Pakistan v NZ Lahore
No Confidence Motion
2005 Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian Parliament Stephen Harper, introduces a motion of no confidence. The motion is passed on November 28 leading to the dissolution of the 38th Canadian Parliament.
- 2006 Israeli rapist Benny Sela escapes from police custody while being transferred to a court hearing.
Labor Elected
2007 Australians elect the Kevin Rudd-led centre-left Australian Labor Party at the federal election, ending the eleven-year tenure of the John Howard-led centre-right Liberal/National coalition government.
Craig David's Greatest Hits
2008 British singer-rapper-songwriter Craig David releases his first Greatest Hits album
- 2012 Ernest Bai Koroma is re-elected President of Sierra Leone
- 2012 Gangnam Style becomes the most viewed Youtube video surpassing 808 million views
- 2012 The continued NHL lockout results in all games to December 14 being cancelled
Sebastian Vettel
2013 German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel wins season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix; his record 9th straight GP victory; record equalling 13th consecutive GP win; 4th straight World Drivers Championship
- 2014 "Take Your Time" single is released by Sam Hunt (Billboard Song of the Year 2015)
- 2015 Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder of 17-year-old African American Laquan McDonald in 2014
- 2015 Tunisia declares state of emergency after an attack on a bus in Tunis carrying presidential guards kills at least 12
- 2015 Turkey shots down a Russian fighter jet after claiming it had flown into Turkish airspace
- 2015 Venezuelan opposition leader Luis Díaz is shot and killed days before the country's general election
- 2016 International research team publishes discovery of 1,500 new viruses found in invertebrates
- 2017 18 women accuse Jean-Claude Arnault with ties to the Nobel Prize Committee of sexual assault and harassment in Swedish Dagens Nyheter newspaper
Emmerson Mnangagwa
2017 Former First Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is sworn in as President of Zimbabwe, replacing Robert Mugabe's 30-year tenure
- 2017 Militant gunmen attack a Sufi mosque in Bir al-Abed on the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, killing 305 people, government retaliates bombing the area
- 2018 Copa Libertadores Final 2nd-leg between Buenos Aires rivals River Plate & Boca Juniors is postponed after Boca bus attacked by River fans; players suffer cuts & affects of police tear gas; River wins, 5-3 on aggregate when 2nd-leg played in Madrid, Spain (9 Dec)
- 2018 Cruise boat sinks on Lake Victoria near Kampala, Uganda, killing at least 29
- 2018 ICC Women's Cricket T20 World Cup, Antigua: Ashleigh Gardner with 33 from 26 balls and 3 for 22 leads Australia (106/2) to 4th T20 WC; beat England (105)
- 2018 Taiwanese voters vote against referendums to legalise same-sex marriage
- 2019 Data leaked from Chinese high-security Muslim Uighur security camps, housing 1 million people, show systematic brainwashing in western Xinjiang region
Michael Bloomberg
2019 Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announces a late-bid to be the US Democratic presidential candidate
- 2019 Hong Kong pro-democracy candidates overwhelmingly win district council elections in strong rebuke to Hong Kong leaders
- 2019 New Zealand cricket batsman BJ Watling scores a marathon 205 off 473 balls to lead the home side to an innings and 65 run 1st Test victory over England at Mount Maunganui
- 2020 COVID-19 surge in the US gathers further pace with death toll of 2,200 highest since May and new cases averaging 175,000 a day
- 2020 Scotland's parliament votes to become the first country to make period products free [1]
- 2020 US General Services Administration officially begins Joe Biden's transition, declaring him the "apparent winner" although Donald Trump vows to continue challenging the result
- 2021 At least 27 migrants drown after their boat capsizes in the English Channel trying to reach the UK
- 2021 Sweden's first female Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson resigns after 12 hours in the job after her coalition government falls apart
- 2021 Three men found guilty by a jury of felony murder of black runner Ahmaud Arbery, with Travis McMichael also convicted of malice murder in Brunswick, Georgia [1]
- 2022 Anwar Ibrahim is sworn in Prime Minister of Malaysia appointed by King Al-Sultan Abdullah at the head of a coalition government [1]
- 2022 British born Flossie aged almost 27 crowned the world's oldest cat by the Guinness Book of Records [1]
- 2023 100 Nigerians abducted for ransom and one killed by armed bandits on motorcycles in northern Zamfara state, amid increasing kidnappings in the region [1]
- 2023 A23a, world's biggest iceberg at 4,000 sq km (1,500 sq miles), on the move again after being grounded in the Wendell Sea for more than 30 years [1]
- 2023 Four-day ceasefire begins in Gaza with Hamas releasing 24 hostages and Israel 39 Palestinian prisoners, allowing more urgently needed humanitarian aid into the territory [1]
