December:
Today in History, Holidays, and Fun Facts
| 1 | 1887 - Publication of Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle's First Sherlock Holmes Detective Story, "A Study in
Scarlet" 1955 - Rosa Parks Refused to Give Up Her Seat on a Bus in Alabama, Sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott |
| 2 | 1804 - Coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte as
French Emperor 1823 - Monroe Doctrine Proclaimed 1970 - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Established |
| 3 | 1818 - Illinois Became a State |
| 4 | 1875 - William Marcy "Boss" Tweed Fled the United States after Escaping from Jail |
| 5 | 1848 - President James Polk Confirmed the
Discovery of Gold in California 1933 - Ratification of the 21st Amendment |
| 6 | 1884 - Completion of the Washington Monument 1998 - Venezuelans Elected Hugo Chavez as President |
| 7 | 1941 - Japanese Forces Attacked Pearl Harbor |
| 8 | 1886 - Founding of the American Federation
of Labor (AFL) 1941 - United States Declared War on Japan (World War II) 1980 - John Lennon of the Beatles Shot and Killed in New York City 1993 - North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Signed into Law by U.S. President William "Bill" Jefferson Clinton |
| 9 | 1958 - Formation of the John Birch Society |
| 10 | 1817 - Mississippi Became a State 1948 - Universal Declaration on Human Rights Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly 1950 - Dr. Ralph Bunche Awarded a Nobel Peace Prize 1964 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Awarded a Nobel Peace Prize |
| 11 | 1816 - Indiana Became a State 1936 - Abdication of Britain's Edward VIII 1946 - Establishment of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) |
| 12 | 1870 - Joseph Rainey Became the First
African American to Sit in the United States House of
Representatives 1963 - Kenya Independent |
| 13 | 1642 - Abel Tasman Reached New Zealand 1989 - First Meeting of F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela 2003 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein Captured by American Forces |
| 14 | 1819 - Alabama Became a State 1911 - Roald Amundsen Reached the South Pole 1967 - DNA Synthesized 1981 - Formal Annexation of the Golan Heights by Israel |
| 15 | 1890 - Chief Sitting Bull Killed 1964 - Adoption of the Red Maple Leaf Flag by the Canadian Government |
| 16 | 1653 - Oliver Cromwell, Leader of England's
Puritan Revolution, Became Lord Protector of England, Scotland,
and Ireland 1773 - Boston Tea Party 1944 - Start of the Battle of the Bulge |
| 17 | 1944 - Japanese Americans Released from
Internment Camps 1992 - Canada, Mexico, and the United States Signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) |
| 18 | 1865 - 13th Amendment, Abolishing Slavery,
Ratified 1956 - United Nations Admitted Japan as a Member State 1969 - Abolition of the Death Penalty in the United Kingdom |
| 19 | 1843 - Publication of A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens 1998 - Impeachment of President William "Bill" Jefferson Clinton |
| 20 | 1790 - United States' First Cotton Mill
Built by Samuel Slater in Pawtucket, Rhode Island 1803 - Louisiana Purchase 1989 - United States Invasion of Panama |
| 21 | 1620 - Pilgrims Landed at Plymouth,
Massachusetts 1898 - Discovery of Radium by Marie and Pierre Curie |
| 22 | 1807 - Embargo Act Passed by the United States Congress |
| 23 | 1788 - Maryland Gave 100 Square Miles for the Creation of the District of Columbia |
| 24 | 1524 - Death of Vasco da Gama in Cochin,
India 1814 - Treaty of Ghent Signed 1865 - Formation of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee CHRISTMAS EVE |
| 25 | 1066 - Coronation of William the Conqueror
in England CHRISTMAS DAY |
| 26 | 1865 - Patent Granted for James H. Nason's Coffee Percolator |
| 27 | 1900 - Carrie Nation Used Her Axe in a
Saloon for the First Time 1932 - Opening of New York City's Radio City Music Hall 1945 - Creation of the World Bank |
| 28 | 1065 - Consecration of Westminster Abbey in
England 1846 - Iowa Became a State 1869 - Patent Granted to William F. Semple for Chewing Gum |
| 29 | 1170 - Murder of Thomas Becket 1845 - Texas Became a State |
| 30 | 1853 - Gadsden Purchase |
| 31 | 1961 - Expiration of the Marshall Plan NEW YEAR'S EVE |
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