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Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the civil rights movement. More
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What Happened in December?
Victories, births, and treaties. Explore the significant historical events and milestones that occurred in December. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
Note: Sources for the historical content shown, include research and reviews of relevant Online History Resources or printed material. When possible, we show a link to a source which provides additional or unique perspective about the event.
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The First gorilla is born in captivity was born in the Columbus Zoo and was named Colo (a combination of Columbus and Ohio). The newborn female, western lowland gorilla weighing in at approximately 4 pounds.
Colo lived her entire life at the Columbus Zoo and died one month after her 60th birthday celebration on Jan. 17, 2017,. At the time of her death, Colo was the oldest gorilla ever on record. More
Becker1999 from Grove City, OH, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
A fire at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic elementary school in Chicago's Humboldt park community results in the death of 92 children and 3 nuns. The oldest part of the building was built in 1910.
Due to a "grandfather clause" in the city's fire code, the building officially met safety standards, even though it did not have the safety features required of modern buildings at that time. Thousands of older school buildings were brought up to code in the year following the fire.
The John Birch Society (JBS) is founded by Robert W. Welch Jr. More
Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France's Fifth Republic. An insurrection that had broken out in Algiers threatened to bring civil war to France. He was given extraordinary powers to resolve the political crisis and the extraordinarily divisive and bloody War in Algiers. After several tumultuous years de Gaulle resigned on April 28, 1969, following his defeat in a second referendum. More
The Antarctic Treaty is signed on December 1, 1959 in Washington D.C. by the twelve nations that had been active during the International Geophysical Year (IGY).
The twelve nations were: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States and USSR. The treaty went into effect on June, 23 1961. More
Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) gains independence from French colonial rule.
Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal living in Argentina is found guilty and sentenced to die, after a trial in Israel. Eichmann was abducted by an Israeli command unit from Argentina, where he was living and was taken to Israel to be tried. More
French forces capture the Algerian city of Oran, effectively ending the Algerian War of Independence.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is officially established in Baghdad, Iraq.
Richard Pavlick attempts to assassinate then-U.S. President-elect John F. Kennedy in Florida.
A United DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collide over New York City, killing 134 people on the planes and on the ground. More
The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, marking a significant moment in human rights history.
Charles de Gaulle is reelected as the President of France.
Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and Cuba becomes a communist state.
Tanzania National day. It is celebrated on the anniversary of Tanganyika and Zanzibar gaining independence from British colonial rule on December 9, 1961. Tanganyika and Zanzibar came together to form a single country – the United Republic of Tanzania on April 26, 1964.
A circus fire in the city of Niterói, Brazil on December 17, 1961 causes more than 500 deaths. The tent was housing a sold-out performance of over 3000 by the Gran Circus Norte-Americano was the worst fire disaster to occur in Brazil.
Portuguese Governor General surrenders to the Indian Forces the territories of Goa, Daman, and Diu on December 19, 1961, bringing to an end 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule in the region. The three territories became a Union Territory of India, becoming a full state later. More
Mariner 2, an American space probe, becomes the first spacecraft to successfully fly by Venus.
The United States lifts its economic embargo on Cuba, allowing the sale of certain goods.