The Clean Air Act is signed into law in the United States, aiming to reduce air pollution. The Clean Air Act empowered federal and state agencies to research and regulate air pollution, marking a major expansion of government efforts to fight back against the damage being done to the climate. 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.
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Twenty months after the Berlin Wall went up, more than 700,000 West Berliners take advantage of a long-awaited chance to see their loved ones on the other side of the Wall.
The agreement signed two days earlier on December, 17 allowed West Berliners to visit their relatives in the other part of the city over Christmas. An estimated 1.2 million cross over to the East between 19 December and 5 January. More
The U.S. Senate passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Lyndon B. Johnson broad authority to use military force in Vietnam.
The South African Rivonia Trial concludes with the sentencing of Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists to life in prison.
Canada adopts the new national flag, the Maple Leaf, replacing the Red Ensign.
NASA's Gemini 7 and Gemini 6 spacecraft achieve the first space rendezvous, flying within 1 foot of each other.
Roman Catholic Pope Paul VI and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I, lift the mutual excommunications that led to the split of the two churches in 1054 in the Great Schism. Today, the two branches of Christianity remain distinct expressions of a similar faith.
Apartheid in South Africa is further entrenched with the passing of the Suppression of Communism Act. of 1950 (SOCA) The act, broadly defined "communism" to include any opposition to government policy.
It allowed the regime to criminalize dissent, ban anti-apartheid groups (like the Communist Party of South Africa), silence activists through banning orders and house arrest, and suppress movements for equality under the guise of fighting a "red peril". This act, alongside other laws, solidified apartheid's control by making resistance itself illegal and silencing voices for justice.
Ferdinand Emmanuel Marcos Sr.is first inaugurated as the 10th President of the Philippines. He ruled under martial law from 1972 until 1981. He was deposed in 1986. His rule was infamous for its corruption and brutality. More
The United Nations General Assembly recognizes the independence of Barbados and Guyana.
The first Kwanzaa celebration is held, a week-long holiday honoring African heritage in African American culture.
The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, secures a contract for the band to produce animated television shows.
The estimated population of the world reaches 3.45 billion, according to the United Nations. The estimated world population at the end of 2025 is 8.3 billion.
The first successful human heart transplant is performed on December 3, 1967 by South African surgeon Dr. Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. More
The modern, popular Frisbee was patented by Ed Headrick for the Wham-O company in 1967, adding stabilizing ridges that made it a true sport toy. The design built on Fred Morrison's earlier design which had been also sold to Wham-O in 1957.
Headrick's design went on to become a huge success and the standard for all flying discs, enabling the growth of disc sports. He also founded the International Frisbee Association and invented disc golf. and the foundation for disc sports like Ultimate Frisbee.
Douglas Engelbart, gives a landmark computer demonstration at the Association for Computing Machinery / Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (ACM/IEEE)—Computer Society's Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco".
The presentation demonstrated for the first time many of the fundamental elements of modern personal computing: windows, hypertext, graphics, efficient navigation and command input, video conferencing, the computer mouse, word processing, dynamic file linking, revision control, and a collaborative real-time editor. The name "The Mother of All Demos" was retroactively applied to the landmark computer demonstration. More
Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon and the first to launch of the Saturn V rocket lifts off with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders aboard. It entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1968 and returned to earth on Dec 27,1968.
The Apollo 8 mission proved the performance of the command and service module. On July 20 of the following year, The Apollo 11 spaceflight was the first to land humans on the Moon; Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. More
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Eighty-two crewmen of the USS Pueblo are released after 11 months in captivity by North Korea, which claimed the U.S. Navy intelligence ship had crossed into its waters. One member had been killed when the ship was taken.
The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its first passenger flight. It carried 191 people, 110 of them reporters and photographers, from Seattle, to New York City.
The United Emirates (UAE) is formed following the completion of treaties with Great Britain. The United States recognized the United Arab Emirates the next day.
The uniting Sheikdoms were Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharja, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain and Fujairah. Ras al-Khaimah joined two months later. The UAE is the third-largest oil producer in the Gulf after Saudi Arabia and Iran. The United Arab Emirates is a member state of the League of Arab States. More