The United Nations General Assembly recognizes the independence of Barbados and Guyana.
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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Note: Sources for the historical content shown, include research and reviews of relevant Online History Resources or printed material.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 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
Apollo 17, the final Apollo moon mission, launches from Kennedy Space Center, Florida with astronauts: Eugene A. Cernan, Commander, Harrison H. Schmitt and Ronald E. Evans. They splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on December 19. More
The first mobile phone call is made by Martin Cooper, a Motorola executive, in New York City.
The American Psychiatric Association reverses its longstanding position and declares that homosexuality isn't a mental illness. More
U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Endangered Species Act on December 28, 1973. The Act obligated federal and state governments to protect all species threatened with extinction that fall within the borders of the United States and its outlying territories. More
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme is sentence to life for the assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford. She was released from Federal prison on August 14, 2009.
The Lufthansa cargo terminal at JFK Airport is taken over by six masked armed men in the pre-dawn hours. Arriving employees are held at gunpoint and within one hour the robbers left with nearly $6M in U.S Dollars and jewelry.
The robbery was the largest cash robbery on US soil at the time. The robbery became to be known as the Lufthansa heist. The money and jewelry have never been recovered. More
Following months of secret negotiations, the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) announced that they would recognize one another and establish official diplomatic relations. As part of the agreement, the United States recognized the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, and declared it would withdraw diplomatic recognition from Taiwan (also known as the Republic of China [ROC]). More
Vietnam invades Cambodia, leading to the eventual downfall of the Khmer Rouge regime.
The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, beginning the Soviet-Afghan War. More