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
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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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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
John Lennon, Rock star and former Beatle is assassinated in New York City outside his New York City apartment building. Lennon was an English singer-songwriter, musician and political activist. He was 40 years old when he died. More
The World Health Assembly declares smallpox, a serious infectious disease, eradicated (eliminated). No cases of naturally occurring smallpox have happened since. More
Leonardo Da Vinci's manuscript known as the Leicester Codex is sold in auction to American oil tycoon Armand Hammer for $5.1M . The manuscript written circa 1508, contained 72 loose pages with over 300 notes and drawings.
Thomas Coke, the first earl of Leicester, bought the manuscript in 1717 and installed it among his impressive collection of art at his family estate in England. The manuscript was placed in auction by the then current Earl of Leicester. Hammer placed it in his private art collection. In 1994 it was bought by Bull Gates for $30.8M. More
Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first American born via in vitro fertilization (IVF), was born in Norfolk, Virginia on December 28, 1981. Her birth was the first in the U.S. using IVF, a process where eggs are fertilized outside the body before implantation. She was the world's 15th IVF baby, following the first-ever IVF birth in England in 1978.
The world’s worst industrial disaster, a toxic gas leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India , killing at least 5,000 people.
After the gas disaster, Union Carbide ceased operations and left India, leaving behind toxic waste that continues to pollute the groundwater and soil. To this day, the site remains unremedied, and the pollution continues to harm the local community. More
Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement committing Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 after 155 years of British rule, in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist system.
At midnight on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was peaceably handed over to China in a ceremony attended by numerous international dignitaries. More
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty). More
The Intifada begins in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip twenty years after Israeli conquered the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem.
Israeli settlers had moved into the occupied territories, seizing Arab land. By December 1987, 2,200 armed Jewish settlers occupied 40 percent of the Gaza Strip, while 650,000 impoverished Palestinians were crowded into the other 60 percent, making the Palestinian portion of the tiny Gaza Strip one of the most densely populated areas on earth. More
Benazir Bhutto becomes the first female leader of a Muslim nation in modern history. She served two terms as prime minister of Pakistan, in 1988–90 and 1993–96.
In December 2007 Bhutto was assassinated while campaigning for parliamentary elections. Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari became president of Pakistan in 2008.
The Armenian earthquake. A 6.9 earthquake in Spitak, Armenia kills an estimated 60,000 people and leaves 130,000 injured. and up to 500,000 homeless. More
Pan Am Flight 103 is destroyed by a terrorist bomb over Lockerbie, Scotland. The Boeing 747, took off from London, bound for New York City. As it was climbing on its northerly flight path, it exploded over the town of Lockerbie , Scotland. All 259 passengers and crewmembers were killed plus 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie. More