The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, beginning the Soviet-Afghan War. 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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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
The Cold War officially ends with a summit meeting between U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.1991 CE, December 26 - The dissolution of the Soviet Union is officially declared, ending the existence of the USSR.
A terrorist bomb mailed to his home, kills Federal Judge Robert Vance in Alabama. Two days later a second bomb killed civil rights Attorney Robert Robertson in Georgia. Two other bombs were discovered before they exploded. A massive investigation ensued involving the FBI and several other law enforcement agencies. In June 1991, a federal jury convicted Walter LeRoy Moody, Jr. on charges related to the bombings. He was executed in 2018. More
Two other bombs were discovered before they exploded. A massive investigation ensued involving the FBI and several other law enforcement agencies. In June 1991, a federal jury convicted Walter LeRoy Moody, Jr. on charges related to the bombings. He was executed in 2018. More
The United States invades Panama under orders from President George H. W. Bush. The primary purpose of the invasion was to depose the de facto ruler of Panama, General Manuel Noriega who had longstanding ties to United States intelligence agencies but the relations had deteriorated.
Noriega was wanted by U.S. authorities for racketeering and drug trafficking. Noriega was captured, brought to the U.S. tried and convicted. He was eventually returned to Panama where he died in 2017. The United Nations General Assembly and the Organization of American States both condemned the invasion as a violation of international law. More
Nicolae Ceaușescu, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and president of Romania was ousted on December 22, 1989, during the Romanian Revolution.
The dictator and his wife, Elena, were captured after attempting to flee Bucharest by helicopter. After a brief, trial, Ceaușescu and his wife were found guilty of genocide and other crimes and were executed by firing squad on Christmas Day, December 25, 1989.
The Brandenburg Gate in Germany, was reopened on December 22, 1989, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, The gate had been closed for 28 years after the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961.
The reopening event was marked with a ceremony that saw West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and East German Prime Minister Hans Modrow walk through the crossing in celebration of the reunification of Germany.
The Chunnel Breakthrough made history on December 1, 1990 when British miner Graham Fagg and his French counterpart Philippe Cozette0 when broke through the last piece of rock separating the French and British side of the Chunnel.
The breakthrough, a mostly ceremonial event at 132 feet (100 meters) below the English Channel, connected the two ends of the underwater tunnel linking Great Britain with the European mainland for the first time since the Ice Age. The official opening of the Chunnel took place In a May 6, 1994 in a ceremony presided over by England’s Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterrand. More
Lech Walesa, founder of the Solidarity movement and Polish anti-communist leader is elected Poland's first democratically elected President on December 9, 1990. He won a landslide victory in the first free presidential election in Poland marking a key moment in Eastern Europe's shift from communism.
He served until 1995 when he narrowly lost his re-election bid to a former communist. He established the Lech Walesa Institute and remained a global symbol of non-violent struggle for democracy.
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is officially established on December 8, 1991, when leaders from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine signed the Belovezha Accords in Belarus, declaring the Soviet Union dissolved and forming the CIS in its place.
On a following meeting on December 21, 1991, eight more former Soviet republics signed the protocol to join: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. creating the initial multi-state CIS organization; (excluding the Baltics and Georgia). Georgia joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in December 1993, becoming the last of the former Soviet republics to join the organization, largely due to pressures from internal conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Although it joined, Georgia later left the CIS, officially ending its membership in August 2009. The Baltic Republics, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania never joined the CIS. The CIS Headquarters is in Minsk, Belarus,