What Happened in December?

The Council of Trent concludes its discussions on the Catholic Church Counter-Reformation on December 4, 1563 after 18 years of intermittent sessions. from its start on December 13, 1545. The decrees of the council were later confirmed by Pope Pius IV in the bull Benedictus Deus on January 26, 1564. Expand +

Boxing Day, also known as St Stephen's Day. or Offering Day, is celebrated on December 26th in the UK and Commonwealth nations. It originated as a day for the wealthy to give "Christmas boxes" with gifts, money, or leftovers to servants and the poor after they worked on Christmas day, as thanks for year-round service and also give a day off and for churches to distribute alms. Expand +

The first observation of Neptune is recorded by Galileo with his small telescope on December 28, 1612.  He believed it to be a fixed star rather than a planet. More than 200 years later, on September 23 1846, the ice giant Neptune became the first planet located through mathematical predictions rather than through regular observations of the sky. More

The Mayflower arrive and anchors at modern-day Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts on December 1, 1620, after spending some time in Cape hook (known today as Provincetown Harbor). Several small scouting groups were sent ashore to collect firewood and scout for a good place to build their settlement. (All dates shown per the Gregorian calendar. The old style calenda dates are 10 days earlier e.g. December 1 was November 11 in the Old Style calendar) Expand +

A major eruption of Mount Vesuvius takes place on December 16, 1631 killing an estimated 3,000 to 6000 people, burying villages on its slopes. The event marked a shift from long quiescent periods to more frequent activity. 

The first observed transit of Venus, where the planet crosses the Sun's face as a small black dot, takes place  and is observed by Jeremiah Horrocks and William Crabtree on December 4, 1639. Expand +

The first documented recorded observation of a transit of Venus across the Sun is made by the English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks from his home at Carr House in Much Hoole, near Preston in England on December 4, 1639  Expand +

King Charles I and the Scots reached a secret agreement in December 26, 1647, known as the Engagement, where by the Scots promised to support his restoration in exchange for him accepting Presbyterianism in Scotland and imposing it in England for three years.  Expand +

Oliver Cromwell dissolves the English Barebones Parliament and introduces the Instrument of Government on December 12 1653, which established Cromwell as Lord Protector on December 16, 1653.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert, under the authority of King Louis XIV creates the Frea\nch Académie Royale d'Architecture, on December 30, 1671, and names François Blondel as the first director. The academy's purpose was part of a broader, organized effort by Colbert to advance arts, sciences, and literature in France by centralizing decision making and control 

The Battle of Lund, the deadliest battle of the Scanian war between Sweden, led by King Charles XI (Karl XI) and Denmark led by King Christian V takes place on December 4, 1676.  Expand +

Isaac Newton's manuscript "On the motion of bodies in an orbit"; (De Motu) which he had sent to Edmond Halley, is read to the Royal Society. The manuscript gave important mathematical derivations relating to the three relations now known as "Kepler's laws of planetary motion". Expand +

The Duke of Marlborough is dismissed from his command by Queen Anne during the War of the Spanish Succession.

The Ottoman Empire declares war on Venice, initiating the Seventh Ottoman-Venetian War. The war concluded two years later in 1718 with an Ottoman victory and the Treaty of Passarowitz.  Expand +

Benjamin Franklin publishes his Poor Richard's Almanack, a periodical, containing affordable information, humor, ideas, advice and the proverbial wisdom, etc. for the populace. More

Benjamin Franklin's account of his kite experiment is read to the Royal Society on December 21, 1752, it was published in the Philosophical Transactions in 1753 (Volume 47, for the years 1751–1752). The account was from a letter, addressed to Peter Collinson. It confirmed the electrical nature of lightning. 

The Encyclopedia Britannica is first published and advertised for sale in Edinburgh, Scotland on December 10, 1768. It is the oldest continuously published and revised work in the English language. More

"The Boston Tea Party" Defiant colonists dump crates of tea into Boston Harbor. This was the culmination of a series of events which led the thirteen American colonies closer to independence. More

General George Washington’s 2,400 strong army crosses the Delaware on the night of December 25-26, 1776, during a treacherous storm and surprises the garrison of Hessian mercenaries at Trenton (Battle of Trenton) capturing more than 1000 of them at a cost of four American lives.  Expand +

George Washington voluntarily relinquished his military commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783, after winning the Revolutionary War.  Expand +