What Happened in December?

New Jersey ratifies the Articles of Confederation becoming the third State.

The United States Congress relocates to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from New York City.

The Great New Orleans Fire destroys 212 structures in the area now known as the French Quarter from Burgundy to Chartres Street, adjacent to the Mississippi River. Just 6 years before, 856 buildings had been destroyed in the First Great New Orleans Fire. More

The French revolutionary government declares the metric system to be the official system of weights and measures.

The Dutch East India Company is dissolved by the Netherlands government. It had been originally established on March 20, 1602 but it had been severely affected by corruption, smuggling and increasing administrative costs. It was dissolved and nationalised.

The United States officially takes possession of the Louisiana Territory from France in the Louisiana Purchase.

Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French at a lavish ceremony in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. This act established the First French Empire and marked the culmination of his rise from a military general to the leader of France, a position he held from 1804 to 1814 and again briefly in 1815.

Napoleon and Joséphine were crowned Emperor and Empress of the French at Notre-Dame in Paris. More

The Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. More

Indiana is admitted into the United States Union becoming the 19th State.

Mississippi is admitted into the United States Union becoming the 20th State.

Mississippi becomes the 26th State of the Union

Illinois is admitted into the United States becoming the 21st State 

Alabama is admitted into the United States Union becoming the 22nd State of the Union.

Moses Austin asks the Spanish government for approval to establish an American Colony in Texas. Approval was granted but Moses Austin died a short time later and the project was taken over by his son Stephen Austin who continued his fathers project and by 1830 there were over 15,000 American settlers. More

President James Monroe proclaims a new U.S. foreign policy initiative during his annual address to Congress. The U.S. policy, which has become known as the “Monroe Doctrine.” forbade European interference in the American hemisphere but also asserted U.S. neutrality in regard to future European conflicts. More

British naturalist Charles Darwin sets out from Plymouth, England, aboard the HMS Beagle on a five-year voyage to the Pacific Ocean including the Galapagos Island in South America and New Zealand. He was 22 years old. Darwin's discoveries while visiting such diverse places gave him the basis to develop his theory of evolution which was published in 1859, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection." More

Spain finally accepts Mexico’s permanent independence with the Santa Maria-Calatrava Treaty. Spain had previously attempted to re-invade Mexico in 1829, leading to the Battle of Tampico where Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, defeated the Spanish and became a war hero.

Charles Dickens' classic novella "A Christmas Carol" is first published in London by Chapman & Hall and sold out by Christmas Eve. It was first published in America in 1844 by Carey & Hart in Philadelphia. Charles Dickens' beloved ghost story. was inspired by Dickens' childhood and his desire to address social issues. It continues to be a robust seller more than 180 years later. More

Texas is admitted into the United States Union becoming the 28th State.