Delaware ratifies the Articles of Confederation becoming the first State.
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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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Pennsylvania ratifies the Articles of Confederation becoming the second State of the Union.
New Jersey ratifies the Articles of Confederation becoming the third State.
The United States Congress relocates to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from New York City.
The Constitutional Act (or Canada Act) dividing Canada into Upper Canada and Lower Canada takes effect on December 26, 1791. The British Parliament had passed the Act in June 1791.
The Act divided the existing Province of Quebec into two separate colonies: Upper Canada (now Ontario) and Lower Canada (now Quebec) to accommodate United Empire Loyalists and French-speaking inhabitants.
The Great New Orleans Fire of 1794, destroys 212 structures in the area now known as the French Quarter on December 8, 1794; from Burgundy to Chartres Street, adjacent to the Mississippi River.
Just 6 years before, in 1788, 856 buildings had been destroyed in the First Great New Orleans Fire. Both of these events led to strict Spanish building codes, promoting brick construction that shaped the Quarter's iconic look. More
The French revolutionary government declares the decimal-based metric system to be the official system of weights and measures on April 7, 1795. The system was developed by the Paris Academy of Sciences as part of the Revolution's move away from old royal traditions.
The metric system was based on natural constants (like the Earth's circumference for the meter) and decimal (base-10) multiples, simplifying calculations. It defined the meter (length), gram (mass), liter (volume), etc. Although officially decreed in 1795, public resistance and the complexity of its implementation slowed down its acceptance and implementation. It was made compulsory in 1840. The metric system went on to became the global standard, evolving into the International System of Units (SI).
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 U.S. officially takes possession of the Louisiana Territory from France in two key ceremonies: first in New Orleans on December 20, 1803, for lower Louisiana, and then in St. Louis on March 10, 1804, for upper Louisiana. The Louisiana Purchase Treaty, doubled the size of the U.S., stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.
Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French on December 2, 1804, at a lavish ceremony in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and then crowns his wife, Josephine, Empress of France. 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. More
On December 22, 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven gave an extraordinary and unusually long public concert in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien. At this single event, he premiered four major works: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”), Piano Concerto No. 4, and Choral Fantasy.
That concert, which lasted nearly 4 hours, is remembered as one of the most ambitious single-evening premieres in classical music history.
Beethoven's portrait painted by Joseph Karl Stieler. .Painting of Theater an der Wien circa 1815.
An earthquake in the U.S Midwest, centered near New Madrid, Missouri, known as the first New Madrid earthquake (M 6,7-8.1), shakes the central United States on December 16, 1811. It was followed by a second large earthquakes on January 23, 1812 of M 7.5 and the third one on February 7, 1812 also of M 7.5. The earthquakes, caused massive ground fissures, landslides, and even reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.
The Treaty of Ghent is signed, on December 24 1814, 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.
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
The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" often called "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" is first published on December 23, 1823.
It was first published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel, a semi-weekly newspaper which served Rensselaer County, New York under the title "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas", The poem is attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, who claimed authorship in 1837; but it has also been suggested that Henry Livingston Jr. wrote it.