Browse Historical Events by Month:
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 stolen “Mona Lisa” was recovered in Florence, Italy on December 12, 1913. It had been stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris on August 21, 1911, by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former Louvre employee.
Peruggia was arrested and claimed he was avenging Italy. After its recovery the Mona Lisa went on a short triumphal tour of Italy before being returned to the Musée du Louvre on January 4th 1914. More
President Woodrow Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act into law leading to the establishment of a system for financial stability with the means to regulate inflation and respond to economic panics, allowing the promotion and the internationalization of the U.S. Dollar as a stable global currency.
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The Battle of the Falkland Islands (WWI) takes place on December 8, 1914 The German naval forces led by Admiral Maximilian von Spee, are stopped in their attempt to raid the Falkland Islands by the British Navy commanded by Admiral Doveton Sturdee. All the German ships except Dresden and Seydlitz were tracked down and sunk.
The Christmas Truce of 1914. Although fighting continued in many parts of the Western Front, a rare heart-warming display of humanity in the history of human conflict takes place in some sections. By Christmas of that year there were millions of soldiers dug in trenches packed together and living in freezing conditions. On Christmas Eve German troops began unwrapping gifts from home and singing Christmas carols and soon the British and French troops joined in. Christmas greetings and well wishes were exchanged, and offers of a temporary ceasefire were communicated between the trenches. On Christmas morning, The troops began to greet one another, messages and gifts were exchanged and spontaneous games of football(soccer) were rumored to have happened. More
The WWI battle of Verdun ends on December 18, 1916. It was a costly French defensive victory, repulsing a major German offensive in one of the longest, bloodiest, and most-ferocious battles of the war.
At the battle's conclusion, nearly 10-month after starting, the front lines remained largely unchanged from where they started. French casualties amounted to about 400,000, German ones to about 350,000. Some 300,000 were killed. More
Grigori Rasputin, the Siberian self proclaimed mystic was murdered on December 30, 1916 by Russian nobles and conservatives, who reportedly poisoned, shot, and then drowned the Siberian mystic to halt his influence over Empress Alexandra and the royal family. More
Finland declares independence from Russia, leading to the Finnish Civil War.
The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary. More
Jerusalem surrenders to British troops. The mayor of Jerusalem, Hussein Salim al-Husseini, delivers the Ottoman Governor's letter surrendering the city to Brigadier General C.F. Watson, of the 180th Brigade.
Two days later General Edmund Allenby, commander of the British “Egyptian Expeditionary Force,” understanding the symbolic sensitivity of Jerusalem to both its residents and religious adherents the world over, entered Jerusalem, on foot. More
The 18th Amendment, establishing Prohibition, is passed by the U.S. Congress on December 18, 1917. It was then sent to the States for ratification, which was completed on January 16, 1919, becoming law and bringing about the Prohibition Era of the United States. On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was passed, officially repealing the 18th amendment.
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President Wilson issues a declaration that he had nationalized the railroad system under the Federal Possession and Control Act.
Wilson appointed his son-in-law, Treasury Secretary William McAdoo, as administrator for the United States Railroad Administration. After the end of WWI in the railroads became private property once again on March 2020.
An earthquake, believed to be the world’s second deadliest of the twentieth century, hits China’s remote Gansu Province leading to the deaths of more than 200,000 people and causing severe destruction over an area of 20,000 square kilometers. More
The Irish Free State, is declared, with representatives of the two states signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, ending a five-year Irish struggle for independence from Britain but still remaining part of the British Commonwealth, symbolically subject to the king. The Irish Free State later severed ties with Britain and is now called the Republic of Ireland. Neither the Free State or the current Republic of Ireland included today's Northern Ireland. More
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR) is established with its capital in Moscow on December 30, 1922 and the Communist Party, led by Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin took control of the government. The Union eventually incorporated 15 republics and constituted the largest country (in area) in the world until its dissolution in 1991.
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) terrorizes the University of Dayton, a Catholic Institution, by exploding 12 bombs throughout the campus and setting on fire an 8-foot cross.
Several hundred Klansmen were routed by hundreds of neighborhood residents who joined students in chasing them off. The growing Catholic presence in Dayton during the 1920s drew the hostility of the Ku Klux Klan. More about the attack - More about the KKK
German physicist Albert Einstein is granted a visa to enter the United States, fleeing Nazi Germany.
The 21st Amendment is passed on December 5, 1933, officially repealing the 18th amendment and ending Prohibition of alcohol in America. The 18th Amendment is the only Constitutional amendment to be repealed in United States history.
The abdication of King Edward VIII is formally enacted by Parliament and announced to the nation on December 11, 1936. He became the only British sovereign to voluntarily resign the crown.
Edward VIII had signed the Instrument of Abdication on the prior date, December 10, 1936, after failing to win acceptance for his desire to marry American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson.
The Massacre of Nanjing (Eng. Nanking) also known as the Rape of Nanjing takes place. A six week carnage as the Japanese Imperial Army marches into China's then capital city of Nanjing and murders 300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers in the city.
It is believed to be the single worst atrocity during the World War II era. Beijing became the national capital when China became the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949. More
The Irish Free State repeal of the 1922 Constitution and adoption of a new Constitution comes into effect following a statewide plebiscite held on July 1,1937 and the Irish Free State becomes known as Ireland. More
