| 2012 | The 2012 'World Soccer' Player of the Year award is given to Lionel Messi |
| 2012 | In the U.S. state of Connecticut, a shooter kills 29 people, including 20 children, himself and his mother at Sandy Hook Elementary School |
| 2011 | Unemployment in the United Kingdom rises to 2.64 million people |
| 2011 | Boris Gryzlov, ally to Vladimir Putin and speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, resigns from his position |
| 2010 | Despite concern from the opposition, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declares he will pass laws by decree for the next six to eighteen months |
| 2010 | WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is released on bail |
| 1997 | "View From the Bridge," opens at Criterion Theater New York City |
| 1997 | Diners Club Senior Golf Match |
| 1997 | Juli Inkster and Dottie Pepper win LPGA Diners Club Matches |
| 1997 | Phoenix Coyote Mike Gartner is 5th NHLer to score 700 goals |
| 1996 | 12th Soap Opera Digest Awards |
| 1996 | 62nd Heisman Trophy Award: Danny Wuerffel, Florida (quarterback) |
| 1995 | "Les Miserables" opens at Cable Hall, Helsinki |
| 1995 | AIDS patient Jeff Getty recieves baboon bone marrow transplant |
| 1993 | Moslem fundamentalists murder 12 Kroates/Bosnians in Algeria |
| 1992 | Lennox Lewis given WBC title, when Riddick Bowe refused to fight him |
| 1991 | 57th Heisman Trophy Award: Desmond Howard, Michigan (WR) |
| 1991 | Ferry boat Salem Express sinks in Red Sea, 476 killed |
| 1990 | Louis Jordan's revue "Five Guys Named Moe," premieres in London |
| 1990 | Right to Die case permits Nancy Cruzan to have her feeding tube removed, she dies 12 days later |
| 1988 | CBS' $1.1 B bid wins exclusive 1990-94 major-league baseball rights |
| 1988 | NBA's Miami Heat wins 1st game ever, 89-88 (Clippers), after 17 loses |
| 1988 | Spanish General strike to protest austerity measures |
| 1988 | U.S. agrees to talk to Palestine Liberation Org (1st time in 13 yrs) |
| 1987 | Allan Border scores 205 vs. New Zealand to become Australia's top rungetter |
| 1987 | Chrysler pleads no contest to selling driven vehicles as new |
| 1986 | Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, took off from Edwards AFB, California on 1st non-stop, non-refueled flight around world |
| 1985 | U.S. Foreign Minister George Shultz arrives in West Berlin |
| 1984 | Howard Cosell retires from Monday Night Football |
| 1983 | "Peg" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City for 5 performances |
| 1982 | Marcel Dionne, LA, becomes 9th NHLer to score 500 goals |
| 1981 | Israel annexes Golan Heights (seized from Syria in war of 1967) |
| 1980 | "Onward Victoria" opens/closes at Martin Beck New York City for 1 performance |
| 1980 | Anders Kailur scores on 6th Islander penalty shot |
| 1980 | At 2 PM EST there is 10 minutes of silence in memory of John Lennon |
| 1980 | Minnesota Vikings pass for 456 yards against Cleveland Browns, winning 28-24 |
| 1980 | Nancy Lopez/Curtis Strange wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic |
| 1980 | New Orleans Saints end 14 game losing streak, beat New York Jets 21-20 |
| 1980 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| 1979 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| 1978 | "Ballroom" opens at Majestic Theater New York City for 116 performances |
| 1978 | China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC |
| 1978 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| 1977 | "Saturday Night Fever,"starring John Travolta, premieres in New York City |
| 1977 | Egypt and Israel reps gather in Cairo for 1st formal peace conference |
| 1977 | Red Sox trade Fergie Jenkins to Rangers for John Poloni and cash |
| 1977 | Test Cricket debut of Abdul Qadir, vs. England at Lahore |
| 1977 | War criminal Pieter Menten sentenced in Amsterdam to 15 years |
| 1976 | Dutch 1st Chamber condemns Dutch Liberal/social dem abortion laws |
| 1975 | "Treemonisha" closes at Uris Theater New York City after 64 performances |
| 1975 | 6 So Moluccan terrorists surrender, holding 23 hostages for 12 days |
| 1974 | Islander Glenn Resch's 1st shut-out opponent-Kings 3-0 |
| 1974 | Viv Richards scores 1st Test Cricket ton 192 vs. India 20 fours 6 sixes |
| 1972 | Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt leave the Moon |
| 1972 | Willy Brandt re-elected West German chancellor |
| 1971 | Golden Gate Bridge lights out all night due to power failure |
| 1971 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| 1969 | "La Strada" opens/closes at Lunt Fontanne New York City for 1 performance |
| 1969 | Bishen Bedi takes 7-98 (career-best) vs. Australia at Calcutta |
| 1969 | Jackson Five made their 1st appearance on "Ed Sullivan Show" |
| 1967 | DNA created in a test tube |
| 1965 | "La Grusse Valise" opens at 54th St. Theater New York City for 7 performances |
| 1964 | Michael Brown meets Rene Fladen, then writes "Walk Away Rene" |
| 1963 | Verne Gagne beats The Crusher in Minneapolis, to become NWA champ |
| 1962 | Mariner 2 makes 1st U.S. fly-by of another planet (Venus) |
| 1962 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| 1961 | Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John" is 1st country song to get a gold record |
| 1960 | Australia vs. West Indies 1st Test Cricket at the Gabba ends in a tie |
| 1960 | Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forms |
| 1960 | Washington Senators joins American League |
| 1959 | USAF Captain Joe B. Jordan reaches 103,395 feet in F-104 jet fighter |
| 1959 | Archbishop Makarios proclaimed president of Cyprus |
| 1959 | J B Jordan in F-104C sets world altitude record, 31,513m |
| 1957 | "Most Happy Fella" closes at Imperial Theater New York City after 678 performances |
| 1957 | "Rumple" closes at Alvin Theater New York City after 45 performances |
| 1956 | Paul-Henri Spaak appointed Secretary-General of NATO |
| 1955 | Dutch Reformed Church condemns woman/wife as vicar |
| 1955 | Tappan Zee Bridge in New York opens to traffic |
| 1954 | WOAY TV channel 4 in Oak Hill-Beckley, WV (ABC) begins broadcasting |
| 1953 | Brooklyn Dodgers sign pitcher Sandy Koufax |
| 1952 | KROD (now KDBC) TV channel 4 in El Paso, Texas (CBS) begins broadcasting |
| 1952 | R H Shodhan scores 110 on Test Cricket debut vs. Pakistan, Calcutta |
| 1952 | Uprising of captives in Pongam South Korea, 82 die |
| 1950 | "Bless You All" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City for 84 performances |
| 1950 | U.N. General Assembly establishes High Commission for Refugees (Nobel 1954) |
| 1950 | Baseball owners choose Lou Perini (Braves), Phil Wrigley (Cubs), Del Webb (Yankees), and Ellis Ryan (Indians) to select new commissioner |
| 1947 | Cleveland Browns beat New York Yankees 14-3 in AAFC championship game |
| 1946 | "Three to Make Ready" closes at Adelphi Theater New York City after 323 performances |
| 1946 | Togo made a trusteeship territory of UN |
| 1946 | U.N. General Assembly votes to establish United Nations HQs in New York City |
| 1945 | Elmer Rice' "Dream Girl," premieres in New York City |
| 1944 | Begin(ning) Liese-Aktion: werving of labor force for Germany |
| 1944 | Congress establshes rank of General of Army (5-star General) |
| 1944 | German occupiers forbid use of electricity in parts of Holland |
| 1941 | 1st NFL division playoff, Bears beat Packers 33-14 |
| 1941 | Premier Winston Churchill travels to U.S. on board HMS Duke of York |
| 1941 | U-557 torpedoes British cruiser Galatea |
| 1939 | Soviet Union attacks Finland-League of Nations drops Soviet Union |
| 1938 | AL permits Cleveland and Philadelphia to play night games |
| 1938 | Major leagues agrees on standard ball |
| 1938 | Major leagues disagree on increasing rosters from 23 to 25 |
| 1938 | Will Harridge is elected to a 10-year-term as AL president |
| 1937 | Japanese troops conquer/plunder Nanjing |
| 1935 | Test Cricket debut of "Chuck" Fleetwood-Smith vs. South Africa, Durban |
| 1934 | 1st streamlined steam locomotive introduced (Albany New York) |
| 1933 | Josephine Baker performs in Amsterdam |
| 1932 | French government of Herriot falls |
| 1931 | 1st assembly of Anton Musserts NSB in Utrecht |
| 1930 | New York Giants defeat Notre Dame 22-0 in a charity game |
| 1929 | Alexander Zaimis elected President of Greece |
| 1928 | 2nd Test Cricket Australia vs. England starts with Bradman 12th man |
| 1927 | Iraq gains independence from Britain, but British troops remain |
| 1926 | Danish Madsen government, forms |
| 1924 | Chiang Kai-shek occupies Hankou |
| 1924 | Respighi's symphony "Pini di Roma," premieres in Paris |
| 1923 | Gerard K "Simon" van het Reve, Dutch writer (Evenings) |
| 1920 | Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in 12 for heavyweight boxing title |
| 1918 | Giacomo Puccini's opera "Il Trittico," premieres in New York City |
| 1917 | UFA, Universal Film AG, forms in Germany |
| 1915 | Jack Johnson is 1st black world heavyweight boxing champion |
| 1913 | Greece formally takes possession of Crete |
| 1911 | South Pole 1st reached, by Norwegian Roald Amundsen |
| 1903 | Reg Foster completes 287 England vs. Australia on Test Cricket debut |
| 1901 | 1st table tennis tournament is held (London Royal Aquarium) |
| 1894 | Test Cricket debut of Joe Darling, Ernie Jones, Archie MacLaren |
| 1889 | American Academy of Political and Social Science organized, Philadelphia |
| 1882 | Henry Morton Stanley returns to Brussels from the Congo |
| 1863 | Battle of Bean's Station-Confederacy repulses Union in Tennessee |
| 1849 | 1st chamber music group in U.S. gives their 1st concert (Boston) |
| 1825 | Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins |
| 1819 | Alabama admitted to Union as 22nd state |
| 1798 | David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patents a nut and bolt machine |
| 1793 | 1st state road authorized, Frankfort, Kentucky to Cincinnati |
| 1782 | Charleston, South Carolina evacuated by British |
| 1774 | Mass militiamen successfully attacked arsenal of Ft. William and Mary |
| 1708 | Prosper Jolyot's "Electre," premieres in Paris |
| 1656 | Artificial pearls 1st manufactured by M Jacquin in Paris made of gypsum pellets covered with fish scales |
| 1600 | Olivier van Noort sinks Sp galleon San Diego at Bay of Manila, 350 die |
| 1582 | Zealand/Brabant Netherlands adopt Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is 12/25 |
| 1575 | Polish Parliament selects Istvan Bathory as king of Poland |
| 1490 | Anna van Bretagne marries a proxy Maximilian of Austria |
| 1287 | Zuider Zee seawall collapses with loss of 50,000 lives |
| 1124 | Theobald Buccapecus elected Pope Coelestinus II (he refuses) |
| 872 | John VIII elected as Catholic Pope |
| 867 | Adrian II begins his reign as Catholic Pope |
| 644 | Osman ibn Affan appointed 3rd kalief of islam |
BrainyHistory
