December is the 12th and last month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. December starts on the same day as September every year and ends on the same day as April every year.<\/p>\n
In Latin, decem means “ten”. December was also the tenth month in the Roman calendar until a month less winter period was divided between January and February.<\/p>\n
December’s flower is the narcissus or holly. December’s birthstones are turquoise, lapis lazuli, zircon, topaz (blue), or tanzanite.<\/p>\n
December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n
December in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to June in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.<\/p>\n
In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological winter is 1 December. In the Southern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological summer is 1 December.<\/p>\n
What happened in History in this month?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/b>December 1 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 – Iceland was granted independence by the Danish parliament. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1967- Pakistan Peoples Party comes into being.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Three-hundred class-I gazetted officers, allegedly involved in corruption, are suspended.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 1980-Former PM, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, passes away in Karachi.<\/p>\n 1988 – Benazir Bhutto was nominated to become prime minister of Pakistan, the first woman to govern a Muslim nation.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1990 – England was connected to mainland Europe for the first time since the Ice Age as engineers digging a railway tunnel under the English Channel broke through the last rock layer.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1994 – The head of the U.N. Commission on Rwanda estimated 500,000 deaths had resulted from genocide.<\/p>\n December 2 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a01979 – Electors in Iran voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new constitution granting absolute power to Ayatollah Khomeini.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1982 – The first permanent artificial heart was implanted in 61-year-old Barney C. Clark by Dr. William De Vries at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Clark, who was near death at the time of the operation, survived 112 days after the implantation.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – French painter Georges Seurat (1859-1891) was born in Paris. He was a leader in the neo-impressionist movement of the late 19th Century.<\/p>\n December 3 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1980-Shirin Bai, sister of Quaid-i-Azam, passes away in Karachi.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – American portrait painter Charles Stuart (1755-1828) was born near Narragansett, Rhode Island. Best known for his portraits of George Washington, James Madison, James Monroe, and Thomas Jefferson.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Polish novelist Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) was born in the Ukraine (as Josef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski). Although he could speak no English at age 20, he went on to become an outstanding novelist, best known for his tales of seafaring life including Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim.<\/p>\n December 4 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1829 – The British banned the practice of “suttee” in India in which Indian females traditionally burned themselves to death on their husband’s funeral pyre.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was born in the village of Ecclefechan, Scotland. He wrote a three volume history of the French Revolution. Other works included; Heroes and Hero-Worship, Life and Letters of Oliver Cromwell and Frederick the Great.<\/p>\n December 5\u00a0 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1974Peshawar Television Station opens.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Walt Disney (1901-1966) was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a little boy, he liked to draw farm animals and eventually got a job as an artist. He moved to Hollywood and in 1928 produced Steamboat Willie, starring Mickey Mouse, in the first cartoon with synchronized sound. In 1937, he released his full length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He opened the Disneyland amusement park in Anaheim, California, in 1955. Five years after his death, Disney World opened in Florida. The company he founded has since grown into a global entertainment empire.<\/p>\n December 6 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1865 – The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, abolishing slavery.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1877 – At his laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, Thomas Edison spoke the children’s verse “Mary had a Little Lamb…” while demonstrating his newly invented phonograph which utilized a revolving cylinder wrapped in tinfoil to record sounds.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1921 – The Irish Free State became an independent member of the British Commonwealth.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1971 – The Democratic Republic of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, was recognized by India. Pakistan then broke off diplomatic relations with India.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Lahore High Court dismisses appeal against arrest of Maj. Gen. Zaheerul Islam Abbasi in Khilafat Conspiracy Case.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) was born in Dirschau, Prussia. Best known for his Life magazine cover photos, including the sailor kissing a nurse in Time’s Square, celebrating the end of World War II.<\/p>\n December 7 \u00a0 \u00a0 December 7, 1941 – The U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was attacked by nearly 200 Japanese aircraft in a raid that lasted just over one hour and left nearly 3,000 Americans dead.<\/p>\n -Mir Waiz Yousaf Shah, Grand Mufti of Kashmir, passes away in Rawalpindi.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1970- First General elections held. Awami League and Pakistan People Party emerge as leading parties in East and West Pakistan.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Wax modeler Marie Tussaud (1761-1850) was born in Bern, Switzerland.<\/p>\n She established Madame Tussaud’s waxworks in London in 1802 and later added a Chamber of Horrors.<\/p>\n December 8 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1987 – President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Russia’s General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty eliminating all intermediate-range and shorter-range nuclear missiles.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1991 – The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) ceased to exist, as the leaders of Russia, Byelorussia and the Ukraine signed an agreement creating the Commonwealth of Independent States. The remaining republics of the former USSR, with the exception of Georgia, joined the new Commonwealth.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Cotton gin inventor Eli Whitney (1765-1825) was born in Westboro, Massachusetts. His invention used comb-like teeth to remove seeds from harvested cotton and had a tremendous impact on the economy of the South. By 1800, cotton production increased from about 3,000 bales a year to 73,000. He also developed the concept of mass production of interchangeable parts and the assembly line.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – General Motors founder William C. “Billy” Durant (1861-1947) was born in Boston, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Mexican artist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) was born in Guanajuato, Mexico.<\/p>\n He created large works for display in the U.S. which aroused controversy due to his political point of view as a Communist. In 1933, his fresco Man at the Crossroads was removed from Rockefeller Center in New York City amid claims it included a figure resembling Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin. A year earlier, a mural done for the Detroit Institute of Arts had been criticized as irreligious. Following these controversies, he was denied further commissions in the U.S., although his work remained popular in Mexico.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – American humorist and artist James Thurber (1894-1961) was born in Columbus, Ohio. Best known for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.<\/p>\n December 9 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1948 – The United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It took effect on January 12, 1951, following ratification by 20 member nations.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1990 – Lech Walesa won a landslide victory in the Polish presidential election.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1992 – Buckingham Palace announced the separation of Prince Charles and Princess of Wales, Dianna.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1993 – A five-day repair job in space on the $3 billion Hubble Space Telescope was finished by U.S. astronauts.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1998 – Swiss politicians elected Interior Minister Ruth Dreifuss as president, making her the first woman to lead the Swiss government.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – British poet John Milton (1608-1674) was born in London. Considered second only to Shakespeare in importance, his works include; Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, the pamphlets Of Reformation Touching Church Discipline, The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates and Pro Populo Anglicano.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – American industrialist Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He developed a method of deep-freezing foods and was one of the founders of General Foods Corp.<\/p>\n December 10 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1948 – The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1950 – Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first African American man awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for his efforts in mediation between Israel and nearby Arab states the previous year.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 2000-: Nawaz Sharif along with family, went into exile in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Educator Thomas Gallaudet (1787-1851) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He co-founded the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n Her poetry became known only after her death when her sister discovered nearly 2,000 poems locked in her bureau, written on the backs of envelopes and scraps of paper. They were published gradually over the next 50 years, beginning in 1890.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – American librarian Melvil Dewey (1851-1931) was born in Adams Center, New York. He invented the Dewey decimal book classification system, advocated spelling reform, and urged use of the metric system.<\/p>\n December 11 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1901 – The first transatlantic radio signal was transmitted by Guglielmo Marconi from Cornwall, England, to St. John’s, Newfoundland.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1936 – King Edward VIII abdicated the throne of England to marry “the woman I love,” a twice-divorced American named Wallis Warfield Simpson. They were married in France on June 3, 1937, and then lived in Paris.<\/p>\n December 12 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 -Pakistan becomes 37th country to send expedition to Antarctica.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1998 – The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging him with making false statements in his answers to written questions from Congress.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – French author Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was born in Rouen. Best known for the novel Madame Bovary, a tale of a woman’s revolt against middle class society.<\/p>\n December 13 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 December 13, 1642 – New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman of the Dutch East India Company.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1991 – North and South Korea signed a treaty of reconciliation and nonaggression which also formally ended the Korean War, although actual fighting had ceased in 1953.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – German writer Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) was born in Dusseldorf. Best known for his statement made a hundred years before the advent of book-burning Nazis in Germany – “Where books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too.”<\/p>\n December 14 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1861 – In Britain, Prince Albert died of typhoid at Windsor Castle. He was the consort and husband of Queen Victoria of England. Following his death, the Queen went into an extended period of mourning.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1911 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole. \u00a0 \u00a0 1927 – Britain recognized independent Iraq and supported Iraqi admission to the League of Nations.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0General Musharraf survived an assassination attempt in Rawalpindi.<\/p>\n December 15 \u00a0 \u00a0 1964 – Canada adopted a new national flag featuring a red maple leaf on a white background.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1989 – The dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet ended in Chile. Pinochet had come to power in 1973 after a military overthrow of the democratically elected government.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1993 – The GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) Treaty was approved by delegations from 117 countries. The treaty was designed to reduce international tariffs, eliminate trade quotas, and protect intellectual property.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1995 – European Union leaders announced their new currency would be known as the Euro.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – French engineer Alexandre Eiffel (1832-1923) was born in Dijon, France. He designed the Eiffel Tower for the Paris International Exposition of 1889. He also helped design the Statue of Liberty.<\/p>\n December 16 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1835 – A massive fire erupted in New York City, destroying more than 600 buildings, causing an estimated $20 million in damages.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1957- Malik Feroz Khan Noon is sworn in as seventh Prime Minister of Pakistan.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 – The British House of Commons voted 343-185 to abolish the death penalty in England.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1971- Dhaka falls and Bangladesh comes into being.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 2007- Emergency lifted, banned civil rights and suspended constitution restored.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was born in Bonn, Germany. He created powerful, emotional music and is widely consider the greatest orchestral composer who ever lived. He suffered from hearing loss before he was 30 and by the time of his last (Ninth) symphony, he was completely deaf. In 1824, he conducted the Ninth Symphony at its world premier in Vienna although he was unable to hear either the orchestra or the applause. In all, he composed nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, five piano concerti, 17 string quartets, ten sonatas for violin and piano, the opera Fidelio, the Mass in C Major, Missa Solemnis, and other chamber music.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – British novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817) was born in Hampshire, England.<\/p>\n She wrote love stories concerning the lives of gentry in rural England. Best known for Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, and Emma. In recent years her works have been made into very popular TV mini-series and movies. December 17 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1903 – After three years of experimentation, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first powered, controlled airplane flights. They made four flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the longest lasting about a minute.<\/p>\n December 18 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1987- Benezir Bhutto marries Asif Ali Zardari.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – West German Chancellor Willy Brandt (1913-1992) was born in Lubeck, Germany (as Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm). During Hitler’s regime, he was an anti-Nazi exile. He returned to Germany after World War II, entered politics and was elected chancellor in 1969. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his efforts to improve East-West relations during the Cold War.<\/p>\n December 19 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1946 – War broke out in French Indochina as Ho Chi Minh attacked the French seeking to oust them from Vietnam. This marked the beginning of a thirty-year conflict which eventually led to heavy U.S. involvement and ended with a Communist victory in April 1975 after U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 -Pakistan wins gold medal in Asian Games hockey, beating India 1-0.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1984- General Zia-ul-Haq holds presidential referendum<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – British explorer William Parry (1790-1855) was born in Bath, England. He conducted Arctic expeditions and made three attempts to find a Northwest Passage.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Historian Carter Woodson (1875-1950) was born in New Canton, Virginia. He introduced black studies to American colleges and universities. His works included; The Negro in Our History and The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861.<\/p>\n December 20 <\/span><\/b> 1699 – Czar Peter the Great changed the Russian New Year from September 1 to January 1 as part of his reorganization of the Russian calendar.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 – General Yahya Khan hands over power to Z. A. Bhutto, who takes over as President and Chief Martial Law Administrator.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1989 – The U.S. invaded Panama attempting to capture Manuel Noriega on charges of narcotics trafficking. Operation Just Cause occurred seven months after Noriega had declared unfavorable election results in his country to be null and void. The invasion toppled the Noriega government and resulted in the installation of Guillermo Endara as president. Noriega temporarily eluded capture, but surrendered a few weeks later to U.S. troops. He was then tried, convicted, and imprisoned in the U.S.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – American industrialist Harvey S. Firestone (1868-1938) was born in Columbiana County, Ohio. He founded Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. and was a close friend of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.<\/p>\n December 21 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1846 – Anesthesia was used for the first time in Britain during an operation at University College Hospital in London performed by Robert Liston who amputated the leg of a servant.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1972 – East and West Germany established diplomatic ties, ending nearly two decades of Cold War hostility and paving the way for international recognition of East Germany.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1988 – Pan American Flight 103 exploded in midair as the result of a terrorist bomb and crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 passengers and crew members along with 11 persons on the ground were killed.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1993 – The KGB (Soviet Secret Police) organization was abolished by Russian President Boris Yeltsin.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – British statesman Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) was born in London. He led the Tory Party and twice held the post of prime minister. He was instrumental in the expansion of the British Empire into India and the Middle East during the reign of Queen Victoria. He also pioneered the concept of the political novel and produced such works as Vivian Grey, Coningsby, and Lothair.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Soviet Russia leader Josef Stalin (1879-1953) was born in the village of Gori in Georgia, Russia (as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili).<\/p>\n December 22 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1982 ‘Writer of Pakistan’s national anthem, Hafeez Jullundhry passes away.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was born in Lucca, Tuscany. Widely considered the greatest Italian opera composer, he is best known for popular works such as Madama Butterfly and La Boheme.<\/p>\n December 23 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1947 – The transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley, who shared the Nobel Prize for their invention which sparked a worldwide revolution in electronics.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1987 – Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager set a new world record of 216 hours of continuous flight around the<\/p>\n world without refueling. Their aircraft Voyager traveled 24,986 miles at a speed of about 115 miles per hour.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 2000- Famous singer, Noor Jahan passes away in Karachi.<\/p>\n \u00a0December 24<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n 1914 – The first-ever German air raid against Britain took place when a German monoplane dropped a single bomb on Dover, England, during World War I.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1942 – The first surface-to-surface guided missile, later known as the V-1 Flying Bomb, was launched by German rocket engineer Wernher von Braun. Called “Buzz Bombs” for the loud buzzing sound of their motor, they were used by Nazi Germany against Britain beginning in September 1944.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 UN Security Council adopts the ‘Anglo-American Resolution on Kashmir urging immediate demilitarization talks between India, Pakistan.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1992 – Caspar Weinberger and five other Reagan aides involved in the Iran-Contra scandal were pardoned by President George Bush.<\/p>\n December 25 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1926 – Hirohito became Emperor of Japan.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England.<\/p>\n He was a mathematician, scientist and author, best known for his work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica on the theory of gravitation. He died in London and was the first scientist to be honored with burial in Westminster Abbey.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – American nurse and philanthropist Clara Barton (1821-1912) was born in Oxford, Massachusetts. She served as a nurse during the Civil War and in 1881 founded the American Red Cross.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – The founder of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) was born in Karachi.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Film actor Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) was born in New York City. Best known for The African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca and To Have and Have Not.<\/p>\n December 26 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Boxing Day in the United Kingdom and many other countries, a day of gift giving when boxes of food, clothing and other gifts are traditionally given to employees, tradespeople and other service providers.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1994- Renowned poetess Perven Shakir killed in a road accident in Islamabad<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 2004 – An estimated 230,000 persons were killed and 1.5 million left homeless when a magnitude 9.3 earthquake on the seafloor of the Indian Ocean set off a series of giant tsunami waves that smashed into the shorelines of a dozen countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and Somalia.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Mao Tse-Tung (1893-1976) was born in Hunan Province, China. He was a Chinese librarian, teacher, communist revolutionist, considered the “founding father” of the People’s Republic of China.<\/p>\n December 27 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1927 – Josef Stalin consolidated his power in Soviet Russia by expelling rival Leon Trotsky from the Soviet Communist Party.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1945 – The International Monetary Fund was established in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1949 – The Dutch transferred sovereignty of Indonesia to the new United States of Indonesia. The new nation retained a formal association with the Netherlands until 1954, when an independent Republic of Indonesia was formed. Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia. It consists of 13,677 islands along the equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans, and a population of over 150 million.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1996 – A genocide trial began concerning the killing of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda. In 1994, a<\/p>\n bloody civil war had broken out between the two main ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. After the Hutu army seized power it had waged a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” against the Tutsi population.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1974-Severe earthquake kills over 500 in Swat.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01975-: 1976 is declared Quaid’s Century year..<\/p>\n \u00a0‘\u00a0Twice ex-prime minister and a main opposition leader of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, assassinated in a blast\/bullet attack in Rawalpindi.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Birthday – German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was born in Wurttemberg, Germany. Considered the father of modern astronomy, he discovered the elliptical (oval) shape of the orbits in which the earth and other planets travel around the sun at a speed that varies according to each planet’s distance from the sun.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – French chemist-bacteriologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was born in Dole, France. He developed the pasteurization process to kill harmful bacteria with heat and found ways of preventing silkworm disease, anthrax, chicken cholera, and rabies.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Actress Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) was born in Berlin, Germany. She starred in The Blue Angel, the first ‘talkie’ made in Germany. She then moved to Hollywood and starred in films including; Destry Rides Again, Touch of Evil, Judgment at Nuremberg and Witness for the Prosecution. In the 1950’s she toured the world as a cabaret singer in a stage revue.<\/p>\n December 28 <\/span><\/b> December 29 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Cellist Pablo Casals (1876-1973) was born in Venrdell, Spain. He was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century whose superb ability in playing the cello set new performance standards.<\/p>\n December 30 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1947 – King Michael of Romania was forced to abdicate after the Communists seized power. \u00a0 \u00a0 1993 – Israel and the Vatican signed an agreement on mutual recognition, seeking to end 2,000 years of unfriendly Christian-Jewish relations.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born in Bombay, India. He was a British poet, novelist, short story writer, best known for his children’s stories such as the Jungle Book.<\/p>\n December 31 <\/span><\/b> \u00a0 \u00a0 1879 – Thomas Edison provided the first public demonstration of his electric incandescent lamp at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1952-: Pakistan National Scouts instituted.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 1985-: Martial Law is lifted, amended 1973 Constitution revived.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Birthday – George C. Marshall (1880-1959) was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He had genius for organization and served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army throughout World War II, expanding the Army from 130,000 to 8,300,000 men. He then served as Secretary of State under President Truman and designed the Marshall Plan for the relief of war torn Europe and to halt the spread of Communism.<\/p>\n
\n1640 – A nationalist revolution in Portugal led to independence from Spain as the Spanish garrisons were driven out of Portugal. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France by Pope Pius VII in Paris.
\n1942 – Physicists led by Enrico Fermi carried out the world’s first successful nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago.
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\n1971 – The United Arab Emirates was formed, consisting of seven Arab kingdoms on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula including the former Trucial states Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain and Fujairah. Ras al-Khaimah became a member in 1972. The area has some of the world’s largest reserves of petroleum and natural gas.<\/p>\n
\n1984 – A deadly gas leak (of methyl isocyanate) at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killed at least 3,000 persons and injured more than 200,000.<\/p>\n
\n1791 – The Observer, now the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, was first published in Britain.<\/p>\n
\n1492 – Haiti was discovered by Christopher Columbus.<\/p>\n
\n1492 – The island of Hispaniola was discovered by Christopher Columbus. Today the island is divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n1787 – Delaware became the first state to adopt the new constitution of the United States of America.<\/p>\n
\n1941 – A day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States and Britain declared war on Japan.<\/p>\n
\n1941 – During World War II, China issued a formal declaration of war against Japan, Germany and Italy.<\/p>\n
\n1896 – Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel died at San Remo, Italy. His will stipulated that income from his $9 million estate be used for awards recognizing persons who have made valuable contributions to humanity. Nobel recipients are chosen by a committee of the Norwegian parliament. Prizes for Peace, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Economics are presented annually in a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, on the anniversary of his death. Each prize is valued at about $1 million.<\/p>\n
\n1845 – The first Anglo-Sikh War in India began as the Sikhs attacked British colonial forces. The Sikhs were defeated after four battles. Part of the Punjab region of northwestern India was then annexed by the British.<\/p>\n
\n1870 – Joseph Hayne Rainey of Georgetown, South Carolina, became the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. He filled a seat which had been declared vacant by the House and served until 1879.<\/p>\n
\n1545 – The Council of Trent, summoned by Pope Paul III, met to discuss doctrinal matters including the rise of Protestantism.<\/p>\n
\n1799 – George Washington died at Mount Vernon.<\/p>\n
\n1918 – British women voted for the first time in a general election and were allowed to run for office.<\/p>\n
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\n1961 – Nazi SS-Colonel Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem for his role in the Holocaust. Eichmann had organized the deportation of Jews from all over occupied Europe to Nazi death camps.<\/p>\n
\n1653 – Following the defeat of King Charles I in the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Parliamentary forces, was declared Lord Protector of England.<\/p>\n
\nBirthday – Philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952) was born in Madrid, Spain. As a child he emigrated to the U.S. and eventually became a teacher at Harvard University. Best known for stating, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
\nBirthday – Anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She studied primitive peoples in the Southwest Pacific and was known for her outspoken manner regarding social issues such as women’s rights, child rearing, population control and world hunger.<\/p>\n
\n1971 – The war between India and Pakistan over East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) ended as 90,000 Pakistani troops surrendered.<\/p>\n
\n1956 – Japan was admitted to the United Nations.<\/p>\n
\n1732 – Benjamin Franklin first published Poor Richard’s Almanac containing weather predictions, humor, proverbs and epigrams, eventually selling nearly 10,000 copies per year.<\/p>\n
\n1606 – The Virginia Company expedition to America began as three small ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, departed London under the command of Captain Christopher Newport. In May of 1607, the royally chartered company established the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown (Virginia).<\/p>\n
\nWinter begins in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere today is the beginning of summer.<\/p>\n
\n1783 – Following a triumphant journey from New York to Annapolis, Maryland, George Washington, victorious Commander-in-Chief of the American Revolutionary Army, appeared before Congress and voluntarily resigned his commission.<\/p>\n
\n1888 – Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh cut off his left ear during a fit of depression.<\/p>\n
\nChristmas Day, commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Although the exact date of his birth is not known, it has been celebrated on December 25th by the Western (Roman Catholic) Church since 336 A.D.<\/p>\n
\n1831 – Charles Darwin set out from Plymouth, England, aboard the ship HMS Beagle on his five-year global scientific expedition. Darwin collected fossils and studied plants and animals, gradually beginning to doubt that many diverse species of living things had sprung into existence at one moment (creationism). In 1859, he published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.<\/p>\n
\n1947 – Victor Emmanuel III, the last King of Italy, died while in exile in Alexandria, Egypt. He had become king upon the assassination of his father in 1900. Following World War I, he named Benito Mussolini to form a cabinet and then failed to prevent Mussolini’s Fascists from seizing power. In 1946, he abdicated and went into exile.<\/p>\n
\n1965 – During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh rejected unconditional peace talks offered by the U.S.<\/p>\n
\n1922 – The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) was established through the confederation of Russia, Byelorussia, Ukraine and the Transcaucasian Federation.<\/p>\n
\n1973- Z. A. Bhutto lays foundation stone of Pakistan Steel Mills..<\/p>\n
\nNew Year’s Eve, the final evening of the Gregorian calendar year, traditionally a night for merry-making to welcome in the new year.<\/p>\n