On December 30th 1922, in post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics). Also known as… Read More ›
On December 23rd 1888, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, suffering from severe depression, cut off the lower part of his left ear with a razor while staying in Arles, France. He later documented the event in a painting titled Self-Portrait… Read More ›
On December 22nd 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo entered the world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity. Weighing in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla whose name was a… Read More ›
On December 21st 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York exploded in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members aboard, as well as 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground. A bomb hidden… Read More ›
On December 15th 1916, the French defeated the Germans in the World War I Battle of Verdun. The Battle of Verdun, was recorded as being fought from 21 February to 19 December 1916 around the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in northeast… Read More ›
On December 14th 1503, Nostradamus (Michel de Nostredame), one of the world’s most famous publishers of prophecies, was born. He is best known for his book Les Propheties, the first edition of which appeared in 1555. Since the publication of… Read More ›
On December 13 1974, Malta became a republic. While the European island had already been independent for a decade, the transformation into a republic signified overcoming one of the biggest obstacles in achieving some form of conciliation with Britain. Nevertheless,… Read More ›
On December 12th 1948, fourteen members of the Scots Guard massacred twenty four Malaysian civilians and set fire to their village, in the Batang Kali Massacre. The massacre is commonly seen as part of the lead up to the Malayan… Read More ›
Historical Events 1869: Wyoming becomes the first state to adopt woman suffrage. 1898: In France, the Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Spanish-American War and granting the United States its first overseas empire. 1901: The first Nobel Prizes are… Read More ›
On December 9th 1953, General Electric, announced that all communist employees would be discharged from the company. The act is part of the period of US history known as the Second Red Scare, when US society and particularly the government… Read More ›
December 8th 1854 marked Pope Pius IX’s official dogmatisation of the doctrine of Immaculate Conception; an important act, as it is often the key belief that separates Catholicism and Protestantism, among other doctrines. Such an act had been hinted at… Read More ›
On December 7th 1941, arguably the most memorable event of World War II occurred; the attack on Pearl Harbor. A surprise Japanese aerial attack on the US port of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the moment is seen as the entry… Read More ›
On December 6th 1921, The Anglo-Irish Treaty effectively separated Ireland from the United Kingdom. The treaty ended the three year war for independence that gave birth not only to Ireland as a free state, but also the infamous IRA, which… Read More ›
On December 6th 1969, about 300,000 people showed up for a rock-and-roll concert at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, California. The free concert was set up by the Rolling Stones as a Woodstock-type show and included Santana, Tina Turner, The… Read More ›
On December 5th 1925, the silent Russian film, The Battleship Potemkin was released. It has been recognised as a hugely influential film, not only on contextual Russian and Communist society, but also on filmmakers, with homage and references to it… Read More ›
On December 5th 1952, The Abbott and Costello Show premiered on American television. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello made 52 half-hour films for television, incorporating many of their best burlesque routines. Their original names were William Alexander Abbott and Louis… Read More ›
On December 2nd 1961, five years to the day after the unofficial beginning of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro announced in a national broadcast that the Cuban government had officially undertaken Communism as its core set of beliefs. While Castro… Read More ›
On December 2nd 1956, the Cuban Revolution began when Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and eighty other men landed on the Eastern shore of Cuba in a Mexican-bought yacht. The true revolution is not recognised as having occurred until December 1959,… Read More ›
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