On December 31st 1999, the United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially handed over control of the Panama Canal, putting the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the… Read More ›
On December 30th 2006, fallen dictator Saddam Hussein was hanged at dawn, a dramatic end for a leader who ruled Iraq by fear for three decades before a U.S. invasion toppled him. He was then convicted of crimes against humanity…. Read More ›
On December 29th 1890, in the final chapter of America’s long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry killed 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee, on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Throughout 1890, the U.S. government worried about the increasing influence… Read More ›
Google India on Tuesday unveiled a new format for media advertisements (ads) to target, pay for and experience video ads on its web search engine. “The new ads format is designed to ensure users find the information they are looking… Read More ›
On this day in 1895, the world’s first commercial movie screening took place at the Grand Cafe in Paris. The film was made by Louis and Auguste Lumiere, two French brothers who developed a camera-projector called the Cinematographe. The Lumiere… Read More ›
On December 27th 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, thousands turned out for the opening of Radio City Music Hall, a magnificent Art Deco theatre in New York City. Radio City Music Hall was designed as a palace… Read More ›
On December 26th 1946, in Las Vegas, Nevada, mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel opens The Pink Flamingo Hotel & Casino at a total cost of $6 million. The 40-acre facility wasn’t complete and Siegel was hoping to raise some revenue with… Read More ›
On December 25th 1914, just after midnight on Christmas morning, the majority of German troops engaged in World War I ceased firing their guns and artillery and commenced to sing Christmas carols. At certain points along the eastern and western… Read More ›
On December 24th 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978. As midnight approached, the Soviets organised a massive military airlift into Kabul, involving an estimated 280 transport aircraft and three… Read More ›
On December 23rd 1888, in what has become known as one of the more bizarre acts by artists (a feat hard to achieve), acclaimed 19th century artist Vincent Van Gogh cut off the lower part of his ear. The act… Read More ›
December 22nd 1989 saw the end of Nicolae Ceausescu’s dictatorship in Romania, after politician Ion Iliescu became the new President. It was also the official end of Communism within Romania, after 42 years of Communist rule under leaders Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej… Read More ›
On December 21st 69 the coronation of Titus Flavius Vespasianus took place. He was the first Roman Emperor to ascend the throne in relative peace following the demise of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and the disastrous reign of Nero. The year… Read More ›
On December 20th 1917, the first Soviet security organisation, Cheka, was founded. While the KGB is the stereotypical Soviet secret police in modern society, the Cheka were the first of its kind, created by Lenin in 1917 in order to… Read More ›
On December 19th 1984, in the Hall of the People in Beijing, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang signed an accord committing Britain to give Hong Kong back to China in 1997. In return, China incorporated… Read More ›
On December 18th 1961, The Lion Sleeps Tonight hit number one on the Billboard Charts. It was an instant classic that endured to become one of the most successful pop songs of all time. Few realise, however, that its true… Read More ›
On December 17th 1903, the first successful flight of the Wright Flyer took place. One of the biggest milestones in the evolution of commercial air flight, the Wright Flyer was the first powered aircraft, and the result of the Wright… Read More ›
On December 16th 1775, English novelist Jane Austen was born, the seventh of eight children of a clergyman in a country village in Hampshire, England. Jane was very close to her older sister, Cassandra, who remained her faithful editor and… Read More ›
On December 15th 1874, Hawaiian King David Kalakaua became the first reigning king to visit the United States. King Kalakaua visited President Ulysses S Grant at the White House. David Kalakau, the last king of Hawaii, was born in Honolulu… Read More ›
On December 14th 1977, Saturday Night Fever had its world premiere at Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. The film made a star out of 23 year old John Travolta, and propelled the already famous Bee Gees to superstardom that… Read More ›
On December 13th 1925, Dick Van Dyke was born in West Plains, Missouri. The classic “nice guy” actor would became famous for his roles in such movie classics as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as well as the… Read More ›
On December 12th 1901, Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi was successful in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, refuting detractors who told him that the curvature of the earth would limit transmission to 200 miles… Read More ›
On December 11th 1936, after ruling for less than one year, Edward VIII was the first English monarch to freely abdicate the throne. He chose to abdicate after the British government, public, and the Church of England condemned his choice… Read More ›
On December 10th 1901, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The ceremony came on the fifth anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of… Read More ›
On December 9th 1992, British Prime Minister John Major announced the formal separation of the egotistical and big-eared Prince Charles, and the beautiful and popular Princess Diana. Charles, Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, and his wife,… Read More ›
On December 8th 1980, John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles rock group that transformed popular music in the 1960s, was shot and killed by an obsessed fan in New York City. The 40-year-old artist was entering his luxury… Read More ›
On December 7th 1941, at 7:55 am Hawaii time, a swarm of 360 Japanese war planes appeared out of the clouds above the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. then descended on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a… Read More ›
On December 6 1976, professional and deaf stuntwoman Kitty O’Neil set the land-speed record for female drivers at the Alvord Desert in southeastern Oregon,. The record hovered around 400 mph; O’Neil’s two-way average speed was 512.710 mph. (The rules that… Read More ›
On December 5th 1945, at about 2:00 pm, Flight 19, comprising five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers, left the Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. They never returned. Two hours after the flight began,… Read More ›
On December 4th, 1952, the “Great Smog” in London caused up to 12 000 deaths, and became the motivator behind a string of laws passed in Britain restricting the use of various fossil fuels hazardous to the atmosophere. The distinct… Read More ›
On December 3rd 1854, the Eureka Stockade, commonly seen as the birth of Australian democracy, took place. It was the result of built up dissatisfaction amongst miners in Australia. The stockade was built on Bakery Hill, in Ballarat, and was… Read More ›
On December 2nd 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte became the first Emperor of France in a thousand years. The previous Emperors were Charlemagne’s Carolingian Dynasty during the 8th and 9th centuries AD. Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Emperor Napoleon I at the Notre… Read More ›
On December 1st 1998, the first World AIDS Day was observed, dedicated to raising awareness of the global AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. AIDS has killed more than 25 million people, making it one of the… Read More ›
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