1822 – Mexico officially recognized as an independent nation by US
1932 – USSR and China resume diplomatic relations
1955 – The first prototype of the hovercraft is patented by British engineer Christoper Cockerell
1961 – Nazi German army officer Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes in Israel
1963 – Kenya (formerly British East Africa) declares independence from the United Kingdom
1982 – $9,800,000 in cash stolen from money transport car in NYC
1988 – PLO leader Yasi Arafat accepts Israel’s right to exist
2016 – Ballon d’Or: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo claims award for the 4th time; record winning margin of 429 from Lionel Messi
Category: Historical Events
Historical Events for 11th December 2025
1572 – Spanish troops begin siege of Haarlem
1688 – King James II captured in Kent, after trying to flee to France upon the arrival of William of Orange
1941 – Japanese occupy Guam
1941 – Axis powers Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declare war against the United States
1970 – Start of the 1st Test match at the WACA, Australia v England
1987 – Test debut of Carl Hooper, WI v India at Bombay
1993 – 59th Heisman Trophy Award: Charlie Ward, Florida State (QB)
2017 – Six wildfires in Southern California now cover area larger than New York City and Boston combined
Historical Events for 10th December 2025
1688 – King James II flees London
1768 – The first of 100 weekly “numbers” of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which are bound into three volumes in 1771, is published in Edinburgh, Scotland
1913 – Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore becomes the first non-European to be presented with the Nobel Prize for Literature for “Gitanjali”
1939 – KNVB celebrates 50th anniversary
1954 – Linus Pauling wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its applications
1963 – Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta receive the 1963 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on the technology of high polymers
1971 – West German Chancellor Willy Brandt receives the Nobel Peace Prize
1994 – 60th Heisman Trophy Award: Rashaan Salaam, Colorado (RB)
Historical Events for 9th December 2025
1640 – Settler Hugh Bewitt banished from Mass colony when he declares himself to be free of original sin
1824 – Battle of Ayacucho (Candorcangui), Peru defeats Spain
1907 – First Christmas Seals sold (Wilmington, Delaware, post office)
1967 – Nicolae Ceaușescu becomes President of Romania (overthrown in 1989)
1978 – First game of Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL): Chicago Hustle vs. Milwaukee Does
1990 – 23rd NAACP Image Awards: “Coming to America” wins Outstanding Motion Picture
2012 – The Social Liberal Union Party and Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta win by a landslide in the parliamentary elections
2019 – Chilean Air Force plane lost on flight to Antarctica with presumed loss of 38 lives
Historical Events for 8th December 2025
1914 – Battle of the Falkland Island: British Royal Navy destroys a German battle squadron
1952 – First TV acknowledgment of a pregnancy in the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy is Enceinte,” which incorporates Lucy’s real-life pregnancy into the storyline
1961 – Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain scores 78 points in a 151-147 triple-overtime defeat to the LA Lakers at Philadelphia Civic Center, the third-highest individual game total in NBA history
1982 – “Sophie’s Choice”, directed by Alan J. Pakula and based on William Styton’s 1979 novel of the same name, starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, is released (Academy Awards Best Actress 1983)
2004 – Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the Union of South American Nations
2019 – Sanna Marin becomes Finland’s youngest-ever Prime Minister at the age of 34
2022 – Iran announces first known execution of a protester from recent anti-government unrest, after convicting a man in a revolutionary court of “moharebeh” (enmity against God)
2024 – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad resigns and flees to Moscow after rebel forces sweep into the capital city of Damascus
Historical Events for 7th December 2025
1937 – Russian chess player Alexander Alekhine recaptures his final world title from Dutch grand master Max Euwe by a large margin (+10−4=11)
1941 – Japanese Emperor Hirohito signs a declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire
1966 – A fire at an army barracks in Erzurum, Turkey kills 68 people.
1973 – Orioles sell pitcher Eddie Watt to the Phillies
1988 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Spitak, Armenia, kills 25,000 to 50,000 people and leaves up to 500,000 homeless
2006 – A Tornado strikes Kensal Green in northwest London, seriously damaging around 150 properties
2018 – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is elected the new leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union party, replacing Angela Merkel
2024 – Restored Notre Dame Cathedral re-opens after the 2019 fire with a VIP ceremony attended by world leaders in Paris, France
Historical Events for 6th December 2025
1723 – Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI’s Pragmatic Sanction with the Diet of Hungary recognizes the King’s daughters as successors
1862 – US President Abraham Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux Indians
1903 – Sumatra Atjehs guerilla leader Panglima Polim surrenders
1914 – German troops over run Lodz
1922 – 1st electric power line commercial carrier in US, Utica, NY
1973 – Bahrain’s constitution goes into effect
1984 – Helena Suková snaps Martina Navratilova’s 74-match winning streak 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the semi finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne; ends Navratilova’s hopes of completing the Grand Slam
2022 – Donald Trump’s real estate company Trump Organization convicted of tax fraud in New York
Historical Events for 5th December 2025
1832 – Andrew Jackson re-elected US President after defeating Henry Clay
1859 – Dion Boucicault’s stage melodrama “The Octaroon” opens at The Winter Garden Theatre, NYC
1892 – Anti-semite Hermann Ahlwardt elected to Germany’s Reichstag
1928 – England defeats Australia by record 675 runs at Brisbane
1945 – Dutch Special Council of Annulment affirms death sentence of radio presenter Max Blokzijl for broadcasting Nazi propaganda
1960 – Ghana drops diplomatic relations with Belgium
1983 – LA Dodger pitcher Steve Howe is suspended for 1 year for cocaine use
2019 – Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, announces articles of impeachment against US President Donald Trump will be drawn up for abuse of power
Historical Events for 4th December 2025
1906 – Alpha Phi Alpha, first Black Greek Letter Fraternity, forms
1949 – Duncan Stewart, 2nd British Governor of Sarawak is fatally stabbed in the streets of Sibu by Malay student Rosli Dhoby with help from Morshidi Sidek with the goal of helping neighbouring Indonesia to take over British Sarawak
1971 – The UN Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan
1977 – NFL’s 5,000th game, Cincinnati beats KC 27-7
1982 – China adopts its constitution
1985 – Slobodan Živojinović of Yugoslavia upsets No. 2 seed John McEnroe 2-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the Australian Open quarter finals; leaves McEnroe without a major singles title for the first time since 1978
1994 – 83rd Davis Cup: Sweden beats Russia in Moscow (4-1)
2012 – Miranda Hart wins Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year for “Is It Just Me?” at The British Book Awards
Historical Events for 3rd December 2025
1676 – Battle of Lund (Scanian War): Swedish army of 8,000 defeats much larger joint Danish/Dutch force of 13,000
1912 – Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria sign weapons pact
1933 – Funeral of WWI commander Sir Arthur Currie with 150,000 people lining the streets of Montreal – largest Canadian funeral at the time
1983 – 48th Iron Bowl: Auburn beats Alabama 23-20 in Birmingham
1992 – UN Security Council passes Resolution 794 authorizing US led allied forces to intervene in war-torn Somalia to restore order and allow humanitarian aid to be delivered
2005 – XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California.
2018 – David Attenborough warns collapse of civilisation and the natural world on the horizon at UN climate summit in Poland
2018 – Ballon d’Or: Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modrić wins; first time since 2007 that either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t win award; Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg is inaugural women’s winner