1809 – British invasionary troop leaves Vlissingen
1865 – James H Mason (Mass) patents 1st US coffee percolator
1917 – US Federal government took over operation of American railroads for duration of WW I
1918 – After spending Christmas with American troops in France, Wilson goes to London for preliminary discussions about the forthcoming peace conference
1962 – Dmitri Shostakovich’s opera “Katerina Ismailova” premieres in Moscow
1976 – The Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) is founded.
1977 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1991 – Chuck Knolls retires as NFL coach after 23 years
2001 – Crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) record one of their largest 1-day jumps of the year as traders become convinced that OPEC will follow through on production cuts
2005 – Boxing Day shooting on a busy shopping street in Toronto.