| December on this day... |
| Day | Year | Event |
| 1 | 1878 | 1st White House telephone. |
| | 1896 | 1st certified public accountants receive certificates, New York. |
| | 1913 | 1st drive-up gasoline station opens (Pittsburgh). |
| | 1929 | BINGO invented by Edwin S Lowe. |
| 2 | 1901 | Gillette patents 1st disposable razor. |
| | 1927 | 1st Model A Fords sold, for $385. |
| | 1986 | Desi Arnaz actor (Ricky Ricardo-I Love Lucy), dies at 69. |
| 3 | 1621 | Galileo perfects the telescope. |
| 4 | 1988 | Actor Gary Busey critically injured in motorcycle crash. |
| | 1991 | Judds final concert (Nashville). |
| 5 | 1879 | 1st automatic telephone switching system patented. |
| 6 | 1768 | 1st edition of "Encyclopedia Brittanica" published (Scotland). |
| | 1877 | Washington Post publishes 1st edition. |
| | 1980 | Jim Bakker rapes Jessica Hahn. |
| 7 | 1934 | Wiley Post discovers the jet stream. |
| | 1941 | Japanese attack Pearl Harbor (a date that will live in infamy) 1st Japanese submarine sunk by a US ship (USS Ward). |
| 8 | 1931 | Coaxial cable patented. |
| | 1980 | John Lennon assassinated in New York by Mark David Chapman. |
| 9 | 1963 | Frank Sinatra Jr is kidnapped. |
| | 1992 | Prince Charles & Princess Diana separation announced by British PM. |
| 10 | 1963 | 6 year old Donny Osmond singing debut on the Andy Williams Show. |
| 11 | 1951 | Joe Dimaggio announces his baseball retirement. |
| | 1991 | William Kennedy Smith found not guilty of rape. |
| 12 | 1800 | Washington DC established as capitol of US. |
| | 1913 | "Mona Lisa," recovered (stolen from the Louvre Museum in 1911). |
| | 1953 | Chuck Yeager reaches Mach 2.43 in Bell X-1A rocket plane. |
| 13 | 1964 | In El Paso, TX, LBJ & Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion diverting Rio Grande, to reshape US-Mexico border. |
| 14 | 1799 | George Washington dies at Mt Vernon VA, at 67. |
| 15 | 1939 | World premiere of "Gone With The Wind" in Atlanta GA. |
| | 1966 | Walt Disney animator, dies at 65, put in suspended animation. |
| 16 | 1773 | Big tea party in Boston harbor-Indians welcome. |
| 17 | 1903 | At 10:35 AM, 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight (Orville Wright). |
| | 1965 | Largest newspaper-Sunday New York Times at 946 pages ($0.50). |
| | 1969 | 50m TV viewers saw singer Tiny Tim marry Miss Vicky, on Tonight Show. |
| 18 | 1979 | Stanley Barrett 1st to exceed land sonic speed (739 MPH). |
| 19 | 1972 | Apollo 17 (last of Apollo Moon landing series) returns to Earth. |
| 20 | 1987 | Worst peacetime shipping disaster, Dona Paz collides with Vector 1,749 confirmed deaths (probably closer to 3,000). |
| 21 | 1913 | 1st crossword puzzle (with 32 clues) printed in New York World. |
| | 1914 | 1st feature-length silent film comedy, "Tillie's Punctured Romance" released. (Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand & Charles Chaplin). |
| | 1937 | 1st feature-length color & sound cartoon premiers (Snow White). |
| | 1945 | George S Patton General, dies in a car accident in Heidelberg. |
| | 1954 | Dr Sam Sheppard's wife Marilyn is murdered (he is accused of crime). |
| | 1978 | Police in Des Plaines IL, arrested John W Gacy Jr for murder. |
| 22 | 1990 | Iraq announces it will never give up Kuwait. |
| 23 | 1972 | Charles Atlas Body builder dies at 79. |
| 24 | 1818 | "Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; 1st sung next day. |
| | 1956 | "I Love Lucy" Christmas show airs, never put in syndication. |
| | 1964 | Shooting begins on "The Cage" the pilot for Star Trek. |
| 25 | 1 | 1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus. |
| | 1977 | Charlie Chaplin dies in Switzerland at 88. |
| 26 | 1946 | Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas opens (start of an era). |
| | 1972 | Harry Truman 33rd US President dies at 88 in Kansas City, Mo. |
| | 1974 | Jack Benny comedian (Jack Benny Show), dies at 80. |
| 27 | 1932 | Radio City Music Hall opens (New York NY). |
| | 1947 | 1st "Howdy Doody Show," (Puppet Playhouse), telecast on NBC. |
| 28 | 1968 | Beatles' "Beatles-The White Album," goes #1 & stays #1 for 9 weeks. |
| 29 | 1867 | 1st telegraph ticker used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck & Co, New York. |
| | 1891 | Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio). |
| 30 | 1924 | Edwin Hubble announces existence of other galactic systems. |
| 31 | 1907 | For the 1st time a ball drops at Times Square to signal the new year. |
| | 1961 | 1st performance of the Beach Boys. |
| | 1985 | Rick Nelson singer/actor (Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet), dies at 45. |