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On This Day in History — December 1

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Highlights of December 1

2019 — Vivianne Miedema scored six goals and had four assists for Arsenal W.F.C. in their 11–1 victory over Bristol City W.F.C., which broke the record for the most goals scored in a FA Women's Super League match. Read more
1991 — A referendum held to ratify the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine passed with more than 92 percent of the vote. Read more
1988 — Five armed men hijacked a bus carrying schoolchildren and a teacher in Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz, Russia), and were later given an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft and ransom for the release of the hostages. Read more
1974 — Two Boeing 727s, TWA Flight 514 and Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231, crashed in the eastern United States in unrelated circumstances, killing 95 people on board both aircraft. Read more
1971 — A period of political and economic reforms in the Socialist Republic of Croatia came to an end as the League of Communists of Yugoslavia decided to purge the state's reformist leadership. Read more
1966 — The Pit, one of U.S. college basketball's premier arenas, opened on the campus of the University of New Mexico. Read more
1966 — The first Gävle goat, a Swedish Yule goat tradition, was constructed in Gävle and then burned to the ground on New Year's Eve. Read more
1959 — Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty, the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, banning military activity in the Antarctic and setting the continent aside as a scientific preserve. Read more
1958 — The musical Flower Drum Song by Rodgers and Hammerstein premiered on Broadway. Read more
1955 — Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott. Read more
1953 — American men's magazine Playboy was founded in Chicago by Hugh Hefner and his associates. Read more
1948 — In "one of Australia's most profound mysteries", the body of an unidentified man was found on Somerton beach in Adelaide, a case which remains unsolved. Read more
1941 — The Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force, was founded. Read more
1934 — Soviet politician Sergei Kirov was assassinated at the Smolny Institute in Leningrad. Read more
1923 — The Gleno Dam in the Italian province of Bergamo failed due to poor workmanship, flooding the downstream valley and killing at least 356 people. Read more
1918 — With the signing of the Act of Union, Denmark recognized the Kingdom of Iceland as a fully sovereign state in personal union through a common monarch. Read more
1828 — Returning to Buenos Aires with troops who fought in the Cisplatine War, Juan Lavalle (pictured) deposed provincial governor Manuel Dorrego, reigniting the Argentine Civil Wars. Read more
1822 — Pedro I was crowned the first emperor of Brazil, seven weeks after his reign began on his 24th birthday. Read more
1800 — French Revolutionary Wars: Austrian forces, led by Archduke John of Austria, defeated two divisions of the French First Republic, led by Paul Grenier, at the Battle of Ampfing. Read more

Events

2020 — The Arecibo Telescope collapses. Read more
2019 — Arsenal Women 11–1 Bristol City Women breaks the record for most goals scored in a FA Women's Super League match, with Vivianne Miedema involved in ten of the eleven Arsenal goals. Read more
2019 — The outbreak of coronavirus infection begins in Wuhan. Read more
2018 — The Oulu Police informed the public about the first offence of the much larger child sexual exploitation in Oulu, Finland. Read more
2011 — The Alma-Ata Metro was opened. Read more
2009 — The Treaty of Lisbon entered into force in the European Union. Read more
2006 — The law on same-sex marriage comes into force in South Africa, legalizing same-sex marriage for the first time on the African continent. Read more
2005 — As a result of the merger of the Perm Oblast and the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug, a new subject of the Russian Federation, the Perm Krai, was created. Read more
2001 — The United Russia political party was founded. Read more
2000 — Vicente Fox Quesada is inaugurated as the president of Mexico, marking the first peaceful transfer of executive federal power to an opposing political party following a free and democratic election in Mexico's history. Read more
1997 — In the Indian state of Bihar, Ranvir Sena attacks the CPI (ML) Party Unity stronghold Lakshmanpur-Bathe, killing 63 lower-caste people. Read more
1997 — Fourteen-year-old Michael Carneal opens fire at a group of students in Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, killing three and injuring five. Read more
1991 — Cold War: Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approve a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union. Read more
1990 — Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet beneath the seabed. Read more
1989 — Philippine coup attempt: The right-wing military rebel Reform the Armed Forces Movement attempts to oust Philippine President Corazon Aquino in a failed bloody coup d'état. Read more
1989 — Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the Communist Party the leading role in the state. Read more
1988 — World AIDS Day is proclaimed worldwide by the UN member states. Read more
1988 — Benazir Bhutto, is named as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first female leader to lead a Muslim nation. Read more
1984 — NASA conducts the Controlled Impact Demonstration, wherein an airliner is deliberately crashed in order to test technologies and gather data to help improve survivability of crashes. Read more
1981 — Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, crashes in Corsica, killing all 180 people on board. Read more
1974 — TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727, crashes northwest of Dulles International Airport, killing all 92 people on board. Read more
1974 — Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231, another Boeing 727, crashes northwest of John F. Kennedy International Airport. Read more
1973 — Papua New Guinea gains self-government from Australia. Read more
1971 — Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray. Read more
1971 — Purge of Croatian Spring leaders starts in Yugoslavia at the meeting of the League of Communists at the Karađorđevo estate. Read more
1969 — Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II. Read more
1964 — Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam. Read more
1963 — Nagaland, became the 16th state of India. Read more
1960 — Patrice Lumumba is arrested by Mobutu Sese Seko's men on the banks of the Sankuru River, for inciting the army to rebellion. Read more
1959 — Cold War: Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent. Read more
1958 — The Central African Republic attains self-rule within the French Union. Read more
1958 — The Our Lady of the Angels School fire in Chicago kills 92 children and three nuns. Read more
1955 — American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to that city's bus boycott. Read more
1952 — The New York Daily News reports the news of Christine Jorgensen, the first notable case of sex reassignment surgery. Read more
1941 — World War II: Emperor Hirohito of Japan gives his tacit approval to the decision of the imperial council to initiate war against the United States. Read more
1941 — World War II: Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the Office of Civilian Defense, signs Administrative Order 9, creating the Civil Air Patrol. Read more
1939 — World War II: A day after the beginning of the Winter War in Finland, the Cajander III Cabinet resigns and is replaced by the Ryti I Cabinet, while the Finnish Parliament move from Helsinki to Kauhajoki to escape the Soviet airstrikes. Read more
1939 — The Soviet Union establishes the Finnish Democratic Republic puppet state in Terijoki. Read more
1934 — Sergei Kirov is assassinated, paving way for the repressive Great Purge, and Vinnytsia massacre by General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin. Read more
1924 — The National Hockey League's first United States–based franchise, the Boston Bruins, plays their first game in league play at home, at the still-extant Boston Arena indoor hockey facility. Read more
1924 — A Soviet-backed communist 1924 Estonian coup d'état attempt fails in Estonia. Read more
1919 — Lady Astor becomes the first female Member of Parliament (MP) to take her seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. (She had been elected to that position on November 28.) Read more
1918 — Transylvania unites with Romania, following the incorporation of Bessarabia (March 27) and Bukovina (November 28) and thus concluding the Great Union. Read more
1918 — Iceland becomes a sovereign state, yet remains a part of the Danish kingdom. Read more
1918 — The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is proclaimed. Read more
1916 — An armed confrontation in Athens between the Kingdom of Greece and the Allied Powers, arising from a dispute over Greece's neutrality in World War I, followed by reprisals and riots against Greek supporters of the Allies marking the height of the National Schism. Read more
1913 — The Buenos Aires Metro, the first underground railway system in the Southern Hemisphere and in Latin America, begins operation. Read more
1913 — Crete, having obtained self rule from Turkey after the First Balkan War, is annexed by Greece. Read more
1900 — Nicaragua sells canal rights to U.S. for $5 million. The canal agreement fails in March 1901. Great Britain rejects the amended treaty.
1878 — President Rutherford B. Hayes gets the first telephone installed in the White House. Read more
1865 — Shaw University, the first historically black university in the southern United States, is founded in Raleigh, North Carolina. Read more
1862 — American Civil War: In his second State of the Union Address, President Abraham Lincoln reaffirms the necessity of ending slavery as ordered ten weeks earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation. Read more
1834 — Slavery is abolished in the Cape Colony in accordance with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Read more
1828 — Argentine general Juan Lavalle makes a coup against governor Manuel Dorrego, beginning the Decembrist revolution. Read more
1824 — United States presidential election: Since no candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the United States House of Representatives is given the task of deciding the winner in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Read more
1822 — Pedro I is crowned Emperor of Brazil. Read more
1821 — José Núñez de Cáceres wins the independence of the Dominican Republic from Spain and names the new territory the Republic of Spanish Haiti. Read more
1768 — The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøya in Norway. Read more
1662 — Diarist John Evelyn records skating on the frozen lake in St James's Park, London, watched by Charles II and Queen Catherine. Read more
1640 — End of the Iberian Union: Portugal acclaims as King João IV of Portugal, ending 59 years of personal union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain and the end of the rule of the Philippine Dynasty. Read more

Born on December 1

2008 — Ella Gross, American singer, model and actress Read more
2003 — Robert Irwin, Australian conservationist and television personality Read more
2001 — Carole Monnet, French tennis player Read more
1999 — Lloyd Pope, Australian cricketer Read more
1999 — Nico Schlotterbeck, German footballer Read more
1997 — Sada Williams, Barbadian sprinter Read more
1997 — Jung Chae-yeon, South Korean actress and singer Read more
1995 — Agnė Čepelytė, Lithuanian tennis player Read more
1995 — Jenna Fife, Scottish footballer Read more
1995 — James Wilson, English footballer Read more
1994 — Seedy Njie, English footballer Read more
1993 — Beau Webster, Australian cricketer Read more
1992 — Masahudu Alhassan, Ghanaian footballer Read more
1992 — Javier Báez, Puerto Rican baseball player Read more
1992 — Linos Chrysikopoulos, Greek basketball player Read more
1992 — Gary Payton II, American basketball player Read more
1992 — Marco van Ginkel, Dutch footballer Read more
1991 — Rakeem Christmas, American basketball player Read more
1991 — Hilda Melander, Swedish tennis player Read more
1991 — Sun Yang, Chinese swimmer Read more
1990 — Tomáš Tatar, Slovak ice hockey player Read more
1989 — Sotelúm, Mexican trumpet player, composer, and producer Read more
1988 — Tyler Joseph, American musician and singer Read more
1988 — Zoë Kravitz, American actress, singer, and model Read more
1988 — Dan Mavraides, Greek-American basketball player Read more
1988 — Michael Raffl, Austrian ice hockey player Read more
1987 — Tabarie Henry, Virgin Islander sprinter Read more
1987 — Vance Joy, Australian singer-songwriter Read more
1986 — DeSean Jackson, American football player Read more
1985 — Philip DeFranco, American media host and YouTube personality Read more
1985 — Ilfenesh Hadera, American actress Read more
1985 — Janelle Monáe, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Read more
1985 — Emiliano Viviano, Italian footballer Read more
1984 — Charles Michael Davis, American actor Read more
1984 — Yolandi Visser, South African rapper and actress Read more
1982 — Riz Ahmed, English actor and rapper Read more
1982 — Christos Kalantzis, Greek footballer Read more
1982 — Christos Melissis, Greek footballer Read more
1981 — Park Hyo-shin, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor Read more
1981 — I Made Wirawan, Indonesian footballer Read more

Died on December 1

2024 — Terry Griffiths, Welsh snooker player and coach (born 1947) Read more
2024 — Ian Redpath, Australian cricketer and coach (born 1941) Read more
2023 — Sandra Day O'Connor, first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1981–2006) (born 1930) Read more
2022 — Gaylord Perry, American baseball player and coach (born 1938) Read more
2020 — Arnie Robinson, American athlete (born 1948) Read more
2019 — Paula Tilbrook, English actress (born 1930) Read more
2018 — Vivian Lynn, New Zealand artist (born 1931) Read more
2018 — Ken Berry, American actor, dancer, and singer (born 1933) Read more
2015 — Rob Blokzijl, Dutch physicist and computer scientist (born 1943) Read more
2015 — Joseph Engelberger, American physicist and engineer (born 1925) Read more
2015 — Jim Loscutoff, American basketball player (born 1930) Read more
2015 — Trevor Obst, Australian footballer and coach (born 1940) Read more
2014 — Mario Abramovich, Argentinian violinist and composer (born 1926) Read more
2014 — Dimitrios Trichopoulos, Greek epidemiologist, oncologist, and academic (born 1938) Read more
2014 — Rocky Wood, New Zealand-Australian author (born 1959) Read more
2013 — Richard Coughlan, English drummer (born 1947) Read more
2013 — Stirling Colgate, American physicist and academic (born 1925) Read more
2013 — Edward Heffron, American soldier (born 1923) Read more
2013 — Martin Sharp, Australian cartoonist and songwriter (born 1942) Read more
2012 — Jovan Belcher, American football player (born 1987) Read more
2012 — Arthur Chaskalson, South African lawyer and judge, 18th Chief Justice of South Africa (born 1931) Read more
2012 — Rick Majerus, American basketball player and coach (born 1948) Read more
2012 — Ed Price, American soldier, pilot, and politician (born 1918) Read more
2012 — Israel Keyes, American serial killer (born 1978) Read more
2011 — Christa Wolf, German author and critic (born 1929) Read more
2010 — Adriaan Blaauw, Dutch astronomer and academic (born 1914) Read more
2010 — Hillard Elkins, American actor and producer (born 1929) Read more
2008 — Paul Benedict, American actor (born 1938) Read more
2008 — Joseph B. Wirthlin, American businessman and religious leader (born 1917) Read more
2007 — Ken McGregor, Australian tennis player and footballer (born 1929) Read more
2007 — Anton Rodgers, British actor (born 1933) Read more
2007 — Ivo Rojnica, Croatian-Argentine war crimes suspect, businessman, diplomat, and intelligence agent (born 1915) Read more
2006 — Claude Jade, French actress (born 1948) Read more
2006 — Bruce Trigger, Canadian archaeologist, anthropologist, and historian (born 1937) Read more
2005 — Gust Avrakotos, American CIA officer (born 1938) Read more
2005 — Mary Hayley Bell, English actress and playwright (born 1911) Read more
2005 — Freeman V. Horner, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1922) Read more
2004 — Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (born 1911) Read more
2004 — Bill Brown, Scottish footballer (born 1931) Read more
2004 — Norman Newell, English record producer and lyricist (born 1919) Read more

Holidays & observances

Battle of the Sinop Day (Russia); Christian feast day: Alexander Briant; Christian feast day: Ansanus; Christian feast day: Blessed Bruna Pellesi; Christian feast day: Castritian; Christian feast day: Charles de Foucauld; Christian feast day: Edmund Campion; Christian feast day: Eligius; Christian feast day: Evasius; Christian feast day: Grwst; Christian feast day: Nahum; Christian feast day: Nicholas Ferrar (Episcopal Church); Christian feast day: Ralph Sherwin; Christian feast day: Ursicinus of Brescia; Christian feast day: December 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics); Damrong Rajanubhab Day (Thailand); First President Day (Kazakhstan); Freedom and Democracy Day (Chad); Great Union Day, celebrates the union of Transylvania with Romania in 1918 (Romania); Military Abolition Day (Costa Rica); National Day (Myanmar); Republic Day (Central African Republic); Restoration of Independence Day (Portugal); Rosa Parks Day (Ohio and Oregon, United States); Self-governance Day or Fullveldisdagurinn (Iceland); Teachers' Day (Panama); World AIDS Day, and its related observances: Day Without Art

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Events, births and deaths from Wikipedia contributors, “December 1”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Lists are selections; the full record lives at the source.