| 1492 |
|
Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Santo Domingo in search of gold. |
| 1776 |
|
Phi Beta Kappa, the first scholastic fraternity, is founded at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. |
| 1812 |
|
The majority of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grand Armeé staggers into Vilna, Lithuania, ending the failed Russian campaign. |
| 1861 |
|
Union General George G. Meade leads a foraging expedition to Gunnell’s farm near Dranesville, Virginia. |
| 1862 |
|
President Abraham Lincoln orders the hanging of 39 of the 303 convicted Indians who participated in the Sioux Uprising in Minnesota. They are to be hanged on December 26. |
| 1863 |
|
The monitor Weehawken sinks in Charleston Harbor. |
| 1876 |
|
Jack McCall is convicted for the murder of Wild Bill Hickok and sentenced to hang. |
| 1877 |
|
Thomas A. Edison makes the first sound recording when he recites "Mary had a Little Lamb" into his phonograph machine. |
| 1906 |
|
Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge flies a powered, man-carrying kite that carries him 168 feet in the air for seven minutes at Baddeck, Nova Scotia. |
| 1917 |
|
The Bolsheviks imprison Czar Nicholas II and his family in Tobolsk. |
| 1921 |
|
Ireland’s 26 southern counties become independent from Britain forming the Irish Free State. |
| 1922 |
|
Benito Mussolini threatens Italian newspapers with censorship if they keep reporting "false" information. |
| 1934 |
|
American Ambassador Davis says Japan is a grave security threat in the Pacific. |
| 1938 |
|
France and Germany sign a treaty of friendship. |
| 1939 |
|
Britain agrees to send arms to Finland, which is fighting off a Soviet invasion. |
| 1941 |
|
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues a personal appeal to Emperor Hirohito to use his influence to avoid war. |
| 1945 |
|
The United States extends a $3 billion loan to Great Britain to help compensate for the termination of the Lend-Lease agreement. |
| 1947 |
|
Florida’s Everglades National Park is established. |
| 1948 |
|
The "Pumpkin Spy Papers" are found on the Maryland farm of Whittaker Chambers. They become evidence that State Department employee Alger Hiss is spying for the Soviet Union. |
| 1976 |
|
Democrat Tip O’Neill is elected speaker of the House of Representatives. He will serve the longest consecutive term as speaker. |
| Born on December 6 |
| 1421 |
|
Henry VI, the youngest king of England to accede to the throne (only 269 days old). |
| 1886 |
|
Joyce Kilmer, American poet, best known for "Trees." |
| 1896 |
|
Ira Gershwin, American lyricist and musical collaborator with his brother George. |
| 1898 |
|
Alfred Eisenstaedt, photojournalist. |
| 1898 |
|
Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist and sociologist. |
| 1901 |
|
Eliot Porter, nature photographer. |
| 1920 |
|
Dave Brubeck, jazz pianist and composer. |
| 1942 |
|
Peter Handke, playwright and poet. |
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