History of 1st December


772 - Pope Adrian I elected
800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican.
1167 - Northern Italian towns form Lombardi League
1420 - Henry V of England enters Paris.
1566 - Spanish king Philip II names Fernando Alvarez, duke of Alva
1626 - Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh tyrannical gov of Jerusalem, driven out
1640 - Portugal regains independence after 60 years of Spanish rule
1641 - Mass becomes 1st colony to give statutory recognition to slavery
1653 - An athlete from Croydon is reported to have run 20 miles from St Albans to London in less than 90 minutes
1656 - Germany promises Poland aid against Sweden
1708 - Great Alliance occupies Brussels
1742 - Empress Elisabeth orders expulsion of all Jews from Russia
1750 - 1st American school to offer manual training courses opens, Md
1768 - The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøy in Norway.
1783 - Charles & M N Roberts ascend 2,000' in hydrogen balloon
1783 - J van North launches unmanned balloon
1804 - Emperor Napoleon marries Josephine of Martinique
1821 - Santo Domingo (Dominican Rep) proclaims independence from Spain
1822 - Dom Pedro crowned emperor of Brazil
1822 - Franz Liszts (11) debut as pianist Isabella Colbran
1824 - House of Reps begins to end election deadlock between JQ Adams
1824 - Jackson, WH Crawford & H Clay Adams eventually declared president
1831 - Erie Canal closes for entire month due to cold weather
1835 - Hans Christian Andersen published his 1st book of fairy tales
1843 - 1st chartered mutual life insurance company opens
1852 - Telegraph company opens throughout Netherlands
1864 - Raid at Stoneman: Knoxville, TN to Saltville, VA
1864 - Skirmish at Millen Brutal, Georgia
1868 - John D Rockefeller begins anti oil war
1878 - 1st White House telephone installed
1884 - American Old West: Near Frisco, New Mexico, deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texan cowboys who want to kill him for arresting Charles McCarthy.
1887 - Sherlock Holmes 1st appears in print: "Study in Scarlet"
1887 - Sino-Portuguese treaty recognizes Portugal's control of Macao
1891 - James Naismith creates the game of basketball
1896 - 1st certified public accountants receive certificates (NY)
1900 - South African president Paul Kruger visits Flanders
1903 - "The Great Train Robbery," the 1st Western film, released
1906 - Cinema Omnia Pathe, world's 1st cinema, opens (Paris)
1906 - Shoemaker Wilhelm Voigt (Capt of Köpenick) sentenced to 4 yrs
1909 - 1st Christmas Club payment made, to Carlisle Trust Co, Pa
1909 - 1st Israeli kibbutz founded, Deganya Alef
1913 - 1st drive-up gasoline station opens (Pitts)
1913 - Continuous moving assembly line introduced by Ford (car every 2:38)
1917 - Boys Town founded by Father Edward Flanagan west of Omaha Neb
1918 - Danish parliament passed an act to grant Iceland independence
1918 - Iceland becomes independent state under Danish crown
1918 - Serbian-Croatian-Slovic kingdom proclaimed in Belgrade
1918 - Yugoslavia declares independence; monarchy established
1919 - AA Milne's "Mr Pim Passes By," premieres in Manchester
1919 - Lady Nancy Astor sworn-in as 1st female member of British Parliament
1921 - 1st US helium-filled dirigible makes 1st flight
1921 - US Post Office establishes philatelic agency
1922 - 1st skywriting over US-"Hello USA"-by Capt Turner, RAF
1922 - Polish state chief marshal Jozef Pilsudski, resigns
1923 - CFL Grey Cup: Queen's U beats Regina, 54-0 at Toronto
1924 - Calles becomes president of Mexico
1924 - George/Ira Gershwin's musical "Lady Be Good," premieres in NYC
1925 - Treaty of Locarno signed
1928 - CFL Grey Cup: Ham Tigers beats Regina, 30-0 at Hamilton
1928 - Railroad museum opens in Utrecht Neth
1929 - Game of Bingo invented by Edwin S Lowe
1930 - NHL drops 20 minute slashing-about-the-head penalty
1930 - Ruth Nichols becomes 1st woman pilot to cross continent
1931 - Ottawa branch of Royal Mint begins operation as Royal Canadian Mint
1933 - Rudolf Hess & Earnest Rohm become a minister in Hitler govt
1934 - Leningrad mayor Sergey Kirov assassinated, used by Stalin as the excuse to begin the Great Purge of 1934-38.
1935 - Austria has world's 1st Day of Postage Stamp
1936 - 2nd Heisman Trophy Award: Larry Kelley, Yale (E)
1936 - Bell Labs tests coaxial cable for TV use
1936 - EW Brundin & FF Lyon obtain patent on soilless culture of plants
1937 - Japan recognizes Franco govt
1938 - School bus & train collide in Salt Lake City Utah
1939 - SS-Fuhrer Himmler begins deportation of Polish Jews
1941 - British cruiser Devonshire sinks German sub Python
1941 - Japanese emperor Hirohito signs declaration of war
1941 - Last day of first-class cricket in Australia for 4 years
1941 - US Civil Air Patrol (CAP) organizes
1942 - Gasoline rationed in US
1943 - FDR, Churchill & Stalin agree to Operation Overlord (D-Day)
1944 - Béla Bartòk's Concerto for orchestra, premieres
1944 - Mail routing resumes in free South Netherlands
1944 - Prokofjev's 8th Piano sonata, premieres
1945 - CFL Grey Cup: Toronto beats Winnipeg, 35-0 at Toronto
1946 - Australia compile 645 v India at the Gabba (Bradman 187)
1947 - Bradman scores 185 in the 1st Cricket Test v India at the Gabba
1947 - India cricket all out for 58 v Australia at the Gabba, Toshack 5-2
1948 - Arabic Congress names Abdullah of Trans Jordan, King of Palestine
1948 - Piet Roozenburg becomes world champion checker player
1949 - WBNG TV channel 12 in Binghamton, NY (CBS) begins broadcasting
1949 - WKTV TV channel 2 in Utica, NY (NBC) begins broadcasting
1951 - 17th Heisman Trophy Award: Dick Kazmaier, Princeton (HB)
1951 - Benjamin Britten's opera "Billy Budd," premieres in London
1951 - Golden Gate Bridge closes due to high winds
1952 - The New York Daily News reports the first successful sexual reassignment operation.
1953 - Red Sox trade M McDermott & Tom Umphlett for Wash's Jackie Jensen
1953 - WAIM (now WAXA) TV channel 40 in Anderson, SC (IND) 1st broadcast
1953 - WCSH TV channel 6 in Portland, ME (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 - Walter Alston named Dodger manager
1954 - Nationalist China & US sign dike agreement
1954 - Yanks send Miller, Segrist, Leppert & 2 minors to Orioles for Blayzka, Kryhoski, Johnson, Fridley & Del Guercio (completing 18 player deal)

1955 - Rosa Parks (black) arrested for refusing to move to the back of bus
1956 - "Candide" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 73 performances
1956 - Alain Mimoun wins 13th Olympics marathon (2:25:00.0)
1956 - Frank Robinson (NL) & Luis Aparicio (AL) voted Rookie of the Year
1956 - Indonesian VP Mohammed Hatta, resigns
1957 - Sam Cooke and Buddy Holly and Crickets debut on Ed Sullivan Show
1958 - "Flower Drum Song" opens at St James Theater NYC for 602 performances
1958 - Central African Rep made autonomous member of Fr Comm (Natl Day)
1958 - Our Lady of Angels School burns, killing 92 students & 3 nuns (Chic)
1959 - 12 nations sign treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica
1959 - 1st color photograph of Earth from outer space
1959 - 25th Heisman Trophy Award: Billy Cannon, LSU (HB)
1959 - The 1st color photograph of Earth received from outer space
1960 - Patrice Lumumba caught in the Congo
1960 - Paul McCartney and Pete Best arrested then deported from Hamburg, Germany for accusation of attempted arson.
1961 - The independent Republic of West Papua is proclaimed in modern-day Western New Guinea.
1962 - Grey Cup halted by fog, resumed next day (Winnipeg 28, Hamilton 27)
1962 - KGMB TV channel 9 in Honolulu, HI (CBS) begins broadcasting
1963 - NY Jets 1st shutout, beat KC 17-0
1963 - Nagaland becomes a state of Indian union
1964 - Houston Colt .45s change name to Astros
1964 - ML King speaks to J Edgar Hoover about his slander campaign
1965 - Airlift of refugees from Cuba to US began
1965 - South Africa govt says children of white fathers are white
1966 - Georg Kiesinger elected West German chancellor
1966 - Radio time signal WWV moves from Greenbelt, Md to Boulder, Colo
1967 - Pacific Northwest Sports awarded AL expansion franchise (Seattle)
1967 - Queen Elizabeth inaugurates 98-inch (249-cm) Isaac Newton telescope
1967 - Seattle awarded one of the 2 AL expansion franchise teams
1967 - Wilt Chamberlain set NBA record of 22 free throws misses
1968 - "Promises Promises" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 1281 performances
1968 - Burt Bacharach/Hal David's musical premieres in NYC
1968 - Gonzalo Barrios elected pres of Venezuela
1968 - Peggy Wilson wins LPGA Hollywood Lakes Golf Open
1968 - Pirate Radio Modern (259) (England) begins transmitting
1969 - US govt holds its 1st draft lottery since WW II
1970 - Luis Echeverria Alvarez sworn in as president of Mexico
1970 - NHL takes control of Pittsburgh Penguins
1970 - Independent People's Republic of South Yemen becomes People Democratic Republic of Yemen
1971 - "2 Gentlemen of Verona" opens at St James Theater NYC for 613 perfs
1971 - Cubs release Ernie Banks & sign him as a coach
1971 - Galt MacDermot/John Guare's "2 gentlemen of Verona," premieres in NYC
1971 - John & Yoko release "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in US
1971 - People's Republic of South Yemen renames itself People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
1971 - Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.
1972 - Wings release "Hi, Hi, Hi" in UK
1973 - Australia grants self-government to Papua New Guinea
1973 - Jack Nicklaus becomes 1st golfer to earn $2M in a year
1973 - Jan Ferraris wins LPGA-Japan Golf Classic
1973 - Stan Stasiak beats Pedro Morales in Philadelphia, to become WWF champ
1974 - Boeing 727 crashes in Upperville Virginia, 92 died
1974 - Jacqueline Hansen runs female world record marathon (2:43:54.5)
1974 - LA Skid Row slasher kills 1st of 8
1975 - US president Gerald Ford visits China PR
1976 - Angola admitted to UN
1976 - Bangladesh General Ziaur Rahman declares himself president
1976 - Sex Pistols using profanity on TV, gets them branded as "rotten punks"
1978 - Pres Carter more than doubles national park system size
1978 - Test Cricket debut of Rodney Hogg, v England at the Gabba
1978 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1980 - 46th Heisman Trophy Award: George Rogers, South Carolina (RB)
1980 - Mel Harris appears on M*A*S*H in "Cementing Relationships"
1980 - US Justice Dept sues Yonkers siting racial discrimination
1981 - 180 dies as Yugoslav DC-9 jetliner slams into a mountain
1981 - Yugoslavic DC-9 crashes into mountain at Corsica, 174 killed
1981 - The AIDS virus is officially recognized.
1982 - Dentist Barney B Clark gets 1st artificial heart
1982 - Michael Jackson releases "Thriller"
1982 - Miguel de la Madrid inaugurated as pres of Mexico
1983 - Rita Lavelle, former head of EPA, convicted of perjury
1984 - 50th Heisman Trophy Award: Doug Flutie, Boston College (QB)
1984 - France performs nuclear test
1984 - Greg Page KOs Gerrie Coetzee in 8 for WBA heavyweight boxing title
1985 - Noraly Beyer becomes Neth's 1st black TV newscaster
1985 - STS 61-C vehicle moves to launch pad
1985 - South Africa's Cosatu union centre forms
1986 - Muséed'orsay opens in Paris
1986 - Paul McCartney releases "Only Love Remains"
1987 - Digging begins to link England & France under English Channel
1988 - 596 dead after cyclone hits Bangladesh, half a million homeless
1988 - Benazir Bhutto named 1st female PM of a Moslem country (Pakistan)
1988 - Chinese minister of Foreign affairs Qian Qichen visits Moscow
1988 - NBC bids record $401M to capture rights to 1992 Barcelona Olympics
1988 - NY Islanders greatest shutout lose (8-0) vs St Louis Blues
1989 - "Day Without Art"-Artists demonstrate against AIDS
1989 - East Germany drops communist monopoly from its constitution
1989 - Mark Langston signs record $3.2 million per year Cal Angels contract
1989 - USSR Pres Mikhail S Gorbachev meets Pope John Paul II at the Vatican
1990 - 56th Heisman Trophy Award: Ty Detmer, Brigham Young (QB)
1990 - British & French workers meet in English Channel's tunnel (Chunnel)
1990 - Hissène Habré of Chad flees to Cameroon
1990 - Iraq accepts Bush's offer for talks
1990 - Lithuania, Estonia & Latvia hold their 1st joint session
1990 - NY Knicks Patrick Ewing scores 50 points beating Charlotte 113-96
1991 - "Moscow Circus Cirk Valentin" closes at Gershwin NYC after 32 perfs
1991 - "Once on this Island" closes at Booth Theater NYC after 469 perfs
1991 - 80th Davis Cup: France beats USA in Lyon (3-1)
1991 - AIDS awareness day
1991 - Colorado party wins Paraguay parliamentary election
1991 - Nursultan Nazarbayev sworn in as president of Kazakhstan

1991 - US 75th manned space mission "STS 44" Atlantis 10 lands
1991 - Ukrainian people vote for independence
1992 - 2 C-141B Starlifters collide in Montana & crash, 13 die
1992 - Amy Fisher sentenced 5-15 yrs for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco
1993 - Northwest Airlink plane crashes in Minn, killing 18
1994 - 3 Seattle Seahawks injured in a car accident
1994 - Cindy Crawford & Richard Gere announce they are seperating
1994 - Ernesto Zedillo innaugrated as president of Mexico
1994 - PTL leader Jim Bakker released from jail
1994 - Rober Schumanns 2nd Symphony premieres in London
1996 - 85th Davis Cup: France beats Sweden in Malmo (3-2)
1996 - Lance Klusener takes 8-64 in debut Test Cricket to trounce India
1997 - GS Warrior guard Latrell Sprewell, attacks his coach P J Carlesimo
1997 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Davenport IA on KORB 93.5 FM
1997 - Westinghouse formally changes its name to CBS
1998 - Exxon announces a $73.7 billion USD deal to buy Mobil, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest company.
2001 - Captain Bill Compton brings Trans World Airlines Flight 220, an MD-83, into St. Louis International Airport bringing to an end 76 years of TWA operations following TWA’s purchase by American Airlines.