What happened on this day in Christmas seasons past? What happened on one of the shortest days of the year (Northern Hemisphere) or longest (Southern Hemisphere)? What was Sir Francis Drake up to in 1577?
About December
December is the twelfth and last month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. December gets its name from the Latin, decem meaning "ten," its position in the earlier Roman calendar.
Holidays and Observances in December
- December 1 - Beginning of the meteorological winter (Northern Hemisphere)
- December 1 - World AIDS Day
- December 5 - Sinterklaas (Netherlands)
- December 6 - Saint Nicholas Day (Greece)
- December 7 - Pearl Harbor Day (U.S.)
- December 7 - Letter Writing Day
- December 8 - Day of the Mary Immaculate Conception
- December 10 - Human Rights Day
- December 10 - Nobel Prizes Awarded
- December 12 - Poinsettia Day
- December 15 - Bill of Rights Day
- December 20 - Hanukkah (December 20-28)
- December 21 - First Day of Winter
- December 22 - Yule Solstice (December 20-22)
- December 23 - Festivus
- December 23 - HumanLight
- December 25 - Christmas
- December 26 - Kwanzaa
- December 26 - Boxing Day
- December 26 - Day of Goodwill
- December 31 - New Year's Eve
Historical Events in December
There's more to December than the holidays.
- December 8, 65 BC - Birth of Horace, Roman poet.
- December 8, 1542 - Birth of Mary, Queen of Scots.
- December 13, 1577 - Sir Francis Drake set out from Plymouth, England on his round-the-world voyage.
- December 28, 1612 - Galileo became first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune.
- December 18, 1787 - New Jersey became third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
- December 1, 1834 - Slavery abolished in the Cape Colony in accordance with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
- December 12, 1851 - Death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, first ambassador to Mexico, who brought Poinsettia plants to his U.S. plantation.
- December 1, 1885 - First serving of Dr. Pepper at a drug store in Waco, Texas.
- December 1, 1913 - Ford Motor Company introduced the first moving assembly line.
- December 23, 1913 - Federal Reserve Act signed into law.
- December 7, 1941 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt declared "a date which will live in infamy," the U.S. and China declared war on Japan.
- December 8, 1953 - U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his "Atoms for Peace" speech.
- December 1, 1955 - Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat and was arrested.
- December 18, 1966 - Richard Walker discovered Saturn's moon Epimetheus.
- December 8, 1980 - John Lennon, musician and peace activist, killed by a fan.
- December 1, 1981 - The AIDS virus was officially recognized.
- December 18, 1996 - The Oakland, Calif. school board declared "Ebonics" an official language dialect.
December is filled with holidays from Sinterklaas to Festivus, but it's also important for several memorable events in history.
Next month: Famous Historical Events in January
You might also enjoy:
- Winter Nature Study for Kids
- Homeschooling: Getting Ready for Christmas
- How to Make a 3D Snowflake from Gift Wrap
Sources: "BBC: On This Day: December." news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday, retrieved 30 Nov 2011.
Sara McGrath - Sara is a veteran homeschool mom of three, Usborne consultant, and the author of Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Learning.
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