Melaka Fray is a fictional character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics by Dark Horse Comics. She debuted in the first issue of Fray (2001), a limited series in a shared universe with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Melaka is a professional thief who learns that she is a Slayer destined to fight supernatural foes, while her twin brother Harth inherited their prophetic dreams. She learns that Harth, whom she thought was dead, is a vampire intent on bringing demons back to Earth's dimension. After stopping his plan, Melaka remains a thief, but chooses to protect others as well. In Tales of the Slayers, she connects with her heritage by reading journals about past Slayers. Melaka reappears in the canonical comic-book continuation of the television series, meeting the 21st-century Slayer Buffy Summers in Season Eight and helping her defeat Harth in Season Twelve. Academics have analyzed Melaka's character arc in Fray as an example of the hero's journey. A fan film featuring Melaka was released in 2017. (Full article...)

• ... that the Perron of Liège (pictured) was dismantled and removed by the duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, following a failed uprising?
• ... that shortly after the fall of Suharto, Indonesia's 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade was deployed around the former president's house to protect him from mobs?
• ... that the house of actor Calum Lill was used as a set for the drama Waterloo Road when he was a child?
• ... that Interstate 155 is the only piece of surface transportation infrastructure that directly connects the U.S. states of Missouri and Tennessee?
• ... that Lim Joo Hock was called to the bar nearly two decades after getting his Bachelor of Laws degree?
• ... that Ukraine protects more than 3,000 geographical indications, only thirty of which originate in the country?
• ... that Logan Barrio is one of the oldest Mexican barrios in Santa Ana, California?
• ... that the author of Ethelwina used Shakespeare to justify including a real ghost?
• ... that a song about the discovery of sex toys and hundreds of condoms from West End Girl recently became Lily Allen's first UK top-ten single since 2014?

• Fatafehi Fakafānua (pictured) is elected prime minister by the legislative assembly of Tonga.
• Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, are found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.
• José Antonio Kast is elected president of Chile.
• Sixteen people, including a gunman, are killed in a mass shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.

December 23: Night of the Radishes in Oaxaca City, Mexico; Festivus

• 583 – Yohl Ikʼnal (signature pictured) acceded to the throne of the Maya city-state of Palenque.
• 1815 – Jane Austen's novel Emma was first published, the last novel released during her lifetime.
• 1958 – Tokyo Tower, then the world's tallest freestanding tower, opened.
• 1990 – About 88 percent of eligible voters in Slovenia voted to secede from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• 1997 – The Pioneer Helmet, one of only six Anglo-Saxon helmets to be discovered, was first placed on public display.

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The Algemeyne Entsiklopedye is a Yiddish-language encyclopedia published in twelve volumes from 1934 to 1966. It is divided into two subseries: five volumes of the Normale series, covering general knowledge, and six volumes of the Yidn series (initially planned as a single supplementary volume) covering Jewish history and culture through a series of essays. The encyclopedia's early volumes emphasize leftist history and politics, although the project shifted in tone in response to Nazi persecution, and became increasingly focused on covering Jewish topics. After the destruction of Jewish communities throughout Europe—the encyclopedia's main audience—in the Holocaust, it transformed from a general-purpose resource into an effort to commemorate what was lost. After decades of failed attempts to compile a Yiddish general encyclopedia, the Vilna-based Jewish cultural organization YIVO formed the Dubnov Fund in 1930, which organized and raised funds for the encyclopedia. (Full article...)

• ... that an estimated 23 billion seven-spot ladybirds (example pictured) swarmed England's eastern and southern coasts during a heatwave in 1976?
• ... that Bill Cottrell went from playing for a high-school team that had 32 consecutive losses to starting for an NFL team?
• ... that a type of flute known as a fluier was sometimes built into Romanian shepherds' whips and staffs?
• ... that actor and playwright J. Harry Benrimo has been described as a "central and versatile figure in Orientalist theater"?
• ... that Lale Andersen, who was popular on both sides of World War II for her version of "Lili Marleen", represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961?
• ... that Suprapto Martosetomo sheltered Indonesian students at his residence in the Philippines during a 1989 coup attempt?
• ... that the Variations on a Theme from La Cenerentola are attributed to Frédéric Chopin, but he may only have composed one of the variations?
• ... that Li Xinchuan was allowed to return to his old workplace after fleeing the Mongol invasion?
• ... that Aubrey Plaza got high with the "weed nuns" to promote The Little Hours?

• Fatafehi Fakafānua (pictured) is elected prime minister by the legislative assembly of Tonga.
• Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, are found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.
• José Antonio Kast is elected president of Chile.
• Sixteen people, including a gunman, are killed in a mass shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.

December 22

• 1807 – In an effort to avoid engaging in the Napoleonic Wars, the United States Congress passed the Embargo Act, forbidding American ships from engaging in trade with foreign nations.
• 1920 – The Congress of Soviets approved the GOELRO plan, the first Soviet plan for national economic recovery and development.
• 1939 – Members of the All-India Muslim League observed a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over the decision to enter the Second World War at the request of the United Kingdom.
• 1997 – Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquished the disputed title of President of Somalia.
• 2010 – The United States repealed its "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the military (signing pictured).

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The Rhodesian government actively recruited white personnel from other countries from the mid-1970s until 1980 to address manpower shortages in the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War. Between 800 and 2,000 foreign volunteers enlisted. This was controversial as international sanctions banned military assistance for Rhodesia due to its illegal declaration of independence and the white minority's dominance. The volunteers were often labelled as mercenaries by opponents of the Rhodesian regime, though the government did not regard or pay them as such. They were motivated by opposition to governments led by black people, anti-communism, a desire for adventure, racism, and economic hardship. The Rhodesian government considered the volunteers to be unreliable and they were often treated poorly by their comrades; this contributed to many deserting. Some modern far-right and white supremacist groups celebrate the volunteers. (Full article...)

• ... that Laura Kenny (pictured) is the most decorated British female athlete in Olympic history?
• ... that Hanoikids gave free tours of Hanoi to a prime minister of Australia, an American general, and an American senator?
• ... that the mysterious Longfellow Boom has been attributed to rail cars coupling, secret NORAD flights, an underground meth lab, or a fault line in the Mississippi River?
• ... that Lotte Ledl, who played characters at the Vienna Burgtheater, in Heimatfilme, in literature adaptations and in crime series, was awarded an honorific title at the age of 89?
• ... that a mountain in Southern California was used by the Marquardt Corporation as a laboratory to test "highly reactive or toxic" rocket propellant?
• ... that a member of one of the best-selling boy bands of all time was also signed to the football club Doncaster Rovers?
• ... that Nintendo denied that Shiver from Splatoon 3 is non-binary?
• ... that Edward Lloyd was the namesake of Lloyd's of London but not its founder?
• ... that having large buttocks can be a tactical advantage in hockey?

• Fatafehi Fakafānua (pictured) is elected prime minister by the legislative assembly of Tonga.
• Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, are found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.
• José Antonio Kast is elected president of Chile.
• Sixteen people, including a gunman, are killed in a mass shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.

December 21: December solstice (15:03 UTC, 2025); Dongzhi Festival in China (2025)

• 1124 – Lamberto Scannabecchi was elected pope, taking the name Honorius II.
• 1872 – HMS Challenger departed Portsmouth on a scientific expedition that laid the foundations of oceanography.
• 1919 – After serving two years in prison for encouraging people to resist military conscription, anarchist Emma Goldman was deported from the United States to Russia.
• 1934 – Lieutenant Kijé, the first film composition by Sergei Prokofiev (pictured), premiered.
• 1995 – In accordance with the Oslo II Accord, Israeli troops withdrew from Bethlehem in preparation for the transfer of control to the Palestinian National Authority.

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The battle of Bronkhorstspruit was the first major engagement of the First Boer War. It took place by the Bronkhorstspruit river near Bronkhorstspruit in Transvaal on 20 December 1880. Threatened by the growing numbers of militant Boers in the Pretoria region, the British recalled the 94th Regiment of Foot, which had several companies garrisoned in towns and villages across the wider area. The regiment's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Philip Robert Anstruther, led a 34-wagon column on a 188-mile (303 km) journey from Lydenburg to Pretoria. A Boer commando force, led by Francois Gerhardus Joubert, was ordered to stop the British. Anstruther's column was confronted by the Boers, who demanded that the British stop their march. Anstruther refused, and the Boers attacked. The British took heavy casualties and surrendered after about 15 minutes; their surviving men were captured. Anstruther was badly wounded and died of his injuries a few days later. (Full article...)

• ... that sky lanterns released during the Yi Peng festival (pictured) cause Chiang Mai International Airport to cancel and reschedule flights every year?
• ... that Paper Girl concluded that the super-rich are removing the "ladder of upward mobility" from the lower class?
• ... that Gholdengo has been jokingly described as looking like a "walking Ponzi scheme"?
• ... that the orchid species Archivea kewensis is known only from an 1823 watercolour painting?
• ... that the US Army Air Corps ordered the Sperry S-1 bombsight because supplies of the Norden bombsight were controlled by the US Navy?
• ... that Khachaturian's Violin Concerto incorporates several themes from Armenian folk songs?
• ... that American trucking company Prime Inc. sued Amazon over its use of the Amazon Prime logo?
• ... that Daaga was freed from a slave ship by the Royal Navy, but executed by the British Army less than a year later?
• ... that the single "Doot Doot (6 7)" inspired a viral meme phrase that was named Dictionary.com's 2025 Word of the Year?

• Fatafehi Fakafānua (pictured) is elected prime minister by the legislative assembly of Tonga.
• Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, are found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.
• José Antonio Kast is elected president of Chile.
• Sixteen people, including a gunman, are killed in a mass shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.

December 20

• 1248 – Attempting to form an alliance with the Mongol Empire, Louis IX of France met with two of their envoys while en route to the Seventh Crusade.
• 1984 – Twelve-year-old Jonelle Matthews disappeared from her home in Greeley, Colorado; her body was not discovered until 2019.
• 1987 – The deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history occurred when the MV Doña Paz (pictured) sank after colliding with an oil tanker in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, resulting in an estimated 4,385 deaths.
• 1995 – American Airlines Flight 965 crashed into a mountain in Buga, Colombia, killing most of those on board.
• 2007 – Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch was stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art before being recovered about three weeks later.

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The Getaway is a 1972 American action thriller film based on the 1958 novel by Jim Thompson. The film was directed by Sam Peckinpah, written by Walter Hill, and stars Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw (pictured), Ben Johnson, Al Lettieri, and Sally Struthers. The plot follows imprisoned mastermind robber Carter "Doc" McCoy, whose wife Carol conspires for his release on the condition they rob a bank in Texas. A double-cross follows the crime, and the McCoys are forced to flee for Mexico with the police and criminals in hot pursuit. The Getaway premiered on December 19, 1972. Despite the negative reviews it received upon release, numerous retrospective critics give the film good reviews. A box-office hit earning more than $36 million, it was the eighth highest-grossing film of 1972, and one of the most financially successful productions of Peckinpah's and McQueen's careers. A film remake starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger was released in 1994. (Full article...)

• ... that a U.S. senator advocated for the lobster emoji (pictured)?
• ... that Irina Voronina was once painted blue and orange for a nude photoshoot?
• ... that, under O'Donoghue v. United States, Washington, D.C.'s courts are the only tribunals in the United States that might be both constitutional and legislative courts at the same time?
• ... that Alek Skarlatos, who helped foil a terrorist attack in 2015, became a member of the Oregon House of Representatives nearly a decade later?
• ... that a cartel was formed to purchase papyri for the Berlin Papyrus Collection?
• ... that British physiotherapist Jane Madders developed relaxation training for pregnant women and migraine patients?
• ... that the architecture of a city in Genshin Impact was influenced by an ancient town in the province of Hunan?
• ... that dockworkers constructed makeshift barricades out of large rolls of paper during the July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona?
• ... that several Internet memes, including "is this Battletoads?" and the NPC Wojak, originated from the 4chan imageboard /v/?

• Fatafehi Fakafānua (pictured) is elected prime minister by the legislative assembly of Tonga.
• Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, are found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.
• José Antonio Kast is elected president of Chile.
• Sixteen people, including a gunman, are killed in a mass shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.

December 19

• 1154 – Henry II (depicted) was crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey, London.
• 1964 – The ruling junta of South Vietnam, led by Nguyễn Khánh, initiated a coup, dissolving the High National Council, a civilian advisory body.
• 1984 – China and the United Kingdom signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, agreeing to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997.
• 1985 – Aeroflot Flight 101/435 was hijacked by the co-pilot and landed in a cow pasture in China, where he was apprehended.
• 1997 – Titanic, the third-highest-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide total of more than US$1.8 billion, was released in the United States.

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A Caesar cipher, also known as Caesar's cipher, the shift cipher, Caesar's code, or the Caesar shift, is one of the simplest and most widely known encryption techniques in cryptography. Named after Julius Caesar, who is said to have used it, it is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plaintext is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions down the alphabet. For example, with a left shift of 3, D would be replaced by A, E would become B, and so on (pictured). Caesar is believed to have used one in his private correspondence, and a similar one was used by his nephew, Augustus. The encryption step performed by a Caesar cipher is often incorporated as part of more complex schemes, such as the Vigenère cipher, and still has modern application in the ROT13 system. As with all single-alphabet substitution ciphers, the Caesar cipher is easily broken and in modern practice offers essentially no communications security. (Full article...)

• ... that most blue lace agate (example pictured) was sourced from a single mine in Namibia until 2017?
• ... that the cast of the 1965 film Winter Kept Us Warm were not told about its queer subject matter?
• ... that the 2025 Enderlin tornado threw train cars nearly twice as far as required to qualify for the highest intensity tornado rating?
• ... that the manga series Mentsuyu Hitori Meshi has recipes on cooking with mentsuyu?
• ... that Hostage, a book written by Eli Sharabi after surviving 491 days in Hamas captivity, became the fastest-selling book in Hebrew-language publishing history?
• ... that Yuki Wakai gave up her dream to be a singer-songwriter to become an idol singer, only to later become a singer-songwriter?
• ... that Nazi officer Reinhard Höhn founded a business school after the Second World War?
• ... that Doug Jones considered retiring from creature-acting work until being offered the role of Saru on Star Trek: Discovery?
• ... that one sportswriter said: "If Dr. Frankenstein could construct a football player, Ja'Markis Weston would emerge from the lab"?

• Fatafehi Fakafānua (pictured) is elected prime minister by the legislative assembly of Tonga.
• Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, are found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.
• José Antonio Kast is elected president of Chile.
• Sixteen people, including a gunman, are killed in a mass shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.

December 18: National Day in Qatar (1878)

• 1499 – Muslims in Granada began a rebellion against their Castilian rulers in response to forced conversions to Catholicism.
• 1792 – Thomas Paine (depicted) was found guilty of seditious libel for the publication of the second part of his book Rights of Man.
• 1867 – In Angola, New York, the last coach of a Lake Shore Railway train derailed, plunged 40 feet (12 m) down a gully, and caught fire, resulting in approximately 49 deaths.
• 1939 – Second World War: The Luftwaffe won a victory over the Royal Air Force in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight, greatly influencing both sides' future aerial warfare strategy.
• 2023 – A series of mass protests began in Belgrade, Serbia, alleging electoral irregularities in the Serbian parliament and Belgrade city assembly elections.

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The Littlehampton libels were a series of letters sent to numerous residents of Littlehampton, in southern England, over a three-year period between 1920 and 1923. The letters, which contained obscenities and false accusations, were written by Edith Swan, a thirty-year-old laundress; she tried to incriminate her neighbour, Rose Gooding, a thirty-year-old married woman. Swan and Gooding (both pictured) had once been friends, but after Swan made a false report to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children accusing Gooding of maltreating one of her sister's children, the letters started arriving. Many of them were signed as if from Gooding. Swan brought a private prosecution against Gooding for libel. Gooding was imprisoned twice, but Scotland Yard investigated and cleared her. Swan was prosecuted in December 1921. A similar case of letters being sent over several years was reported in 2024, in the village of Shiptonthorpe, East Yorkshire. (Full article...)

• ... that, upon the death of Truganini (pictured), the Aboriginal population of Tasmania was declared to be extinct?
• ... that the 141 Schools for Peace campaign was formed in the aftermath of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre and received proceeds from "We Will Fly"?
• ... that a retired manufacturing CEO and a former Muppeteer co-produced a biopic of Dietrich Bonhoeffer?
• ... that Otago Farmers Market celebrated its birthday with a "long lunch" on a railway platform?
• ... that the AI creation Tilly Norwood has been described as "really, really scary"?
• ... that Depeche Mode chose to follow a set of rules, including one against using chords, when they recorded their 1987 album Music for the Masses?
• ... that Bea Sprung credits her competitive swimming background with aiding her development as a footballer?
• ... that Trinity Communion Church in New York erected a 10-foot (3.0 m) papier-mâché pink elephant on its lawn to increase its visibility in its neighborhood?
• ... that Alexander Sabar feared thesis defense more than terrorists?

• Sixteen people, including a gunman, are killed in a mass shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
• Bulgarian prime minister Rosen Zhelyazkov (pictured) and his government resign after two weeks of protests.
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wins Game of the Year and eight other awards at the Game Awards.
• In Australia, a ban on the use of certain social media platforms by under-16s comes into effect.

December 16: Day of Reconciliation in South Africa

• 1640 – Prussian forces, led by Frederick the Great, moved his troops into the Habsburg region of Silesia, starting the First Silesian War.
• 1850 – Settlers of the Canterbury Association aboard Randolph and Charlotte Jane arrived to establish a colony at Christchurch, New Zealand.
• 1922 – Gabriel Narutowicz, the first president of Poland, was assassinated only five days after having taken office.
• 1930 – German-American gangster Herman Lamm killed himself during a botched robbery attempt in Clinton, Indiana, to avoid being captured by police.
• 1997 – "Dennō Senshi Porygon", an episode of the Japanese television series Pokémon, induced epileptic seizures in 685 children (effect pictured).

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Simon Cameron (1799–1889) was an American politician who was elected senator from Pennsylvania four times, and was War Secretary under Lincoln at the start of the Civil War. At first a supporter of James Buchanan, whom he succeeded in the Senate when Buchanan became Secretary of State in 1845, Cameron broke with Buchanan and the Democrats by the 1850s. An opponent of slavery, he briefly joined the Know Nothings before winning another term in the Senate as a Republican in 1857. He helped nominate and elect Lincoln, but rumors of corruption surrounded him; it was with reluctance that Lincoln appointed him to the cabinet. He did not do well in his post, and Lincoln made him minister to Russia in 1862, a post he held briefly. He rebuilt his political machine in Pennsylvania, winning a third term in the Senate in 1867. After ten years he resigned, arranging the election of his son, Don Cameron, in his place. Simon Cameron lived to age 90; his machine dominated local politics until the 1920s. (Full article...)

• ... that Jessie Wright, director of physical medicine at the D.T. Watson Home for Crippled Children, helped invent the rocking bed (pictured) as a treatment for polio?
• ... that the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme has been criticised for placing workers at risk of modern slavery?
• ... that G. Michael Brown said that his 1980 conviction of four mobsters showed that the Mafia wasn't merely "a figment of Hollywood's imagination."?
• ... that a Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle went on to become a U.S. Army chaplain?
• ... that upon receiving her pay from His Master's Voice, Asiah Aman was taught by an executive how to open a bank account?
• ... that while the 2024 WDF World Darts Championship final featured a 70-year-old, the 2025 final featured a 15-year-old?
• ... that Indonesian ambassador Niniek Kun Naryatie initially wanted to resign as a diplomat after giving birth to her first child, but her husband convinced her not to do so?
• ... that India's Central Reserve Police Force tested the Trichy assault rifle in mud, rain, and saltwater conditions for reliability and accuracy before ordering the rifle?
• ... that a restaurant hired Frank Deig to eat its food?

• Sixteen people, including a gunman, are killed in a mass shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
• Bulgarian prime minister Rosen Zhelyazkov (pictured) and his government resign after days of protests.
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wins Game of the Year and eight other awards at the Game Awards.
• In Australia, a ban on the use of certain social media platforms by under-16s comes into effect.

December 15: First Day of Hanukkah (Judaism, 2025)

• 1025 – Constantine VIII (depicted) became the sole Byzantine emperor, 63 years after being crowned co-emperor.
• 1890 – Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota leader, was killed on Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota by U.S. Indian agency police.
• 1939 – The American historical epic film Gone With the Wind, adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name, premiered in Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1945 – The US-led occupying forces ordered the government of Japan to cease state support for Shinto.
• 2019 – Citizenship Amendment Act protests: 10 to 15 local women blockaded a major road in Delhi, India, to protest the exclusion of Muslims from the amended Citizenship Act.

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Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons is a three-part, episodic, side-scrolling, platform video game by Ideas from the Deep and published by Apogee Software in 1990 for MS-DOS. Tom Hall (pictured) designed the game, John Carmack and John Romero programmed it, and artist Adrian Carmack assisted. The game came about when Carmack found a way to implement smooth side-scrolling on IBM-compatible PCs, and Scott Miller asked the team to develop an original game within three months. The game follows Keen as he runs, jumps, and shoots through various levels, retrieving the stolen parts of his spaceship, preventing an alien ship from destroying landmarks, and hunting down the aliens responsible. Released through shareware, sales were strong and it was lauded by reviewers for its graphical achievement and humorous style. The team continued as id Software to produce another four episodes of the Commander Keen series and followed up with Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. It has been re-released several times. (Full article...)

• ... that Swedish general Lorens von der Linde (pictured) once shocked a British diplomat with his stories of King Charles X Gustav's German liaisons?
• ... that scholars have described the 1946 book The Failure of Technology as a precursor to the environmental movement?
• ... that Romanian far-right journalist Ilariu Dobridor died after being beaten and locked in his own home?
• ... that the Dutch-built and Turkish-operated Birinci İnönü-class submarines were used to discreetly develop German U-boats?
• ... that Dredge is a Lovecraftian horror and fishing video game?
• ... that the killing of an official by seven women was held up as an example of filial piety?
• ... that, when Mariame Clément directed Mozart's Così fan tutte, she froze a wedding tableau during the overture and restarted it in the finale?
• ... that Turkey is facing its worst drought in the last 50 years?
• ... that Nobuhiko Jimbo saved future Philippine president Manuel Roxas from execution during World War II, and Roxas did the same for Jimbo four years later?

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wins Game of the Year at the Game Awards (producer and host Geoff Keighley pictured).
• In Australia, a ban on the use of certain social media platforms by under-16s comes into effect.
• In motorsport, Lando Norris wins the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
• In a military offensive, the Southern Transitional Council seizes most of southern Yemen from the government.

December 14: Martyred Intellectuals Day in Bangladesh (1971), Monkey Day

• 835 – In the Sweet Dew incident, Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty conspired to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot was foiled.
• 1925 – Wozzeck (poster pictured) by composer Alban Berg, described as the first atonal opera, premiered at the Berlin State Opera.
• 1948 – American physicists Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann were awarded a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the first interactive electronic game.
• 1960 – Australian cricketer Ian Meckiff was run out on the last day of the first Test match between Australia and the West Indies, resulting in the first tied Test in cricket history.
• 1992 – War in Abkhazia: A helicopter carrying evacuees was shot down during the siege of Tkvarcheli, resulting in at least 52 deaths and catalysing more concerted Russian military intervention on behalf of Abkhazia.

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Scott Zolak (born December 13, 1967) is an American broadcaster and former professional football player. He played quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. Over the course of his career, he played in 55 games, with 7 starts, for the Patriots and Miami Dolphins, completed 124 of 248 passes for 1,314 yards, threw eight touchdowns and seven interceptions, and finished his career with a passer rating of 64.8. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Zolak was selected 84th in the 1991 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. He did not play in 1991, but started four games in 1992 and had his most productive season statistically. When Drew Bledsoe was drafted in 1993, Zolak became his backup for the next six seasons. He was released at the end of the 1998 season, and signed with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins in 1999. After his retirement, he became a sportscaster and football analyst in the New England area. (Full article...)

• ... that traditional stone houses on the island of Pantelleria (examples pictured) passively maintain an internal temperature up to 8 °C (14 °F) cooler than the ambient air temperature in summer?
• ... that Kenssy Dwi Ekaningsih used her skills in traditional Javanese dance at diplomatic receptions during an assignment in Rome?
• ... that Yonki-no-kai Productions was founded by Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, Kon Ichikawa and Keisuke Kinoshita with the aim of reviving the struggling Japanese film industry?
• ... that, after Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo was assassinated, his wife Grecia Quiroz was chosen to complete his term in office?
• ... that A. A. Gill saw "poseurs, pimps, phoney counts, lounge lizards, poodle fakers, ageing gigolos and remittance men" at San Lorenzo?
• ... that Catalan artist Josefa Tolrà created paintings and embroideries while in a trance?
• ... that 10 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 40 was originally conceived as a science-fiction story about an older male succubus?
• ... that the majority of candidates in the 2024 Delaware elections ran unopposed?
• ... that YouTuber Laura Kampf got millions of views on a video in which she built a project that did not work?

• In Australia, a ban on the use of certain social-media platforms by under-16s comes into effect.
• In motorsport, Lando Norris (pictured) wins the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
• In a military offensive, the Southern Transitional Council seizes most of southern Yemen from the government.
• In Benin, a coup attempt by members of the armed forces is thwarted.
• Architect and designer Frank Gehry dies at the age of 96.

December 13: Nanjing Massacre Memorial Day in China (1937)

• 1294 – Saint Celestine V resigned the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
• 1577 – Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Union forces under Ambrose Burnside suffered severe casualties against entrenched Confederate defenders at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia.
• 1957 – A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Iranian Hamadan province, killing at least 1,130 people.
• 1960 – With Haile Selassie (pictured), Emperor of Ethiopia, out of the country, four conspirators staged a coup attempt to install Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen on the throne.

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Theodosius III was the Byzantine emperor from around May 715 to 717. Before rising to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, he was a tax collector in Adramyttium. In 715, the Byzantine navy and the troops of the Opsician Theme, one of the Byzantine provinces, revolted against Anastasius II, acclaiming the reluctant Theodosius as emperor. He led his troops to Chrysopolis and then Constantinople, seizing the city in November 715. Anastasius did not surrender until several months later, accepting exile in a monastery in return for safety. Many themes viewed Theodosius to be a puppet of the troops of the Opsician Theme, and his legitimacy was denied by the Anatolics and the Armeniacs under their respective strategoi (generals) Leo the Isaurian and Artabasdos. Leo entered Constantinople and definitively seized power in 717, allowing Theodosius and his son to retire to a monastery. When Theodosius died is uncertain, but it may have been in 754. (Full article...)

• ... that the opening of the General Motors Technical Center (pictured) featured an appearance by Indonesia's president and a speech from the US president?
• ... that Palestinian author Tareq Baconi, after studying MENA water scarcity and Hamas, wrote a memoir about queer identity, family displacement, and political awakening?
• ... that a New York railroad once operated a special train to a former train station so that people could see model trains?
• ... that Leon Russianoff never took a college music lesson, but an obituary stated that he was "considered by many to be the Godfather of American clarinetists"?
• ... that an American government database was named after a rock band?
• ... that the author of Kaiten no Albus did not decide the protagonist's objective until after the first chapter was written?
• ... that a Florida TV station was named after Columbia Pictures, even though a merger with that company fell through?
• ... that Gemma Hayter was inspired to return to playing darts after eight years when her friend became world champion?
• ... that multiple police raids failed to retrieve a book that was once valued at more than US$900 million?

• In Australia, a ban on the use of certain social-media platforms by under-16s comes into effect.
• In motorsport, Lando Norris (pictured) wins the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
• In a military offensive, the Southern Transitional Council seizes most of southern Yemen from the government.
• In Benin, a coup attempt by members of the armed forces is thwarted.
• Architect and designer Frank Gehry dies at the age of 96.

December 12: Beginning of the Yule Lads' arrival in Iceland

• 1388 – Unable to defend her possessions, Maria of Enghien sold the lordship of Argos and Nauplia to the Republic of Venice.
• 1939 – The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duchess collided with HMS Barham, the battleship she was escorting, sinking with heavy loss of life.
• 1942 – World War II: German troops began Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
• 1964 – Jomo Kenyatta became the first president of the Republic of Kenya.
• 1979 – A magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck just off the shore of Tumaco, Colombia, causing at least 300 deaths, mostly by the resulting tsunami.

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George Mason (December 11, 1725 – October 7, 1792) was a Founding Father of the United States. A delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings have exercised a significant influence on American political thought and events. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Mason principally authored, served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights, of which he has been deemed a father. Many clauses in the Constitution were influenced by Mason's input, but he ultimately did not sign, citing the lack of a bill of rights. His prominent fight for a bill of rights led fellow Virginian James Madison to introduce one during the First Congress in 1789; these amendments were ratified in 1791, a year before Mason died. Obscure after his death, Mason later came to be recognized in the 20th and 21st centuries for his contributions to Virginia and the early United States. (Full article...)

• ... that Charles Strong founded the Australian Church (building pictured) after facing heresy charges, and attracted many elite congregants including a future prime minister?
• ... that Baek Se-hee wrote I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki?
• ... that, after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1965, France Gall was slapped by a fellow competitor?
• ... that some people who witnessed the sinking of the May Flint thought that it was a public display?
• ... that the Energy Polarizer claimed to enhance the performance of Holden Commodores with crystals?
• ... that MrBeast offered a $15,000 bounty to anyone who could defeat YouTuber Technoblade in the tournament Minecraft Monday?
• ... that the symbol of Slender Man originates from the web series Marble Hornets?
• ... that cyclist Sepp Kuss logged 547,019 metres (1,794,682 ft) of elevation gain in 2023?
• ... that the Minnesota and Wisconsin National Guards may have shot cannonballs across the Mississippi River at each other during artillery competitions at Camp Lakeview?

• In motorsport, Lando Norris (pictured) wins the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
• In a military offensive, the Southern Transitional Council seizes most of southern Yemen from the government.
• In Benin, a coup attempt by members of the armed forces is thwarted.
• Architect and designer Frank Gehry dies at the age of 96.

December 11

• 1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein, Boers defeated British forces trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.
• 1925 – Pope Pius XI promulgated the encyclical Quas primas, establishing the Feast of Christ the King.
• 1972 – Apollo 17 (Lunar Roving Vehicle pictured), the last Apollo mission, landed on the Moon.
• 1998 – With its pilot believed to have been suffering from spatial disorientation, Thai Airways Flight 261 crashed in a swamp on approach to Surat Thani Airport, resulting in 101 deaths.
• 2005 – Demonstrations in Cronulla, a suburb of Sydney, against recent violence towards locals turned into a series of race riots.

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Edmund Ætheling (born 1016 or 1017, died before 1057) was a son of Edmund Ironside and his wife Ealdgyth. Edmund Ironside briefly ruled as king of England following the death of his father Æthelred the Unready in April 1016. Edmund Ironside died in late 1016 after a hard-fought war with Danish invader Cnut who became king of all England shortly after. The following year, Cnut sent Edmund Ironside's two infant sons, Edmund Ætheling and Edward the Exile, to Continental Europe, probably to the King of Sweden, to be murdered. Instead, the princes were spared and sent to Hungary, possibly after a sojourn at the court of Yaroslav I, prince of Kiev, in Russia. As Ironside's marriage lasted no more than 15 months, Edmund and Edward were either twins or one was born after their father's death. Edmund may have married a daughter of the Hungarian king, and he died in Hungary on 10 January in an unknown year before 1057. (Full article...)

• ... that Paul Revere's daughter had a portrait of him (pictured) revised, as it depicted him dressed informally?
• ... that the Tudor historian Polydore Vergil erroneously wrote that the site of the Battle of Edington was in Abingdon?
• ... that the aria "Caro mio ben" has been attributed to three Giordanis, one of whom was unrelated to the other two?
• ... that Achmad Husein required municipal employees of Banyumas to collect 1 kg (2.2 lb) of inorganic waste each month?
• ... that Superstring at Marymount station features child-like drawings of the sun, a singing bird, and cryptic messages on babies and saving water?
• ... that Tan Boon Chiang awarded four cases of PepsiCo soft drinks to each worker in Singapore after rejecting their claim for higher wages?
• ... that the American crow is considered to be a sign of good luck in Native American cultures?
• ... that Tony Hawk described ollieing a staircase in Lyon as "one of the greatest feats in skateboarding history"?
• ... that Bob Comfort, an atheist, made up a religion to avoid sergeant orders to pick one while serving in the United States military?

• In motorsport, Lando Norris (pictured) wins the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
• In Benin, a coup attempt by members of the armed forces is thwarted.
• Architect and designer Frank Gehry dies at the age of 96.
• In Saint Lucia, the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, retains its majority in the House of Assembly.
• Playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard dies at the age of 88.

December 10: Human Rights Day; Nobel Banquet in Stockholm, Sweden

• 1884 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Finn depicted) by American author Mark Twain was first published in the United Kingdom and Canada, two months earlier than in the US.
• 1890 – The New York World Building , the then-tallest building in the United States at a height of 110 meters, is completed in New York City.
• 1907 – During the Brown Dog affair, protesters marched through London and clashed with police officers in Trafalgar Square over the existence of a memorial for animals that had been vivisected.
• 1942 – Edward Raczyński of the Polish government-in-exile issued a note that was the first official report on the Holocaust.
• 1989 – At the first open pro-democracy demonstration in Mongolia, journalist Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the formation of the Mongolian Democratic Union, which would be instrumental in ending communist rule four months later.

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Macrobdella decora, the North American medicinal leech, is a species of freshwater leech found in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. A medium-sized annelid growing up to 8.5 cm (3.3 in) long, it has a spotted greenish-brown back and a reddish underbelly. M. decora is commonly encountered by swimmers and lives in ponds, ditches, and wetlands. The leeches are both blood-sucking parasites and aggressive predators. They have three saw-like "jaws" which they use to penetrate their host's skin, and they can remain attached for up to two hours. Their hosts include fish, turtles, wading birds, and mammals, including humans. The leeches are also voracious predators who eat other invertebrates, amphibian eggs and larvae, and sometimes even members of their own species. M. decora was historically used for leeching by European colonists in North America, who found the native leeches "equally efficacious" as those from Europe. (Full article...)

• ... that Satank Bridge (pictured) to Satank, Colorado, was constructed in 1900 for $2,325, while its 2011 restoration was estimated to cost at least $750,000?
• ... that one newspaper labelled Caroline Hodgson the "wickedest woman in Melbourne"?
• ... that Gävle Hospital in Sweden was so overrun with scarlet fever in 1934 that it considered requisitioning a local gymnasium?
• ... that Gatot Wilotikto needed approval from the North Korean parliament to marry a local woman?
• ... that more than 30 women claimed to have gone into labor within 24 hours of eating a Labor Inducer?
• ... that Friedrich von Pernstein, the archbishop of Riga for 37 years, only spent less than five years there?
• ... that the former Natick station building became the basement of a liquor store?
• ... that a former Indonesian ambassador was spared by Khmer Rouge forces after repeatedly shouting "Indonesia"?
• ... that the Pokémon Heracross may have contributed to an increase in demand for rhinoceros beetles in both legal and illegal Japanese insect markets?

• In motorsport, Lando Norris (pictured) wins the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
• In Benin, a coup attempt by members of the armed forces is thwarted.
• Architect and designer Frank Gehry dies at the age of 96.
• In Saint Lucia, the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, retains its majority in the House of Assembly.
• Playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard dies at the age of 88.

December 9: International Anti-Corruption Day

• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: After their loss in the Battle of Great Bridge, British authorities were forced to evacuate from the Colony of Virginia.
• 1940 – Second World War: British and Commonwealth forces began Operation Compass, the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert campaign.
• 1965 – A large, brilliant fireball was seen by thousands in midwestern North America before landing in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania.
• 1979 – A World Health Organization commission of scientists certified the global eradication of smallpox (virus pictured), making it the only human infectious disease to date to have been completely eradicated.
• 1990 – In Serbia's first multi-party election, Slobodan Milošević won the presidential election and the Socialist Party of Serbia won the majority of seats in the National Assembly.

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The Coventry ring road (A4053) is a 2.25-mile (3.62 km) ring road in Coventry, England, forming a dual-carriageway loop around the city centre. The road encloses Coventry Cathedral, the shopping areas, and much of Coventry University. Except junction 1, all junctions are entirely grade-separated and closely spaced, with weaving sections between them. The road connects with three other A roads: the A4114, the A4600 and the A429. From the 1930s, Coventry City Council began replacing its medieval streets with modern roads, and Donald Gibson, the city architect, began work in 1939 on a plan that was expanded after the Coventry Blitz during the Second World War. The ring road was constructed in six stages from 1959, initially with at-grade junctions, cycle tracks and footpaths, but in the early 1960s the council amended the design to include grade separation and the weaving sections. The road was completed in 1974, with an overall cost of £14.5 million (equivalent to £191 million in 2023). (Full article...)

• ... that Ahmad Shah Durrani (pictured) conducted fifteen major military campaigns during his reign, comprising nine invasions of India, three in Khorasan, and three in Afghan Turkestan?
• ... that, when workers of the Zenkoku Jiren went on strike at a Hitachi factory, anarchist militants firebombed the mansion of Hitachi's president, Namihei Odaira?
• ... that Matilda Freeman did not originally intend to be an actress, but auditioned for a role after being teased by some classmates?
• ... that New Tide was abandoned after many of its contributors left the country or joined the Chinese Literary Association?
• ... that the 2014 Louisville, Mississippi tornado was powerful enough that an entire door was was torn off and blown 30 miles (48 km)?
• ... that a park in New York City occupies the former site of a waste transfer station and a heliport?
• ... that reggae musician James Mange formed a soccer-themed political party to compete in South Africa's first democratic election?
• ... that the Queen's Theatre in East London was named to reflect its opening in the same year as the coronation of Elizabeth II?
• ... that "the Boshfather" was deported from Australia in October 2025?

• Architect and designer Frank Gehry (pictured) dies at the age of 96.
• In Saint Lucia, the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, retains its majority in the House of Assembly.
• Playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard dies at the age of 88.
• In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais win the World Rally Championship.

December 8: Rōhatsu in Japan; Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Day in Ethiopia; Liberation Day in Syria

• 1660 – Margaret Hughes (pictured) appeared professionally on the English stage; she is thought to have been the first woman to do so.
• 1880 – At an assembly of 10,000 Boers, Paul Kruger announced the fulfilment of the decision to restore the government and volksraad of the South African Republic.
• 1987 – A man shot and killed eight people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, before jumping to his death.
• 2010 – The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS flew by Venus at a distance of 80,800 km (50,200 mi), completing its planned mission to demonstrate solar-sail technology.
• 2024 – The Syrian civil war ended when Bashar al-Assad's party, the Syrian Ba'ath Party, surrendered to the Syrian opposition.

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The 2015 Trophée Éric Bompard was a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), and the fourth event of the 2015–16 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Held at the Meriadeck Ice Rink in Bordeaux, France, on 13 November 2015, medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The competition was cancelled after the first day, following the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. The ISU later announced that the short program results would be considered the final results for the competition and any prize money and qualifying points for the Grand Prix Final were distributed. Shoma Uno of Japan won the men's event, Gracie Gold of the United States won the women's event, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (both pictured) of Russia won the pairs event, and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States won the ice dance event. (Full article...)

• ... that Daniela Melchior (pictured) once did a chemistry screen test with fancy rats?
• ... that scholar Martin P. Nilsson called the Ring of Nestor "a most amazing find", but later doubted its authenticity?
• ... that Ken Selby walked along U.S. Route 66 from Oklahoma City to Tulsa at the age of 73?
• ... that viruses can be catalogued into seven groups in the Baltimore classification?
• ... that a subculture from Asian-American gangs broadened to include women in college sororities and cultural clubs?
• ... that The Republic Newspaper Office was completed under budget despite the plans undergoing more than 100 changes during construction?
• ... that the video game My Time at Sandrock was funded by almost 10,000 people from more than 160 countries?
• ... that Brigadier General William J. Fox retired from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, moved to Mexico and became a charro?
• ... that HMAS Emu once rescued a cigarette-smoking chimpanzee and his magician owner?

• In Saint Lucia, the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre (pictured), retains its majority in the House of Assembly.
• Playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard dies at the age of 88.
• In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais win the World Rally Championship.
• The New Democratic Party, led by Godwin Friday, wins the Vincentian general election.

December 7: Feast day of Saint Ambrose (Christianity); National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day in the United States (1941)

• 574 – Suffering from mental illness, Eastern Roman emperor Justin II had his general Tiberius proclaimed Caesar, adopting him as his own son.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Prairie Grove ended a Confederate attempt to regain control of northwestern Arkansas.
• 1972 – Construction workers found the remains of Martin Bormann near Lehrter Station in Berlin, ending a decades-long search after his conviction in absentia at the Nuremberg trials.
• 1995 – The Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.
• 2014 - The annual furry convention Midwest FurFest was targeted in an unsolved chlorine gas attack.

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Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was the president of the Confederate States of America (CSA) from 1861 to 1865. He previously represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and House of Representatives as a Democrat, and was the U.S. secretary of war from 1853 to 1857. A graduate of West Point, Davis served in the U.S. Army, fighting in the Mexican–American War. He was a cotton planter and owned as many as 113 slaves. During the Civil War, Davis served as commander in chief. When the CSA was defeated in 1865, he was captured, accused of involvement in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and of treason, and imprisoned at Fort Monroe. He was released without trial after two years. Immediately after the war, Davis was often blamed for the CSA's defeat but, after his release from prison, the Lost Cause movement deemed him a hero, and he was celebrated in the South. In the 21st century, however, he has been viewed more harshly, and many memorials to him have been removed. (Full article...)

• ... that the seventeen species of the prehistoric horse relative Plagiolophus ranged in weight from 10 kg (22 lb) to more than 150 kg (330 lb) (size chart pictured)?
• ... that in 2025 Oscar Piastri became the first Australian since 2010 to lead the Formula One World Drivers' Championship?
• ... that tens of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics travel to Missouri annually to attend Marian Days at Our Lady of the Ozarks College?
• ... that actress Jessica Forrest performed in a play where venues were transformed into fish-and-chip shops?
• ... that cocoa is grown in Tokyo, almost 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) south of the city centre?
• ... that Jake Bergey was drafted by the Boston Blazers before being traded back to the Philadelphia Wings, twice?
• ... that Battle for Dream Island helped to launch a YouTube genre centered on anthropomorphic objects?
• ... that Agnes Inglis developed her own idiosyncratic cataloging system for the Labadie Collection?
• ... that people green rubble?

• In Saint Lucia, the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre (pictured), retains its majority in the House of Assembly.
• Playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard dies at the age of 88.
• In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais win the World Rally Championship.
• The New Democratic Party, led by Godwin Friday, wins the Vincentian general election.

December 6: Saint Nicholas's Day (Western Christianity); White Ribbon Day in Canada; Independence Day in Finland (1917)

• 1060 – Béla I (pictured) was crowned King of Hungary in Székesfehérvár.
• 1865 – Slavery in the United States was officially abolished with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
• 1942 – The Holocaust: Members of the German Ordnungspolizei massacred 31 people in Stary Ciepielów and Rekówka within occupied Poland for helping Jews.
• 1975 – Four members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army took two people hostage in a house on Balcombe Street in London, surrendering six days later.
• 1990 – An Italian Air Force military jet, abandoned by its pilot after an on-board fire, crashed into a high school near Bologna, killing 12 students and injuring 88 other people.

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Raichu is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon media franchise, and the evolved form of the series mascot, Pikachu. Introduced in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue, it was created by Atsuko Nishida at the request of lead designer Ken Sugimori, with the design finalized by Sugimori. It has appeared in multiple games including Pokémon Go and the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and in merchandise. Classified as an Electric-type Pokémon, Raichu is a large orange mouse with a tail shaped like a lightning bolt, and yellow sacs on its cheek that can generate electricity. Designed to be a stronger counterpart to Pikachu, who evolves into Raichu through the use of a "Thunder Stone", Raichu was initially intended to be able to evolve into "Gorochu" before the latter was removed. While early reactions from media outlets regarded it negatively in light of Pikachu's status as the franchise's main mascot, later reception has been more favorable. (Full article...)

• ... that Sneeze Achiu (pictured) had documents listing him as Caucasian so that he would not be segregated from his teammates?
• ... that a nationwide survey found that one in three Japanese people have an oshi?
• ... that in 1900 Isabel Fidler was appointed as tutor to the 70 women students at the University of Sydney; by the time of her retirement in 1939 there were more than 800?
• ... that Luciano Berio composed Sequenza III for diverse mouth sounds interspersed with ecstatic singing?
• ... that Tjoo Tik Tjoen stood for the Indonesian Communist Party in a 1955 election, despite not having officially joined the party?
• ... that Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 2 features a mini-game called sushi-bowling?
• ... that the United States agreed Australian staff would support the Joint Geological and Geophysical Research Station in Alice Springs, but the United States Air Force runs it instead?
• ... that the Deer Creek Fire developed a nearly stationary fire tornado?
• ... that the appeal of the children's poem "On the Ning Nang Nong" has been attributed to the absurdity of its nonsense sounds, like teapots going "Jibber Jabber Joo"?

• Playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard (pictured) dies at the age of 88.
• In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais win the World Rally Championship.
• The New Democratic Party, led by Godwin Friday, wins the Vincentian general election.
• Former presidents of Peru Martín Vizcarra and Pedro Castillo are sentenced to prison for corruption and a self-coup attempt, respectively.

December 5: Krampusnacht in parts of Central Europe

• 1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issued the papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus, which gave the Dominican inquisitor Heinrich Kramer the explicit authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.
• 1952 – The "Great Smog of London" (pictured) began and lasted for five days, causing 12,000 deaths and leading to the Clean Air Act 1956.
• 1965 – The "glasnost meeting" took place in Moscow, becoming the first demonstration in the Soviet Union after World War II and marking the beginning of the civil rights movement in the country.
• 1972 – Gough Whitlam took office as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia and formed a duumvirate with his deputy Lance Barnard, ending 23 years of Liberal–Country Party government.
• 2007 – A gunman killed nine people at a shopping mall in Omaha, Nebraska.

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The flag of Hong Kong depicts a white stylised five-petal flower of the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia × blakeana) in the centre of a field of Chinese red, the same red as on the flag of China. The Hong Kong Basic Law prescribes the design, and it is only to be made according to regulation and in approved sizes. Regulations regarding its use are stated in the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance; its desecration is unlawful and has been punished. The flag was unveiled on 4 April 1990 and approved on 10 August 1996. It was first officially hoisted on 1 July 1997, during the handover ceremony marking the transfer of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom back to China, and replaced a colonial flag adopted in 1959. The 1959 flag, and a variant known as the Black Bauhinia, have been displayed by protesters in Hong Kong, particularly during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. Government supporters often displayed the Chinese and Hong Kong flags together. (Full article...)

• ... that The Banquet of Cleopatra (pictured) depicts Cleopatra drinking a dissolved pearl to impress Mark Antony?
• ... that an on-stage incident traumatized Antonie Mielke so much that she retired from opera?
• ... that people entered the Bronze Age tombs at Volimidia centuries later in the Iron Age to leave offerings to the dead?
• ... that Zhang Xichen founded a magazine to compete with one made by his own employer?
• ... that Harvard's first modern feeder school cost twice as much as Harvard itself?
• ... that the text of "Heaven and Earth, and Sea and Air" was written by the man after whom the Neandertal was named?
• ... that the unique, if "Freudian", partnership between Richard A. Hunter and his mother was the most prolific in publishing in the history of psychiatry?
• ... that, contrary to the perception of Phytoseiidae, Amblyseius anacardii is observed as an agricultural pest?
• ... that, according to legend, Ngataba Min became king after eating the head of a rooster?

• In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier (pictured) and Vincent Landais win the World Rally Championship.
• The New Democratic Party, led by Godwin Friday, wins the Vincentian general election.
• Former presidents of Peru Martín Vizcarra and Pedro Castillo are sentenced to prison for corruption and a self-coup attempt, respectively.
• Flooding and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah leave at least 469 people dead across Sri Lanka and India.

December 4: Navy Day in India

• 1370 – Hundred Years' War: In two separate engagements in the Battle of Pontvallain (depicted), French forces wiped out an English army which had split up because of a dispute between the commanders.
• 1905 – The Great Seimas of Vilnius met to discuss national concerns within Lithuania: they decided to demand wide political autonomy within the Russian Empire.
• 1915 – World War I: Senior British and French figures, including prime ministers H. H. Asquith and Aristide Briand, met at Calais to discuss the future of the Salonika Front.
• 1992 – U.S. president George H. W. Bush ordered American troops into Somalia to help provide humanitarian aid and restore order during the ongoing Somali Civil War.

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Ovalipes catharus, commonly known as the paddle crab, swimming crab, or pāpaka in Māori, is a species of crab found in shallow, sandy-bottomed waters around the coasts of New Zealand, the Chatham Islands, and uncommonly in southern Australia. This species is an opportunistic, aggressive, and versatile feeder active mostly at night, preying predominantly on molluscs and crustaceans. It is also highly prone to cannibalism, which accounts for over a quarter of its diet in some locations. The crab's paddle-shaped rear legs and streamlined carapace allow it to capture prey by swimming rapidly and to escape predation by burrowing in the sand. Its mating season is in winter and spring, after which the female likely moves into deeper waters to incubate and disperse her larvae. Commercial fisheries have harvested paddle crabs since the 1970s, and O. catharus is present in Māori culture as both an artistic motif and as a traditional source of food. (Full article...)

• ... that Nestor Makhno described the evolutionary biologist Marie Goldsmith (pictured) as one of the "titans of anarchism"?
• ... that a house that was once called "almost the opposite of a landmark" later became a U.S. National Historic Landmark?
• ... that two successive Hanthawaddy commanders who held the title of Smin Maw-Khwin surrendered to Ava forces in 1414?
• ... that The Patient's Playbook warns against overly hasty medical treatment, citing a case in which a man received heart stents before learning that the issue was in his lungs?
• ... that Renato Candida, not the assassinated general Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, inspired the character of Captain Bellodi in The Day of the Owl?
• ... that Geordie Greep announced his debut solo album just ten days after revealing that his band was on an indefinite hiatus?
• ... that Chris Jackson left the Cancer Society of New Zealand after his wife was elected to parliament?
• ... that Water World Lloret has been described as "a favourite of foreign tourists", with 60 per cent of its visitors coming from outside Spain?
• ... that the first Mass for Saint Cyprian Church, a Black Catholic congregation, had only one Black Catholic in attendance?

• In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier (pictured) and Vincent Landais win the World Rally Championship.
• Flooding and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah leave at least 414 people dead across Sri Lanka and India.
• An apartment complex fire in Hong Kong leaves at least 156 people dead.
• In Guinea-Bissau, armed forces seize power in a military coup, arresting President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and proclaiming Horta Inta-A Na Man as head of a transitional government.

December 3

• 1800 – War of the Second Coalition: French forces defeated Austrian and Bavarian troops at the Battle of Hohenlinden, eventually resulting in the Austrians signing the Treaty of Lunéville.
• 1910 – Freda Du Faur became the first woman to climb Aoraki / Mount Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand.
• 1959 – The current flag and coat of arms of Singapore (pictured) were adopted, six months after the island became self-governing within the British Empire.
• 1979 – Eleven people were crushed in a human stampede at a concert by British rock band The Who in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
• 2009 – A suicide bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia, killed 25 people, including three ministers of the Transitional Federal Government.

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SMS Pommern was a Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial German Navy at the AG Vulcan Stettin yard at Stettin, Germany. Named after the Prussian province of Pomerania, she was laid down on 22 March 1904, launched on 2 December 1905, and commissioned into the navy on 6 August 1907. The ship was armed with four 28 cm (11 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Pommern was assigned to II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. At the start of World War I, she was stationed at the Elbe to support the defenses of the German Bight. She participated in sorties into the North Sea in attempts to destroy portions of the British Grand Fleet. These offensive operations culminated in the Battle of Jutland, where she was hit by torpedoes, which detonated one of her 17-centimeter (6.7 in) gun magazines. The resulting explosion broke the ship in half and killed the entire crew. (This article is part of a featured topic: Battleships of Germany.)

• ... that the soprillo saxophone (example pictured) is about half the length of a soprano saxophone and pitched one octave higher?
• ... that Stalin told the Turkestan Autonomy to invade the Soviet Commissariat in Tashkent instead of asking him to dissolve it?
• ... that Josèphe Jacquiot founded a museum that was named in her honour?
• ... that Serbia's smallest passenger airport has only one year-round scheduled flight — to Istanbul?
• ... that Brandon Saad was the first Saginaw Spirit alumnus to win the Stanley Cup?
• ... that a 2025 petition to the International Criminal Court alleges that 122 European politicians have committed crimes against humanity against migrants?
• ... that "nobody among the secretaries of the Middle Ages could reach such a level of influence over kings" as Fernán Díaz de Toledo?
• ... that the 2003 series Trouble frequently appears on lists of the worst or most controversial Spider-Man storylines?
• ... that in Māori culture a woman can end a speech during a pōwhiri by walking in front of the speaker?

• Flooding and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah leave at least 370 people dead across Sri Lanka and India.
• An apartment complex fire (pictured) in Hong Kong leaves at least 151 people dead.
• In Guinea-Bissau, armed forces seize power in a military coup, arresting President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and proclaiming Horta Inta-A Na Man as head of a transitional government.

December 2

• 1823 – U.S. president James Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine, a proclamation of opposition to European colonialism in the New World.
• 1927 – The Ford Motor Company introduced the second version of the Model A (pictured), its first new model in 18 years.
• 1950 – Korean War: UN forces began a retreat from North Korea following defeat at the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River.
• 1989 – The Malayan Communist Party and the Malaysian government signed a peace accord to end a 21-year communist insurgency.
• 2015 – In San Bernardino, California, a married couple carried out a mass shooting at a Christmas party before fleeing and dying in a shootout with police.

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Julio and Marisol was a bilingual public-service advertising campaign that ran from 1989 to 2001 in the New York City Subway promoting condom use to prevent AIDS. The well-known catchphrase was a line from the first installment, in which Marisol sobs, "I love you, but not enough to die for you". The story follows a young Hispanic couple as they explore human sexuality and the effects of the AIDS epidemic on their relationship. Designed to appeal to a Hispanic audience particularly at risk due to cultural attitudes discouraging condom use, it has been described as "one part steamy soap opera, one part language instruction, and two parts AIDS education service". The ads were praised by public health officials for presenting situations which people could relate to, and by AIDS activists for breaking down the social stigma associated with the disease. They drew criticism, however, from family values advocates who objected to the promotion of condoms and the tacit acceptance of homosexuality. (Full article...)

• ... that fiction about impact events (pictured) typically focuses more on the societal ramifications than on the science?
• ... that after her father's death, Thora Thersner completed his work documenting Swedish buildings and landscapes?
• ... that a 2025 musical film, which topped the U.S. box office within a weekend, had its global release plan scrapped in multiple countries?
• ... that Michael D. Coe completed The True History of Chocolate to fulfill a promise he made to his dying wife?
• ... that golfer Michael Brennan won in his first start as a professional on the PGA Tour?
• ... that the titular mandolin in Picasso's Girl with a Mandolin has been attributed with "a mild autoerotic suggestion"?
• ... that NFL executive Jack Teele remained employed by the Los Angeles Rams under three different owners, six head coaches, and several different quarterbacks?
• ... that in his early career Charlie Chaplin was booed and heckled with thrown oranges and coins until he left the stage of Foresters Music Hall?
• ... that Umamusume character Haru Urara became so popular a website donating grass to feed her namesake racehorse crashed?

• An apartment complex fire (pictured) in Hong Kong leaves at least 146 people dead.
• In Guinea-Bissau, armed forces seize power in a military coup, arresting President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and proclaiming Horta Inta-A Na Man as head of a transitional government.
• Cyclone Senyar leaves more than 600 people dead across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

December 1: World AIDS Day; Great Union Day in Romania; Rosa Parks Day in some states and cities in the United States

• 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.
• 1822 – Pedro I was crowned the first emperor of Brazil, seven weeks after his reign began on his 24th birthday.
• 1955 – Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott.
• 1974 – Two Boeing 727s, TWA Flight 514 and Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231, crashed in the eastern United States in unrelated circumstances, killing 95 on board both aircraft.
• 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.

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