| 68 | | Vespian, a gruff-spoken general of humble origins, enters Rome and is named emperor by the Senate. |
| 1620 | | The Pilgrims land at or near Plymouth Rock. |
| 1708 | | French forces seize control of the eastern shore of Newfoundland after winning a victory at St. John's. |
| 1790 | | Samuel Slater opens the first cotton mill in the United States (in Rhode Island). |
| 1862 | | The U.S. Congress authorizes the Medal of Honor to be awarded to Navy personnel who have distinguished themselves by their gallantry in action. |
| 1866 | | Indians, led by Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, kill Captain William J. Fetterman and 79 other men who had ventured out from Fort Phil Kearny to cut wood. |
| 1910 | | Over 2.5 million plague victims are reported in the An-Hul province of China. |
| 1928 | | President Calvin Coolidge signs the Boulder Dam bill. |
| 1944 | | German troops surround the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne in Belgium. |
| 1945 | | General George S. Patton dies at the age of 60 after being injured in a car accident. |
| 1946 | | An earthquake and tidal wave kill hundreds in Japan. |
| 1963 | | The Turk minority riots in Cyprus to protest anti-Turkish revisions in the constitution. |
| 1964 | | Great Britain's House of Commons votes to ban the death penalty. |
| 1965 | | Four pacifists are indicted in New York for burning draft cards. |
| 1969 | | American draft evaders gather for a holiday dinner in Montreal, Canada. |
| 1986 | | 500,000 Chinese students gather in Shanghai's People's Square calling for democratic reforms, including freedom of the press. |
| 1988 | | Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, an hour after departure. All 259 passengers were killed in the explosion caused by a bomb– hidden inside an audio cassette player — that detonated inside the cargo area when the plane was at an altitude of 31,000 feet. A shower of airplane parts falling from the sky also killed 11 Lockerbie residents. |