December 21st Events |
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December 21st, 2069 (December 21 2069) | Event | The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian becomes the fourth Emperor of Rome within a year. | |
December 21st, 2007 (December 21 2007) | Event | The Schengen Agreement area increases to include 9 European Union member states; Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia on land and sea borders. | |
December 21st, 1999 (December 21 1999) | Event | The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid. | |
December 21st, 1995 (December 21 1995) | Event | The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control. | |
December 21st, 1992 (December 21 1992) | Event | A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport (Portugal), killing 56 people. | |
December 21st, 1991 (December 21 1991) | Event | Charilaos Florakis is elected honorary president of the Communist Party of Greece. | |
December 21st, 1989 (December 21 1989) | Event | The Romanian Revolution of 1989 moves from Timisoara to Bucharest. | |
December 21st, 1988 (December 21 1988) | Event | A bomb explodes on board Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270. | |
December 21st, 1987 (December 21 1987) | Event | The passenger ferry Dona Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing 1,565. | |
December 21st, 1979 (December 21 1979) | Event | Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara. | Robert Mugabe Quotes |
December 21st, 1973 (December 21 1973) | Event | The Geneva Conference on the Arab-Israeli conflict opens. | |
December 21st, 1971 (December 21 1971) | Event | The United Nations Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Secretary-General. | U Thant Quotes |
December 21st, 1968 (December 21 1968) | Event | Apollo program: Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 2h:50m:37s Mission elapsed time (MES), the crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to leave Earth s gravity. | |
December 21st, 1967 (December 21 1967) | Event | Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, after living for 18 days. | |
December 21st, 1962 (December 21 1962) | Event | Rondane National Park is established as Norway s first national park. | |
December 21st, 1958 (December 21 1958) | Event | French presidential election: Charles de Gaulle is elected President of France as his Union des Democrates pour la Republique party gain 78.5% of the vote. | Charles de Gaulle Quotes |
December 21st, 1913 (December 21 1913) | Event | Arthur Wynne s "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World. | |
December 21st, 1883 (December 21 1883) | Event | The first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army are formed: The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment. | |
December 21st, 1872 (December 21 1872) | Event | Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth. | |
December 21st, 1861 (December 21 1861) | Event | Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. | Abraham Lincoln Quotes |
December 21st, 1844 (December 21 1844) | Event | The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement. | |
December 21st, 1620 (December 21 1620) | Event | Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts. | William Bradford Quotes |
December 21st, 1598 (December 21 1598) | Event | Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spaniards troops in southern Chile; all Spanish cities south of the Biobio river are eventually taken by the Mapuches, and all conquest of Mapuche territories by Europeans practically ceases, until the 1870s "Pacification of Araucania". | |