1492 - Christopher Columbus discovered Hispaniola (now Haiti).

1560 - Charles IX succeeded as King of France on the death of Francis II.

1766 - James Christie, founder of the famous auctioneers, held his first sale in London.

1776 - In Williamsburg, VA, at the College of William and Mary the first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized.

1782 - The first native U.S. president, Martin Van Buren, was born in Kinderhook, NY.

1792 - The trial of France's King Louis XVI began.

1797 - Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Paris to command forces for the invasion of England.

1812 - Napoleon Bonaparte left his army as they were retreating from Russia.

1839 - General George Armstrong Custer was born in New Rumley, OH.

1848 - U.S. President Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming the fact that gold had been discovered in California.

1876 - The Stillson wrench was patented by D.C. Stillson. The device was the first practical pipe wrench.

1901 - Movie producer Walt Disney was born in Chicago. He created his first Mickey Mouse cartoon at the age of 27.

1904 - The Russian fleet was destroyed by the Japanese at Port Arthur, during the Russo-Japanese War.

1908 - At the University of Pittsburgh, numerals were first used on football uniforms worn by college football players.

1913 - Britain outlawed the sending of arms to Ireland.

1932 - German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa making it possible for him to travel to the U.S.

1933 - Prohibition came to an end when Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

1934 - Fighting broke out between Italian and Ethiopian troops on the Somalian border.

1934 - The Soviet Union executed 66 people charged with plotting against Joseph Stalin's government.

1935 - In Montebello, CA, the first commercial hydrophonics operation was established.

1936 - The Soviet Union adopted a new Constitution under a Supreme Council.

1944 - During World War II, Allied troops took Ravenna, Italy.

1945 - The so-called "Lost Squadron" disappeared. The five U.S. Navy Avenger bombers carrying 14 Navy flyers began a training mission at the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station. They were never heard from again.

1951 - The first push button-controlled garage opened in Washington, DC.

1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.

1956 - British and French forces began a withdrawal from Egypt during the Suez War.

1958 - Britain's first motorway, the Preston by-pass, was opened by Prime Minister Macmillan.

1961 - United Nations forces launched an attack in Katanga, the Congo, near Elizabethville.

1962 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed to cooperate in the peaceful uses of outer space.

1971 - The Soviet Union, at United Nations Security Council, vetoed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in hostilities between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.

1976 - Jacques Chirac re-founded the Gaullist party as the RPR (Rassemblement pour la République).

1977 - Egypt broke diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen due to peaceful relations with Israel.

1978 - The American space probe Pioneer Venus I, orbiting Venus, and began beaming back its first information and picture of the planet.

1979 - Sonia Johnson was formally excommunicated by the Mormon Church due to her outspoken support for the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.

1983 - In west Beirut, Lebanon, more than a dozen people were killed when a car bomb shattered a nine-story apartment building.

1983 - The video arcade game "NFL Football" was unveiled in Chicago. It was the first video arcade game to be licensed by the National Football League.

1984 - Iran's official news agency quoted the hijackers of a Kuwaiti jetliner parked at Tehran airport as saying they would blow up the plane unless Kuwait released 14 imprisoned extremists.

1985 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 1,500 for the first time.

1986 - The Soviet Union said it would continue to abide by the SALT II treaty limits on nuclear weapons. This was despite the decision by the U.S. to exceed them.

1988 - Jim Bakker and former aide Richard Dortch were indicted by a federal grand jury in North Carolina on fraud and conspiracy charges.

1989 - Israeli soldiers killed five heavily armed Arab guerrillas who crossed the border from Egypt. The guerrillas were allegedly going to launch a terrorist attack commemorating the anniversary of the Palestinian uprising.

1989 - East Germany's former leaders were placed under house arrest.

1992 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin kept the power to appoint Cabinet ministers, defeating a constitutional amendment that would have put his team of reformers under the control of Russia's Congress.

1998 - James P. Hoffa became the head of the Teamsters union, 23 years after his father was the head. His father disappeared and was presumed dead.

2001 - In Germany, Afghan leaders signed a pact to create a temporary administration for post-Taliban Afghanistan. Two women were included in the cabinet structure. Hamid Karzai and his Cabinet were planned to take over power in Afghanistan on December 22.

Music

1687 - Composer Francesco Xaverio Geminiani was born.

1791 - Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna, Austria, at the age of 35.

1870 - Composer Vitezslav Novak was born.

1956 - Alan Freed's "Rock Rock Rock" film (with Connie Francis singing for Tuesday Weld) was released.

1968 - The Rolling Stones unveil "Beggar's Banquet" in an uncontroversial white cover designed to resemble a formal invitation.

1968 - Graham Nash quit the Hollies. He announced the formation of Crosby, Stills and Nash three days later.

1993 - Douglas Hopkins, ex-Gin Blossoms lead guitarist committed suicide at his home in Tempe, AZ, at the age of 32. Hopkins was fired the previous year due to a drinking habit.

1997 - Carl Edward Hunter, manager of Ray Charles, was arrested in Japan on suspicion of marijuana possession.

1997 - Toni Braxton filed suit against LaFace Records and its distributor Arista Records, claiming that her 1989 recording contracts were invalid.

Birthdays

Martin Van Buren (U.S.) 1782
Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830
George Armstrong Custer 1839
Walt Elias Disney 1901
Otto Preminger 1906
Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman) 1932
Joan Didion 1934
Calvin Trillin 1935
J.J. Cale 1938
Jeroen Krabbe 1944
Jose Carreras 1947
Jim Messina (Buffalo Springfield) 1947
Morgan Brittany 1951
Brian Backer 1956
Jack Russell (Great White) 1960
Ty England 1963
Carrie Hamilton 1963
John Rzeznick (The Goo Goo Dolls) 1965
Gary Allan 1967
Margaret Cho 1968
Frankie Muniz 1985
Ross Bagley 1988

All information provided is purely speculation as I do not test. Use the provided information at you own risk.