497 BC First observance of the Saturnalia at Rome
246 BC Completion of the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek at Alexandria, the "Septuagint"
51 BC Pindenissum, in Isauria, under siege since Nov. 18, surrenders to Cicero
546 The Ostrogoths under king Totila capture and plunder Rome
920 Accession of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos I, with the underage Constantine VII, later deposed by his sons in 944.
1538 Pope Paul III excommunicates England's, King Henry VIII
1600 King Henry IV of France weds Marie de' Medici, who brings her cooks to Paris and invents French cuisine.
1777 France recognizes the independence of the United States
1812 Battle of the Mississinewa: U.S. troops defeat a village of friendly Lenape Indians
1819 Simon Bolivar declares the independence of Gran Colombia (Colombia, Ecuador, & Venezuela) from Spain
1846 Commo Matthew C. Perry's squadron captures Laguna de Terminos, Mexico
1852 The Hawaiian Army organizes a cavalry squadron
1861 Combat at Rowlett's Station/Mumfordsville, WVa
1862 US Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant issues G.O. #11, expelling "Jews" from Tennessee, actually intended to control cotton trading by smugglers pretending to be Jewish merchants
1903 The Wright Brothers' "Flyer" makes the first manned, controlled, heavier-than-air powered flight
1914 Battle of Limanova (Poland): Austro-Hungarians beat the Russians
1923 Greek King George II overthrown in a coup by the army
1925 Court-martial rules against William "Billy" Mitchell
1927 US sub 'S-4' (SS-109) sinks after a collision, all 34 aboard die
1935 First flight of the Douglas DC-3, one of the most critical weapons of World War II
1939 German pocket battleship 'Graf Spee' is scuttled off Montevideo
1940 British troops capture Sollum
1941 Adm Husband Kimmel, CINCUS and CINCPAC, relieved
1941 Japanese troops land in British North Borneo
1942 Americal Div attacks towards Mt. Austen on Guadalcanal
1942 Elms U.S. 25th Div land on Guadalcanal
1942 U.S. aircraft bomb Munda
1942 USCGC 'Natsek' lost in heavy seas, Belle Isle Str, 24 die
1943 New Britain: Allies mop up Japanese on the Arawe Peninsula
1944 Ernest J. King is promoted to five-star rank as a Fleet Admiral
1944 US ends wartime detention of Japanese-Americans
1944 The Malmedy Massacre - American POWs are murdered by the Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper
1957 US successfully test-fires Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile
1961 Indo-Portuguese War begins: Portugal loses its colony of Goa and associated territories within 24 hours
1969 USAF closes Project Blue Book, on UFOs
1971 Ceasefire between India & Pakistan in Kashmir
1973 Arab terrorists seize an airliner at Rome's Fiumicino Airport, 31 die
1981 Italian "Red Brigades" kidnap Brig Gen James L Dozier
1988 USS 'Tennessee' (SSBN-734) is commissioned, the first Trident 2 missiles sub
2011 Kim Jong Un, c, 28, succeeds to the leadership of North Korea, becoming the 3rd successor in the longest enduring Communist dynasty
2020