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.
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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.
2008: The iTunes Music Store reached 300 million applications downloaded.
