0687 St Sergius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1025 The Byzantine emperor Basil II dies December 15 at age 69 after a 49-year reign He is succeeded by his brother, who will reign until 1028 as Constantine VIII
1612 Simon Marius, is first to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope
1785 King George IV of England marries his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert.
1791 The Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution) becomes law, following ratification by the state of Virginia.
1792 The first US life insurance policy is issued in Philadelphia
1794 Revolutionary Tribunal abolished in France
1810 Irish magazine in US, the Shamrock, is firstpublished
1816 Charles Stanhope, a British earl, invented two early mechanical calculators, as well as a printing press, a microscope lens, and various other scientific devices.
1836 Patent Office burns in Washington DC
1854 First street-cleaning machine in US first used in Philadelphia
1854 Philadelphia residents were amazed as the first street cleaning machine was put into operation.
1859 GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of Sun
1874 David Kalakaua, king of the Sandwich Islands chain in the South Pacific and first regining king to visit the US, is received at the White House by US president Ulysses S. Grant.
1886 Turbulence reigned over Wall Street on this day in 1886, as a record 1.2 million shares changed hands in a day of frantic trading.
1890 Sitting Bull, a leader of the Sioux Indian nation, is killed in South Dakota by Indian police for resisting arrest.
1891 James Naismith a Canadian invents basketball
1896 Herman Hollerith, inventor of the tabulating machine used in the 1890 U.S. census, was saved from financial ruin when the Russian government contracted his tabulating machine for their census
1914 After being closed for over four months, the NYSE got back into the swing of things on this day in 1914, albeit with a tight set of trading restrictions designed to prevent fiscal disaster
1914 Battle of Lodz ends; Russians retreat toward Moscow
1916 French defeat Germans in WW I Battle of Verdun
1917 Moldavian Republic declares independence from Russia
1925 First road with a depressed trough (Texas) opened to traffic
1927 Ed Hickman kidnaps child he later beheads
1938 Groundbreaking begins for Jefferson Memorial in Wash DC
