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.

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

1939 The commercial manufacture of nylon yarn, Seaford, Delaware

1939 The world premiere of the movie Gone With the Wind is held in Atlanta, GA.

1939 World premiere of "Gone With The Wind" in Atlanta GA

1941 A musical standard was recorded this day on Victor Records. Lena Horne sang the torch classic that became her signature Stormy Weather.

1941 USS Swordfish becomes first US sub to sink a Japanese ship

1942 Massachusetts issues first US vehicular license plate tabs

1942 The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities issued the first plastic license-plate tabs.

1944 A single-engine plane carrying bandleader Glenn Miller vanishes over the English Channel while en route to Paris.

1944 Glenn Miller presumed dead after his plane disappeared over the English Channel

1945 John J "Cardinal" O'Connor, ordained as a priest

1948 Former state department official Alger Hiss indicted in NYC for perjury

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