Historical Events
- Dec 1 1st skywriting over US - "Hello USA"-by Capt Turner, RAF
Piłsudski Resigns
Dec 1 Polish state Chief Marshal Józef Piłsudski resigns
- Dec 2 CFL Grey Cup, Richardson Stadium, Kingston: Queen's University win first of 3 straight titles; defeat Edmonton Elks, 13-1
- Dec 4 Lucille Atcherson, becomes first woman legation sect-US foreign service
- Dec 6 1st constitution of Irish Free State comes into operation
- Dec 6 1st electric power line commercial carrier in US, Utica, NY
- Dec 9 1st Australasian Championships Women's Tennis, Sydney: Margaret Molesworth wins inaugural title; beats fellow Australian Esna Boyd 6-3, 10-8
Anderson Wins 1st of Three
Dec 9 Australasian Championships Men's Tennis, Sydney: James Anderson wins 1st of 3 Australasian titles; beats fellow Australian Gerald Patterson 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Dec 9 Gabriel Narutowicz elected Polish president
- Dec 10 1st National Football League Championship: undefeated Canton Bulldogs (10-0-2) named inaugural champions
- Dec 10 Canton Bulldogs' future HOF tackle Pete Henry makes longest known NFL drop-kicked field goal, 45 yards
Nobels to Bohr, Aston and Nansen
Dec 10 Nobel prizes awarded to Danish physicist Niels Bohr for his work on the structure of atoms, Francis William Aston for Chemistry and a Peace Prize to Fridtjof Nansen for his work on behalf of displaced victims of World War I at a ceremony in Copenhagen
- Dec 10 Spanish playwright Jacinto Benavente is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in absentia in Stockholm, his speech is given by Count de Torata, the Spanish Ambassador
- Dec 13 Charles Ebbets proposes putting numbers on players' sleeves or caps
- Dec 15 IVVV (association) peace congress on war forms in Hague
- Dec 16 Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Baseball Clubs formally organizes
- Dec 16 NSW all out for 786 against South Australia Cricket
- Dec 17 Last British troops leave Irish Free State
- Dec 19 Theresa Vaughn, 24, confesses in court in Sheffield, England, to being married 61 times over 5 years in 50 cities in three countries
- Dec 20 Draft declaration on creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) crafted by representatives from the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, and the Transcaucasian SFSR
- Dec 20 Polish parliament selects Stanislaw Wojcieckowski as president
- Dec 22 Belgian parliament rejects Dutch university in Ghent
- Dec 23 BBC Radio began daily newscasts
- Dec 24 BBC broadcasts first British radio play "The Truth about Father Christmas"
- Dec 24 London Coloseum opens
"Lenin's Testament"
Dec 25 "Lenin's testament" - Vladimir Lenin dictates document criticizing his colleagues, suggests Stalin be removed as General Secretary (until Dec 26)
- Dec 29 Dutch Constitution proclaimed
- Dec 29 Revised Netherlands Law proclaims suffrage
Soviet Union Founded
Dec 30 Creation of the USSR formally proclaimed in Moscow from the Bolshoi Theatre, organized as a union (U) of Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian and Transcaucasian Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR).
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 1 Paul Picerni, American actor (The Untouchables), born in New York City (d. 2011)
- Dec 1 Vsevolod Bobrov, Soviet ice hockey left wing (Olympic gold 1956) and soccer striker (3 caps), born in Morshansk, Tambov, Russia (d. 1979)
- Dec 2 Leo Gordon, American actor (Maverick, Circus Boy, Enos, Winds of War), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2000)
- Dec 3 Joe Collins, American baseball first baseman (World Series 1949–53, 56; New York Yankees), born in Scranton, Pennsylvania (d. 1989)
- Dec 3 Sven Nykvist, Swedish cinematographer (Cries and Whispers), born in Moheda, Kronobergs län, Sweden (d. 2006)
- Dec 4 Gérard Philipe, French actor (Caligula, Devil in the Flesh), born in Cannes, France (d. 1959)
- Dec 6 John Brunt, English soldier and Victoria Cross holder, born in Priest Weston, Shropshire, England (d. 1944)
- Dec 7 Rogério Pipi, Portuguese soccer forward (15 caps; Benfica), born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 2019)
- Dec 8 George Fullerton, South African cricketer (South African keeper-batsman 1947-51), born in Kensington, South Africa (d. 2002)
- Dec 8 Jean Ritchie, American folk singer, born in Viper, Kentucky (d. 2015)
- Dec 8 John B. McKay, American test pilot (X-15), born in Portsmouth, Virginia (d. 1975)
- Dec 8 Lucian Freud, German-British artist (Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, Boy With a Rat), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2011)
- Dec 9 Redd Foxx [JohnSanford], American comedian and actor (Sanford & Son; Redd Foxx Show), born in St Louis, Missouri (d. 1991)
- Dec 10 Allen Sapp, American composer (Imaginary Creatures), and pedagogue, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1999)
- Dec 10 Tunde Nightingale [Earnest Olatunde Thomas], Nigerian juju singer-songwtiter, and guitarist, born in Ibadan, Colonial Nigeria (d. 1981)
- Dec 11 Dilip Kumar [Muhammad Yusuf Khan], Indian Bollywood actor known as the "Tragedy King" and one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema (Jwar Bhata), born in Peshawar, British India (d. 2021)
- Dec 11 Grace Paley, American poet, political activist and teacher (1970 Arts & Letters Award), born in New York City (d. 2007)
- Dec 11 Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer, born in Peristeri, Athens (d. 2005)
- Dec 11 Peter Birch, American dancer, choreographer (Jane Froman's USA Canteen), and director (Captain Kangaroo), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 1987)
- Dec 12 Arthur R. Hawkins, American naval aviator and flying ace (WW II, downed 14 Japanese planes), born in Zavalla, Texas (d. 2004)
- Dec 13 José Sarria, American political activist, drag queen and 1st openly gay candidate for public office in the US (1961), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2013)
- Dec 14 Cecil Payne, American jazz baritone saxophonist, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2007)
- Dec 14 Don Hewitt, American CBS news executive producer (60 Minutes), born in New York City (d. 2009)
- Dec 15 (Albert) "Alan" Freed, American disc jockey and concert promoter who popularized the term "rock-n-roll", and payola scandal figure, born in Windber, Pennsylvania (d. 1965)
- Dec 16 Anthony Simmons, British writer and film director (The Optimists of Nine Elms), born in London (d. 2016)
- Dec 16 Pierre Chany, French cycling journalist (49 x Tour de France; L'Équipe), born in Langeac, Haute-Loire, France (d. 1996)
- Dec 16 Seymour "Cy" Leslie, American music (Pickwick Records) and video (MGM/UA Home Entertainment) executive, born in Israel (d. 2008)
- Dec 17 Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (d. 2005)
- Dec 18 Larry D Mann, Canadian actor and broadcaster (Accidental Family, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2014)
- Dec 19 Catherine Hall, British nurse who raised the professional profile of nursing and to establish its central role in health care, born in Sheffield, England (d. 1996)
- Dec 19 Eamonn Andrews, Irish-born television presenter (d. 1987)
- Dec 20 Charita Bauer, American actress (The Guiding Light, Aldrich Family), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1985)
- Dec 20 Denny Vaughan, Canadian pianist, singer, arranger and orchestra leader (The Smothers Brothers Show; Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1972) [1]
- Dec 21 Paul Winchell (Wilchinsky), American ventriloquist (Jerry Mahoney, Knucklehead Smiff), inventor (mechanical artificial human heart,1963), voice actor (Winnie the Pooh - "Tigger"; Dick Dastardly; The Banana Splits -"Fleegle"), and acupuncturist, born in New York City (d. 2005)
- Dec 22 Calder Willingham, American novelist and scriptwriter, born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1995)
- Dec 22 Jack Brooks, American politician, born in Crowley, Louisiana (d. 2012)
- Dec 22 Jim Wright, American Democratic politician and Speaker of the House (1987-89), born in Forth Worth, Texas (d. 2015)
- Dec 23 Ian Powell Bancroft, British senior civil servant, born in Barrow-in-Furness, England (d. 1996)
- Dec 23 Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete (Olympic gold shot put, discus; bronze high jump 1948), born in Rang-du-Fliers, Pas-de-Calais, France (d. 2001)
Ava Gardner (1922-1990)
Dec 24 American actress (On the Beach, Night of the Iguana), born in Grabtown, North Carolina
- Dec 24 Jonas Mekas, American avant garde filmmaker and film critic, born in Semeniškiai, Lithuania (d. 2019)
- Dec 26 Iain Watson Gallaway, New Zealand sports broadcaster (Radio Sport; Halberg Award) and author ("Not a Cloud in the Sky"), born in Dunedin, New Zealand (d. 2021)
- Dec 26 Norman Orentreich, American dermatologist known as "the father of modern hair transplantation", born in New York City (d. 2019)
- Dec 26 Richard Mayes, British actor (Doctor Who, Emmerdale), born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England (d. 2006)
- Dec 27 Larry Osborne, Trinidadian-British army officer and navigator air traffic controller (1st black man to reach rank of Group Captain rank), born in Trinidad (d. 1996)
Stan Lee (1922-2018)
Dec 28 American comic-book artist, writer and creative leader of Marvel multimedia corporation (Avengers, Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk), born in New York City
- Dec 29 William Gaddis, American novelist, born in New York City (d. 1998)
