1582 - France introduced the Gregorian calendar by skipping 10 days, and counting the day on December 9 as December 20.
1606 - The Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery sets sail from England to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
1955 - Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales
1977 - 1st Space walk made by G Grechko from Salyut
International Human Solidarity Day

1842 - US recognizes independence of Hawaii
1919 - American Meteorological Society found
1963 - Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.
1972 - The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17; crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt returns to Earth, accomplishing; Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" - they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon. (The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth.)
St. Nikola, Orthodox holiday

1642 - Abel Tasman sails around Farewell Spit and into Golden Bay, first sighting local Māori and becomes first European to land in New Zealand.
1828 - Strong earthquake devastated the Japanese city of Nagaoka, killing 30,000 people.
1865 - Slavery was abolished in the United States.
1958 - 1st test project of Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equip.
1958 - Niger gains autonomy within French Community (National Day)

1577 - Sir Francis Drake sails fromm Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I.
1790 - Aztec calendar stone discovered in Mexico City
1993 - Finland recognized the Republic of Macedonia.
2005 - Macedonia got a candidate status for membership of the European Union.
Kazakhstan Independence Day

1497 - Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
1631 - Mount Vesuvious, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages & kills 4,000
1707 - Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.
1857 - Earthquake in Naples, Italy
1920 - 8.5 earthquake rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000
Victory day of Bangladesh