Historical Events
- Dec 1 Jacques Charles and Nicolas Roberts make first untethered ascension with gas hydrogen balloon in Paris
- Dec 4 General Washington bids officers farewell at Fraunce's Tavern, NYC
- Dec 9 First execution at Newgate Jail in London (now the site of the Central Criminal Court aka the Old Bailey), relocated from Tyburn (now the site of Marble Arch)
Portland's Government Dismissed
Dec 18 British King George III dismisses Duke of Portland's Whig government after eight months [1]
William Pitt Youngest PM
Dec 19 William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest ever British Prime Minister at age 24
Washington Resigns as Commander-in-Chief
Dec 23 US General George Washington resigns his military commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army to Congress
- Dec 31 Import of African slaves banned by all of the Northern US states
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 11 Max von Schenkendorf, German poet, born in Tilsit, East Prussia (d. 1817)
- Dec 12 Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician, born in New Jersey (d. 1865)
- Dec 14 Johann Christoph Kienlen, German composer, born in Ulm, Germany (d. 1829)
- Dec 19 Charles-Julien Brianchon, French mathematician (Brianchon's theorem), born in Sèvres, France (d. 1864)
- Dec 28 Robert Gallenberg, Austrian ballet composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1939)
Famous Deaths
- Dec 13 Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, Swedish astronomer (b. 1717)
- Dec 16 Johann Adolf Hasse, Dutch operatic composer (Sesostrate), dies at 84
- Dec 16 Sir William James, British naval commander (b. 1720)
- Dec 16 Yoriyuki Arima, Japanese mathematician (approximated the value of pi and its square, pi^2), dies at 68
- Dec 20 Antonio Soler, Spanish Catalan composer (Fandango), dies at 54
- Dec 31 Gualtherus van Doeveren, Dutch physician, and educator, dies at 53
