Historical Events
- Dec 4 French army begins bombing citadel of Antwerp
Andrew Jackson Re-elected
Dec 5 Andrew Jackson re-elected US President after defeating Henry Clay
- Dec 17 Real Estate developer Samuel Ruggles deeds Gramercy Park to board of trustees to hold as parkland, he is granted tax exempt status by New York City for the park, and develops the surrounding lots ensuring private access only to those properties
HMS Beagle Reaches Tierra del Fuego
Dec 18 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard reaches Tierra del Fuego for the first time
Calhoun First VP to Resign
Dec 28 John C. Calhoun becomes 1st VP to resign (differences with President Jackson)
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 1 Archibald Gracie III, American army officer, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in New York City (d. 1864)
- Dec 8 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author "Pa Guds Veje" and Nobel laureate 1903, born in Kvikne, Norway (d. 1910)
- Dec 12 Abraham Carel Wertheim, Dutch banker and philanthropist, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1897)
- Dec 14 Daniel H. Reynolds, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Centerburg, Ohio (d. 1902)
Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923)
Dec 15 French engineer and architect who designed and built the Eiffel tower, born in Dijon, France
- Dec 19 John Kirk Barry, British physician, explorer and administrator in Zanzibar (companion to explorer David Livingstone), born in Barry, Scotland (d. 1922)
- Dec 21 John Henry Ketcham, American politician and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Dover Plains, New York (d. 1906)
- Dec 22 Edward Hatch, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bangor, Maine (d. 1889)
- Dec 25 Thomas Alfred Smyth, Irish-American Major General (Union Army), born in County Cork, Republic of Ireland (d. 1865)
- Dec 27 Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and patron of art, born in Moscow (d. 1897)
Famous Weddings
William Henry Fox Talbot
Dec 20 Inventor William Henry Fox Talbot (32) weds Constance Mundy
