Historical Events
Expansion into the West
Dec 2 US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West, a widely held belief termed "manifest destiny" by newspaper editor John O'Sullivan
- Dec 6 Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity is founded at Yale College.
Leichhardt Survives Overland Expedition
Dec 17 German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt arrives in Port Essington after a nearly 4,800 km (3,000 mi) overland journey to explore Australia's Northern Territory
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 12 Bruce Price, American architect, born in Cumberland, Maryland (d. 1903)
- Dec 21 Emmanuel-Persillier Lachapelle, Canadian physician and founder of Hôpital Notre-Dame, Montreal), born in Sault-au-Récollet, Montreal (d. 1918)
- Dec 23 Gustave Ador, Swiss politician and 36th President of the Swiss Confederation (1919), born in Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland (d. 1928)
- Dec 25 Salvatore Auteri-Manzocchi, Italian opera composer (Graziella), born in Palermo, Kingdome of the Two Sicilies (d. 1924)
- Dec 27 Augusto (de Oliveira) Machado, Portuguese composer (Lauriane; Camões es os Luziadas), born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1924)
- Dec 28 Homer Newton Bartlett, American pianist, organist and composer, born in Olive, New York (d. 1920)
