Historical Events
Disraeli Government Resigns
Dec 2 1st British government of Benjamin Disraeli resigns
First Black Jury
Dec 3 1st blacks on US trial jury appointed for Jefferson Davis trial
Palace of Westminster
Dec 9 The first traffic lights are installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
- Dec 15 Shogunate rebels found Ezo Republic in Hokkaidō
Andrew Johnson's Civil War Pardon
Dec 25 Despite bitter opposition, US President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all persons involved in Southern rebellion (Civil War)
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 2 Francis Jammes, French poet and writer (Jammisme), born in Tournay, Hautes-Pyrénées, France (d. 1938)
- Dec 4 Jesse Burkett, American Baseball HOF left fielder (NL batting champion 1895-96, 1901; 240 hits in 1896 MLB record for 15 years; Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Perfectos/Cardinals), born in Wheeling, West Virginia (d. 1953)
- Dec 4 Richard Nicolaas Roland Holst, Dutch artist and painter, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1938)
- Dec 5 Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist, born in Königsberg, Prussia (d. 1951)
- Dec 9 Fritz Haber, German physicist and chemist (Nobel 1918 for process to synthesize ammonia), born in Breslau, Prussia (d. 1934)
- Dec 10 Louis Victor Saar, Dutch-American composer, born in Rotterdam (d. 1937)
- Dec 11 Ernst Henrik Ellberg, Swedish composer, born in Söderhamn, Sweden (d. 1948)
- Dec 14 Richard Batka, Austrian music critic and composer, born in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic) (d. 1922)
Harvey S. Firestone (1868-1938)
Dec 20 American industrialist and founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company ("where the rubber meets the road"), born in Columbiana, Ohio
- Dec 24 Emanuel Lasker, German World Chess Champion (1894-21), born in Barlinek, Poland (d. 1941)
- Dec 25 Eugenie Besserer, American actress (Jazz Singer), born in Watertown, New York (d. 1934)
- Dec 28 Marie van Regteren Altena, Dutch painter (Amsterdam's Joffers), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1958)
Famous Deaths
Linus Yale Jr. (1821-1868)
Dec 25 American portrait painter and inventor (Yale cylinder lock), dies at 47 [1]
