Historical Events
Brahms 3rd Symphony in F
Dec 2 Johannes Brahms' "3rd Symphony in F" premieres with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
- Dec 3 48th US Congress (1883-85) convenes
- Dec 9 New Brunswick adopts Eastern Standard Time (until 1902)
- Dec 16 Tonkin Campaign: The French capture the citadel in Hanoi
- Dec 20 International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls between Canada and US
- Dec 22 August Strindberg's "Lycko-Pers Reja" premieres
- Dec 26 The Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orangemen causes five deaths in Newfoundland.
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 1 Romanos Melik'yan, Armenian composer, born in Kizlyar, (d. 1935)
- Dec 3 Anton (Friedrich Wilhelm) von Webern, Austrian 12-tone composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1945)
- Dec 3 Tibby Cotter, Australian cricket fast bowler (21 Tests, 49 wickets) and solder (killed in world's last successful cavalry charge, 4th Light Horse Brigade at Beersheba), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1917)
- Dec 4 Katharine Susannah Prichard, Australian novelist (Black Opal), born in Levuka, Fiji (d. 1969)
- Dec 9 Alexander Papagos, Greek fieldmarshal and supreme commander, born in Athens, Greece (d. 1955)
- Dec 9 Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician, born in Irkutsk, Russian Empire (d. 1950)
- Dec 10 Andrej J. Vysjinski, Russian lawyer and UN ambassador, born in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1954)
- Dec 10 Jesse Harper, American College Football HOF coach (Notre Dame 57–17–7 [football; 67–29 [basketball]; 88–53–1 [baseball]), born in Paw Paw, Illinois (d. 1961)
- Dec 13 Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer and archivist, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1950)
- Dec 14 Manolis Kalomiris, Greek opera composer, born in Smyrna, Greece (d. 1962)
- Dec 14 Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of the Japanese martial art of aikido, born in Tanabe, Wakayama, Japan (d. 1969)
- Dec 16 Max Linder [Gabriel-Maximilien Leuvielle], French actor, comic and director (Seven Years Bad Luck: Max Prend un Bain), born in Saint-Loubès, Gironde, France (d. 1925)
- Dec 17 Raimu [Jules Auguste Cesar Muraire], French actor (The Baker's Wife, Marius, Fanny), born in Toulon, Var, France (d. 1946)
- Dec 19 Barry Byrne, American architect (Church of St. Francis Xavier in Kansas City), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1967)
- Dec 19 Louis Davids [Simon David], Dutch cabaret performer, singer and comedian, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1939)
- Dec 22 Arthur James Cook, British trade union leader (coal miners), born in Wookey, Somerset (d. 1931)
- Dec 22 Edgard Varèse, French-American composer (Ionisation; Poème électronique), born in Burgundy, France (d. 1965)
- Dec 23 Hubert Pierlot, Belgian advocate and politician, Prime Minister of Belgium (1939-45), born in Cugnon, Belgium (d. 1963)
- Dec 25 Fran Lhotka, Czech composer, born in Mladá Vožice (d. 1962)
- Dec 25 Maurice Utrillo, French painter (Port St Martin, Montmartre), born in Montmartre, Paris, France (d. 1955)
- Dec 26 Carl Ahues, German Chess Master (1950), born in Bremen, Germany (d. 1968)
- Dec 26 Frank Debenham, Australian geographer and geologist, born in Bowral, Australia (d. 1965)
Cyrus Eaton (1883-1979)
Dec 27 Canadian-American financier, industrialist and steel magnate, born in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia
Famous Weddings
Rabindranath Tagore
Dec 9 Poet Rabindranath Tagore (22) weds Mrinalini Devi in an arranged marriage
