Historical Events
- Dec 6 London becomes the world's first city to host licenced taxicabs
- Dec 9 French activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper 'La Fronde' in Paris
- Dec 12 Anti-Jewish violence breaks out in Bucharest, Romania
- Dec 12 Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, founded
- Dec 12 Rudolph Dirks' 1st "The Katzenjammer Kids" cartoon strip appears in NY Journal
Pact of Biak-na-Bato
Dec 14 Emilio Aguinaldo signs the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, to end hostilities and dissolve his government, in exchange for amnesty and "$800,000 (Mexican)" as an indemnity
- Dec 16 1st submarine with an internal combustion engine demonstrated
- Dec 27 Stanley Cup, Victoria Rink, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Victorias beat Ottawa Capitals, 15-2
- Dec 28 Edmond Rostand's play "Cyrano de Bergerac" premieres in Paris
- Dec 30 Province of Zululand annexed to Natal colony
- Dec 31 Brooklyn's last day as a city, it incorporates into NYC (1/1/1898)
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 1 Cyril Ritchard, Australian actor (Peter Pan; Hans Brinker), born in Sydney, New South Wales (d. 1977)
- Dec 2 Hovhannes Bagramyan, Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union of Armenian origin, born in Yelizavetpol, Elisabethpol Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1982)
- Dec 2 Rewi Alley, New Zealand writer (Americans in China), born in Springfield, Canterbury, New Zealand (d. 1987)
- Dec 3 Kate O'Brien, Irish writer (Without My Cloak), born in Limerick City, Ireland (d. 1974)
- Dec 4 Mari Andriessen, Dutch sculptor (Dock Worker), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1979)
- Dec 5 Nunnally Johnson, American screenwriter and producer, born in Columbus, Georgia (d. 1977)
- Dec 6 John Fernström, Swedish violinist, conductor (Nordic Youth Orchestra), and composer (Concertino for Flute, Women's Choir and Chamber Orchestra), born in Yichang, China (d. 1961)
- Dec 6 Oscar Walter Cisek, Romanian writer and diplomat, born in Bucharest (d. 1966)
- Dec 8 Leslie Heward, English composer, born in Liversedge, Yorkshire (d. 1943)
- Dec 9 Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold, British actress (Gigi; The Music Man), born in London, England (d. 1987)
- Dec 10 Karl H. Waggerl, Austria writer (Power of Love), born in Bad Gastein, Austria (d. 1973)
- Dec 12 Leonora Summers [Lillian Hill], American vaudeville and silent film actress [Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ; Hoboken To Hollywood), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1976)
- Dec 13 Drew Pearson, American newscaster (Drew Pearson), born in Evanston, Illinois (d. 1969)
- Dec 14 Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (Dictator of the Austrian Federal State), born in Riva del Garda, Tyrol, Austria-Hungary (d. 1977)
- Dec 14 Margaret Chase Smith, American politician (U.S. Senator from Maine), born in Skowhegan, Maine (d. 1995)
- Dec 16 Jacobus Petrus Duminy, South African cricket batsman (3 Tests; Western Province, Transvaal, Oxford University CC) and academic (principal & vice-chancellor University of Cape Town), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 1980)
- Dec 16 Paul Neuhuys, Belgian playwright and poet (Le Canari et le Cerise), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1984)
- Dec 18 Fernand Collin, Belgian economist and banker, born in Antwerp (d. 1990)
Fletcher Henderson (1897-1952)
Dec 18 American pianist, bandleader, composer, and arranger (Benny Goodman Orchestra), born in Cuthbert, Georgia [1]
- Dec 19 Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, French politician and Nazi collaborator (anti-Semite minister in WWII Vichy government), born in Cahors, France (d. 1980)
- Dec 23 Julien Carette, French actor (Sylvia & the Phantom), born in Paris, France (d. 1966)
- Dec 26 Willy Corsari, Dutch writer (the Dutch Agatha Christie) and actor, born in Jette, Belgium (d. 1998)
- Dec 27 Ivan Konev, Russian general (Marshal of the Soviet Union - led Red Army on WWII Eastern Front, commanded Warsaw Pact forces), born in Lodeyno, Vologda Governorate, Russia (d. 1973)
- Dec 29 Hermann Heiss, German composer, born in Darmstadt, Germany (d. 1966)
- Dec 30 Alfredo Bracchi, Italian author (d. 1976)
- Dec 31 Rhys Williams, Welsh actor (How Green Was My Valley, Nightmare, Okinawa, Cross My Heart), born in Clydach, Swansea, Wales (d. 1969)
Famous Deaths
- Dec 16 Alphonse Daudet, French writer (Tartarin sur les Alpes), dies at 57
- Dec 24 Marshall Newell, American College Football Hall of Fame tackle (Harvard; All-American 1890-93) and coach (Cornell, Tufts), dies in a railroad accident at 26
- Dec 28 William Corby, American Catholic priest and President of the University of Notre Dame, dies at 64
- Dec 29 William James Linton, American wood engraver and political reformer. (b. 1812)
