Historical Events
- Dec 1 12th Big 12 Championship Game: #9 Oklahoma beats #1 Missouri, 38-17
- Dec 1 16th SEC Championship Game: #5 LSU beats #14 Tennessee, 21-14
- Dec 1 3rd ACC Championship Game: #6 Virginia Tech beats #12 Boston College, 30-16
- Dec 1 Davis Cup Tennis, Portland, Oregan: Bob and Mike Bryan team to give US an unassailable 3-0 lead (ends 4-1) over Russia; beat Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev 7-6, 6-4, 6-2; 32nd US title
Earl Lloyd Honored
Dec 1 T. C. Williams High School’s newly constructed basketball court is named after Earl Lloyd
- Dec 3 Devastating winter storms cause Chehalis River to flood many cities in Lewis County, Washington, closing 20-mile portion of Interstate 5 for several days, resulting in at least eight deaths and billions of dollars of damage
Ballon d'Or
Dec 4 Ballon d'Or: Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaká is named best football player in the world; first year in which players from clubs outside the UEFA federation eligible for nomination
- Dec 5 Westroads Mall massacre: A gunman opens fire with a semi-automatic rifle at an Omaha, Nebraska mall, killing eight people before taking his own life.
- Dec 7 The Hebei Spirit oil spill began in South Korea after a crane barge being towed by tug collided with the very large crude carrier, Hebei Spirit.
- Dec 8 73rd Heisman Trophy Award: Tim Tebow, Florida (QB)
- Dec 11 Two car bombs go off at the Constitutional Court building in Algiers and the United Nations office. An estimated 45 people are killed in the bombings.
Mitchell Report Released
Dec 13 The Mitchell Report is publicly released listing the names of 89 Major League Baseball players that have presumably used anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. Notable players named include Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada.
Elizabeth II Oldest UK Monarch
Dec 20 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
Thieves Steal a Picasso
Dec 20 Painting "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904)", by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, is stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art, along with "O Lavrador de Café", by the major Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari
- Dec 20 Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque completed (begun 1994), becoming the largest mosque in Abu Dhabi
- Dec 21 The Schengen Agreement area increases to include 9 European Union member states; Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia on land and sea borders.
Benazir Bhutto Assassinated
Dec 27 Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated by a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi
- Dec 31 Bocaue Fire. Seven people injured when a fire razed several fireworks stores in the Municipality of Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines.
- Dec 31 The Massive Big Dig construction project in Boston, Massachusetts ends.
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 17 James Windsor, Viscount Severn, son of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Famous Weddings
- Dec 8 "Happy Days" actor and legendary bachelor Scott Baio (46) weds longtime girlfriend Renee Sloan at a luxury high-rise in Los Angeles, California
- Dec 8 American "Backstreet Boys" member Howie Dorough (34) weds longtime girlfriend, webmaster Leigh Boniello (33) at St. James Cathedral in Orlando, Florida
Harvey Weinstein
Dec 15 American Miramax film mogul Harvey Weinstein (55) weds second wife, English "Marchesa" fashion designer Georgina Chapman (31) in Connecticut; separate in 2017, divorce finalized in 2021
Jimmy Fallon
Dec 22 Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member, and "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon (33) weds Hollywood producer Nancy Juvonen (40) on Necker Island in the Caribbean
Katherine Heigl
Dec 23 American "Grey's Anatomy" actress Katherine Heigl (29) weds American pop-country singer-songwriter Josh Kelley (27) at Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City, Utah
Billie Piper
Dec 31 English actress Billie Piper (25) weds second husband, fellow actor Laurence Fox (29)
Famous Divorces
- Dec 17 Actor Dermot Mulroney (44) divorces actress Catherine Keener (48) due to irreconcilable differences after 17 years of marriage
Eddie Van Halen & Valerie Bertinelli
Dec 20 "Hot in Cleveland" actress Valerie Bertinelli (47) divorces guitarist Eddie Van Halen (52) due to irreconcilable differences after 26 years of marriage
Famous Deaths
- Dec 1 Anton Rodgers, British actor (May to December), dies at 74
- Dec 1 Elisabeth Eybers, South African poet (That Woman & Other Verses), dies at 92
- Dec 1 Ken McGregor, Australian tennis player (Australian C'ship 1952), dies of stomach cancer at 78
- Dec 1 Sally L. Smith, American educator and founder (Lab School of Washington), dies at 78
- Dec 2 Henry Cele, South African actor (Shaka Zulu), dies at 66
- Dec 2 Thomas F. Torrance, Scottish Protestant theologist, dies at 94
- Dec 3 Art Arfons, auto racer/designer (3 x world land speed record; "Green Monster"), dies at 81
- Dec 3 James Kemsley, Australian cartoonist and actor (b. 1948)
- Dec 4 Chip Reese, American poker player (3 x World Series of Poker bracelets), dies from pneumonia at 56
- Dec 4 Friedrich Zehm, German pianist and composer, dies at 85
- Dec 4 Norval Morrisseau, Canadian artist (b. 1932)
- Dec 4 Pimp C. [Chad Butler], American rapper (Underground Kingz), dies of overuse of prescription cough syrup and sleep apnea at 33
- Dec 5 Andrew Imbrie, American contemporary classical composer, and pianist, dies at 86
- Dec 5 Karlheinz Stockhausen, German classical and electronic music composer, dies at 79
- Dec 6 András Szőllősy, Hungarian composer, and musicologist (cataloged works of Béla Bartók), dies at 86
- Dec 6 Katy French, Irish Supermodel and Socialite, dies at 24
- Dec 8 Gerardo García Pimentel, Mexican journalist
- Dec 9 Thore Skogman, Swedish entertainer, dies at 76
- Dec 10 Aqsa Parvez, Canadian victim of an honor crime (b. 1991)
- Dec 10 Robert Moevs, American composer, dies at 87
- Dec 11 Ashleigh Aston Moore, Canadian child actress (Now and Then), dies of a drug overdose at 26
- Dec 11 Christie Hennessy, Irish singer (b. 1945)
- Dec 11 Grace Paley, American poet, political activist and teacher (1970 Arts & Letters Award), dies of breast cancer at 84
- Dec 12 Ike Turner, American musician ("Rocket 88"; Ike and Tina Turner - "A Fool in Love"; "Proud Mary"), dies of cocaine overdose at 76
- Dec 13 Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Native American (Dakota Sioux) country music singer-songwriter, actor (Walker, Texas Ranger; Northern Exposure), and political activist, dies from complications of leukemia at 71
- Dec 13 Mark Partridge, Rhodesian politician
- Dec 14 Ernő Király, Yugoslavian composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at 88
- Dec 15 John Berg, American actor (Star Trek: Nemesis), takes his own life at 58
- Dec 15 Julia Carson, American politician (Rep Indiana (D) 1997-2007), dies of lung cancer at 69 [1]
- Dec 16 Dan Fogelberg, American rocker (Same Old Lang Syne), dies at 56
- Dec 16 Harald Genzmer, German composer, dies at 98
- Dec 18 Bill Strauss, American writer on generations, satirist, and founder of the Capitol Steps (b. 1947)
- Dec 18 Gerald Le Dain, Canadian Supreme Court judge (b. 1924)
- Dec 18 Jack Linkletter, American TV host (Haggis Baggis, Hootenanny), dies at 70
- Dec 20 Nataline Sarkisyan, American leukemia patient dies after Cigna HealthCare denied coverage for a medically recommended liver transplant at 17
- Dec 20 Tommy Byrne, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1950; World Series 1949, 56; NY Yankees), dies at 87
- Dec 21 Ken Hendricks, American businessman (b. 1941)
- Dec 22 Adrian Cristobal, Filipino writer (b. 1932)
- Dec 22 Joe Ames, American singer and actor (The Ames Brothers Show), dies at 86
- Dec 22 Julien Gracq [Louis Poirier], French writer (Andre Breton), dies at 97
- Dec 23 Michael Kidd, American Tony Award-winning stage and film choreographer (in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), dies of cancer at 92
Oscar Peterson (1925-2007)
Dec 23 Canadian jazz pianist and composer (Downbeat Magazine's Pianist of the Year, 1950-62), dies of kidney failure at 82
- Dec 23 William Francis Ganong, American physiologist (b. 1924)
- Dec 24 Akbar Radi, Iranian dramatist and playwright (b. 1939)
- Dec 24 Nicholas Pumfrey, British judge (b. 1951)
- Dec 25 Hans Otte, German composer and pianist (The Book of Sounds, Book of Hours), dies at 81
- Dec 25 John Hayes, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (15 Tests, 30 wickets; Auckland CA), dies at 80
- Dec 25 Mighty King Kong, Kenyan reggae musician. (b. 1973)
- Dec 26 Andrew Grima, Italian-born British jeweller known for his modern designs, dies at 86
- Dec 26 Joe Dolan, Irish singer and entertainer (b. 1943)
- Dec 26 John A. Garraty, American biographer (b. 1920)
- Dec 26 Stu Nahan, American Sportscaster (b. 1926)
Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007)
Dec 27 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan and 1st female leader of a Muslim nation, assassinated in Rawalpindi by a suicide bomber at 54
- Dec 27 Jaan Kross, Estonian writer (b. 1920)
- Dec 27 Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Polish film director (b. 1922)
- Dec 27 Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, grandson of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil and claimant to the throne of Brazil, dies at 94
- Dec 28 Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami, Iran national basketball team player (b. 1982)
- Dec 28 Jiří Pauer, Czech composer, dies at 88
- Dec 29 Kevin Greening, British radio presenter (b. 1962)
- Dec 29 Phil O'Donnell, Scottish soccer midfielder (1 cap; Motherwell, Celtic, Sheffield Wednesday; PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year 1992, 94), dies from cardiac arrest while playing at 35
- Dec 30 Bert Bolin, Swedish meteorologist (1st Chairman Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change), dies at 82
- Dec 31 Bill Idelson, American actor (b. 1919)
- Dec 31 Ettore Sottsass, Italian architect and designer (b. 1917)
- Dec 31 Kathryn Ish, American actress (b. 1936)
- Dec 31 Markku Peltola, Finnish actor (The Man Without A Past), and art-rock bassist and singer (Motelli Skronkle), dies at 51
- Dec 31 Michael Goldberg, American painter (b. 1924)
- Dec 31 Milton L. Klein, Canadian politician (b. 1910)
- Dec 31 Tommy Dickson, British footballer (b. 1929)
- Dec 31 Tony Elliott, American football player (b. 1959)
