History Today : Japanese army launches attack on religious sect, Suriname begin compulsory education

• 1326 Daitokuji temple, Rinzai line, established in Kyoto by Daito Kokushi
• 1609 Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room, the second public library of Europe.
• 1659 Mexican border town Ciudad Juárez is founded by Fray García de San Francisco.
• 1710 Battle of Brihuega in the War of the Spanish Succession: British General James Stanhope captured by French & Spanish forces
• 1777 Captain Cook leaves Society Islands
• 1792 1st cremation in US, Henry Laurens
• 1794 1st issue of Herald of Rutland, VT published
• 1852 Gustav Freytag's "Die Journalisten" premieres in Breslau
• 1854 Pope Pius IX proclaims Immaculate Conception, makes Mary, free of Original Sin
• 1857 1st production of Dion Boucicault's "Poor of New York"
• 1863 2,500 reported killed as result of fire at Jesuit Church of La Compana, Santiago, Chile
• 1852 Gustav Freytag's "Die Journalisten" premieres in Breslau
• 1854 Pope Pius IX proclaims Immaculate Conception, makes Mary, free of Original Sin
• 1857 1st production of Dion Boucicault's "Poor of New York"
• 1863 2,500 reported killed as result of fire at Jesuit Church of La Compana, Santiago, Chile
• 1875 Aleksandr Ostrovsky's "Volki i Ovsty" premieres in St Petersburg
• 1876 Suriname begins compulsory education for 7-12 years
• 1880 5,000 armed Boers gather in Paardekraal, South Africa
• 1881 Vienna's Ring Theater destroyed by fire, kills between 640-850
• 1895 Battle at Amba Alagi: Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II drives Italian General Baratieri out
• 1896 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Missing 3 Quarter" (BG)
• 1907 King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
• 1909 Bird banding society found
• 1913 Construction starts on Palace of Fine Arts in SF
• 1914 Boers rebelling against the British have recently suffered several defeats; today, one of their leaders, General Beyers, accidently drowns
• 1915 Jean Sibelius' 5th Symphony in E premieres

1921 Eamon de Valera publicly repudiates Anglo-Irish Treaty

1923 German-US friendship treaty signed

1923 Labour/Liberals win British parliament

1923 Salary & price freeze in Germany

1930 Broadway Theater opens at 1681 Broadway NYC

1930 Cole Porter's musical "NYCers" premieres in NYC

1931 Coaxial cable patented

1934 Friedrich Wolf's "Professor Mamlock" premieres in Zurich

1935 The Japanese military police launches a violent suppression of the religious sect Oomoto, beginning with a crackdown on the sect's operational bases of Ayabe and Kameoka in Kyoto Prefecture and the arrest of its leader Onisaburo Deguchi.

1936 Anastasio Somoza García elected President of Nicaragua

1936 NAACP files suit to equalize salaries of black & white teachers

1938 Highest temperature for December in US recorded in La Mesa Calif

1938 LP Beria follows Nikolai Jezjov as head of Russian secret police

1940 1st NFL championship on national radio; Bears beat Redskins 73-0

1941 Chełmno extermination camp opens, 50 kilometres from Łódź, Poland

1941 London: Dutch government-in-exile declares war on Japan

1941 Russian 16th army recaptures Krijukovo

1941 San Francisco 1st blackout, at 6:15 PM

1941 US & Britain declare war on Japan, US enters WW II

1941 President Roosevelt delivers "Day of Infamy" speech to US Congress a day after the bombing of Pearl Harbour

1942 8th Heisman Trophy Award: Frank Sinkwich, Georgia (HB)

1943 John Van Druten's "Voice of the Turtle" premieres in NYC

1946 US Army rocket plane XS-1 makes 1st powered flight

1947 "Caribbean Carnival" opens at International Theater NYC for 11 performances

1948 "Marinka" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 168 performances

1948 14th Heisman Trophy Award: Doak Walker, SMU (HB)

1948 Jordan annexs Arabic Palestine

1949 Jule Styne's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 740 performances

1949 Chinese Nationalist government moves from Chinese mainland to Formos

1951 "Tree Grows in Brooklyn" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 267 performances

1951 AL alters its restrictions on night games, adopting NL's suspended game rule & lifting its ban on lights for Sunday games

1952 1st TV acknowledgement of pregnancy (I Love Lucy)

1952 French troops shoot on demonstrators at Casablanca, 50 die

1952 Isaak Ben-Zwi elected president of Israel

1953 19th Heisman Trophy Award: John Lattner, Notre Dame (HB)

1954 Maxwell Anderson's "Bad Seed" premieres in NYC

1954 WPTZ TV channel 5 in Plattsburgh, NY (NBC) begins broadcasting

1955 21st Heisman Trophy Award: Howard Cassady, Ohio State (HB)

1956 16th Olympic games close at Melbourne, Australia

1956 1st test firing of Vanguard satellite program, TV-0

1956 Guy Mitchell's "Singing the Blues" single goes #1 for 10 weeks

1959 Dom Mintoff demands independence for Malta

1959 President Eisenhower watches Pakistan v Aust Test Cricket at Karachi

1960 Expansion LA Angels sign a 4 year lease to use Dodger Stadium

1961 Antwerp Belgium diocese forms

1961 Larry Costello scores 32 consecutive pts without a miss (NBA rec)

1961 South Africa v NZ, Durban debuts for Eddie Barlow & Peter Pollock

1962 "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" closes at Shubert NYC after 300 performances

1962 114-day newspaper strike begins in NYC

1962 Attempted coup in British-controlled Brunei

1962 Funeral for Queen Wilhelmina of Holland (New Kerk, Delft)

1963 "Girl Who Came to Supper" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 112 performances

1963 Mickey Wright/Dave Ragan Jr wins LPGA Haig & Haig Scotch Mixed Golf

1963 Frank Sinatra Jr is kidnapped

1963 Pan Am Flight 214 crashes outside Elkton, Maryland with 81 killed. Only case of lighting causing air crash

1965 Abe Burrows' "Cactus Flower" premieres in NYC

1965 Nikolai Podgorny succeeds Mikojan as president of USSR

1965 Pope Paul VI signs 2nd Vatican council

1966 US & USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space

1967 The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" album is released in UK

1967 NHL California Seals change name to Oakland Seals

1969 Greek DC-6B crashes in storm at Athens, 93 killed

1969 Police surprise attack on Black-Panthers in LA

1970 Head of the Catholic Church in Ireland Cardinal William Conway publishes a pamphlet on the topic of segregation in education in Northern Ireland

1972 United Airlines crashes at Chicago's Midway Airport killing 45

1973 "Seesaw" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 296 performances

1973 39th Heisman Trophy Award: John Cappelletti, Penn State (RB)

1974 Greek monarchy rejected by referendum

1974 Irish Republican Socialist Party forms

1974 Sandra Post wins LPGA Colgate Far East Golf Open

1974 Soyuz 16 returns to Earth

1975 "Raisin" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 847 performances

1976 UN General Assembly re-elects Kurt Waldheim Secretary-General

1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1977 43rd Heisman Trophy Award: Earl Campbell, Texas (RB)

1977 Portugal's premier Soares resigns

1978 Commencement of the 1st day/night WSC cricket supertest at VFL Park

1966 US & USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space

1967 The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" album is released in UK

1967 NHL California Seals change name to Oakland Seals

1969 Greek DC-6B crashes in storm at Athens, 93 killed

1969 Police surprise attack on Black-Panthers in LA

1970 Head of the Catholic Church in Ireland Cardinal William Conway publishes a pamphlet on the topic of segregation in education in Northern Ireland

1972 United Airlines crashes at Chicago's Midway Airport killing 45

1973 "Seesaw" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 296 performances

1973 39th Heisman Trophy Award: John Cappelletti, Penn State (RB)

1974 Greek monarchy rejected by referendum

1974 Irish Republican Socialist Party forms

1974 Sandra Post wins LPGA Colgate Far East Golf Open

1974 Soyuz 16 returns to Earth

1975 "Raisin" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 847 performances

1976 UN General Assembly re-elects Kurt Waldheim Secretary-General

1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1977 43rd Heisman Trophy Award: Earl Campbell, Texas (RB)

1977 Portugal's premier Soares resigns

1978 Commencement of the 1st day/night WSC cricket supertest at VFL Park

1981 France performs nuclear test

1982 "Herman Van Veen: All of Him" opens at Ambassador NYC for 6 performances

1982 Clark Gilles fails in 7th Islander penalty shot

1982 Suriname army leader Bouterse murders 15 opponents

1982 Norman Mayer holds Washington Monument hostage, demanding an end to nuclear weapons. Is killed by police after 10 hrs (he had no explosives)

1985 NBC premiere of thriller "Final Jeopardy", starring Richard Thomas and Mary Crosby

1986 House Dems select majority leader Jim Wright as 48th speaker

1986 NBC premiere of miniseries "Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna" (Part 2)

1987 The Alianza Lima air disaster.

1988 Knick's set NBA record of 11 3-pointers & sink Bucks, 113-109

1989 Great Britain performs nuclear test

1990 Galileo Earth-1 Flyby

1990 Indians agree to a lease new ballpark in Gateway (Jacobs Field)

1991 "Homecoming" closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 49 performances

1991 "Nick & Nora" opens at Marquis Theater NYC for 9 performances

1991 Kris Tschetter/Billy Andrade wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic

1991 Russia, Belorussia & Ukraine form Commonwealth of Ind States

1991 The Romanian Constitution is adopted in a referendum.

1992 Galileo's nearest approach to Jupiter (303 km)

1992 NBC announces that "Cheers" will go off the air in May 1993

1993 30 killed at religious rebellion in Algeria

• 1993 Dow-Jones hits record 3734.53
• 1993 Storm hits western Europe, 11 killed in England
• 1994 "What's Wrong With this Picture?" opens at Circle in Sq NYC for 12 per
• 1994 Fire in cinema in Karamay China, 310 killed
• 1996 "God Said, Ha!" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 22 performances
• 1996 Donna Andrews & Mike Hulbert win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
• 1997 8th Billboard Music Awards: LeAnn Rimes & Spice Girls win
• 1998 Tadjena massacre: 81 people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.
• 2001 10th SEC Championship Game: #21 LSU beats #2 Tennessee, 31-20
• 2002 The Caribbean Community Heads of Government meet with the Government of Cuba and declare the date to be "CARICOM-Cuba Day" - To celebrate diplomatic ties between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba.
• 2004 The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.
• 2005 Ante Gotovina, Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife by the Spanish police.
• 2007 73rd Heisman Trophy Award: Tim Tebow, Florida (QB)
• 2008 Kirsty Williams elected as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. The first female leader of a political party in Wales.
• 2009 Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 and injure 448.
• 2010 With the second launch of the SpaceX Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first privately held company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.
• 2012 UN climate conference agrees to extend the Kyoto Protocol to 2020