2021
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announces a COVID-19 mandate for all private employers effective December 27, to combat Omicron, 1st in the country.
Source

2021
Former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to four years (later reduced to two) for inciting public unrest and breaching Covid-19 protocols.
Source

2017
Scientists discovered the most distant supermassive black hole.
It’s estimated to be 13 billion light-years away and 800 million times the mass of our Sun.
Source

2017
Starbucks opened its largest cafe in the world in Shanghai, at 29,000 square-feet, which is 1/2 the size of a football field.
Read More

2010
A first edition of “The Birds of America” by John James Audubon was auctioned at Sotheby’s, London, England, for £7,321,250 – which took the record for any book at auction.
Source

2002
Adaptation directed by Spike Jonze, starring Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep, premiered.
Source

1969
The Altamont free concert occurred.
Three hundred thousand people attended this concert in California, which featured The Rolling Stones. However, the concert turned violent, resulting in 3 deaths and numerous injured.
Source

1923
Hasbro was founded as Hassenfeld Brothers in Providence, Rhode Island.
It started as a company to sell textile remnants.
Source

1921
The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed.
This treaty resulted in Ireland receiving dominion status and concluded the Irish War of Independence. The treaty included an opportunity for Northern Ireland to withdraw from the Irish Free State, which it took.
Source

1917
Finland declared its independence from the Russian Empire.
Prior to this, Finland was the Grand Principality of Finland, an autonomous state within the empire. With the abdication of Russia’s Tsar during the February revolution, Finland believed they were no longer bound to the Russian Empire and decided to strike out on their own. On December 18, the Soviet Union finally recognized Finland’s independence.
Source

1862
US President Abraham Lincoln ordered the hanging of 39 Santee Sioux Indians.
Source

1849
Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery.
When she escaped her plantation in Maryland, she followed the North Star for 90 miles on foot until she reached Philadelphia. She went on to establish the Underground Railroad and freed over 300 slaves.
Source

1735
Claudius Amyand performed the first recorded appendectomy at St George’s Hospital in London.
Source

1534
Spanish conquistadors founded the city of Quito.
The city was first founded on August 15 as Santiago de Quito in another location, before being renamed San Francisco de Quito three days later. It seems indecisiveness was trending at the time, as it was then later moved to the location of present-day Quito by Sebastián de Benalcázar.
Source

1060
Béla I was crowned king of Hungary.
Source