1776-Thomas Paine publishes his first "American Crisis" essay beginning "These are the times that try men's souls" (date disputed)
1783 -William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest ever British Prime Minister at age 24
1932-British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins transmitting overseas
1946-War breaks out in Indochina as Ho Chi Minh attacks French in Hanoi
1950-Chinese invasion of Tibet forces the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to flee Lhasa for Yadong on the Tibetan-India border
1958-First radio broadcast from space, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends a Christmas message "to all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere"
1981-Romuald Spasowski, Polish ambassador to the United States defects to show support for the Solidarity movement amid a crackdown
1984-Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997
1998-U.S. House of Representatives votes to impeach President Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal, forwarding the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial
2012-Park Geun-hye wins the South Korean presidential election to become the nation’s first female president