- National Salesperson’s Day
- National Pastry Day
- Christmas Card Day
- Techno Day
- International Anti-Corruption Day
- Independence Day/Republic Day-Tanzania
- Constitution Day-Northern Marianas
- On This Day
- 1775 --- The Virginia and North Carolina militias defeat 800 slaves and 200 redcoats serving John Murray, Earl of Dunmore and governor of Virginia, at Great Bridge outside Norfolk, ending British royal control of Virginia.
- 1793 --- "The American Minerva" was published for the first time. It was the first daily newspaper in New York City and was founded by Noah Webster.
- 1803 --- The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress. With the amendment Electors were directed to vote for a President and for a Vice-President rather than for two choices for President.
- 1854 --- The Examiner prints Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade," which commemorates the courage of 600 British soldiers charging a heavily defended position during the Battle of Balaklava, in the Crimea, just six weeks earlier. Tennyson had been named poet laureate in 1850 by Queen Victoria.
- 1884 --- Levant Richardson of Chicago, IL received his patent for the ball-bearing roller skate.
- 1907 --- The U.S. Post Office in Wilmington, Delaware offered Christmas Seals for sale for the very first time. Contributions for the original seals, designed by Emily P. Bissell, helped in the fight against tuberculosis. A hospital in Wilmington is named in honor of Bissell.
- 1914 --- The Edison Phonograph Works was destroyed by fire.
- 1934 --- Because of ground conditions, the New York Giants football team preferred to wear basketball sneakers, as they defeated the Chicago Bears, 30-13, for the NFL championship.
- 1958 --- In Indianapolis, retired Boston candy manufacturer Robert H.W. Welch, Jr., establishes the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization dedicated to fighting what it perceives to be the extensive infiltration of communism into American society. Welch named the society in honor of John Birch, considered by many to be the first American casualty in the struggle against communism. In 1945, Birch, a Baptist missionary and U.S. Army intelligence specialist, was killed by Chinese communists in the northern province of Anhwei.
- 1960 --- Sperry Rand Corporation of St. Paul, MN unveiled a new computer, known as Univac 1107. The electronic wizard employed what was known as thin-film memory.
- 1962 --- "Lawrence of Arabia," by David Lean had its world premiere in London.
- 1964 --- The John Coltrane Quartet recorded "Love Supreme."
- 1965 --- The Cincinnati Reds trade outfielder Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles, in exchange for the pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun and the outfielder Dick Simpson. The trade is widely regarded as one of the worst in major league baseball history.
- 1965 --- 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' premiered on CBS TV.
- 1968 --- The Supremes' and the Temptations' "TCB (Takin' Care of Business") special aired on NBC-TV.
- 1972 --- Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- 1974 --- George Harrison released his first album on his Dark Horse label, entitled "Dark Horse."
- 1983 --- White House Counselor (later Attorney General) Edwin Messe says: "I don't know of any authoritative figures that there are hungry children.....We've had considerable evidence that people go to soup kitchens because the food is free and that's easier than paying for it."
- 1984 --- The Jackson’s Victory Tour came to a close at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after 55 performances in 19 cities. The production was reported to be the world’s greatest rock extravaganza and one of the most problematic. The Jackson brothers received about $50 million during the five-month tour of the U.S. -- before some 2.5 million fans.
- 1990 --- Lech Walesa won Poland's first direct presidential election in the country's history.
- 1990 --- Slobodan Milosovic was elected president in Serbia's first free elections in 50 years.
- 1992 --- Clair George, former CIA spy chief, was convicted of lying to the U.S. Congress about the Iran-Contra affair. U.S. President George H.W. Bush later pardoned George.
- 1992 --- Bill Wyman left the Rolling Stones after over 30 years with the group.
- 1993 --- On the TV show 'Seinfield,' Kramer came up with the idea to write a coffee table book about coffee tables.
- 1993 --- Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavor completed repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope.
- 1994 --- U.S. President Clinton fired Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders after learning that she had told a conference that masturbation should be discussed in school as a part of human sexuality.
- 1995 --- Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., was chosen to head the NAACP.
- 1995 --- The Beatles’ Anthology 1 was #1 in the U.S. The double CD contained 60 Beatles songs and was their sixteenth number-one album. It also set a record for the longest time span for a run of number-one albums: 31 years and 10 months between Meet the Beatles and Anthology 1.
- 1999 --- The U.S. announced that it was expelling a Russian diplomat that had been caught gathering information with an eavesdropping device at the U.S. State Department.
- 2000 --- The United States Supreme Court voted, 5 to 4, to stop the vote counting in Florida, ending Vice President Al Gore's presidential hopes.
- 2003 --- In Australia, thieves broke into a home and stole two 300-year-old etchings by Rembrandt. The 4-by-4-inch etchings, a self-portait and a depiction of the artist's mother, were valued around $518,000.
- 2004 --- Canada's Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was constitutional.
- Birthdays
- Margaret Hamilton
- Joan Armatrading
- Dan Hicks
- Rick Danko
- Clarence Birdseye
- Thomas P “Tip” O’Neill
- John Milton
- Emmett Kelly
- Kirk Douglas
- Redd Foxx
- Buck Henry
- Judi Dench
- Junior Wells
- John Malkovich
- Donny Osmond
- Felicity Huffman
- Tre Cool
- Simon Helberg
- 343rd Day of 2014 / 22 Remaining
- Winter Begins in 12 Days
- Sunrise:7:14
- Sunset:4:50
- 9 Hours 36 Minutes
- Moon Rise:8:12pm
- Moon Set:9:32am
- Moon Phase: 89%
- Next Full Moon January 4 @ 8:54pm
- Full Wolf Moon
- Full Old Moon
- Moon After Yule
Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.
- Tides:
- High Tide:1:14am/11:43am
- Low Tide:6:10am/6:43pm