- Maple Syrup Day
- Wright Brothers Day
- Nutcracker Day
- Saturnalia (12/17-12/23)
- National Day-Bhutan
- Las Posadas-Mexico
- On This Day
- 1843 --- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was published in London and immediately sold out. He wrote the story in just two months, beginning in October, 1843 and finishing at the end of November. It was the first of five Christmas books by Dickens. Its successors were The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth(1845), The Battle of Life (1846), and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain (1848).
- 1892 --- The first performance of Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker' in St. Petersburg.
- 1903 --- Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight. In front of five witnesses, the aircraft ran down a monorail track and into the air, staying aloft for 12 seconds and flying 120 feet. The modern aviation age was born. Three more tests were made that day, with Wilbur and Orville alternately flying the airplane. Wilbur flew the last flight, covering 852 feet in 59 seconds.
- 1933 --- In the first NFL championship game, the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants 23-21 at Wrigley Field.
- 1955 --- Carl Perkins wrote Blue Suede Shoes. Less than 48 hours later, he recorded it at the Sun Studios in Memphis. The tune became one of the first records to be popular simultaneously on rock, country and rhythm & blues charts.
- 1965 --- Judy Garland and The Supremes became first artists to perform at the Astrodome in Houston, TX.
- 1969 --- An estimated 50 million viewers watched singer Tiny Tim marry Miss Vicky on NBC's "Tonight Show."
- 1969 --- The U.S. Air Force closed its Project "Blue Book" by concluding that there was no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings.
- 1969 --- Chicago Transit Authority became a gold record for the group of the same name (they later changed their name to Chicago). When the album was released by Columbia Records, it marked the first time an artist’s debut LP was a double record.
- 1976 --- WTCG-TV, Atlanta, Georgia, owned by Ted Turner, changed call letters to WTBS, and was uplinked via satellite, to become the first commercial TV station to cover the entire U.S. WTBS started on four cable systems, available in 24,000 homes.
- 1977 --- Elvis Costello and the Attractions appear on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in place of the Sex Pistols. The Sex Pistols could not get visas to enter the U.S.
- 1984 --- John McEnroe and Peter Fleming lost a doubles tennis match in the Davis Cup competition for the first time in 14 matches. Anders Jarryd and Stefan Edberg lead the Swedish team to the title. It marked the worst defeat for the United States team since 1973.
- 1986 --- Wayne "Danke Schoen" Newton won a $19.2 million suit against NBC News. NBC had aired reports claiming a link between Newton and mob figures. The reports were proven to be false.
- 1989 --- The animated TV series "The Simpsons" premiered on Fox.
- 1991 --- Gilbert O'Sullivan is mainly remembered as the "one-hit wonder" behind the melancholy early 1970’s hit "Alone Again, Naturally." But on December 17, 1991, he earned a larger place in music history when the United States Federal Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in Sullivan's favor as plaintiff in the Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros, the landmark copyright-infringement case that established the guiding legal principles governing music "sampling." By arguing for his right to control and profit from the use of his 1971 recording as the musical underpinning of rapper Biz Markie's 1991 song "Alone Again," Gilbert O'Sullivan ended up securing those same rights for such true pioneers as James Brown and George Clinton, whose music was and still is of foundational importance to the development of hip hop.
- 1992 --- U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari signed the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- 1996 --- Kofi Atta Annan was named seventh secretary-general of the United Nations by acclamation during ceremony in the General Assembly Hall, attended by representatives of the world organization’s 185 members.
- 2000 --- 49er Terrell Owens caught an NFL-record 20 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown against the Chicago Bears. The previous record was held by Tom Fears (Los Angeles Rams) with 18 catches on December 3, 1950, against the Green Bay Packers.
- 2003 --- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the final film in the trilogy based on the best-selling fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, opens in theaters. The film was a huge box-office success and won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, for Peter Jackson.
- 2005 --- A group of 40 people dressed in Santa Claus costumes rampaged through Auckland, New Zealand, robbing stores and assaulting security guards.
- Birthdays
- Sarah Dallin
- Wes Studi
- Arthur Fiedler
- Milla Jovovich
- George Lindsey
- Art Neville
- Eddie Kendricks
- Paul Butterfeild
- Ernie Hudson
- Eugene Levy
- Paul Rodgers
- Mike Mills
- Marissa Ribisi
- 351st Day of 2014 / 14 Remaining
- Winter Begins in 4 Days
- Sunrise:7:19
- Sunset:4:52
- 9 Hours 33 Minutes
- Moon Rise:2:42am
- Moon Set:1:56pm
- Moon Phase:20%
- Full Moon January 4 @ 8:54pm
- Wolf Moon
- 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:6:41am/8:12pm
- Low Tide:12:16am/1:46pm
- Rainfall
- This Year to Date:12.27
- Last Year:2.09
- Avg YTD:6.77
- Annual Avg:23.80