15 Dec 1906     The London Underground’s Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway open.
15 Dec 1939     ‘Gone With The Wind’ starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh had its premiere.
15 Dec 1955     Johnny Cash released ‘Folsom Prison Blues’.
15 Dec 1966     Walt Disney died.
15 Dec 2008     Madonna divorced Guy Ritchie.
15 Dec 2001     The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened after 11 years to stabilise it, without fixing its famous lean.

16 Dec 1882     Wales and England played in the first Home Nations (now Six Nations) rugby union match.
16 Dec 1980     Colonel Sanders died.

17 Dec 1892     The first issue of Vogue was published.
17 Dec 1903     The Wright brothers made the first sustained motorised aircraft flight.
17 Dec 1927     Australian cricketing prodigy Don Bradman scored 118 in his first-class debut for NSW against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
17 Dec 1947     The Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber made its maiden flight.
17 Dec 1986     Davina Thompson became the first to have heart, lung and liver transplant at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge.
17 Dec 1989     ‘The Simpsons’ premiered on Fox TV as a fully animated series.
17 Dec 2014     The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after they were cut in 1961.

18 Dec 1958     Project SCORE, the world’s first communications satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral.
18 Dec 1968     Peter Sellers divorced Britt Ekland.
18 Dec 2009     ‘Avatar’ starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver was released.
18 Dec 2016     Zsa Zsa Gabor died.
18 Dec 2022     Argentina beat France, 4-2 in a penalty shootout to win the FIFA World Cup.

19 Dec 1154     Henry II of England was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
19 Dec 1783     William Pitt the Younger became the youngest ever British Prime Minister at age 24.
19 Dec 1843     ‘A Christmas Carol’ was first published.
19 Dec 1924     The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was sold in London.
19 Dec 1932     British Broadcasting Corporation began transmitting overseas.
19 Dec 1971     Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘A Clockwork Orange’ had its premiere.
19 Dec 1983     The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, was stolen from Brazilian Football’s HQ.
19 Dec 1995     Queen Elizabeth urged Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, to divorce.

20 Dec 1803     The French flag was lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer to Louisiana.
20 Dec 1894     England beat Australia by 10 runs in the first six-day Test Cricket.
20 Dec 1946     The Christmas classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore premiered in New York.
20 Dec 1955     Cardiff was proclaimed the capital city of Wales.
20 Dec 1957     Elvis Presley received his draft notice to join the US Army for national service.
20 Dec 2007     Elizabeth II became the oldest monarch in UK history, surpassing Queen Victoria’s record of 81 years and 243 days.

21 Dec 1620     The Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
21 Dec 1898     Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium.
21 Dec 1913     Arthur Wynne’s “word-cross”, the first crossword puzzle, was published.
21 Dec 1937     ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, the first full-length animated feature film, had its premiere.
21 Dec 1970     The F-14 multi-role combat aircraft made its first flight.
21 Dec 1988     The Lockerbie disaster. A terrorist bomb downed Pan Am Flight 103.
21 Dec 2012     ‘Gangnam Style’ by Psy became the first video to hit one billion views on YouTube.