| December 16, 1773 | December 16, 1811 |
| • In Boston Harbor, a group of Massachusetts colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British tea ships and dump 342 chests of of tea into the harbor. The midnight raid, popularly known as the "Boston Tea Party" was in protest of the British Parliament's Tea Act of 1773. | • The greatest series of earthquakes in U.S. history begins when a quake of an estimated 8.6 magnitude on the Richter scale slams the Mississippi River Valley near New Madrid, Mo. The earthquake raised and lowered parts of the Mississippi Valley by as much as 15 feet. At one point, the Mississippi River momentarily reversed direction, giving rise to Reelfoot Lake in northwest Tennessee. |
| December 17, 1903 | December 17, 1971 |
| • Near Kitty Hawk, N.C., 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. | • Two weeks after the Indian invasion of East Pakistan, some 90,000 Pakistani troops surrender to the Indian forces, and East Pakistan is subsequently declared the independent nation of Bangladesh. |
| December 18, 1620 | December 18, 1916 |
| • Passengers on the British ship Mayflower come ashore at Plymouth, Mass., to begin their new settlement, Plymouth Colony. That winter of 1620-21 was brutal, and by spring, 50 of the original 102 Mayflower passengers were dead. | • The battle of Verdun, the longest engagement of World War I, ends with a French victory. During the 10 month battle, 650,000 lives were lost and 23 million shells were fired. |
| December 19, 1777 | December 19, 1984 |
| • General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter. | • Britain and China signed an accord returning the British colony of Hong Kong to Chinese Sovereignty by 1997. |
| December 20, 1803 | December 20, 1963 |
| • The Louisiana Purchase was completed as France formally transferred ownership of the territory to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans. The United States had paid $15 million for the territory, which effectively doubled the size of the country. | • The Berlin Wall is opened for the first time in more than two years, as nearly 4,000 West Berliners are allowed to cross into communist East Berlin to visit relatives for one day. Under an agreement reached between East and West Berlin, more than 170,000 passes were eventually issued to West Berlin citizens. |
| December 21, 1620 | December 21, 1991 |
| • Passengers on the British ship Mayflower come ashore at Plymouth, Mass., to begin their new settlement, Plymouth Colony. That winter of 1620-21 was brutal, and by spring, 50 of the original 102 Mayflower passengers were dead. | • Eleven of the 12 former Soviet republics proclaimed the birth of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the death of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. |
| December 22, 1849 | December 22, 1944 |
| • Writer Fydor Dostoevsky is led before a firing squad and prepared for execution. However, at the last moment he was reprieved and sent into exile. In 1866, he published "Crime and Punishment", one of his most popular works. | • During the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans demanded the surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium: Brig General Anthony C. McAuliffe reportedly replied: "Nuts!". |
| December 23, 1783 | December 23, 1967 |
| • George Washington resigned as commander in chief of the Army and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, Va. | • President Johnson, on his way home from a visit to Southeast Asia, held an unprecedented meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican. |