1991 – The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union.

1982 – Time's Man of the Year is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.

1963 – The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level.

1919 – Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee.

 Proclivities wrote: 
innerestin'

1900 – A relief crew arrives at the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles of Scotland, finding that the previous crew has disappeared without a trace.

 katzendogs wrote: 
10 years old in RP years. how many dog years is that? 

This Day in History: George Washington crossed Delaware on Christmas 1776

 katzendogs wrote: 
Very cool. Happy Anniversary!

RP...peep life begins. 2003

2004 – Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.

1815 – The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.

336 – First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in ancient Rome

Seventy-three men, women, and children, mostly striking mine workers and their families, were crushed to death in a stampede when someone falsely yelled "fire" at a crowded Christmas party.

Italian Hall disaster

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Dick Rutan, and his brother Burt, were true aviation innovators and experimenters.  Too bad Dick was kind of a looney politician.  It sidetracked him from his primary talent, imo.   Originally this single seater was 18 horsepower!!!

1986 – Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.

1947 – The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.

1913 – The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve System.

1823 – A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas, is published anonymously.