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1640 - Portugal regains its independence from Spain and João IV of Portugal becomes king.

1768 - The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøy in Norway.

1822 - Peter I is crowned as Emperor of Brazil.

1824 - U.S. presidential election, 1824: Since no candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the United States House of Representatives is given the task to decide the winner (as stipulated by the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution).

1835 - Hans Christian Andersen publishes first book of fairy tales

1884 - American Old West - Near Frisco, New Mexico (now Reserve), deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texan cowboys who want to kill him for arresting Charles McCarthy.

1885 - Although the exact date is unknown, the US Patent Office acknowledges December 1st, 1885 as the first day Dr Pepper was served.

1913 - Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line.

1918 - Iceland becomes a self-governing kingdom, yet remains united with Denmark.

1918 - Transylvania unites with Romania, following the March 27 incorporation of Bessarabia and Bucovina.

1918 - The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is proclaimed.

1919 - Lady Astor becomes first female member of the British Parliament to take her seat (she had been elected to that position on November 28).

1925 - World War I aftermath: - The final Locarno Treaty is signed in London, establishing post-war territorial settlements.

1934 - In the Soviet Union, Politburo member Sergei Kirov is shot dead at the Communist Party headquarters in Leningrad by Leonid Nikolayev.

1941 - World War II: Mayor of New York City, Fiorello LaGuardia, and the director of the Office of Civilian Defense, sign an order creating the Civil Air Patrol.

1944 - Edward Stettinius Jr. becomes the last United States Secretary of State of the Roosevelt administration.

1952 - The New York Daily News reports the first successful sexual reassignment operation.

1955 - American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1958 - Central African Republic becomes independent from France.

1958 - Our Lady of the Angels School fire in Chicago, Illinois kills 92 children and three nuns.

1959 - Cold War: Antarctic Treaty signed , which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on that continent.

1961 - The independent Republic of West Papua is proclaimed in modern-day Western New Guinea.

1963 - Nagaland becomes the 16th state of India.

1964 - Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.

1965 - The Border Security Force is formed in India as a special force to guard the borders.

1969 - Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II.

1971 - Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.

1973 - Papua New Guinea gains self government from Australia.

1974 - A Boeing 727 carrying TWA Flight 514 crashes northwest of Dulles International Airport, killing all 92 people on-board.

1975 - The long-running soap opera The Edge of Night switches networks to ABC after 19 years on CBS.

1981 - A Yugoslavian Inex Adria Aviopromet DC-9 crashes in Corsica killing 178.

1982 - At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.

1987 - NASA announces the names of four companies who were awarded contracts to help build Space Station Freedom.

1989 - Right-wing military rebel Reform the Armed forces Movement (RAM) attempt to oust Philippine President Corazon Aquino by a bloody coup attempt.

1989 - Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the communist party the leading role in the state.

1990 - Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the seabed.

1991 - Cold War: Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approve a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union.

1998 - Exxon announces a US$73.7 billion deal to buy Mobil, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the largest company on the planet.

2000 - Vicente Fox is sworn-in as President of Mexico, ending the 75 year control of the PRI.

2001 - Trans World Airlines flies its last flight, after being bought by American Airlines.

2004 - Tom Brokaw anchors his last broadcast of NBC Nightly News.

2005 - South Africa's Constitutional Court extends marriage equality to homosexual couples.

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1081 - Louis VI of France (d. 1137)

1083 - Anna Comnena, Byzantine historian (d. 1153)

1521 - Takeda Shingen, Japanese warlord (d. 1573)

1525 - Tadeáš Hájek, Czech physician and astronomer (d. 1600)

1580 - Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer (d. 1637)

1690 - Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1764)

1716 - Etienne-Maurice Falconet, French sculptor (d. 1791)

1743 - Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist (d. 1817)

1766 - Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, Russian writer (d. 1826)

1792 - Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician (d. 1856)

1844 - Alexandra of Denmark, wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom (d. 1925)

1869 - Eligiusz Niewiadomski, assassin of Gabriel Narutowicz (d. 1923)

1873 - Valery Bryusov, Russian poet (d. 1924)

1886 - Rex Stout, American author (d. 1975)

1895 - Henry Williamson, English author (d. 1977)

1896 - Georgy Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union (d. 1974)

1901 - Ilona Feher, Hungarian-Jewish violinist (d. 1988)

1905 - Alexander Wilson, Canadian and Notre Dame athlete (d. 1994)

1910 - Alicia Markova, English ballerina (d. 2004)

1911 - Walter Alston, baseball manager (d. 1984)

1911 - Calvin Griffith, baseball executive (d. 1999)

1912 - Minoru Yamasaki, American architect (d. 1986)

1913 - Mary Martin, American actor and singer (d. 1990)

1917 - Marty Marion, baseball player

1922 - Paul Picerni, American actor

1922 - Vsevolod Bobrov, Soviet athlete, 1958 Winter Olympic Gold medallist for ice hockey (d. 1979)

1923 - Stansfield Turner, American admiral and Central Intelligence Agency director

1930 - Joachim Hoffmann, German historian (d. 2002)

1932 - Matt Monro, English singer (d. 1985)

1933 - Fujiko F. Fujio, Japanese cartoon artist (d. 1996)

1935 - Woody Allen, American film director, actor, and comedian

1935 - Lou Rawls, American singer (d. 2006)

1937 - Chuck Low, American actor

1938 - Sandy Nelson, American drummer

1939 - Lee Trevino, American golfer

1940 - Richard Pryor, American actor, comedian (d. 2005)

1942 - John Crowley, American author

1944 - John Densmore, American drummer (The Doors)

1945 - Bette Midler, American actress

1946 - Gilbert O'Sullivan, Irish singer

1948 - George Foster, baseball player

1949 - Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord (d. 1993)

1949 - Sebastián Piñera, Chilean businessman and presidential candidate

1950 - Keith Thibodeaux, American actor and drummer

1951 - Jaco Pastorius, American bassist (d. 1987)

1955 - Mark Thompson (radio), American disk jockey and actor

1959 - Wally Lewis, Australian rugby player

1960 - Carol Alt, American supermodel

1961 - Jeremy Northam, English actor

1962 - Joe Quesada, American comic book writer and artist, and editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics

1963 - Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lankan cricketer

1971 - Emily Mortimer, English actress

1971 - Stephanie Finochio, American professional wrestler

1971 - Dolgorsuren Serjbudee, Mongolian professional wrestler

1972 - Norbert Wójtowicz, Polish historian and theologian

1974 - Costinha, Portuguese footballer

1974 - David Ludwig, American composer

1976 - Matthew Shepard, American murder victim (d. 1998)

1977 - Brad Delson, American guitarist (Linkin Park)

1980 - Mohammad Kaif, Indian cricketer

2001 - Aiko, Princess Toshi of Japan

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1135 - Henry I of England

1241 - Isabella of England, wife of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1214)

1377 - King Magnus II of Sweden (b. 1316)

1433 - Emperor Go-Komatsu of Japan (b. 1377)

1455 - Lorenzo Ghiberti, Italian artist and metal smith (b. 1378)

1521 - Pope Leo X (b. 1475)

1530 - Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands (b. 1480)

1580 - Giovanni Morone, Italian cardinal (b. 1509)

1581 - Edmund Campion, English Jesuit (martyred) (b. 1540)

1581 - Ralph Sherwin, English Catholic saint (b. 1550)

1602 - Kobayakawa Hideaki, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1582)

1633 - Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain (b. 1566)

1660 - Pierre d'Hozier, French historian (b. 1592)

1707 - Jeremiah Clarke, English composer (b. 1674)

1709 - Abraham a Sancta Clara, Austrian preacher (b. 1644)

1723 - Susanna Centlivre, English dramatist and actress

1729 - Giacomo F. Maraldi, French-Italian astronomer (b. 1665)

1750 - Johan Gabriel Doppelmayr, German mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer (b. 1671)

1755 - Maurice Greene, English composer (b. 1696)

1767 - Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, British Freemason (b. 1710)

1825 - Tsar Alexander I of Russia (b. 1777)

1830 - Pope Pius VIII (b. 1761)

1923 - Virginie Loveling, Belgian writer and poet (b. 1836)

1928 - José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian writer (b. 1888)

1934 - Sergei Kirov, Russian revolutionary (b. 1886)

1943 - Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai prince and historian (b. 1862)

1947 - Aleister Crowley, English occultist (b. 1875)

1950 - E. J. Moeran, English composer (b. 1894)

1964 - J. B. S. Haldane, Scottish geneticist (b. 1892)

1973 - David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1886)

1975 - Nellie Fox, baseball player (b. 1927)

1975 - Anna E. Roosevelt, American radio personality (b. 1906)

1987 - James Baldwin, American writer (b. 1924)

1989 - Alvin Ailey, American dancer, choreographer (b. 1931)

1991 - George Joseph Stigler, American economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1911)

1997 - Audree Wilson, mother of three founding members of The Beach Boys (b. 1917)

1997 - Stéphane Grappelli, French jazz violinist (b. 1908)

2003 - Clark Kerr, first Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley (b. 1911)

2004 - Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (b. 1911)

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Portugal - Restoration of Independence Day: on December 1, 1640, Portugal regains its independence from Spain and João IV of Portugal becomes king.

Costa Rica - Military Abolition Day

Ancient Latvia - Barbes Diena observed

Feast day of St Eligius

Romania - Union Day (the national holiday)

Angola's Pioneers' Day

World AIDS Day