Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in December 2024
(listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)
Historical anniversaries are great for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more.
(Find out more at the end of this article.)
We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2024, which lists more than 3,000 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 are also available.
1 Dec 1999 – 25 years ago
An international team of scientists working for the Human Genome Project announced that they had mapped an entire human chromosome (number 22). In April 2003 they announced that they had mapped all human chromosomes.
2 Dec 1954 – 70 years ago
Red Scare: the U.S. Senate censured Senator Joseph McCarthy for bringing the Senate into ‘dishonour and disrepute’ in his investigation of suspected communists in the government, military and other areas of society.
3 Dec 1984 – 40 years ago
Bhopal disaster, India. A poisonous gas leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant killed thousands of people and left at least 120,000 with long-term health problems.
4 Dec 1964 – 60 years ago
The Beatles’ album Beatles for Sale was released in the UK.
(In the USA and Canada, a slimmed-down version containing only 8 of the 14 tracks was released on 15th December under the title Beatles ’65.)
5 Dec 1899 – 125 years ago
Death of Henry Tate, British sugar merchant and philanthropist who established the Tate Gallery in London.
6 Dec 1774 – 250 years ago
The world’s first state education system began in Austria when the Educational Statute came into effect.
7 Dec 1924 – 100 years ago
German federal election – the second election of the year. The Social Democratic Party won. The Nazi Party had been outlawed and its leaders, including Adolf Hitler, were in prison following the Beer Hall Putsche. (Hitler was released on 20th December.)
8 Dec 1974 – 50 years ago
In a referendum the citizens of Greece voted to abolish the monarchy and remain a republic.
9 to 11 Dec 1994 – 30 years ago
The first Summit of the Americas was held, in Miami, Florida, USA. Leaders from 34 countries in North and South America met to discuss the establishment of the world’s largest free trade zone, and strategies for fighting poverty, organised crime, drug trafficking and other issues.
10 Dec 1924 – 100 years ago
Birth of Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica (1972–80, 1989–92). (Died 1997.)
11 Dec 1964 – 60 years ago
Death of Sam Cooke, American soul/pop/gospel/R&B singer, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur.
Regarded as one of the founders of soul music. (Shot dead by the manager of a motel in disputed circumstances, aged 33.)
12 Dec 1874 – 150 years ago
The first reigning monarch to visit the USA: King Kalakaua of Hawaii.
He came to the USA to help negotiate the Reciprocity Treaty, a free trade agreement, which was signed on 30th January 1875.
He attended a state dinner hosted by U.S. President Andrew Grant on 14th December.
13 Dec 1124 – 900 years ago
Death of Pope Callixtus II (1119–24). Succeeded by Honorius II.
(Celestine II was elected before Honorius, but he resigned when factional violence broke out, and was never enthroned as pope.)
14 Dec 1974 – 50 years ago
The world première of the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, in Japan.
(UK/U.S. première: 19th December, released: 20th December.)
15 Dec 1994 – 30 years ago
The first commercial web browser, Netscape Navigator 1.0, was released. It quickly overtook the first popular graphical web browser, Mosaic.
16 Dec 1899 – 125 years ago
Birth of Noël Coward, British playwright, composer, director, actor and singer. His plays include Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit. He also wrote hundreds of songs, including Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
17 Dec 1874 – 150 years ago
Birth of William Lyon Mackenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada (1921–26, 1926–30, 1935–48).
18 Dec 1964 – 60 years ago
The first Pink Panther cartoon, The Pink Phink, was released. It won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
19 Dec 1974 – 50 years ago
The MITS Altair 8800, the first commercially successful personal computer, went on sale.
It was sold in kit form for $395 or fully assembled for $495, and sold ten times more units than expected.
It is regarded as the machine that sparked the personal computer revolution.
(Microsoft’s first product was a programming language for the Altair 8800: Altair BASIC.)
20 Dec 1984 – 40 years ago
Summit Tunnel fire, Yorkshire, England.
One of the largest underground fires ever recorded occurred when a freight train carrying 1.1 million litres (242,000 gallons) of gasoline derailed in the tunnel under the Pennines near Todmorden.
21 Dec 1824 – 200 years ago
Death of James Parkinson, British surgeon, politician, geologist and palaeontologist.
Parkinson’s disease is named after him, as he was the first person to describe it in 1817.
22 Dec 1964 – 60 years ago
The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird made its first flight, in California, USA. It is the world’s fastest jet aircraft.
23 Dec 1954 – 70 years ago
The world’s first successful kidney transplant was carried out in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Anti-rejection drugs were not available until 1964, so transplants were only carried out between identical twins until then.
24 Dec 1974 – 50 years ago
British politician John Stonehouse was arrested in Australia (on suspicion of being Lord Lucan).
He had faked his death on 20th November by leaving a pile of clothing on a beach in Miami, Florida, USA.
25 Dec 1899 – 125 years ago
Birth of Humphrey Bogart, American stage and film actor. Noted for his tough-guy roles. His films include The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, The African Queen and The Caine Mutiny.
Husband of the actress Lauren Bacall.
(Died 1957, aged 57, oesophageal cancer.)
26 Dec 2004 – 20 years ago
Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (also called the Boxing Day Tsunami).
A massive undersea earthquake near Sumatra caused a devastating tsunami that swamped coastal areas in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and east Africa. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, killing more than 230,000 people in 14 countries.
27 Dec 1724 – 300 years ago
Death of Thomas Guy, British bookseller, investor and politician. The founder of Guy’s Hospital in London. (Aged 79/80.)
28 Dec 1984 – 40 years ago
Rajiv Gandhi won a massive victory in the Indian general election after being persuaded to stand for his assassinated mother Indira Gandhi’s Congress Party. He was also assassinated in 1991, 18 months after leaving office.
29 Dec 1874 – 150 years ago
The First Spanish Republic (February 1873 – December 1874) ended. A military coup by General Arsenio Martínez Campos ended the regime and restored the monarchy. Alfonso XII became the new King of Spain.
30 Dec 1899 – 125 years ago
AT&T acquired the American Bell Telephone Company and became the parent company of American Bell and the Bell System.
31 Dec 1974 – 50 years ago
Private citizens in the USA were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in nearly 40 years, after U.S. President Gerald Ford repealed Executive Order 6102, issued in 1933. The Order had prohibited the private ownership of gold coins, gold bullion, and gold certificates because of the Great Depression.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2024.
The 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 editions are also available if you work further ahead.
Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book.
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How to use the anniversaries:
How can you turn the anniversaries listed here and in The Date-A-Base Books into articles for magazines, newspapers and websites? How do you get paid for writing them, and how can you make a great living from it?
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