December 16th

An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during Chinese Tang Dynasty.

Larry King concluded his CNN talk show after 25 years.

Iran test-fired a missile capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe.

British forces formally handed over to Iraq responsibility for Basra, the last Iraqi region under their control.

President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to become the first African-American secretary of state.

President Bill Clinton ordered a sustained series of airstrikes against Iraq by American and British forces in response to Saddam Hussein's continued defiance of U.N. weapons inspectors.

The U.N. General Assembly rescinded its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president of Haiti in the country's first democratic elections.

Reputed organized-crime chief Paul Castellano was shot to death outside a New York City restaurant.

End of Indo-Pakistani War. The third major conflict between the two countries was fought because of India's support of Bangladesh's War of Liberation. The war ended only after 13 days and with the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh.

The Battle of the Bulge during World War II began as German forces launched a surprise counterattack against Allied forces in Belgium.

One of the deadliest earthquakes in history hit the Gansu province in China. The 8.6 quake killed 200,000 people.

Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke was born in Minehead, England.

Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen.

The first of the powerful New Madrid earthquakes, with an estimated magnitude of 7.7, struck the central Mississippi Valley.

Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate.

The Boston Tea Party took place as American colonists boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea overboard to protest tea taxes.

Last eruption of Mount Fuji. The highest volcano in Japan erupted for the last time in what is known as the Hōei Eruption. The eruption lasted for 17 days.

Parliamentarian General Oliver Cromwell appointed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point - in the final battle of the war Korean navy decisively defeats the Japanese.