December 7th

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman orator and politician is assassinated in Formiae.

Ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.

Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first popularly elected president.

Iraq denied it had weapons of mass destruction in a declaration to the United Nations.

Taliban forces abandoned their last bastion in Afghanistan, fleeing the southern city of Kandahar.

A 746-pound probe from the Galileo spacecraft hurtled into Jupiter's atmosphere, sending back data to the mothership before it was destroyed.

A gunman opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train, killing six people and wounding 17. (Colin Ferguson was later sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.).

6.9 earthquake in Spitak, Armenia kills 25,000-50,000 people and leaves up to 500,000 homeless.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart died at age 70.

A U.S. prisoner was executed by injection for the first time, in Huntsville, Texas.

Indonesia invaded East Timor, leading to a 25-year occupation.

America's last moon mission was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral.

Pope Paul VI & Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously lift mutual excommunications that led to split of 2 churches in 1054.

Videotaped instant replay was used for the first time in a live sports telecast during the Army-Navy football game on CBS.

Imperial Japanese Navy with 353 planes attack US fleet at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, killing 2,403 people.

The U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary in World War I.

Belgian-born Leo Baekeland of Yonkers, New York, patents 1st thermosetting plastic (Bakelite).

The New York Philharmonic gave its first concert.

Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.

Electors chose John Adams to be the second president of the United States.

Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

Royal Opera House opens its doors. The popular performing arts venue in Covent Garden, London houses the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet.