| 1460 |
|
The Duke of York is defeated and killed by Lancastrians at the Battle of Wakefield. |
| 1803 |
|
The United States takes possession of the Louisiana area from France at New Orleans with a simple ceremony, the simultaneous lowering and raising of the national flags. |
| 1861 |
|
Banks in the United States suspend the
practice of redeeming paper money for metal currency, a practice that
would continue until 1879. |
| 1862 |
|
The draft of the Emancipation Proclamation is finished and circulated among President Abraham Lincoln‘s cabinet for comment. |
| 1905 |
|
Governor Frank Steunenberg of Idaho is killed by an assassin’s bomb. |
| 1922 |
|
Soviet Russia is renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. |
| 1932 |
|
The Soviet Union bars food handouts for housewives under 36 years of age. They must now work to eat. |
| 1947 |
|
Romania’s King Michael is forced to abdicate by Soviet-backed Communists. Communists now control all of Eastern Europe. |
| 1965 |
|
Ferdinand E. Marcos is sworn in as the Philippine Republic’s sixth president. |
| 1972 |
|
After two weeks of heavy bombing raids on North Vietnam, President Nixon halts the air offensive and agrees to resume peace negotiations with Hanoi representative Le Duc Tho. |
| 1976 |
|
Governor Carey of New York pardons seven inmates, closing the book on the Attica uprising. |
| 2006 |
|
Saddam Hussein, former Iraq dictator, is executed by hanging for crimes committed against his own people during his rule. |
| Born on December 30 |
| 1865 |
|
Rudyard Kipling, British author (Jungle Book, Soldiers Three). |
| 1867 |
|
Simon Guggenheim, philanthropist and U.S. senator for Colorado. |
| 1884 |
|
Tojo Hideki, Japanese Prime Minister during World War II. |
| 1928 |
|
Bo Diddley, blues composer and singer. |
| 1935 |
|
Sandy Koufax, Hall of Fame left-handed pitcher with the L.A. Dodgers. |
