John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York.

Longtime ''Jeopardy!'' champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah finally loses, leaving him with {{US$|2,520,700}}, television's biggest game show winnings.

Lion Air Flight 538 crash lands in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, killing 26.

In Seattle, Washington, United States, protests against the WTO meeting by anti-globalization protesters catch police unprepared and force the cancellation of opening ceremonies.

British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merge to form BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world.

Official end of Operation Desert Storm.

The National Football League announces that the Jacksonville Jaguars will become the league's 30th franchise.

U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Bill) into law.

Deutsche Bank board member Alfred Herrhausen is killed by a Red Army Faction terrorist bomb.

Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on December 17).

The fossil known as Lucy is discovered by Donald Johanson, Maurice Taieb, Yves Coppens and Tim White in the Middle Awash of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.

Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.

Iran seizes the Greater and Lesser Tunbs from the United Arab Emirates.

The Pakistan Peoples Party is founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who becomes its first Chairman later as the Head of state and Head of government after the ''1971 Civil War''.

The People's Republic of South Yemen becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

Barbados becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges Meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space.

Edward Mutesa II, the ''kabaka'' (king) of Buganda is deposed and exiled to London by Sir Andrew Cohen, Governor of Uganda.

World War II: Guadalcanal Campaign: Battle of Tassafaronga — A smaller squadron of Japanese destroyers led by Raizo Tanaka defeats a US cruiser force under Carleton H. Wright.

Lucille Ball marries Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Winter War: Soviet forces cross the Finnish border in several places and bomb Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, starting the war.

In London, the Crystal Palace is destroyed by fire.

The steam locomotive Flying Scotsman becomes the first to officially exceed 100mph.

Costa Rica becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

A mine explosion in the mining town of Marianna, Pennsylvania kills 154.

American Old West: Second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor.

The Folies Bergère stages its first revue.

Winston Churchill is born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Great Britain.

The first-ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.

The inauguration of a statue of King Charles XII of Sweden takes place in the King's garden in Stockholm.

American Civil War: Battle of Franklin — The Army of Tennessee led by General John Bell Hood mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions commanded by John McAllister Schofield around Franklin, Tennessee, with Hood lost six generals and almost a third of his troops.

Crimean War: Battle of Sinop — The Imperial Russian Navy under Pavel Nakhimov destroys the Ottoman fleet under Osman Pasha at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey.

First Welland Canal opens for a trial run, 5 years to the day from the ground breaking.

First ground is broken at Allenburg for the building of the original Welland Canal.

The Democratic-Republican-controlled United States Senate begins an impeachment trial against Federalist-partisan Supreme Court of the United States Justice Samuel Chase.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, Spanish representatives officially transfer the Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transfers the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase.

Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgates a penal reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. Consequently, November 30 is commemorated by 300 cities around the world as Cities for Life Day.

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes New Jersey.

American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris — In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris).

Swedish king Charles XII dies during a siege of the fortress Fredriksten in Norway.

Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8,500 men under Charles XII defeats a much larger Russian army at Narva.