9 December 1890

Members of the European Parliament, including Vice President Eva Kaili (pictured), and their associates are arrested in connection with the Qatar corruption scandal.

Park Geun-hye, the president of South Korea, was impeached, marking the culmination of the country's political scandal.

Rod Blagojevich, the governor of Illinois, was arrested on corruption charges, including for attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by president-elect Barack Obama.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was arrested for the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner; his subsequent conviction and death sentence generated controversy in the United States.

A World Health Organization commission of scientists certified the global eradication of smallpox (virus pictured), making it the only human infectious disease to date to have been completely eradicated.

U.S. secretary of state William P. Rogers proposed a plan, later called the Rogers Plan, for a ceasefire in the War of Attrition; Egypt's and Jordan's acceptance of the plan over Palestine Liberation Organization objections led to civil war in Jordan in September 1970.

Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse (pictured), hypertext, and the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the computer system NLS.

A large, brilliant fireball was seen by thousands in midwestern North America before landing in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania.

Tanganyika Territory gained independence from Britain before becoming part of Tanzania three years later.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Genocide Convention, which defines genocide in legal terms and obligates its signatories to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition.

Second World War: British and Commonwealth forces began Operation Compass, the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert campaign.

First World War: Hussein al-Husayni, the Ottoman mayor of Jerusalem, surrendered the city to British forces (pictured).

A mine explosion near Briceville, Tennessee, killed 84 miners despite a well-organized rescue effort led by the United States Bureau of Mines.

French actress, journalist and leading suffragette Marguerite Durand founded the feminist newspaper La Fronde.

The English association football club Newcastle United was founded by the merger of Newcastle East End and West End.

The first edition of the Argosy magazine was published under the title The Golden Argosy.

In a memoir read to the French Academy of Sciences, Augustin-Jean Fresnel coined the terms linear, circular, and elliptical polarization, and reported a direct refraction experiment verifying his theory that optical rotation is a form of birefringence.

American Revolutionary War: After their loss in the Battle of Great Bridge, British authorities were forced to evacuate from the Colony of Virginia.

In one of two substantial military actions in England during the Glorious Revolution, forces loyal to William of Orange were decisively victorious at the Battle of Reading.

Fifty-five people are killed and more than 100 injured when a truck with 160 migrants from Central America overturned in Chiapas, Mexico.

A volcano on Whakaari / White Island, New Zealand, kills 22 people after it erupts.

The Marriage Amendment Bill receives royal assent and comes into effect, making Australia the 26th country to legalize same-sex marriage.

President Park Geun-hye of South Korea is impeached by the country's National Assembly in response to a major political scandal.

At least 57 people are killed and a further 177 injured when two schoolgirl suicide bombers attack a market area in Madagali, Adamawa, Nigeria in the Madagali suicide bombings.