17 December 2017 – lieu

17 December 2017

lieu

[loo]

noun

1. place; stead.
Idioms

2. in lieu of, in place of; instead of:
He gave us an IOU in lieu of cash.

Origin of lieu

Middle English Middle French Latin Old French
1250-1300; < Middle French < Latin locus place; replacing Middle English liue < Old French liu < Latin; see locus

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for lieu

Contemporary Examples

These “free” games display ads, often in obnoxious places, in lieu of the entry fee.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: ‘Desert Golfing’ Is ‘Angry Birds’ as Modern Art
Alec Kubas-Meyer
January 2, 2015

So as not to die, in lieu of any of these offerings, I decide to go searching for coffee.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal
Olivia Nuzzi
December 8, 2014

In lieu of this, dispensaries are getting aggressively green on their websites.
Colorado Weed Dispensaries Celebrate ‘Green Friday’
Abby Haglage
November 28, 2014


Today’s quote

We must talk about poverty, because people insulated by their own comfort, lose sight of it.

– Dorothy Day


On this day

17 December 1770 – baptism of Ludwig von Beethoven, German composer. One of the world’s most influential composers. He composed 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatos and 16 string quartets. Died 26 March 1827.

17 December 1903 – Orville and Wilbur Wright makes the world’s first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air flight.

17 December 2010 – death of Don Van Vliet, American singer, songwriter, musician and artist, best known as Captain Beefheart. He used a rotating ensemble of musicians, called the Magic Band. Beefheart’s music was very avant-garde, blending jazz, psychedelia, blues and rock. He was friends with Frank Zappa and sometimes collaborated with him. His experimental and unrestrained style of music complimented Zappa’s often experimental but highly disciplined work. English DJ, John Peel, describe Captain Beefheart as, ‘a psychedelic shaman who frequently bullied his musicians and sometimes alarmed his fans, Don somehow remained one of rock’s great innocents‘. Born 15 January 1941.

16 December 2017 – inimical

16 December 2017

inimical or inimicable

[ih-nim-i-kuh l or ih-nim-i-kuh-buh l]

adjective

1. adverse in tendency or effect; unfavorable; harmful:
a climate inimical to health.
2. unfriendly; hostile:
a cold, inimical gaze.

Origin of inimical

Latin

1635-1645; < Latin inimīc(us) unfriendly, hostile (see enemy ) + -al1

Related forms

inimically, adverb
inimicalness, inimicality, noun
uninimical, adjective
uninimically, adverb

Can be confused

inimical, inimitable.

Synonyms

1. noxious. 2. antagonistic. See hostile.

Antonyms

2. friendly.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for inimical

Historical Examples

Wealth is not inimical to welfare; it ought to be its friendliest agency.
United States Presidents’ Inaugural Speeches
Various

When Pausanias remarks that personal attachments are inimical to despots.
Symposium
Plato

“You appear to be inimical to money,” the Angel interjected, with a penetrating look.
Another Sheaf
John Galsworthy

That order of feeling was comprehensible enough to the most inimical of my critics.
Some Reminiscences
Joseph Conrad

Grimness was in every feature, and to its very bowels the inimical shape was desolation.
A Pair of Blue Eyes
Thomas Hardy

They were huge, and ugly, and alien, but they were not inimical to humans.
Rebels of the Red Planet
Charles Louis Fontenay

She looked at him helplessly, so attractive and so inimical to her.
The Coast of Chance
Esther Chamberlain

They are not hostile to employers, not inimical to the interests of the general public.
Socialism As It Is
William English Walling

At noon a large crowd had gathered, composed of those most inimical to the strangers.
Terry
Charles Goff Thomson

It is not only when criticism is inimical that I object to it, but also when it is incompetent.
The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
James McNeill Whistler

Anagram

I claim in

 

 


Today’s quote

The Stone Age didn’t end for lack of stone, and the Oil Age will end long before the world runs out of oil.

– Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani


On this day

16 December 1980 – death of Harlan Sanders who eventually becomes a Colonel and chickens throughout Kentucky, and ultimately the rest of the world, are never the same again as he invents Kentucky Fried Chicken. Born 9 September 1890.

15 December 2017 – ballista

15 December 2017

ballista

[buh-lis-tuh]

noun, plural ballistae [buh-lis-tee]

1. an ancient military engine for throwing stones or other missiles.

Origin of ballista

Greek

1590-1600; < Latin, probably < Greek *ballistā́s, dialectal variant of *ballistḗs, equivalent to báll(ein) to throw + -istēs -ist

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for ballista

Historical Examples

The ballista was considerably larger and more expensive than this.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5
Various

No ballista, however, is made without regard to the given amount of weight of the stone which the engine is intended to throw.
Ten Books on Architecture
Vitruvius

The ballista (Fig. 229) was in reality a large cross-bow, built to shoot long, heavy bolts or arrows.
The Boy Craftsman
A. Neely Hall

Like a modern field gun, the ballista shot low and directly toward the enemy.
Artillery Through the Ages
Albert Manucy

Various names were applied to these weapons, the chief of which were the ballista and the catapult.
Great Inventions and Discoveries
Willis Duff Piercy

Trebuchet, treb′ū-shet, n. a military engine like the ballista.
Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)
Various

Anagram

lib atlas
tail slab


Today’s quote

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.

– Benjamin Franklin


On this day

15 December 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum.

15 December 1832 – Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect, co-designed the Eiffel Tower. Died 27 December 1923.

15 December 1890 – death of Sitting Bull, Native American tribal chief. Born as ‘Jumping Badger’ in 1831.

15 December 1917 – World War I: An armistice between Russia and the Central Powers is signed.

15 December 1933 – The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution officially becomes effective, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment that prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol.

15 December 1945 – Occupation of Japan: General Douglas MacArthur orders that Shinto be abolished as the state religion of Japan.

15 December 1946 – U.S.-backed Iranian troops evict the leadership of the breakaway Republic of Mahabad, putting an end to the Iran crisis of 1946.

15 December 1954 – The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands is signed.

15 December 1970 – Russia’s Venera 7 spacecraft lands on Venus, the first man-made object to land on the planet. It was launched on 15 August 1970.

15 December 1973 – The American Psychiatric Association votes 13–0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders, the DSM-II.

15 December 1974 – birth of Pooh, Filipino actor and comedian, star of Banana Split, famous for his impersonations, including that of Filipino boxer, Manny Pacquiao. Pooh’s real name is Reynold Garcia.

15 December 1981 – A suicide car bombing targeting the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, levels the embassy and kills 61 people, including Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon. The attack is considered the first modern suicide bombing.

15 December 2001 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 spent to fortify it, without fixing its famous lean.

15 December 2010 – A boat carrying 90 asylum seekers crashes into rocks off the coast of Christmas Island, Australia, killing 48 people.

14 December 2017 – speleology

14 December 2017

speleology or spelaeology

[spee-lee-ol-uh-jee]

noun

1. the exploration and study of caves.
2. the sport or pastime of exploring caves.

Origin of speleology

Latin

1890-1895; < Latin spēlae(um) (see spelaean ) + -o- + -logy

Related forms

speleological [spee-lee-uh-loj-i-kuh l] (Show IPA), adjective
speleologist, noun

Dictionary.com

Anagram

loopy glees


Today’s quote

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.

– Dalai Lama


On this day

14 December 1972 – The last men to walk on the moon are Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan during the Apollo 17 mission. In all, 12 men walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972.

14 December 2008 – Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist, throws his shoes at US President George W. Bush who was in a press-conference in Iraq.

13 December 2017 – eurhythmic

13 December 2017

eurhythmic or eurythmic

[yoo-rith -mik, yuh-]

adjective

1. characterized by a pleasing rhythm; harmoniously ordered or proportioned.
2. of or relating to eurhythmics.

Also, eurhythmical, eurythmical [yoo-rith-mi-kuh l, yuh-]

Origin of eurhythmic

1825-1835 First recorded in 1825-35; eurhythm(y) + -ic

Related forms

eurhythmically, eurythmically, adverb

Can be confused

arrhythmic, eurhythmic.

Dictionary.com

Anagram

rheumy itch

 

 


Today’s quote

Anyone can become angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way, this is not easy.

– Aristotle


On this day

13 December 1937 – Nanking, China, is captured by Japanese forces. The Japanese General Matsui orders the destruction of the city, resulting in the massacre of more than 200,000 people, and rape and mutilation of around 20,000 women and girls.

13 December 1939 – Premier of the classic movie, Gone With The Wind, starring Clark Gable and Vivienne Leigh.

13 December 1995 – Thousands of people riot in Brixton, England, ransacking shops and attacking police.

13 December 2003 – US forces capture Saddam Hussein at a compound near Tikrit. He was executed by hanging on 30 December 2006 after being found guilty of the 1982 murder of 148 Iraqi Shi’ites.

13 December 2006 – Belgians react angrily to the news that their country is to be divided in two, with the Dutch speaking component of the country declaring their independence. The news was a joke propagated by Belgian public television station, R.T.B.F.

13 December 2007 – Pakistani President, Pervez Musharaff, moves responsibility for Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal from the Prime Minister to the President amid fears of it falling into the hands of Islamic extremists.

12 December 2017 – fenestrated

12 December 2017

fenestrated or fenestrate

[fen-uh-strey-tid, fi-nes-trey- or fi-nes-treyt, fen-uh-streyt]

adjective, Architecture.

1. having windows; windowed; characterized by windows.

2. (biology) perforated or having fenestrae

Origin of fenestrated

Latin

1820-1830; < Latin fenestrātus furnished with windows (see fenestra, -ate1) + -ed2

Related forms

nonfenestrated, adjective
unfenestrated, adjective

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for fenestrated

Historical Examples

Never in this order is there any trace of the latticed or fenestrated shell, which characterises the second order, Sphrellaria.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia)
Ernst Haeckel

The suborder Prunoidea comprises those Spumellaria in which the fenestrated spherical shell appears prolonged into one axis.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia)
Ernst Haeckel

In these four subfamilies the concentric shells are all simple (not spongy) fenestrated spheres or endospherical polyhedra.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia)
Ernst Haeckel

Anagram

feared tents
feasted rent


Today’s quote

Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don’t find out til too late that he’s been playing with two queens all along.

– Terry Pratchett


On this day

12 December 1901 – Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi sends the world’s first wireless transmission over 2,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Poldhu, Cornwall, England to Newfoundland, Canada. The message he sent was the letter ‘s’ in morse code, represented by three dots …

12 December 1913 – the Mona Lisa is recovered in Florence, two years after being stolen from the Louvre in Paris.

12 December 1925 – the world’s first motel, the Milestone Mo-Tel, opens in San Luis Obispo, California. The motorists-hotel enabled visitors to park their cars outside their rooms.

12 December 1946 – John D. Rockefeller donates six blocks of Manhattan to the United Nations, which is now the site of UN Headquarters.

12 December 2003 – Keiko, the killer whale from the movie, ‘Free Willy’, dies in Norway.

12 December 2007 – International Chess Grand-Master, Garry Kasparov announces that he is withdrawing from running for the presidential election. Kasparov’s party, Other Russia, had faced difficulty in meeting the electoral requirements for supporters to meet in Moscow.

11 December 2017 – raucous

11 December 2017

raucous

[raw-kuh s]

adjective

1. harsh; strident; grating:
raucous voices; raucous laughter.
2. rowdy; disorderly:
a raucous party.

Origin of raucous

Latin

1760-1770; < Latin raucus hoarse, harsh, rough; see -ous

Related forms

raucously, adverb
raucousness, raucity [raw-si-tee] (Show IPA), noun

Synonyms

1. rough, jarring, raspy.

Antonyms

1. soft, mellow, dulcet.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for raucous

Contemporary Examples

An hour-and-a-half of pure, raucous, profanity-fueled laughter: what a perfect edition of Fashion Police aired on E!
Melissa Rivers: Life After Joan—A Funny, Moving Celebration on a Special ‘Fashion Police’
Tim Teeman
September 19, 2014

Actually, the scene was so darned enthusiastic that it began to look a little like a raucous Walmart employee rally.
Diane Sawyer’s Swan Song: ‘ABC World News’ Anchor’s Warm (and Long) Goodbye
Lloyd Grove
August 27, 2014

Then 45 years old, Robert Foligny Broussard was a raucous and charismatic Democrat from New Iberia, Louisiana.
Lake Bacon: The Story of The Man Who Wanted Us to Eat Mississippi Hippos
Jon Mooallem
August 9, 2014

At first it was raucous, trembling with patriotism, a sea of seething yellow.
Germany Humiliates World Cup Host Brazil 7-1 in Semifinal Slaughter
Tunku Varadarajan
July 7, 2014

So raucous did the celebration get that City Tavern took the unusual step of sending along a bill for “breakage.”
Life, Liberty, and the Founding Fathers’ Pursuit of Hoppiness
Kevin Bleyer
July 3, 2014

Historical Examples

“Cottonton” was a mass of frantic arms, raucous voices, white faces.
Garrison’s Finish
W. B. M. Ferguson

For a while, Oliver Symmes heard the raucous music of the crowd.
Life Sentence
James McConnell

His voice was so deep and raucous that it seemed to jar the soles of her feet.
The Nebuly Coat
John Meade Falkner

They roared the raucous song of freedom, and faster and faster they charged.
The Trail of ’98
Robert W. Service

Cochran’s voice rose above the clamor of the room in a raucous whoop.
Terry
Charles Goff Thomson


Today’s quote

I hope that people will finally come to realize that there is only one ‘race’ – the human race – and that we are all members of it.

– Margaret Atwood


On this day

11 December 1941 – Hitler and Mussolini declare war on the United States. The USA responds in kind.

11 December 1946 – establishment of UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) to provide food and healthcare to children in countries devastated by World War II.

11 December 1918 – birthday of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian dissident writer, ‘The Gulag Archipelago‘, ‘One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich‘, ‘The First Circle‘. Died 3 August 2008.

11 December 1961 – America’s first direct involvement in the Vietnam civil war, when a US aircraft carrier arrives in Saigon.

11 December 1975 – The Cod War in Iceland continues when an Iceland gun boat fires on unarmed British fishing vessels. Iceland had expanded its fishing zone from 50nm to 200nm from its coast.

11 December 1979 – The Rhodesian government returns power of the country to Great Britain until democratic elections are held. Following the elections, Rhodesia is renamed Zimbabwe.

11 December 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol is agreed to by 150 countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat anthropogenic global warming.

10 December 2017 – coracle

10 December 2017

coracle

[kawr-uh-kuh l, kor-]

noun

1. a small, round, or very broad boat made of wickerwork or interwoven laths covered with a waterproof layer of animal skin, canvas, tarred or oiled cloth, or the like: used in Wales, Ireland, and parts of western England.

Origin of coracle

Welsh

1540-1550; < Welsh corwgl, corwg; akin to Irish curach boat; see currach

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for coracle

Historical Examples

Immensely tall she looked to me from my low station in the coracle.
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson

I sprang to my feet and leaped, stamping the coracle under water.
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson

I sprang to my feet, and leaped, stamping the coracle under water.
Sea Stories
Various

Fin came in close to land with his coracle, and asked what he wanted.
More Celtic Fairy Tales
Various

For sure, God would not come in a coracle, just as he himself might come.
The Divine Adventure etc. (Works vol. 4)
Fiona Macleod

When he unfolded his mantle, he saw that the coracle was already far from Iona.
The Divine Adventure etc. (Works vol. 4)
Fiona Macleod

The coracle swerved, and the four men were wet with the heavy spray.
The Divine Adventure etc. (Works vol. 4)
Fiona Macleod

If the result rested on her, coracle Dick would have nothing to fear.
Gwen Wynn
Mayne Reid

coracle ‘s house is but a hovel, no better than the cabin of a backwoods squatter.
Gwen Wynn
Mayne Reid

Ground game at that, for coracle is in the act of “jugging” a hare.
Gwen Wynn
Mayne Reid


Today’s quote

Integrity is choosing courage over comfort. It’s choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy. It’s choosing to practice your values rather than simply professing them.

– Brené Brown


On this day

10 December 1896 – death of Alfred Bernhard Nobel, Swedish chemist and armaments manufacturer, inventor of dynamite and the Nobel Prizes. Was known as the ‘Merchant of Death’. A newspaper stated that he ‘became rich by finding ways to kill people faster than ever before‘. As a result, he decided to leave a better legacy than that and used his estate to establish and fund the Nobel Prizes, which included the Nobel Peace Prize. Born 21 October 1833.

10 December – Human Rights Day.

10 December 1948 – Universal Declaration of Human Rights is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

10 December 1959 – James Coburn (star of ‘The Great Escape‘, ‘The Magnificent Seven‘) takes 200 micrograms of LSD-25 for the first time as part of a controlled experiment conducted by Dr Janiger. Other famous people who participated in Janiger’s experiments include Cary Grant (‘North by Northwest‘, ‘An Affair to Remember‘) who took over 100 acid trips, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, and author Anais Nin (refer: http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_history6.pdf and http://www.carygrant.net/autobiography/autobiography14.html)

10 December 1967 – Soul singer, Otis Redding and members of the Bar-Kays band are killed when the plane they are travelling on crashes into Lake Monona, Madison, Wisconsin.

10 December 1981 – An epidemic comprising of two diseases, skin cancer and pneumonia, spreads throughout the United States since July, killing 75 people, 92% of whom are gay men. The disease is eventually identified as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

10 December 1983 – Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

10 December 1992 – Prime Minister Paul Keating delivers the historic ‘Redfern Speech’ at Redfern Park, New South Wales. It is regarded as one of the greatest Australian speeches and was the first time a Prime Minister had acknowledged the role that European settlement had in the murders and other travesties inflicted on the indigenous population. In 2007, Radio National listeners voted the speech as the third most unforgettable speech in the world, behind Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech (first) and Jesus’s ‘Sermon on the Mount (second). The speech can be heard here: Redfern Speech – audio or on YouTube. The text is available here: Redfern Speech – Text.

10 December 2002 – Former US President Jimmy Carter is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomatic efforts in solving the Middle East crisis in the 1970s.

10 December 2009 – President Barack Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his ‘extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples‘.

9 December 2017 – sidebar

9 December 2017

sidebar

[sahyd-bahr]

noun

1. follow-up (def 3b).
2. a typographically distinct section of a page, as in a book or magazine, that amplifies or highlights the main text.
3. a conference between the judge and lawyers out of the presence of the jury.
4. a subordinate or incidental issue, remark, activity, etc.

Origin of sidebar

1945-1950 First recorded in 1945-50; side1+ bar1

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for sidebar

Contemporary Examples

sidebar : the Electoral College is the balk rule of government.
Baseball’s Problem Is Politics’ Problem
Doug McIntyre
November 4, 2014

Its addictive “ sidebar of shame” catalogues every celebrity roll of fat, fashion faux pas, and shaky early-morning nightclub exit.
Hollywood vs. The Daily Mail: George Clooney and Angelina Jolie Take On The UK’s Leanest, Meanest Gossip Machine
Lizzie Crocker, Lloyd Grove
July 12, 2014

He went on to describe the probe as a “ sidebar issue” and hinted it was politically motivated.
Scott Walker Investigated in Secret Wisconsin Probe
Ben Jacobs
October 24, 2013

Anagram

braised
a debris
a brides
dab sire
I beards

 

 


Today’s quote

Partition is bad. But whatever is past is past. We have only to look to the future.

– Mahatma Gandhi


On this day

9 December 1906 – birth of Sir Douglas Nichols KCVO, OBE. Aboriginal activist, raising awareness of aboriginal issues, including treating aborigines with dignity and as people. He played for Carlton football club in the A-grade Victorian Football League (VFL), leaving after racist treatment and joining the Northcote football club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA). Nicholls became a minister and social worker. In 1957, he was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 1972 he was the first aborigine to be knighted. In 1976, he became the 28th governor of South Australia, the first aborigine to be appointed to a vice-regal position. He died on 4 June 1988.

9 December 1947 – Deputy Prime Minister of India, Sandar Valiabbhai Patel announces that India and Pakistan have reached an agreement on the borders of the two countries following partition … except for the issue of Kashmir, which is unresolved to this day.

9 December 1990 – Polish dissident, Solidarity union leader and 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Lech Walesa wins Polish presidential election in a landslide. Solidarity was the Soviet Bloc’s first independent trade union. Walesa presided over Poland’s transition from a communist state to a post-communist state.

8 December 2017 – exculpate

8 December 2017

exculpate

[ek-skuhl-peyt, ik-skuhl-peyt]

verb (used with object), exculpated, exculpating.

1. to clear from a charge of guilt or fault; free from blame; vindicate.

Origin of exculpate

Latin

1650-1660; < Latin exculpātus freed from blame, equivalent to ex- ex-1+ culpātus blamed (past participle of culpāre; see culpable )

Related forms

exculpable [ik-skuhl-puh-buh l], adjective
exculpation, noun
nonexculpable, adverb
nonexculpation, noun
self-exculpation, noun

Can be confused

exculpate, exonerate, inculpate.
Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for exculpate

Historical Examples

Ossipon tried to exculpate the lukewarmness of his past conduct.
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad

The McMurrough cried, breathlessly eager to exculpate himself.
The Wild Geese
Stanley John Weyman

I have made many inquiries about this affair, and they all tend to exculpate you.
Tom Burke Of “Ours”, Volume I (of II)
Charles James Lever

Anagram

cape exult
exact pule


Today’s quote

When wealth is passed off as merit, bad luck is seen as bad character. This is how ideologues justify punishing the sick and the poor. But poverty is neither a crime nor a character flaw. Stigmatise those who let people die, not those who struggle to live.

– Sarah Kendzior


On this day

8 December 1943 – birth of Jim Morrison, lead singer and song writer for the Doors. Died 3 July 1971.

8 December 1980 – Murder of John Lennon. English guitarist and singer-songwriter for the Beatles. Born 9 October 1940.

8 December 1991 – the Presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus sign the Belavezha Accords declaring the Soviet Union dissolved and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States. The legality of this accord was questionable, however, it was ratified by leaders of all other Soviet republics (except Georgia) on 21 December 1991.

8 December 2004 – death of Dimebag Darrell, (born Darrell Lance Abbott on 20 August 1966), American musician, founding member of Pantera. Dimebag was shot dead on stage while playing for Damageplan.