On December 7

The JAXA space probe Akatsuki entered into orbit around Venus to study the planet's atmosphere, five years after its first attempt failed.

The annual furry convention Midwest FurFest was targeted in an unsolved chlorine gas attack.

The United States transferred its last base in the Al Anbar Governorate to the Iraqi government, ending the Anbar campaign.

The Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.

A 6.8 Ms earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia, killing at least 25,000 people (aftermath pictured).

The Indonesian military began a lengthy occupation of East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism.

Construction workers found the remains of Martin Bormann near Lehrter Station in Berlin, ending a decades-long search after his conviction in absentia at the Nuremberg trials.

Second World War: A small unit of Royal Marines launched Operation Frankton, in which they damaged six ships in the port of Bordeaux in German-occupied France.

Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton (pictured) became the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.

American Civil War: The Battle of Prairie Grove ended a Confederate attempt to regain control of northwestern Arkansas.

British troops swiftly defeated rebels led by William Lyon Mackenzie and Anthony Van Egmond at the Battle of Montgomery's Tavern, the only major confrontation of the Upper Canada Rebellion.

Suffering from mental illness, Eastern Roman emperor Justin II had his general Tiberius proclaimed Caesar, adopting him as his own son.