On December 12

At the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton on the final lap to become World Drivers' Champion.

North Korea made its first successful satellite launch, as Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 reached orbit.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bush v. Gore that the recount of ballots cast in Florida for the presidential election be stopped, effectively making George W. Bush (pictured) the winner.

Three trains collided near Clapham Junction railway station in London, killing 35 people and injuring 484 others.

A magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck just off the shore of Tumaco, Colombia, causing at least 300 deaths, mostly by the resulting tsunami.

The Greek junta announced its withdrawal from the Council of Europe after the junta was found guilty of torture and other human-rights violations by the European Commission of Human Rights.

Jomo Kenyatta became the first president of the Republic of Kenya.

World War II: German troops began Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.

The Holocaust: At a Nazi Party meeting in the Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler declared the imminent destruction of the Jewish people.

The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duchess (pictured) collided with HMS Barham, the battleship she was escorting, and Duchess sank with heavy loss of life.

Republic of China leader Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang, a former warlord of Manchuria.

England's worst mining disaster occurred when a series of explosions (depicted) caused by flammable gases ripped through the Oaks Colliery, killing 361 people.

Unable to defend her possessions, Maria of Enghien sold the lordship of Argos and Nauplia to the Republic of Venice.

At the Battle of Nineveh, the Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated the forces of Sasanian emperor Khosrow II, commanded by Rhahzadh, near present-day Mosul, Iraq.