On December 21

Operatives of the British Special Boat Service boarded the container ship Grande Tema in the Thames Estuary to detain four stowaways who had threatened the crew.

Countries that were part of the Maya civilization celebrated the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.

In accordance with the Oslo II Accord, Israeli troops withdrew from Bethlehem in preparation for the transfer of control to the Palestinian National Authority.

Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano, dormant for 47 years, began erupting, and is now one of the nation's most active volcanoes.

A bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 detonated over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.

The world's heaviest aircraft, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, made its first flight.

Apollo 8 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a trajectory to the Moon; its crew (pictured) became the first humans to visit another celestial body.

The United Nations adopted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which 88 member states have since signed.

An attempt by Greek Cypriot police to search certain Turkish Cypriot women in Nicosia escalated into island-wide violence, leading to 538 deaths and the displacement of nearly 27,000 people.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length cel-animated feature in film history, premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles.

Lieutenant Kijé, the first film composition by Sergei Prokofiev (pictured), premiered.

Nepal and the United Kingdom signed the first treaty that defined the international status of Nepal as an independent and a sovereign nation.

After serving two years in prison for encouraging people to resist military conscription, anarchist Emma Goldman was deported from the United States to Russia.

Moscow's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was consecrated.

the fictional character of Nora Helmer is first portrayed by Betty Hennings (pictured) at a showing of A Doll's House at the Royal Danish Theatre.

HMS Challenger departed Portsmouth on a scientific expedition that laid the foundations of oceanography.

The Rochdale Pioneers opened their store (pictured) in Rochdale, England, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement.

Settlers from the United States in Mexican Texas made the first attempt to secede from Mexico, establishing the short-lived Republic of Fredonia.

The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower landed at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, to establish the Plymouth Colony.

Lamberto Scannabecchi was elected pope, taking the name Honorius II.