On December 28

Netflix released Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, its first interactive content for adults.

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed into the Java Sea after the pilots mishandled a non-critical error in the cockpit, which resulted in all 162 people on board being killed in the crash.

The passenger ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in the Adriatic Sea, killing an estimated 28 people.

Kurdish–Turkish conflict: Acting on information that Kurdish militants were crossing the border from Iraqi territory, two Turkish F-16 jets fired at a group of villagers, killing 34 people.

Tibetan dissident filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen was imprisoned for subversion by Chinese authorities after a secret trial.

A suicide bomber attacked a Shia procession commemorating the day of Ashura in Karachi, Pakistan, causing 43 deaths.

Somali Civil War: Troops of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and their Ethiopian allies captured Mogadishu unopposed.

American businesswoman Muriel Siebert became the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.

Vietnam War: Viet Cong regiments penetrated the eastern perimeters of the village of Bình Giã, beginning the Battle of Binh Gia.

World War II: After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division captured the Italian town of Ortona (pictured).

The Tokyo Grand Sumo Association became the All Japan Sumo Association at the instigation of Prince-Regent Hirohito, laying the foundations for the world's sole professional sumo association.

At the general election in Ireland, Constance Markievicz was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as the first female member of Parliament, although she never took her seat.

Up to 1,000 lumber workers initiated a labor strike against the Virginia and Rainy Lake Lumber Company in Minnesota, United States, which lasted over a month.

An earthquake registering 7.1 Mw struck near Messina, which, along with the subsequent tsunami, killed at least 75,000 people in southern Italy.

The last confirmed sighting of the now-extinct huia occurred in the Tararua Range on New Zealand's North Island.

American Civil War: Union forces defeated a Confederate cavalry unit in the Van Buren raid, capturing three steamboats, Confederate troops, and various supplies.

Taksin the Great was crowned king of the newly established Thonburi Kingdom at the new capital of Thonburi in present-day Thailand.

Galileo Galilei became the first person to observe the planet Neptune (pictured), although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.

Westminster Abbey, built by Edward the Confessor as the first Romanesque church in England, was first consecrated.

An earthquake destroyed the city of Dvin, Armenia, resulting in about 30,000 casualties.