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El Salvador killings

On December 2nd 1980 the military in El Salvador killed 3 US nuns, and a layworker.

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Kindertransports

In December 1938 the Kindertransports began, carrying Jewish children to safety in Britain

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Somalia Marines

In December 1992 US Marines stormed the beaches of Somalia.

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Pearl Harbour

The Japanese attack on American ships in Pearl Harbour forced the US into World War II.

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John Lennon

It is exactly 30 years since the former Beatle, John Lennon, was shot dead in New York.

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Smallpox Eradication

It was once one of the most feared diseases in the world - disfiguring and often deadly

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Albert Luthuli Receives the Nobel Peace Prize

Chief Albert Luthuli was the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Peace - in 1960

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Argentina's disappeared

On 13 December 1983, the government of Argentina promised to investigate military crimes

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Capture of Saddam Hussein

It was on this day in 2003 that Saddam Hussein was finally captured by US forces

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Siege of Grozny

In December 1994 Russian forces invaded Chechnya and laid siege to the capital Grozny.

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Operation Desert Fox

On 16 December 1998 the US and Britain began a four day bombardment of Iraq.

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Washington Snipers

It is 7 years since one of the Washington snipers, Lee Boyd Malvo, was convicted of murder

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US invasion of Panama

It is 21 years since the US invaded the tiny Central American state of Panama.

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Lockerbie

On December 21 1988 a US passenger plane blew up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

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Georgia in crisis

Christmas 1991 was a very difficult time for the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

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Andrei Sakharov

On 23 December, 1986 the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov was allowed to return to Moscow

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Christmas Truce

When British and German troops sang carols, exchanged gifts and played football together

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Jamaica Slave Rebellion

The rebellion was brutally crushed, but it had a significant impact

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The Great Escape

One of the Great Escapees from a German prisoner of war camp speaks out

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Assad and Syria

It is 40 years since Hafez al Assad seized power in Syria.

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Hamlet

Hamlet - by William Shakespeare - is still popular four centuries after it was written.

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Chiapas Uprising

On January 1 1994 indigenous people in southern Mexico began their rebellion.

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Alaska statehood

On January 3 1959 Alaska finally became a fully fledged member state of the USA.

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LBJ State of the Union Address

US President Lyndon B Johnson's 1965 speech proposed healthcare for the poor and elderly

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Afghanistan's Secret Schools for Girls

How Afghan women resisted the Taliban's efforts to prohibit education for girls

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Sudan's civil war

In 1983 a civil war broke out in Sudan which would last for more than 20 years.

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Clinton impeachment

On January 7 1999 the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began in the US Senate

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Bojinka Airline Plot

The Manila-based plot to blow up a dozen airliners over the Pacific Ocean

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Crossing the Rubicon

When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon river 2,000 years ago he changed history

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Cryonic freezing

In 1967 a group of enthusiasts first tried to cryonically freeze a human being.

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