In 1768, Encyclopedia Britannica was first published.
In 1799, Metric system first adopted in France
In 1817, Mississippi joined the United States as the 20th state.
In 1869, the Territory of Wyoming granted women the right to vote.
In 1901, the Nobel Prizes were first awarded in Oslo, Norway, and Stockholm, Sweden.
In 1901, the first Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen for his discovery of X-rays.
In 1906, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1948, The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, saying he accepted it “with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind.”
In 1984, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu was presented with his Nobel Peace Prize
In 1984, the National Science Foundation reported the discovery of the first planet outside the solar system — 21 million light-years from Earth.
In 1984, the Space Shuttle Discovery was launched for the first time, marking the beginning of a new era in space exploration.
In 1989, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent struggle for the liberation of Tibet.
In 1994, Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin received the Nobel Peace Prize, pledging to pursue their mission of healing the anguished Middle East.
In 1996, South African President Nelson Mandela signed the country’s new constitution into law during a ceremony in Sharpeville.
In 2006, Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the former president of Chile who seized power in a bloody 1973 coup and ruled the nation for 17 years, died at the age of 91.
In 2009, President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, urging attendees to reach for the world “as it ought to be.”
On Dec. 10, 2013, South Africa held a memorial service for Nelson Mandela, during which U.S. President Barack Obama energized tens of thousands of spectators and nearly 100 visiting heads of state with a plea for the world to emulate “the last great liberator of the 20th century.” The ceremony was marred by the presence of a sign-language interpreter who deaf advocates said was an impostor waving his arms around meaninglessly.
In 2021, an outbreak of 71 tornadoes struck portions of Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky on this day and Dec. 11, 2021. The destructive storms killed at least 89 people and caused nearly $4 billion in damage.
In 2022, Morocco became the first African country to reach the World Cup semifinals by beating Portugal 1-0.
