December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. It is one of seven months with the length of 31 days. December is the first month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, December is the seasonal equivalent to June in the Northern hemisphere, which is the first month of summer. December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.
December symbols: Its birth flower is the narcissus. The birthstones of December are the turquoise, zircon, and tanzanite. The zodiac signs for the month of December are Sagittarius (until December 21) and Capricorn (December 22 onwards).
Historical Events for December, 1968
Day of Week 9th » Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All Demos", publicly debuting the Mouse (computer) named computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the NLS (computer system) named oN-Line System (NLS).
Day of Week 11th » 'The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus', featuring the Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull (band) called Jethro Tull, the Who, Taj Mahal (musician) called Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and the Dirty Mac with Yoko Ono, is filmed in Wembley, London.
Day of Week 13th » Brazilian President of Brazil e.g President Artur da Costa e Silva issues AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5), enabling government by decree and suspending habeas corpus.
Day of Week 20th » The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.
Day of Week 21st » Apollo program: 'Apollo 8' is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a Moon known as lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
Day of Week 23rd » The 82 sailors from the USS Pueblo AGER-2 6 are released after eleven months of internment in North Korea.
Day of Week 24th » Apollo program: The crew of 'Apollo 8' enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Apollo 8 Genesis reading called Christmas Eve Broadcast, one
Day of Week 25th » Apollo program: 'Apollo 8' performs the very first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
25th » Kilvenmani massacre, 44 Dalits (untouchables) burnt to death in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.
Day of Week 27th » Apollo program: 'Apollo 8' splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital manned mission to the Moon.