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, 1997
Day of Week 1st » In the Indian state of Bihar, Ranvir Sena attacked the Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Party Unity e.g CPI(ML) Party Unity stronghold Lakshmanpur-Bathe, killing 63 lower caste people.
Day of Week 6th » A Russian Antonov An-124 cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.
Day of Week 15th » Tupolev Tu-154 Incidents and accidents or Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183 crashes in the desert near Sharjah (emirate) called Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, killing 85.
Day of Week 17th » The British Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 comes into force, banning all handguns with the exception of antique and show weapons.
Day of Week 18th » HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
Day of Week 19th » SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River (Indonesia) called Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
Day of Week 22nd » Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Catholic Church Roman Catholic activists for Indigenous peoples of the Americas indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are Wiktionary:massacre massacred by paramil
22nd » Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of List of Presidents of Somalia e.g President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.
Day of Week 24th » The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
Day of Week 26th » The Soufrière Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat explodes, creating a small tsunami offshore.
Day of Week 27th » Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright (loyalist) named Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.