On December 8th, 1609, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the second public library in Europe, opened.

On December 7th, 1732, the Royal Opera House opened at Covent Garden, London.

On December 6th, 1849, abolitionist Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery.

On December 5th, 1776, the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity was founded, making it the first scholastic fraternity in the United States.

On December 4th, 1110, the Crusaders conquered Sidon in the First Crusade.

On December 3rd, 1904, the Jovian moon Himalia was discovered.

On December 2nd, 1848, Franz Joseph I became King of Austria.

On December 1st, 1990, the Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France met forty meters beneath the seabed.

On November 30th, 1936, London's Crystal Palace was destroyed in a fire.

On November 29th, 1922, the tomb of Tutankhamun was opened to the public.

On November 28th, 1660, the Royal Society was founded at Gresham College.

On November 27th, 1901, the U.S. Army War College was established.

On November 26th, 1778, Captain James Cook became the first European to visit Maui.

On November 25th, 1950, the People's Republic of China joined the Korean War.

On November 24th, 1974, the skeleton of "Lucy," a 3.18 million years old female hominid, was found in Ethiopia.

On November 23rd, 1963, the first episode of the sci-fi series "Doctor Who" aired on BBC television.

On November 22nd, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

On November 21st, 1916, the HMHS Britannic sank into the Aegean Sea.