31 fun facts for December, 11

Discover dozens of fun facts for this special day. Read the summary for a quick recap on what happened.
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Summary
December 11th is a day of historic firsts, cultural milestones, and international significance. Some highlights include the creation of UNICEF, the first dental anesthesia, the premiere of the groundbreaking film Avatar, and celebrations like International Mountain Day. Each year, December 11th offers the world an opportunity to remember these moments and learn from them.
31 Fun facts
  1. December 11, 1844 - The first ever dental anesthesia was used by Dr. Horace Wells, an American dentist, during a procedure on one of his patients. The anesthesia used was nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas.
  2. December 11, 1882 - The first Christmas tree lights were created by Thomas Edison, who decorated a large evergreen tree outside his laboratory with eighty individually hand-wired red, white and blue electric lights.
  3. December 11, 1901 - Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi succeeded in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, disproving the belief that radio waves would be blocked by the Earth's curvature.
  4. December 11, 1909 - The first Junior Achievement program in the United States was established in Springfield, Massachusetts to teach business and economics to young people.
  5. December 11, 1931 - The Statute of Westminster was signed, granting complete autonomy to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, and Newfoundland to govern their own domestic and foreign affairs.
  6. December 11, 1936 - King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom abdicated the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, paving the way for his brother George VI to become king.
  7. December 11, 1946 - UNICEF, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, was created to provide emergency relief and assistance to children in post-World War II regions.
  8. December 11, 1964 - Che Guevara, prominent Marxist guerrilla leader, spoke at the United Nations (UN) in New York City, where he denounced United States' foreign policy and imperialism in Latin America.
  9. December 11, 1970 - The first album by The Doors, featuring the hit song "Light My Fire," became a gold record after selling over 500,000 copies.
  10. December 11, 1972 - Apollo 17, the final lunar landing mission in NASA's Apollo program, landed on the moon. Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt conducted three moonwalks, totaling over 22 hours on the lunar surface.
  11. December 11, 1978 - Lufthansa Flight 291 was hijacked by Palestinians, demanding the release of prisoners in West Germany. After a successful negotiation, all passengers were released, and the hijackers surrendered.
  12. December 11, 1981 - On this day, famed American singer-songwriter and musician, Alicia Keys, was born in New York City.
  13. December 11, 1983 - Pope John Paul II visited the island of Martinique during a nine-day tour of the Caribbean, becoming the first pontiff to visit the French West Indies.
  14. December 11, 1985 - The United Nations designated this day as International Mountain Day, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of mountains and sustainable development.
  15. December 11, 1987 - Throw Momma from the Train, a black comedy film starring Danny DeVito and Billy Crystal, was released in the United States.
  16. December 11, 1990 - Holders of Permanent Resident Cards in the United States - also known as Green Cards - were required to replace their existing cards with a newer version that contained a built-in fingerprint.
  17. December 11, 1992 - The film A Few Good Men, starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore, was released in the United States. The film received critical acclaim and was a major box office success.
  18. December 11, 1994 - Thousands of Russian troops invaded the breakaway republic of Chechnya in an attempt to restore Moscow's control over the region.
  19. December 11, 1997 - The Kyoto Protocol, a United Nations treaty committing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, was adopted in Kyoto, Japan.
  20. December 11, 2001 - The People's Republic of China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), becoming the 143rd member and significantly boosting globalization efforts.
  21. December 11, 2006 - Felipe Calderón, the then President of Mexico, launched the Mexican Drug War, a controversial, large-scale military campaign against drug trafficking organizations.
  22. December 11, 2007 - A shooting at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska left nine people dead, including the 19-year-old gunman.
  23. December 11, 2008 - Bernard Madoff, an American financier, was arrested for running a massive Ponzi scheme, considered the largest financial fraud in United States history.
  24. December 11, 2009 - Avatar, a groundbreaking 3D science-fiction film directed by James Cameron, premiered in London. The film became the highest-grossing film of all time until it was surpassed by Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
  25. December 11, 2010 - The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo in absentia, as he was imprisoned in China at the time.
  26. December 11, 2013 - Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize the production, distribution, and use of marijuana for recreational purposes.
  27. December 11, 2015 - NASA's New Horizons spacecraft transmitted the last of its data from its historic July 2015 flyby of Pluto, marking the end of an unprecedented mission that captured unprecedented views of the dwarf planet and its moons.
  28. December 11, 2016 - A bombing took place in a Christian church in Cairo, Egypt, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 70 others.
  29. December 11, 2019 - The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from international sports events for four years due to evidence of state-sponsored doping.
  30. December 11, 2020 - Great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn took place, where the two planets appeared to pass extremely close to each other, creating a bright "star" in the sky. This phenomenon last occurred in 1623 and is also called the "Christmas Star."
  31. December 11, 2022 - International Mountain Day is celebrated on this day to promote the importance of mountains and sustainable development.

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