On 5th December…

1901 - Walt Disney, the man behind cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, was born in Chicago, U.S.A. He is the founder of the Disney Company and also designed the Disneyland theme parks in Los Angeles and Florida before he died.

1952 - A thick dense smog descended over London. It was a mixture of fog and smoke the from chimneys which was being kept down at ground level, unable to escape, because of the air pressure from the weather conditions. The air quality became so bad that thousands of people died from breathing difficulties during the five days that it lasted. At one point visibility was so bad that you couldn’t see further than a metre in front of you. The consequences of the smog prompted the Clean Air Act to be passed by Parliament which restricted the burning of coal in fireplaces and industrial furnaces in certain areas. The Clean Air Act is considered to be a major event in the history of environmentalism.

2013 - Nelson Mandela died at the age of 95 years. He was a South African, anti-apartheid, activist who was imprisoned for 26 years for his political actions. On his release from prison he went on to become the first black president of South Africa.

On 6th December…

On 7th December…

1941 - During World War II the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. This action brought the previously neutral U.S.A. directly into the war.

On 8th December…

On 9th December…

1165 - King Malcolm IV of Scotland died at the age of 24 years. He had been king since he was 11 years old after his grandfather King David I died. Malcolm IV died without children or a wife giving him the nickname of the Maiden. On his death Malcolm’s younger brother William became King William I of Scotland also known as William the Lion.

On 10th December…

1394 - King James I of Scotland was born in Dunfermline Palace.

1768 - The first edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica was published in Scotland. It was the go-to book to find out anything about everything. Nowadays most people use Google or other search engines to find out information but the Encyclopaedia, although no longer in print, is still available online as Brittanica.com. It is a useful tool for studying and much more accurate than Wikipedia.

On 11th December…

1282 - The last native Prince of Wales, Llywelyn Ap Gruffudd died near Powys, Wales. He was the only Welsh ruler to be officially recognised by an English king (Henry III) as the Prince of Wales.