24 DECEMBER

1894       First medical conference organized in Calcutta.

1889       The first amusement park in India was opened in Essel World Mumbai.

2000       Vishwanathan Anand became world chess champion.

2002       The Delhi Metro was launched by Shahadra Tis Hazari Line.

2008       55% votes were cast in the last phase of Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.

2014       It was announced that Bharat Ratna was awarded to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malaviya.

1973       EV Ramaswamy Naikar died in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

25 DECEMBER

2008       One of 11 payloaders of Chandrayaan-1 sent by India to space sent a new picture of the moon.

1861       Madan Mohan Malaviya, an educationist of India and honored with Bharat Ratna, was born.

1924       Former Prime Minister of the country and honored with Bharat Ratna, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born.

1643       William Myers, captain of the ship of the East India Company, Ryall Mary, landed on a deserted island and named it Christmasland.

1665       The French East India Company was formed in India to compete with Britain in political, economic and imperialist matters during the reign of Louis XIV.

1763       Maharaja Surajmal of Bharatpur was killed.

1771       The Mughal ruler Shah Alam II sat on the throne of Delhi under the patronage of the Marathas.

1800       Christmas Day was first made a public holiday on an international scale.

1972       Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the last Governor General of India, died in Madras (now Chennai), the capital of Tamil Nadu.

1968       In Tamil Nadu, India, the families of striking Dalit workers were led by a gang allegedly by their landlords.

1994       The 7th President of India, Giani Zail Singh, died in Chandigarh.

26 DECEMBER

2004       Two and a half million people died due to tsunami in the Indian Ocean. A 9.15 magnitude earthquake in the ocean caused a tsunami wave. People from many countries including India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia were killed.

1904       Inauguration of country’s first cross country motorcar rally between Delhi and Mumbai.

1925       Establishment of Communist Party of India.

1978       Former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi was released from prison. Morarji Desai’s government arrested Indira Gandhi on 19 December.

1977       Naveen Patnaik, son of Odisha’s prominent leader Biju Patnaik, founded the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

1666       Sikhism Guru Govind Singh was born.

27 DECEMBER

1797       Famous Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib was born in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

1861       The first public bid for tea was concluded in Calcutta (now Kolkata).

1911       ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was sung for the first time at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress.

1975       372 people died in the Chasnala coal mine accident in Dhanbad.

2008       ‘Taare Zameen Par’ won the Best Film Award at the V. Shantaram Awards ceremony.

28 DECEMBER

1668       Sambhaji, son of Maratha ruler Shivaji, died due to imprisonment and torture by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.

1855       The first session of the Indian National Congress took place in Bombay, in which 72 delegates attended.

1928       The speaking film Melody of Love was screened for the first time in Kolkata.

1984       The Congress won the Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Shri Rajiv Gandhi.

2000       An illustrated postage stamp of Rs 3 in a set of five postage stamps was released by the Indian Postal Department in honor of the gallantry award winners.

2013       The Aam Aadmi Party formed the government in Delhi with the support of the Congress.

1932       India’s famous industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani was born.

29 DECEMBER

1530       Humayun, son of Mughal emperor Babur succeeded him.

1983       Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar scored a maximum of 236 runs in Test cricket against the West Indies.

1984       The Congress won the parliamentary election with the largest majority in the history of independent India. Telugu emerged as the largest opposition party in the country by winning 28 seats in this election.

1985       Sri Lanka granted citizenship to 43,000 Indians.

1917       Ramanand Sagar, the famous Indian film director and producer of the famous serial ‘Ramayana’, was born.

1977       The world’s largest open air theater ‘Drive’ opened in Bombay (now Mumbai).

2008       Famous painter Manjit Baba died.

30 DECEMBER

1975       Death of Hindi poet and ghazalkar Dushyant Kumar.

1971       Renowned scientist Vikram Sarabhai died in Trivandrum.

1943       Freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose waved India’s independence flag at Port Blair.

1706       Martin, the founder of Puducherry and the first Governor General of the French colony in India, died.

1803       Britain’s East India Company controlled Delhi, Agra and Bharuch.

1906       The All India Muslim League was established in Dhaka (now Bangladesh).