Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 21
This is a list of selected December 21 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
December 21: December Solstice (12:04 UTC, 2008); Dongzhi, Yalda, Yule, and other winter solstice festivals (Northern Hemisphere, 2008); Midsummer festivities (Southern Hemisphere, 2008); Hanukkah begins at sunset (Judaism, 2008)
- 1872 – HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sailed from Portsmouth, England, on a scientific expedition that eventually made many discoveries that laid the foundation of oceanography.
- 1883 – The Royal Canadian Regiment and The Royal Canadian Dragoons, the oldest regular regiments of the Canadian Army, were both formed.
- 1968 – Apollo 8, the first manned flight to orbit the Moon, launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, with the crew (pictured) performing the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection less than three hours into the mission.
- 1979 – The Lancaster House Agreement was signed, ending biracial rule in Zimbabwe Rhodesia following negotiations between representatives of the Rhodesian government and the Patriotic Front.
- 1988 – A total of 270 people were killed when a bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 exploded while the plane was in flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, launching an eventual three-year joint investigation by Britain's Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation.