December facts and facts about decembers.
17 facts on this shelf
The darkest time of year at the North Pole is the Winter Solstice, approximately December 21. There has been no sunlight or even twilight since early October. The darkness lasts until the beginning of dawn in early March
Now you can see what's happening in the arctic at http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/gallery_np.html
The altitude of the sun varies throughout the year. On December 21st (sometimes the 22nd) the sun is 20 degrees above the horizon, it's lowest point of the year. On June 21st (sometimes the 20th) the sun is 65 degrees above the horizon, it's highest point of the year.
Do you know what days these are? They are the winter & summer solstice.
The Wright brothers made the first controlled, powered airplane flight on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville flew 120 feet in 12 seconds.
The Wright brothers flipped a coin to decide who would try first. Wilbur won, but his attempt on December 14, 1903, failed, so Orville made the historic first flight three days later.
The Wright brothers made four flights on December 17, 1903. The longest, by Wilbur, covered 852 feet in 59 seconds.
Rosa Parks' arrest on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted 381 days.
The James Webb Space Telescope, launched on December 25, 2021, has a 6.5-meter mirror made of 18 gold-coated beryllium segments.
Notre-Dame Cathedral reopened in December 2024, about five years after a 2019 fire destroyed its roof and spire.
Two of Mary's major Catholic feast days are the Assumption on August 15 and the Immaculate Conception on December 8.
Saint Nicholas Day is December 6, when children in some countries leave out their shoes for treats.
India celebrates National Mathematics Day on December 22, Ramanujan's birthday.
The US handed control of the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999.
British and French tunnel workers broke through to meet each other under the English Channel on December 1, 1990.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe became the fastest human-made object and flew closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before it, passing about 3.8 million miles from the surface in December 2024.
The Wright brothers' first powered flight on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet.
The longest of the Wright brothers' four flights on December 17, 1903, was flown by Wilbur and covered 852 feet in 59 seconds.
John Bardeen and Walter Brattain built the first working transistor at Bell Labs in December 1947, working in a group led by William Shockley.