December 6, 1877 – At his laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, Thomas Edison spoke the children’s verse “Mary had a Little Lamb…” while demonstrating his newly-invented phonograph.
December 7, 1941 – The Japanese attack the U. S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii leaving 3,000 Americans dead and leading to the U. S. entry into World War II.
December 9, 1990 – Labor leader Lech Walesa wins a landslide victory in the Polish presidential election becoming their first democratically elected head of state since communist rule began after World War II.
December 11, 1936 – King Edward VIII announces in a radio address that he is abdicating the British throne citing his inability to govern without the support “of the woman I love.” He marries twice-divorced Wallis Simpson in 1937 and they live out the rest of their lives as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.