December 17, 546: Gothic War (535-554): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison. 

December 18, 218 BC: Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal's Carthaginian army heavily defeat Roman forces on Italian soil. 

December 19, 1941:  German submarine U-574 sinks

December 20, 1522: Suleiman the Magnificent accepts surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle in Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta. 

December 21 1891: 1st game of basketball, based on rules created by James Naismith, played by 18 students in Springfield, Massachusetts. 

December 22, 1877: Thomas Edison's phonograph is announced by Scientific American 

December 23, 1888: Vincent Van Gogh cuts off his left ear with a razor, after argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin.

December 24, 563: The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes. 

December 25, 352: First definite date Christmas was celebrated.

December 26, 1860: First ever inter-club football match between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at Sandygate Road ground in Sheffield, England. 

December 27, 1923: Emperor Hirohito of Japan narrowly evades an assassination attempt by a Korean independence activist, Lee Bong-chang 

December 28, 1612: First observation of Neptune - Galileo observes and records a "fixed star" without realising it is a planet.

December 29, 1860: The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, HMS Warrior is launched 

December 30, 1968: Frank Sinatra first records "My Way" with lyrics were written by Paul Anka and based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" 

December 31, 192:  Roman Emperor Commodus  survives poisoning attempt by his mistress only to be strangled in the bath in assassination plot.