On This Day in December: 31 of the Month’s Big Moments

Follow along with the biggest moments in December history in this visual journey of photos from the Shutterstock Editorial archive.

Photography has given us a rich visual archive of the most important events in history — everything from tragedies to the pinnacles of human achievement. Photos can bring us back to a tragic event that broke our collective hearts, a cultural moment that we rejoiced over, or a scientific breakthrough that made us see the world differently. Each month we’ll share photographs from the Shutterstock Editorial archive that show a significant historical or cultural event for each day of that month.

This month, we take a visual journey through December.

December 1

1953 –– Hugh Hefner publishes the first edition of Playboy magazine, starring Marilyn Monroe on the cover and as the magazine’s centerfold.

Photo by Mike Nelson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

December 2

1867 –– While touring the United States, Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in a New York City theatre.

Photo by Historia/Shutterstock

December 3

1967 –– Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the world’s first human heart transplant in Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town.

Photo by AP/Shutterstock

December 4

1927 –– Jazz icon Duke Ellington opens with his orchestra at the Cotton Club in Harlem.

Photo by Everett Collection/Shutterstock

December 5

1955 –– Rosa Parks initiates the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a civil rights protest against segregated seating.

Photo by Hakim Mutlaq/AP/Shutterstock

December 6

2006 –– NASA reveals images from the Mars Global Surveyor that suggest the presence of flowing water on Mars.

Photo by Nasa/AP/Shutterstock

December 7

2017 –– Cristiano Ronaldo wins his 5th Ballon d’Or, equalling his rival Lionel Messi.

Photo by Rivero/Marca/Sipa/Shutterstock

December 8

1813 –– Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 premieres at a charity event in Vienna, with Beethoven himself conducting.

Photo by Lisi Niesner/EPA/Shutterstock

December 9

1897 –– Suffragette Marguerite Durand founded and published feminist newspaper La Fronde in Paris, France.

Photo by Historia/Shutterstock

December 10

1964 –– Martin Luther King Jr. receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.

Photo by AP/Shutterstock

December 11

1913 –– Two years after the theft of the century, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa returned to the Louvre.

Photo by Thibault Camus/AP/Shutterstock

December 12

1968 –– Arthur Ashe became the first black male player to be ranked number one by the US Lawn Tennis Association.

Photo by Dave Pickoff/AP/Shutterstock

December 13

1950 — James Dean made his debut in the entertainment industry with an appearance in a Pepsi Cola commercial.

Photo by: Snap/Shutterstock

December 14

1911–– Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen’s expedition is the first to reach the South Pole.

Photo by: Everett Collection/Shutterstock

December 15

1939–– The movie Gone With The Wind, based on the 1937 Pulitzer Prize-winning book and starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, has its world premiere in Atlanta, Georgia.

Photo by: Moviestore Collection/Shutterstock

December 16

1946–– Fashion designer Christian Dior founded his fashion house in Paris, backed by cotton-fabric magnate Marcel Boussac.

Photo by: Historia/Shutterstock

December 17

1903–– Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful flight in history with Orville piloting the aircraft near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Photo by: Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock

December 18

1966–– Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas aired for the first time on CBS as a holiday special.

Photo by: Mgm Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock

December 19

1971–– Stanley Kubrick’s film A Clockwork Orange, based on Anthony Burgess’ book, premieres. Eventually the film earns the title of a cult classic.

Photo by: Moviestore/Shutterstock

December 20

1812–– Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm was originally published.

Photo by: imageBROKER/Shut terstock

December 21

1970–– Elvis Presley is photographed with former president Richard Nixon in the Oval Office. As of 2015 it was the most-requested photograph in the U.S. National Archives.

Photo by: US National Archives/Shutterstock

December 22

1931–– Mexican artist Diego Rivera debuted eight “portable” murals in his retrospective show at the Museum of Modern Art in NY, becoming the subject of MoMA’s second monographic exhibition.

Photo by: Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock

December 23

1951–– Los Angeles Rams beat Cleveland Browns 24-17 in the first coast-to-coast televised NFL title game at the LA Memorial Coliseum.

Photo by: AP/Shutterstock

December 24

1997–– The Vatican celebrates Hanukkah with Cardinal Edward Cassidy lighting a candle on the menorah.

Photo by: Andrew Medichini/AP/Shutterstock

December 25

2013–– Notorious Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, premieres at theaters.

Photo by: Moviestore/Shutterstock

December 26

1966–– Hendrix writes “Purple Haze,” the song that catapults him into fame and redefines the music of the era.

Photo by: Barry Peake/Shutterstock

December 27

1968–– Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, returns to Earth and safely lands in the Pacific Ocean.

Photo by: AP/Shutterstock

December 28

2002–– Professional networking service LinkedIn is founded by Reid Hoffman and four others in Mountain View, CA.

Photo by: Tony Avelar/AP/Shutterstock

December 29

1989–– Wayne Gretzky and Martina Navratilova are named athletes of the decade by the Associated Press.

Photo by: Neville Marriner/Daily Mail/Shutterstock

December 30

1924–– American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies beyond the Milky Way, forever changing the understanding of the universe.