Dark Earth Timeline

Wonder how a series would look in the Darkeaeth verse compared to OTL.

So the Home Guard is still active in the Darkearth Verse, i hope good trained and equipped. 

Wait the Home guard with tanks, now that i have to see.

Now that is a big Home Guard force.

So what is the difference between the Home guard and the Territorial Army.

1960

January
January 1: Japanese Prime Minister Akira Tanaka signs an expansive security treaty with the United States, ignoring widespread public protests.
January 2: Senator John F. Kennedy formally announces to the U.S. Senate that he will seek the Democratic nomination for President.
January 3: The Harlem Globetrotters play an exhibition game in Moscow before an audience of 18,000.
January 4: French banks begin issue of the new franc.
January 5: An RAF Canberra spy plane goes missing over the Caspian Sea.
January 6: Assassination of the Byzantine Greek Ambassador to Germany by parties unknown.
January 7: The USN conducts a successful live fire test of the Polaris SLBM on the Pacific Missile Range.
January 8: Construction of a large hydroelectric dam on the Euphrates River in Syria is completed by a British-lead consortium.
January 9: A spontaneous protest in Krakow against new labour regulations is suppressed by the secret police.
January 10: Scotland Yard detectives arrest a gang of anarchist terrorists attempting to rob a bank in West London.
January 11: Establishment of the University of East Africa in Nairobi.
January 12: President Thompson gives formal approval to the first stages of Project Orion.
January 13: Execution of the first convict in the New Mexico gas chamber.
January 14: Marauding were-donkeys disrupt traffic in Alexandretta for much of the afternoon.
January 15: Announcement of a visit by President Thompson to the USSR in June.
January 16: Commissioning of the guided missile nuclear super battleship USS New York in New York City.
January 17: Death of US Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter.
January 18: Soviet General Secretary Stalin makes a fiery speech in Moscow condemning Western imperialism and aggression.
January 19: British patrols in Burma report increased contact with heavily armed rebels in the north of Kachin State.
January 20: The Soviet Union successfully testfires an ICBM from Central Asia to the North Pacific, sparking a defence alert in Japan.
January 21: 437 coal miners are killed in the Coalbrook Mining Disaster in South Africa.
January 22: Appointment of Marshal Jacques Massu to command of the French Army of Africa.
January 23: French and American explorers descend to the bottom of the Marianas Trench in the bathyscape Trieste.
January 24: Riots in Algiers are bloodily suppressed by French troops.
January 25: The USAF issues a requirement for a new twin engined jet air superiority fighter.
January 26: Belgian authorities in the Congo deny the direct recruitment of mercenaries for service against the rebels.
January 27: Reports of the disappearence of a Soviet nuclear ballistic missile submarine in the North Atlantic.
January 28: The undersea explorers of the Marianas Trench report spotting a huge shark of unprecedented size.
January 29: The Viscount Slim retires as Governor-General of Australia.
January 30: The independence of French Equatorial Africa from France is announced, with the new nation to be named Chad.
January 31: Four Soviet tank divisions begin moving into Eastern Poland on manoeuvres.

February
February 1: The Royal Israeli Air Force activates its first squadron of Super Vanguard medium range ballistic missiles.
February 2: General elections in Iraq are conducted peacefully, with substantial gains being made by nationalist candidates.
February 3: President Thompson announces that the United States will consider the provision of atomic weapons to allied states under certain circumstances.
February 4: Chinese and Soviet troops clash along the border of Tartary.
February 5: A USAF B-52 carrying two B41 hydrogen bombs is lost over the Mid Atlantic en route to its Mediterranean patrol area.
February 6: Argentine naval patrols find no trace of a suspected trapped foreign submarine off Buenos Aires.
February 7: Britain signs a renewed treaty of protection with the Maldives.
February 8: Launch of the Royal Navy's first atomic guided missile super battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth at John Brown.
February 9: Adolph Coors III, Chairman of the Coors Brewing Company, is kidnapped in the United States.
February 10: Opening of an international conference on the future of the Belgian Congo in Brussels.
February 11: Secret Orders-in-Council are issued to British security services to combat the threat of communist terrorism sponsored by the Soviet Union.
February 12: President Thompson nominates California Senator Richard Nixon to the Supreme Court.
February 13: The Byzantine Greek Imperial Secret Service in Constantinople is thrown into chaos after the defection of three senior officers to the Soviet Union.
February 14: An armed anarchist is arrested outside Windsor Castle by Special Branch detectives.
February 15: Germany is admitted to the membership of the League of Nations after the sudden withdrawal of previous Soviet objections.
February 16: USS Triton departs New London, Connecticut on a submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
February 17: A failed German rocket test on Fehmarn results in a large explosion and the evacuation of surrounding settlements.
February 18: First public display of what is described as a superheavy intercontinental ballistic missile at a military parade in Moscow.
February 19: A meeting of foreign ministers of the Great Powers in Paris breaks up amid the inability to reach any common ground.
February 20: Two men go berserk in Central London, slaying five passersby before being shot by police.
February 21: Announcement of a major superpower summit to be held in Paris on March 25.
February 22: A gas main explosion in Manchester kills 41.
February 23: Birth of a son to the Crown Prince of Japan.
February 24: Indonesian commandos launch a series of clandestine raiding operations across the border in Borneo.
February 25: Three ladies of the evening are found savagely murdered and drained of blood in Whitechapel.
February 26: Introduction of new arcane safety mechanisms at British airports to prevent potential crashes during take off and landing.
February 27: Polish secret police launch a wave of arrests of suspected Western agents and dissidents.
February 28: Democratic presidential candidate Senator John F. Kennedy raises the spectre of a 'missile gap' with the Soviet Union.
February 29: A great earthquake strikes Agadir, Morocco, killing over 12,000 people.

March
March 1: Opening of the world's largest model railway in Whitechapel, London.
March 2: President Thompson's arrival in Montevideo on a state visit is partially disrupted by rioting university students.
March 3: Mexico launches its first home built aircraft carrier at Veracruz.
March 4: Outbreak of heavy fighting across the Belgian Congo as synchronised rebel attacks strike Belgian Army bases throughout the country.
March 5: The Soviet Union tests a 56 megaton hydrogen bomb on Novaya Zemlya.
March 6: Four Soviet soldiers adrift in the Northern Pacific for 49 days are rescued by the American aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge.
March 7: Two British divisions begin deployment to India and Egypt in response to rising international tensions.
March 8: Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy wins the New Hampshire primary election.
March 9: A wave of darkness covers much of Western Europe for half an hour after midday, sparking fears of a new, terrible weapon.
March 10: A Soviet Tu-95 Bear strategic jet bomber crashes over the Norwegian Sea after a near collision with RAF Avro Arrow fighters.
March 11: Arab foreign ministers sign a memorandum of understanding regarding a timeline for the establishment of more concrete defence coordination and strategic cooperation.
March 12: Over 200 Red Army troops are killed in an accidental explosion of fuel and munition storage at a forward base close to the Iron Wall along the Oder.
March 13: US defence experts warn that Soviet fighters and SAMs are capable of successfully intercepting the highly secret U-2 spyplane.
March 14: Soviet troops are moved up towards the German-Polish border in response to the March 12 Incident.
March 15: The British War Cabinet authorises a limited call up of reserve manpower and aircraft, ostensibly for deployment exercises, but driven by the Soviet troop build up in Eastern Europe.
March 16: Peasants in Northern Angola begin a strike on the Cotonang Company's cotton fields, demanding improvements to their wages and working conditions.
March 17: A terrorist gang of the International Revolutionary Army lead by Ernesto Guevara rob an American owned bank in Bogota, Colombia.
March 18: The Snark intercontinental cruise missile enters operational service with Strategic Air Command.
March 19: A Soviet India class atomic ballistic missile submarine suffers an apparent meltdown and goes missing in the North Atlantic.
March 20: Viet Cong forces step up attacks on South Vietnamese army posts in Central Vietnam.
March 21: Thousands of London residents report horrific nightmares of a rising crimson tide enveloping the city.
March 22: Announcement of a major Soviet spacecraft expedition to the Jovian system, the Kosmos Programme.
March 23: British intelligence assets in Moscow report a heightened state of suspicion and paranoia regarding Western aggression.
March 24: Selected Commonwealth military forces begin arriving in the British Isles.
March 25: Opening of the Paris Summit, attended by President Thompson, Premier Stalin, Prime Minister Eden and Premier de Gaulle.
March 26: Soviet, Finnish and Swedish air defence radars go onto alert after a series of unidentified flying objects pass over Scandinavia at altitudes above 90,000ft.
March 27: Launch of a large NASA rocketship on a direct flight to Mars as a test of technology designed for the Orion Program.
March 28: Reports of a series of horrific hauntings at the London Necropolis.
March 29: The Paris Summit breaks down in acrimony, as Western and Eastern positions on the nuclear arms race, Europe and the Middle East prove intractable. The French and British delegations find it difficult to reach any agreement with each other and Eden and Thompson have several high profile public differences of opinion despite the increasingly cordial nature of their personal relationship.
March 30: President Thompson orders a limited reinforcement of US Army forces in Europe in light of the strained international situation.
March 31: A USAF RB-47 is shot down by Soviet fighters over the Barents Sea. President Thompson moves the US Armed Forces to DEFCON 3 in response after a series of angry exchanges over the hot line between Washington and Moscow.

April

April 1:
The United States Census is conducted, recording a population of 287,569,463, constituting a rise of 11.54% from 254,378,208 in 1950.

April 2:
TASS announces the successful Soviet test of a 50 megaton hydrogen bomb in Novaya Zemlya. Finnish sources report an immense flash of light and shockwave, corroborating the Soviet account.

April 3:
A group of anarchists planning on a machine gun terror attack in Madrid are captured by the Spanish Inquisition.

April 4:
The 32nd Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, with Ben-Hur winning a record 12 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Charlton Heston.

April 5:
The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee reports that China could mobilise upwards of 16 million men in a full scale war, whether it be against the Soviet Union or the Western powers. It estimates that the Soviets currently have 3.1 million men and 130 divisions in Eastern Europe and the western USSR, supported by over 25,000 tanks, 9000 combat aircraft and 600 tactical nuclear missiles, with a further 110 divisions in able to support them as the second echelon of any offensive and the Warsaw Pact satellite states capable of mobilizing up to 60 divisions within 10 days. The US currently has 4 full divisions in Western Europe, along with 760 aircraft spread out in bases across France and Western Germany.

April 6:
British troops in Libya come under attack from Bedouin guerrillas. In Egypt, British and Commonwealth garrisons are subjected to increasing harassment raids, putting them onto a heightened status of alert. The War Cabinet approves a further call up of reserves to reinforce Middle East Command and India Command.

April 7:
A USAF skyship operating off the coast of Alaska detects an incoming formation of Soviet bombers over the Bering Strait, sparking a brief panicked air defence alert of American and Canadian forces before the target is positively identified as a herd of migrating giant eagles. The alert is noted by regional PVO Strany HQ at Anadyr, which scrambles its own fighters in case this is a precursor for a surprise attack.

April 8:
The highest placed US source in the GRU is arrested by the KGB in Moscow in a wave of mass arrests at the order of Stalin, leaving the CIA unsure as to whether their agent had been uncovered. Intelligence intercepts indicate a greatly increased volume of Soviet signals traffic, but decryption proves to be elusive in light of the recent adoption of a new Soviet cypher.

April 9:
The Emperor of Korea declares that he has no interests in the direct exercise of power, stating that his country had experienced more than enough dictators.
Chinese and Soviet troops exchange fire along the highly militarized border, with Soviet tanks moved up to suppress Chinese machine gun emplacements.

April 10:
Reports of a purge in the Chinese Ministry of War by Western intelligence assets.
Both Imperial China and the Soviet Union move troops up to the Manchurian border and Soviet strategic submarines of the Pacific Fleet prepare to put to sea from their base at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

April 11:
An Anglo-Indian special forces team successfully infiltrate and destroy an underground naga fortress in Upper Burma.

Assassination of the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria-Hungary by an unknown sniper at a peace conference in Timbuktu.

April 12:
Eric Peugot, the youngest son of the founder of Peugot, is kidnapped. He is to be rescued two days later by a mysterious costumed superhero.
Germany begins to call up reservists to bring their regular army to full strength without the provocative step of a full scale mobilization.

April 13:
Soviet and Polish authorities announces the complete closure of all crossings of the German-Polish border and declares a precautionary curfew across Western Poland. Royal Navy nuclear submarines begin sortieing to their preliminary war stations from their bases in Scotland and Ireland.

April 14:
A pair of Royal Swedish Navy destroyers detect a suspected Soviet submarine in Swedish territorial waters whilst patrolling between Bornholm and Karlskrona and attempt to sink it with inconclusive results. Two French Mirage jet fighters collide with a German fighter in a confused nighttime incident in the skies above Luxembourg.

April 15:
The Imperial Chinese Foreign Ministry declares that it will not stand for any foreign provocations launched from areas adjacent to its borders. Mobilisation of the British Army’s Anti-Aircraft Command. Increased absenteeism noticed across Western Europe, Britain and the United States as fears of a major war increase.

April 16:
French troops move up to occupy their fortresses along the Maginot Line in a greatly expanded defence exercise directed at the Soviet Union and Germany. German security forces capture a number of suspected Spetsnaz teams operating within restricted zones close to key military bases in Bavaria and Saxony.

April 17:
Soviet naval aircraft come dangerously close to a Royal Navy task force in the Eastern Mediterranean, with HMS Iron Duke firing warning shots to ward them off. In response, Soviet fighters shoot fire upon a suspected RN Britannia shadowing their own fleet, which turns out to be a civilian Alitalia flight en route to Beirut. 67 passengers and crew are killed and international outrage ensues.

April 18:
President Thompson makes a speech on the rising international crisis, calling for calm and promising that the United States will stand by its allies and commitments. The 6th Fleet steams out of Naples to join the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet in countering Soviet aggression, whilst the 2nd Fleet begins preparations for full scale deployment to the Eastern Atlantic.

April 19:
The British Expeditionary Force begins full deployment to Belgium and the Netherlands as a deterrent to any hostile action and the Royal Air Force begins flying strike aircraft to advanced bases in the Low Countries. The USA moves to DEFCON 3 and SAC increases the numbers of B-47s and B-52s on continuous airborne alert. The Soviet Union begins to pull elements of 20 divisions out of Central Asia and the Far East to reinforce the Western Strategic Direction. Terrible howling winds disrupt the nighttime across Europe and many report horrific nightmares.

April 20:
In a confusing series of developments, certain American and British intelligence assets in the Kremlin and Soviet military transmit a war warning to the West, whilst others report a growing atmosphere of panic at the deteriorating international situation. A Polish People’s Army colonel defects to the Swedish Embassy, reporting widespread unrest in the Polish military.

Despite urgings to the contrary by the United States and Britain, Germany declares a state of full mobilization, swiftly followed by Austria-Hungary, sparking a strong Soviet reaction in the form of the 10 tank divisions of the Byelorussian and Carpathian Military Districts being ordered to deploy into Poland. The Soviet Ambassador to Portugal seeks an audience with the King and states that Moscow will not take the first step to war, but neither will it permit any threats to its security to go unanswered.

Sir Charles Ratcliffe arrives in London for an emergency meeting with the War Cabinet and, after destroying a vampire in the streets of Limehouse, is charged with discovering who or what is behind the international crisis.

April 21:
A flight of unidentified bombers appears above the Baltic Sea and is detected by British airborne RDF skyships before it launches a volley of rocket bombs in the direction of London. The planes and targets are intercepted and destroyed by RAF Fighter Command and Anti-Aircraft Command, with the wreckage of one showing a Germanic script. After a tense War Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Eden authorizes an increase of RAF V-bombers on alert, but does not order hasty retaliation against Soviet or other targets without clear evidence of the origin of the attack.

Transition to War begins across the British Empire, resulting in increased Soviet mobilization. France puts its strategic nuclear artillery on alert for strikes on Soviet targets in Poland and the Western USSR. The Grand Fleet sorties from Scapa Flow and heads towards the Lofoten Islands, whilst the Red Banner Northern Fleet begins to sortie from the Kola Inlet.

In the evening, the attempted assassination of the Byzantine Ambassador at the Royal Opera House is thwarted by a team lead by Sir Charles Ratcliffe, followed by a Special Forces raid on a Soho garret that uncovers a Soviet tactical nuclear bomb and a mysterious masked wizard. The former is swiftly transported to Rockall for defusing by bomb disposal wizards, whilst the latter is pursued down the Thames in a boat chase before seemingly escaping.

April 22:
Ratcliffe’s party travels via the Shadowlands to track down their elusive foe. After a lengthy cross-dimensional pursuit, he is uncovered in his lair and revealed to be none other than James Craggen, the dreaded Scarlet Necromancer, a villain thought to have been killed years before. They are ordered to pursue him to Paris, whilst the Great Powers agree to stand down from the brink of World War 3 and unite against the threat.

Forward elements of the British and Soviet fleets come close to clashing in the Norwegian Sea before pulling back from the brink. Further reinforcement of ground forces in Europe is suspended, but general preparations for the possibility of hostilities continue as a contingency measure. American, British and Soviet bombers begin a gradual process of cycling down from airborne alert, whilst still remaining in a very high state of readiness.

A Royal Navy task force departs the Channel for Gibraltar to provide reinforcement to the garrison there due to Spanish posturing, which turns out to be another manipulation by Craggen to pull the world down into conflict.

April 23:
The sighting of the Scarlet Necromancer fails to result in his capture, despite a large Anglo-American and French security operation across Paris. After a tip off from Count Dracula at a clandestine late night meeting at Maxim’s, Ratcliffe and his companions fly onto Rome, where they are received at the Vatican and discover the horrific truth of his evil plans: to cause enough carnage to open a gate to an eldritch abomination known as Nemesis.

A high altitude reconnaissance flight by a specially adapted RAF English Electric Lightning over the Balkans and Black Sea causes considerable alarm and disruption, particularly over the tense Greco-Ottoman border.
It is fired upon by a Soviet battlecruiser operating well outside of Romanian or Soviet territorial waters, causing a frosty reaction in London, but no official countermeasures, given the nominally clandestine nature of the flight.

Whilst the immediate threat of superpower conflict seems to have decreased for the moment, the international situation remains extremely tense, exacerbated by the deterioration of relations between France and Germany and the sheer number of forces concentrated along their border. President Thompson offers to provide US forces to provide protection to France and Prime Minister Eden proposes to deploy elements of the British Expeditionary Force to the Rhineland as a further buffer in a dual track approach aimed at defusing tensions.

April 24:
Ciampino Airport in Rome is struck by a sorcerous meteor attack before dawn as Ratcliffe’s group is about to depart for Constantinople, sparking a tremendous inferno and opening a dire gate. A horde of ghouls, jabberwocks and a shoggoth are defeated through the intervention of Ratcliffe’s archmage, Dr. Simon Gallows, and the Pope himself. The reverberations of the strike are felt across Europe, leading to widespread panic and horror throughout the morning.

Simultaneously, a false flag attack by Soviet agents of the Scarlet Necromancer sparks fighting and artillery fire along the Greek-Ottoman border in Anatolia, leading to the eruption of full-scale war between the bitter enemies once again. Greek and Turkish air strikes hit targets all along the front and both sides throw up fighter screens for the protection of their cities. Greek surface to air missiles shoot down an airliner that strays into the Constantinople exclusion zone.

Upon arrival in Constantinople, the British group meets with the Byzantine Imperial High Command, whose ranks include a disguised Emperor Alexander, and delivers an important ultimatum to them. Ratcliffe and Greek commandos launch a heliborne assault on the Island of the Black Sun, the Scarlet Necromancer’s lair in the Black Sea, that results in the destruction of his laboratory and gate; he manages to escape his vengeful pursuers in a hidden rocket pod that hurtles towards the southwest. A series of explosions throw the island into chaos and Ratcliffe’s party finds themselves rescued by a helicopter that lands in Romania.

A USN SSBN goes missing in the North Atlantic.

April 25:
Anglo-American airstrikes in Anatolia enforce a complete ceasefire in place between Byzantine Greece and Ottoman Turkey. Massive US ground, naval and air forces begin to arrive in Europe, whilst the attentions of the world turn to the whereabouts of the Scarlet Necromancer. Naval and air forces of the Great Powers begin to scour the Mediterranean and Atlantic for Craggen’s final holdfast.

Ratcliffe and his associates are rushed to Moscow and meet with the Politburo, who reveal that they too have apparently been duped by the Scarlet Necromancer in his global game of destruction. They are conveyed to the West with an offer of peace and promise of cooperation against the common enemy of mankind, with a number of caveats, including German demobilisation.

The crisis apparently begins to fade away in the view of the general public, with the real details being highly classified.

April 26:
The forces of the world search for the whereabouts of the Scarlet Necromancer, who promised a terrible vengeance for the foiling of his plans to summon Nemesis. These are largely discounted as the ravings of a madman.

Formal agreement is reached between the President of the United States and the British Prime Minister regarding a framework for a renewed alliance, with the current crisis drawing the two strongest Western powers together and burying the acrimony of the events of 1956.

April 27:
A Space Nazi fleet, secretly moved in from the asteroid belt in a cunning manouever, strikes at Luna City and Fort Victoria on Luna, knocking out Royal Space Force and US Space Force radar and early warning systems and devastating the space fighter defences of the largest of the three moons. Emergency reinforcements are launched from Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union, but only the few orbital battle stations seem to stand between Earth and the assault.

Undead attacks strike London, Paris, Washington, Moscow and Peking, but all are destroyed without major damage. An international conclave of wizards locates James Craggen’s final lair on Devil’s Island in the Caribbean. US bombers and missiles are launched against Devil’s Island, but cannot penetrate its unconventional sorcerous force shield and rocket batteries.

April 28:
Space Nazi airstrikes on the major powers, Germany and Japan being turned back with contemptuous ease, showing the extreme disparity between the powers of Earth and the defeated remnants of the Third Reich.

Further US and French attacks on Devil’s Island are thrown back, but Craggen’s defences seem to be fading. In a last, terrible move, the Scarlet Necromancer’s doomsday plan goes into action, with great shadows and storms covering large parts of the world and volcanoes erupting in Mexico and Peru. From his foul throne room, he issues a threat to the leaders of the superpowers, promising to destroy dozens of cities in 24 hours with missiles and bombs from SSBNs and bombers that have falled into his nefarious clutches if the nations of the world do not surrender to the rule of his Nazi allies, under his control.

Far from being gripped in fear, the leaders of the Great Powers are united in resolve to defy this dastardly threat. A desparate council of war is held by world leaders aboard a Royal Navy Floating Fortress in the North Atlantic and all agree to harness their most secretive and powerful forces to halt his evil designs. Heroes gather from across the world in the United States for a last desparate effort to save the world.

April 29:
Terrestrial based space forces, hastily adapted ICBMs and the pursuing main battle fleet of the Royal Space Force combine to destroy the Space Nazi force in a pitched battle between Earth and Luna. Attempted Nazi kamikaze attacks by rocketship bombers are thwarted by NASA heat rays, Soviet experimental ABMs and RSF spacefighters.

An international naval task force headed by HMS Hood launches diversionary attacks on the defences of Devil’s Island, while bomber forces saturate its aerial defences. A strike team of daring heroes is transported onto the island through magical gates and attacks Craggen in his inner sanctum and Sir Charles Ratcliffe finally kills the Scarlet Necromancer in single combat, wielding Excalibur.

April 30:
Arcane shockwaves continue to reverberate around the world after the events of the last fortnight and curfews are held in place across Europe. Superpower forces stand down across the globe, including the grounding of all alert bombers and a return to port of all patrolling strategic submarines. Volcanic eruptions in Mexico and Peru cease abruptly.

The Great Powers step back from the brink of war, having been manipulated towards their own destruction by the machinations of an evil supervillain, and consider their positions, alliances and policies. A special in-camera meeting of the Council of the League of Nations agrees to ensure that such occurrences will never happen again and each major power commits in principle to a major conference to defuse tensions.


May
May 1: The May Day military parade in Moscow takes place in a subdued atmosphere following the April Crisis and its strange after effects. A secret Politburo meeting resolves that the Soviet Union shall build up the capacity of its armed forces and nuclear arsenal to outmatch those of the West.
May 2: A meeting of the British War Cabinet approves a plan for a major offensive against the Space Nazis by the Royal Space Force to permanently eliminate their menace. It is estimated that the defeat of their surprise attack eliminated upwards of half of their current forces. A vigorous discussion takes place on matters of Imperial defence, with a Defence White Paper authorised to consider the future grand strategy of the British Empire.
May 3: Premier Stalin announces the withdrawal of two Soviet armies from Poland in accordance with agreements reached at the end of the crisis, but proclaims that the Red Army's presence in Eastern Europe is an inalienable fact and necessary for the defence of socialism.
May 4: The United States signs an agreement for the export sale of 29 million tons of surplus grain to India over the next four years.
May 5: Prime Minister Eden announces that the RAF Advanced Striking Force will be withdrawn from the Low Countries in response to the Soviet pull back from Poland.
May 6: 7 high ranking German officials are dismissed for links with the Nazi regime in a carefully orchestrated step encouraged by the United States as part of a face-saving exercise for the Soviet Union.
May 7: Forty-five office workers are rescued from a skyscraper fire in New York City by a superhero in a distinctive spider costume.
May 8: The Soviet leadership appears in public at the great Victory Day parade in Moscow, which features several new ballistic missiles and two new long range bombers, emphasizing the military power of the USSR.
May 9: Talks open in Lisbon regarding the establishment of a free trade area between several Western European states.
May 10: John F. Kennedy defeats Stuart Symmington in the West Virginia Democratic primary, leading to his opponent dropping out of the race and Kennedy being unopposed.
May 11: Mossad agents capture Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires.
May 12: Launch of the passenger liner SS France at Brest.
May 13: Greek Emperor Alexander announces that he will visit the Sultan of Turkey in Angora in December as a sign of peace.
May 14: First flight of a secret CIA very high altitude reconnaissance aircraft in New Mexico.
May 15: Indian troops in Egypt fire upon suspected guerrillas attacking their bases near the Suez Canal.
May 16: A breakthrough is made at the Newfoundland Discussions between the United States and the British Empire on formalising strategic alignment and cooperation.
May 17: Execution of spree killer Joseph Taborsky in Connecticut.
May 18: The Emperor of China formally receives the new Soviet ambassador in the Forbidden City.
May 19: First successful test launch of the four stage Saturn rocket from Cape Canaveral.
May 20: The Imperial Diet of Japan approves a new defence bill that includes authorisation for the construction of an additional two aircraft carriers.
May 21: President Thompson announces the temporary deployment of a USAF fighter wing to Australia as part of America's commitment to regional security and stability.
May 22: The Great Chilean Earthquake devastates the city of Valdivia, measuring 10 on the Richter scale and killing over 9000.
May 23: Famed French inventor Jacques Combreau announces he has developed a revolutionary flying car.
May 24: Tsunamis from the Chilean earthquake strike Japan, killing 119 people.
May 25: The first S2 LRBM enters service with the French Royale Service Aeronautique, providing Paris with a land based capacity to strike anywhere in the world. This is seen as a vital triumph by the French government, removing a key disadvantage in comparison with the Soviet Union that had made it vulnerable in 1956 and to a lesser extent in April.
May 26: Assassination of the Prime Minister of Jordan by a team of masked gunmen.
May 27: Establishment of the Royal West Indian Air Force.
May 28: A Japanese holdout is captured on Guam and cannot believe that Japan has lost the war.
May 29: Mexico announces that it will develop its own space rocket programme.
May 30: Concerned marine biologists report to the Oceanic Committee of the International Organisation for Education, Science and Culture that there have been no sightings of great white sharks by contracted mermen or surveying vessels for over five months.
May 31: The Egyptian Parliament passes a motion calling for the withdrawal of British and Indian troops by 1965.

June
June 1: Colour television broadcasts begin in New Zealand.
June 2: British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden announces that Britain will begin demobilisation of reserve forces within 30 days should the international situation continue to improve.
June 3: Argentina demands the return of Adolf Eichmann. Israel promptly refuses.
June 4: President Thompson approves the deployment of an addtional US Army Special Forces battalion to South Vietnam.
June 5: Cambodian military police arrest hundreds in a crackdown on socialist groups.
June 6: The American Medical Association announces a direct link between smoking and coronary disease.
June 7: A BOMARC missile catches fire at McGuire AFB, causing a minor release of nuclear material and requiring a protracted clean up.
June 8: Typhoon Mary makes landfall at Hong Kong, with over 30" of rainfall leaving thousands in the hinterland homeless and killing 54.
June 9: The commander of the United States Air Force in Europe states that American fighters will continue their current patrols over Germany as a guarantee of peace.
June 10: Trans Australian Airlines Flight 538 crashes on approach to Mackay, Queensland, killing all 42 people onboard the Avro Jetliner in Australia’s worst aircraft accident to date.
June 11: Opening of polls in the Lebanese General Election under careful international observation, including the presence of the French battlecruiser Dunkerque offshore to dissuade any acts of violence.
June 12: The headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force return to Britain from the Low Countries, with remaining forces, consisting of two corps and four divisions, designated British Army European Command.
June 13: Discovery of a sunken Japanese midget submarine in Pearl Harbor, over 18 years after the infamous attack.
June 14: Formation of the Sahel Union in French West Africa, linking together Niger and the Upper Volta.
June 15: A series of extreme heat bursts take place across Central Texas, apparently forming the pattern of a pentagram. US Department of Magic investigators and FBI inquisitors are rushed to the scene.
June 16: Portuguese colonial troops open fire on a protesting crowd in Mueda, Portuguese East Africa, killing several dozen and causing a panicked stampede by the survivors.
June 17: The 23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution, which grants the District of Columbia 4 electoral votes and grants residents the right to vote in Presidential elections, is passed by the Senate and submitted to the states for ratification.
June 18: Grand opening of the Freedomland USA theme park in New York City.
June 19: Large protests on Okinawa call for its return to Japanese control.
June 20: Ingemar Johannsen successfully defends his world heavyweight title, beating Floyd Patterson on points at Madison Square Garden in front of 34,278 spectators.
June 21: Germany’s Armin Hary sets a new world record by running 100 metres in 10.0 seconds
June 22: Discovery of huge oil deposits in Western Siberia.
June 23: A CIA report finds that Wilhelm Hitler has been appointed as the new head of ODESSA.
June 24: The King of Thailand becomes the first Thai monarch to address the US Congress.
June 25: Two American cryptologists defect to the Soviet Union in Rio de Janeiro.
June 26: Jamaican and British police, soldiers and Royal Constabulary arrest dozens of supporters of a heretical separatist movement in a series of raids in Kingston and Port Royal.
June 27: Final flight of the last B-29 in active USAF service, on a radar targeting mission.
June 28: The Imperial Meeting of the National Rifle Association draws a crowd of nearly 160,000 in London, with a number of new weapons made available for subsidized purchase.
June 29: West End debut of Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!
June 30: Sir Robert Menzies Liberal-National Coalition increases its majority with a crushing victory in the Australian Federal Election, winning 109 of 150 seats as the split between the Australian Labour Party and the Democratic Labour Party continues to rage with great intensity.

July
July 1: Discovery of a large oilfield in the north of Canadian Alaska.
July 2: Talks begin in Mogadishu regarding the eventual independence of Italian Somalia and its future relations with British Somaliland.
July 3: Jack Brabham wins the French Grand Prix at Reims-Geux.
July 4: Debut of the new flag of the United States in Philadelphia after the formal admission of Hawaii as a state.
July 5: Traffic wardens in London begin their first regular unarmed patrols since January
July 6: 38 USN airmen are killed in the crash of an airship off the coast of Maryland.
July 7: Establishment of the Pilkington Commission on Independent Broadcasting in Britain, with a remit to examine the case for independent television networks.
July 8: 7-year old Rodger Woodward becomes the first person to survive an accidental plunge over Niagara Falls. He is recovered from the water by a man in a red, blue and yellow costume who apologises profusely for being late.
July 9: US Senator John Iselin is fatally shot by a crazed anarchist in Washington D.C., sparking a major security emergency. The assassin is cut down in a hail of fire from DC policemen.
July 10: The Belgian government advises its civilians in the Belgian Congo to exercise extreme caution after a sharp rise in attacks by separatist rebel groups.
July 11: Publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, a fictionalized account of the well-known actions of former Vice President Atticus Finch in Maycomb, Alabama in 1934/35
July 12: The Prime Minister of Japan survives a nighttime attack by six ninjas in his home in Tokyo, suffering only minor leg wounds before he dispatches them with his katana and pistol before alerting bodyguards
July 13: Senator John F. Kennedy receives the Democratic nomination for President of the United States at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
July 14: A fire in a Guatemalan insane asylum kills over 200 inmates.
July 15: Premier Stalin indicates that the Soviet Union is in principle in favour of measures to negotiate an end to atmospheric nuclear testing.
July 16: France successfully launches a new prototype heavy space rocket from its spaceport in the French West Indies.
July 17: Chicago private investigator Carl Kolchak uncovers a coven of witches operating in a department store basement.
July 18: British archaeologist Sir Arthur Cornelius announces that he has discovered the grave of Robin Hood.
July 19: Two USN destroyers collide off the coast of Newport Beach, California, killing 10.
July 20: President Thompson announces a budget surplus of $2.49 billion for 1960.
July 21: Francis Chichester wins the innaugural Single-Handed Transatlantic Yacht Race, arriving in New York City in his Gipsy Moth III.
July 22: Retirement of General Simo Hayha, the highest scoring sniper in military history, from active service with the Finnish Army
July 23: A US Federal Court sentences six KKK members to lengthy periods of imprisonment for conspiracy to commit treason.
July 24: Marshal Ivan Konev retires from his position as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact
July 25: President Thompson is renominated unanimously as the formal Republican candidate for President.
July 26: The World Health Organisation estimates that measles will be eradicated by 1975.
July 27: Soviet space scientists present a proposal for a future manned expedition to Barnard’s Star to the Politburo.
July 28: Renovations of Number 10 Downing Street, including the installment of new deep bunker, are completed.
July 29: The Federal Communications Commission votes 4-2 against further censorship of American radio and television broadcasts, save in matters of the national interest and national security.
July 30: The Assembly of the League of Nations passes a motion specifically calling on Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Sweden to grant independence to their African colonies.
July 31: An RAF English Electric Lightning sets a new air speed record over a 100km closed circuit course, recording an average speed of 1829mph.

August
August 1: Typhoon Shirley strikes Taiwan, killing 126 people.
August 2: First flight of the prototype X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane, launched from Cape Canveral.
August 3: A mysterious fire at a Soviet research station in Antarctica kills eight meteorologists.
August 4: Swedish Prime Minister Sven Tyrsson announces that Swedish Congo will be granted independence by 1964.
August 5: A Japanese apple farmer discovers a 5lb apple in his orchard.
August 6: Completion of the United States orbital space station Independence.
August 7: The Royal Botanic Gardens announces that it can find no evidence to support the recent accusation that triffids are in any way dangerous.
August 8: Publication of the first in a series of articles in the magazine World Defence Monthly on the course of a future Third World War entitled The War Game.
August 9: The government of Laos is overthrown in a military coup whilst the Prime Minister is absent from Vientiane in Luang Prabang.
August 10: Creation of a new United States Institute of Heraldry after the demise of the former body in the July Affair of 1936
August 11: Street battles between socialist and nationalist groups in Rio de Janeiro are finally suppressed by riot police using tear gas and repulsion magic.
August 12: USAF Major Robert M. White sets a new altitude record in a flight of the X-15 rocket plane, reaching 234,500ft.
August 13: Ubangi-Shari is granted independence by France, completing the process of disengagement from French Equatorial Africa, which had been viewed as too costly to maintain in light of more advantageous and profitable colonies in West Africa.
August 14: Destruction of a New Orlean house of ill repute, the House of the Rising Sun, by a special action team of the Union of Concerned Mothers.
August 15: Greek separatists kill three Imperial Policemen on Cyprus in a night time ambush.
August 16: USAF Captain Joseph Kittinger sets a new world record with a parachute jump from 124,783ft.
August 17: The first civil aerial flight between London and Moscow since 1956 lands at Heathrow Airport in a sign of gradually reducing tensions.
August 18: An agreement in principle is reached for the sale of 100 former RAF Vickers Valiants to Italy.
August 19: Unveiling of the first full scale prototype of the Boeing 2707 supersonic airliner.
August 20: US Discoverer reconnaissance satellites photograph a series of new Soviet rocket bases and airfields under construction in Central Asia and Siberia, apparently aimed at China.
August 21: TASS announces that fifteen suspected German agents have been sentenced to death for espionage.
August 22: USS Seadragon completes the first entirely submerged crossing of the Northwest Passage.
August 23: Death of renowned lyricist Oscar Hammerstein at the age of 65 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
August 24: French troops and security forces in Algeria launch a large scale sweep of Algiers, Oran and Constantine, arresting several hundred suspected rebels.
August 25: Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Rome, with the international celebration being hailed as a mark of the Eternal City’s miraculous recovery from the meteor attack during the Red Shadow Crisis.
August 26: An oral polio vaccine goes on sale in the United States.
August 27: The coldest temperature on record of -102.4º C is measured at Vostok Station in Antarctica.
August 28: Central and South American foreign ministers approve the Declaration of San Jose, condemning interference by any extra-continental powers in the internal affairs of the Americas, by 23-0, with Brazil and Mexico changing from abstention to concurrence at the last minute in what is characterized as a calculated rebuff to Soviet overtures.
August 29: Officials of the Lord Chamberlain close down a performance of a new West End play based on the Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town on grounds of encouraging impropriety
August 30: The Jodrell Bank Observatory detects several strange radio signals apparently emanating from Epsilon Eridani.
August 31: Signing of the Treaty of Cairo by the member states of the Arab League, providing a framework for collective security cooperation.

September
September 1: Imperial China successfully launches a new medium range ballistic missile, with the rocket flying from its base in the Gobi Desert to an impact point in the South China Sea.
September 2: 16 American soldiers are killed and 26 injured when a misfired 8” howitzer shell strikes a morning roll call at a temporary field base in Western Germany.
September 3: The Soviet Union proposes at the Council of the League of Nations that international observers be admitted to the Belgian Congo.
September 4: Hurricane Donna strikes Porto Rico, causing considerable damage and killing 107 people.
September 5: The Australian Cabinet approves a new defence plan formulated in response to the military threat of Indonesia.
September 6: President Thompson orders that the Panamian flag be flown next to the flag of the United States in the Canal Zone in an effort aimed at improving relations.
September 7: A letter signed by 150 concerned Protestant clergymen opposing the election of Roman Catholic John F. Kennedy as President of the United States is released.
September 8: The USAF makes orders for a fighter-bomber variant of the F-110 to replace the F-100 in frontline operational service by 1965.
September 9: Operation Sky Shield I takes place across the United States and Canada from 0100 to 1300, as the USAF Air Defense Command scrambles 1247 interceptors against a SAC strike force of B-47s and B-52s simulating an enemy attack by 480 bombers. 20 RAF Avro Vulcans also take part, flying from Jamaica, Bermuda, Scotland and Alaska.
September 10: Abebe Bikila wins the Olympic marathon, becoming the first man from Sub-Saharan Africa to win an Olympic gold medal.
September 11: The Rome Olympics come to an end, with the United States topping the medal count with 102, Italy winning 56, Germany 52, Britain 42 and Austria-Hungary 40.
September 12: An unidentified flying object crashes in Central Siberia, scattering wreckage and remains that are quickly seized by the KGB.
September 13: A total eclipse of the moon is visible across much of the Pacific Ocean.
September 14: Senator John F. Kennedy gives a speech in Houston to a Protestant audience on the compatibility of his Catholicism and the office of the Presidency.
September 15: League of Nations General Secretary Dag Hammerskjold proposes an official investigation into events in the Belgian Congo.
September 16: The Soviet Union and Indonesia sign a new defence pact in Djakarta, setting out the provision of defence aid, further advisors and advanced weapon systems to the latter state.
September 17: Adventurers discover a fabulous treasure hoard deep in the Brazilian Amazon, including six perfect crystal skulls.
September 18: FBI Director Elliot Ness announces that national crime statistics indicate a fall in all categories in crime to their lowest levels since before the Depression.
September 19: The New York Times publishes an article detailing the purported discovery of a plant in the Amazon rainforest that can cancer.
September 20: Opening of the new term of the General Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva, brings a large gathering of world leaders to the United States. Chad and Ubangi-Shari are admitted as new members, bringing the total membership to 88.
September 21: The Australian Federal Government offers licences for a third commercial television station in each capital city.
September 22: The German Air Ministry issues a requirement for a supersonic jet airliner, with all five major German aircraft companies invited to submit designs.
September 23: Publication in daily newspapers across Europe of a sensational article purportedly containing pictures of Benito Mussolini in his secret South American villa, sparking renewed calls for him to be tracked down and bought to justice.
September 24: Melbourne defeats Collingwood in the 1960 VFL Grand Final with a score of 9.14 (68) to 2.2 (14) in front of a crowd of 107,457 at the M.C.G.
September 25: First nationally televised presidential debated between Republican President Roger Thompson and Democrat John F. Kennedy, with the latter being regarded as a clear victor.
September 26: Nationalisation of the Mexican electricity industry.
September 27: Death of pioneering British suffragette leader Sylvia Pankhurst at the age of 78.
September 28: Commissioning of the nuclear powered super destroyer USS Bainbridge at Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, Massachusetts.
September 29: Sir Robert Menzies arrives in Tokyo for the first ever visit of an Australian Prime Minister to Japan.
September 30: Essendon champion John Coleman announces his retirement from the VFL at the age of 32, having played 236 games and kicking 1425 goals.

October
October 1: Legislative elections take place in Nigeria, with nationalist and independence-backing parties winning a majority of the 250 seats across the country.
October 2: The Israeli Knesset approves an act extending German reparations to Israel for a further four years.
October 4: An explosion at an Eastman Chemical Company aniline plant in Kingsport, Tennessee kills 15 and injures over 200.
October 3: Royal Space Force cruisers destroy two Space Nazi ships in a decisive engagement off Vulcan.
October 5: Discovery of a hitherto unknown mountain range in Antartica by a Belgian-Dutch expedition.
October 6: Release of the historical film Spartacus, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas and James Dean in his comeback to motion pictures.
October 7: The second televised debate between the US Presidential candidates results in an inconclusive draw, with both men making sharp points on foreign policy and the international situation.
October 8: Security guards thwart an attempt on the life of Leon Trotsky in Rio de Janeiro.
October 9: Creation of 100 National Historic Landmarks across the United States by the Secretary of the Interior.
October 10: A cyclone on the Bay of Bengal kills thousands through flooding.
October 11: President Thompson decries his opponent’s lack of executive experience and states that only he would be able to present the necessary strong opposition to the Soviet Union.
October 12: Assassination of Japanese socialist politician Inejiro Asunama by a 17 year old sword-wielding nationalist.
October 13: A bomb explodes in the Times Square subway station, New York City, miraculously causing no injury due to the intervention of a caped hero.
October 14: The metre is redefined at the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures; The Times notes that the measure of a yard remains unchanged.
October 15: Creation of the Lutheran Church in America at a conclave in Atlantic City.
October 16: USAF wizards successfully test a powerful defensive shielding artifact capable of potentially intercepting nuclear armed aircraft.
October 17: Intense fighting takes place in Algeria between rebel forces and French troops.
October 18: The first fully electronic wristwatch goes on public sale, following their use for several years by various government agencies.
October 19: Premier Stalin announces that he would be willing to enter into discussions on the future security of Europe with the victor of the US Presidential Election and stresses that the Soviet Union is willing to take any steps for a lasting peace, including signing a lasting treaty.
October 20: Riots take place in Caracas after the arrest of leading socialist figures.
October 21: The Committee of Imperial Defence estimates that it would require a lasting commitment of at least 320,000 British and Commonwealth troops to maintain the security of the current Imperial bases and position in Egypt in the event of a policy of full non-cooperation by the Egyptian military and government.
October 22: Vice President Harold Stassen predicts that the Cold War could last for the rest of the century.
October 23: A woman in Milwaukee splashes Democratic Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy with whiskey while riding in a convertible, followed by throwing the tumbler into the car. He promptly wiped his face and handed her back the glass. She is released by the Secret Service a day later.
October 24: A Soviet ICBM being prepared for a live fire test explodes on the launch pad at Baikonur, killing hundreds and spreading deadly radioactive material from its warhead over the immediate area.
October 25: Reports from the French aviso La Grandiere of the discovery of a new island in the South Pacific.
October 26: The President of El Salvador is overthrown in a bloodless coup.
October 27: Establishment of the 'Food for Peace' programme by the League of Nations.
October 28: The MVD and KGB launch a major security crackdown and curfew across Moscow; Western intelligence sources are unable to determine the cause, leading some to speculate of a change in the Soviet leadership.
October 29: Completion of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt.
October 30: Israel conducts an underground nuclear test in the Negev Desert.
October 31: Sweden unveils the prototype of a new main battle tank at a defence exhibition in Stockholm.

November
November 1: A British publishing company is found guilty of gross obscenity over the attempted publication of an obscure novel; four executives are sentenced to imprisonment over the case.
November 2: Assassination of a French West African anti-colonial leader in Geneva.
November 3: TASS decries false Western reports of a coup in Moscow as completely unfounded.
November 4: First meeting between the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury in Rome since the English Reformation. It is described as productive and cordial.
November 5: Israel becomes the first Commonwealth realm to order the US F-110 Phantom jet fighter, with the Royal Israeli Air Force aiming at acquiring 80 of the advanced planes.
November 6: One person is killed and 18 injured by a bomb planted on a subway train in New York City.
November 7: Opening of a defence conference attended by representatives of the Arab states and British military officials in Alexandria.
November 8: Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy wins the 1960 US Presidential Election with 283 electoral college votes to 248 for Republican President Roger Thompson, with Whig Robert LaFollette Jr. winning 19 votes.
November 9: Nicaraguan exiles cross the border from Costa Rica and capture two border villages.
November 10: The Shah of Persia issues a decree calling for the full modernisation of the Imperial Persian Armed Forces.
November 11: A League of Nations Assembly resolution calling for the independence of colonial possessions is passed by 51-25.
November 12: Premier Stalin issues an invitation to President-Elect Kennedy to visit the Soviet Union once he assumes office.
November 13: The new US nuclear battleship USS California is ordered to the coast of Nicaragua to support government operations against the rebels.
November 14: A terrible train crash in Bohemia kills 114 people.
November 15: The Alexandria Conference comes to an end with British guarantees of the supply of defence aid, modern weapons and aircraft for the Arab armies under the framework of the Baghdad Pact.
November 16: Belgium threatens to leave the League of Nations over criticism of its colonial policies.
November 17: German counter-intelligence agents foil an East German backed plot to poison the Kaiser's horse.
November 18: Imperial Chinese mandarins announce that China will truly become a Celestial Empire as it turns its full attentions to the realms of space.
November 19: First use of helicopter gunships by French forces in South Vietnam, with Alouette IIIs armed with 20mm cannon strafing suspected Viet Cong positions.
November 20: Completion of initial trials of the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier VSTOL fighter by the United States Marine Corps.
November 21: The CIA estimates that Ottoman Turkey is on the verge of fielding an atomic bomb.
November 22: Sir William Murdoch retires as Chief Constable of the Toronto Police Force at the age of 102.
November 23: Reports reach the West of a new Chinese supersonic jet fighter.
November 24: Execution by hanging of the assassin of Inejiro Asanuma in Tokyo.
November 25: British Labour leader Stanley Barton describes support of unilateral nuclear disarmament as 'tantamount to treason'.
November 26: The National Party is returned to power in resounding fashion in the New Zealand General Election.
November 27: British Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Harold Macmillan announces that he will be stepping down in the new year for health reasons.
November 28: The Soviet Union conducts a successful test of the V-1000 anti-ballistic missile at Sary Shagan.
November 29: British military officials in Malaya recommend an end to the last aspects of the state of emergency.
November 30: TASS denies reports that several Soviet cosmonauts have died in a space accident.

December
December 1: First meeting between German Chancellor Werner von Sternberg and Israeli Prime Minister Sir Chaim Weizman in New York City.
December 2: Death of famed French modernist architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, known better as Le Corbusier, at the age of 73 in France.
December 3: Camelot makes its Broadway debut at the Majestic Theatre.
December 4: Communist guerrillas overrun a Philippine Army base in Southern Mindanao.
December 5: The King of France's visit to Algiers is met with large scale protests amid extremely tight security.
December 6: US Secretary of Defence Thomas Gates declares that the United States is prepared to increase her military presence in Europe in the interests of international peace and security.
December 7: A proposal for the release of the remaining 8 Nazi war criminals imprisoned on Kerguelen is declined by the British and American governments.
December 8: Stephen Bradley is executed by hanging at Long Bay Jail, Sydney, for the kidnapping and murder of 8 year old Graham Thorne.
December 9: Opening of the first Domino's Pizza restaurant in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
December 10: Briton Sir Peter Medawar and Australian Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet win the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of acquired immunological tolerance.
December 11: Reports of a large underground explosion near Italian military facilities in the deserts of Italian North Africa.
December 12: Release of a new Spanish language edition of the Holy Bible.
December 13: Rebel Ethiopian troops launch an attempted coup d'etat against Emperor Haile Selassie in Addis Ababa.
December 14: The First Test between the West Indies and Australia at Brisbane ends in a tie as the home side are dismissed for 267.
December 15: China tests a large multistage space rocket.
December 16: Two airliners narrowly avoided colliding in the skies over New York City; a caped superhero is seen flying away from the scene.
December 17: Imperial Ethiopian Army forces loyal to the Emperor suppress the rebel uprising with the assistance of British and American aircraft.
December 18: Louis Leakey discovers humanoid remains over 2.4 million years old in Olduvai Gorge.
December 19: A daring raid by skypirates upon the ocean liner RMS Arcadia in the Indian Ocean escapes with over 5 million pounds of loot.
December 20: Death of Detective Chief Inspector Edmund Reid, one of three men responsible for the capture of the infamous Jack the Ripper in 1892, at the age of 114.
December 21: Nazi-hunters arrest Richard Baer, the former commandant of Auschwitz, posing as a forester on the estate of Otto von Bismarck.
December 22: British and Japanese officials begin a series of wide-reaching negotiations in Tokyo.
December 23: Western agents in Moscow report the crash of a large aircraft on approach to Sheremyetvo Airport.
December 24: Canadian Prime Minister Richardson indicates that a planned dam on the Yukon River will not proceed.
December 25: Queen Elizabeth II's Christmas Message to the British Empire focuses on the importance of peace and trust between peoples and nations.
December 26: The United States and Britain sign an agreement on submarine and aircraft bases in the British Isles and Empire.
December 27: France conducts a hydrogen bomb test in the Algerian Sahara.
December 28: Soviet economic and industrial growth reaches its highest postwar rate to date.
December 29: The United States and Japan sign an agreement regarding a large order of military aircraft.
December 30: French, US and Commonwealth military advisory teams attached to the South Vietnamese Army clash with Viet Minh guerrillas in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam.
December 31: British atomic scientists at the AWRE report a major breakthrough in controlled fusion power research.