1932 (WEDNESDAY)
SWITZERLAND: The majority of the delegates in the League of Nations Assembly who participated in the discussion of the Lytton Report (investigation of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria) held to the view that a resolution of censure against Japan was in order; the British, Australian, Canadian, and Italian delegates insist that the path to direct negotiation was still open; subsequently on 9 December a Committee of Nineteen was appointed "to study the Report of the Commission."
1933 (THURSDAY)
GERMANY: Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen urges German-Americans to act as Nazi propagandists.
1935 (SATURDAY)
FRANCE: The Hoare-Laval peace plan for the Italo-Ethiopian war is negotiated at Paris. Englishman Samuel Hoare and Frenchman Pierre Laval made an agreement that if Italian dictator Benito Mussolini stopped fighting, he could have most of Ethiopia.
UNITED STATES: Severe flooding hit parts of the Houston, Texas, area. Eight persons are killed as 100 city blocks are inundated. Satsuma, a suburb of Houston, reports 16.49 inches (41,9 centimeters) of rain. .
1936 (MONDAY)
GERMANY: The last Jewish-owned department store is "Aryanized."
1937 (TUESDAY)
UNITED STATES: In baseball, the Boston Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams from San Diego of the Triple A Pacific Coast League, but he will not report to Boston until 1939.
December 7th, 1939 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Fighter Command: Two enemy aircraft reported attacking off the north east coast. Eight enemy aircraft attacked the Firth of Forth five enemy aircraft seen to be hit.Two hundred South London children far from home today had the pleasure of sitting down to lunch with Queen Elizabeth. They shared a 3d menu of stewed steak, potatoes and jam tart with their royal visitor, who pronounced it all "very good".
The Queen was visiting evacuees in Chichester, Sussex, during a surprise tour of the area. It was a gesture of appreciation for the invaluable work of the Women's Voluntary Service during the evacuation programme.
U.S. freighters SS Effingham and SS Winston Salem, detained at Ramsgate, Kent, England, by British authorities since 27 and 28 November, respectively, are released; the latter proceeds to Rotterdam where her cargo of 2,782 bales of cotton is seized by British authorities.
FRANCE: Paris: King George VI lunches with President Lebrun and the prime minister, Edouard Daladier. He visits the French front lines where General Maurice-Gustave Gamelin, Chief of National Defence Staff, Commander in Chief of Land and Air Forces and Commander in Chief Allied Forces in France, took the King on one of the underground ammunition and troop trains that serve the Maginot Line. From a fortified observation post he looked across three miles of no-man's land to the German defences and was shown the Order of the Day: "Be vigilant, keep cool and fire low - to the last round and the last man and a bit more ... your proud watchwords will be: 'On ne passe pas, on les aura' [They will not pass, we will win]"
DENMARK, Sweden and Norway declare their strict neutrality in the Russo-Finnish war.
FINLAND: A Russian Division breaks through to the town of
Suomussalmi.
First Soviet attacks against the Finnish main defence line at Taipale produce no results.
GIBRALTAR: U.S. freighter SS Exmoor is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities.
CANADA: HMS Seaborn commissioned as flagship Rear Admiral 3rd Battleship Squadron Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The "first flight" of Canadian troops sails for Britain with 7,400 men on five ships.
UNITED STATES: In baseball, New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, age 36, is elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. Gehrig, whose illness forced an end to his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, hit 493 home runs and batted .340 over his career. He is the first player to have the existing rule waived that required a player to be retired one year before he could be elected. Gehrig played eight games in the 1939 season before retiring.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The GRAF SPEE sinks the British freighter SS STREANSALH (3895 BRT) about 853 nautical miles east-southeast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in position 25.015S, 27.50W. (Navynews & Jack McKillop)