Phantis:Selected anniversaries/December
- 1834: The capital of Greece moved from Nafplion to Athens.
- 1893: Charilaos Trikoupis declared bankruptcy for Greece with the quote "Δυστυχώς επτωχεύσαμεν" ("Unfortunately, we have bankrupted!").
- 1913: Crete officially became part of Greece. King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos presided over an official ceremony of the raising of the Greek flag at Firkas Bastion.
- 2005: Greek public opinion was rocked by an unprecedented crime for Greek police, committed on the island of Salamina. The culprits were three brothers, aged 7, 8 and 14, and the victim was a 78-year-old woman, whom they strangled in order to rob.
- Births: Anna Comnena, byzantine historian (1083)
Recent days: November 30 - November 29
- 1823: The United States recognized de facto the Greek Revolutionary Council
- 1979: Nikos Galis debuted in Greek Basketball with Aris BC and scored 30 points against Iraklis BC
- 1997: A bomb exploded at the Patrιarchate of Constantinople, seriously injuring Orthodox deacon, Nectarius Nikolou, and damaging several buildings.
- Births: Iakovos Kabanellis, theatrical playwriter (1922), Maria Callas, Greek-American diva (1923), Dionysis Savvopoulos, music composer, lyricist and singer (1944)
- Deaths: Roza Eskenazi, rebetiko singer (1980)
Recent days: December 1 - November 30
- 1912: The Greek Navy led by Rear Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis on board the flagship Averoff, forced the Ottoman navy to retreat to the Dardanelles
- 1922: War rallies were held in many Cypriot cities with the union between Greece and Cyprus being the main demand.
- 1963: Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou announced the government's plan to distribute free books to all elementary and highschool students.
- Deaths: Panos Gavalas, singer (1988)
Recent days: December 2 - December 1
- 1897: The Istanbul Treaty was signed, officially ending the Greek-Turkish war. Greece was obligated to compensate Turkey with 4 million gold coins while they also had to evacuate the territories between Mt. Olympus and Kamvounia Mountain. Under the same treaty, Crete became independent.
- 1944: Communist organisation ELAS and nationalist Organisation X battled at Theseum for control of Athens.
- 2005: Athina Roussel Onassis wed Brazilian questrian champion Alvaro Alfonso de Miranda in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
- Deaths: Lambros Porfyras, poet (1932)
Recent days: December 3 - December 2
- 1912: Greece used, for the first time, airplanes to drop bombs at Bizani
- 1940: Colonel Mardohaios Frizis (Μαρδοχαίος Φριζής), a Greek Jew , was killed near Premeti during the Greek-Italian confrontation. He was the first high ranking officer to fall in battle in World War II.
- 1969: A pacemaker was implanted for the first time in a heart patient in Greece.
- 1981: Adultery was decriminalized. Article 357 of the Penal Code that called for imprisonment as a penalty for adultery was revoked.
- Births: George Savalas, Greek-American actor (1926), Nikos Kourkoulos, actor (1934)
Recent days: December 4 - December 3
- 1876: Heinrich Schliemann began archaeologocal excavations at Mycenae
- 1915: Eleftherios Venizelos and his political allies boycotted the national elections, resulting in the election of a largely royalist Parliament.
- 1940: The Greek army liberated Agioi Saranda.
- 2008: The shooting death of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos in Exarchia by the police, sparked widespread riots throughout Greece.
- Births: Giannis Antetokounmpo, basketball player (1994)
- Deaths: Pavlos Sidiropoulos, rock musician (1990)
Recent days: December 5 - December 4
- 1927: The government announced for the first time for Greece that measures will be taken against communist activities.
- 1965: Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI agreed to a revocation of the mutual excommunication decrees of 1054; this historic event was accomplished through simultaneous services in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and the patriarchal church in Constantinople.
- 1975: Vassilis Hadjipanagis played his first game in Greece for Iraklis against Atromitos Athens (1-1). The game was held at the National Stadium of Veria.
- Births: Lakis Papadopoulos, musician, songwriter (1948)
- Deaths: Kostas Moussouris, actor, theatrical manager (1976)
Recent days: December 6 - December 5
- 1940: The Greek army, on the offensive against the Italians, liberated Argyrokastro. The Times of New York wrote that Greeks forced the powers of Axis to be defeated for the first time since the beginning of the WWII.
- 1966: The ferry "Heraklion" sank off the Aegean island of Falkonera killing 217 passengers.
- 1969: An Olympic Airways Douglas DC-6 crashed near Keratea, Athens, Greece. All 90 passengers and crew (85 passengers and 5 crew members) perished.
- 1974: In a democratic referendum held, 69.2% of Greek people confirmed the monarchy's abolition.
- Births: Grigoris Xenopoulos, author (1867), Thymios Karakatsanis, actor (1940)
Recent days: December 7 - December 6
- 1898: Prince George of Greece arrived in Crete as High Commissioner.
- 1963: Constantine Karamanlis resigned from the leadership of his party, National Radical Union (ERE), and left for an 11 year self-imposed exile to Paris, France.
- Births: Georgios Drosinis, writer, poet (1859), Alexandros Papagos, Prime Minister and the only Field Marshall in Greek military history (1883).
- Deaths: Sergius I, Patriarch of Constantinople (638).
Recent days: December 8 - December 7
- 969: Nicephorus Phocas, Emperor of Byzantium, was assassinated.
- 1832: The island of Samos was granted autonomous status within the Ottoman Empire, guaranteed by Britain, France and Russia.
- 1963: The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to George Seferis.
- Births: Dusan Bajevic, football player and coach (1948)
- Deaths: Michael IV the Paphlagonian, Byzantine Emperor (1041)
Recent days: December 9 - December 8
- 969: John I Tzimisces ascended to the Byzantine throne.
- 1971: It was announced that broadcast television would cover, as of 1972, the entire Greek periphery.
- 1990: The "Hour of the Prime Minister" was established in Parliament. Constantine Mitsotakis answered to Charilaos Florakis on the subject of German World War II reparations
- Births: Grigoris Bithikotsis, popular singer, songwriter (1922), Stamatis Spanoudakis, music composer (1948), Eleni Gerasimidou, actress (1949), Christina Onassis, daughter of Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis (1950)
- Deaths: Justinian II, Byzantine emperor (711), Michael VIII Palaeologus, Byzantine emperor (1282)
Recent days: December 10 - December 9
- 1803: The Souliotes left Souli towards the coast of Epirus. A monk named Samuel remained in Kughi and set fire to the powder magazines with a massive explosion that cost him his life while killing dozens of Ottomans.
- 1955: The Battle of Spilia was fought in the EOKA struggle against the British in Cyprus.
- 1970: Announcement was made of a discovery of an extended neolithic settlement near Sesklo (a village nearby the city of Volos, in Thessaly)
- Births: Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek military commander and national hero (1792), Yiannis Voyiatzis, singer (1934)
- Deaths:Tassos Papadopoulos, President of Cyprus (2008)
Recent days: December 11 - December 10
- 1943: The Holocaust of Kalavryta took place as German soldiers executed 1,101 villagers.
- 1959: Archbishop Makarios III was elected first President of the Republic of Cyprus, receiving 66.29% of the vote against 32.92% of Ioannis Clerides
- 1967: King Constantine II fled Greece as his attempted counter-coup against the Junta failed.
- Births: Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, politician, Prime Minister (1902)
- Deaths: Georgios Iakovidis, painter (1932); Mentis Bostantzoglou (known as Bost), cartoonist, satirist and playwright (1995)
Recent days: December 12 - December 11
- 1822: The Holy Alliance denounced the Greek Revolution, considering it "audacious and clumsy".
- 1976: The terrorist group 17 November assassinated Evangelos Mallios, a police officer who had been discharged after torturing prisoners during the rule of the Junta.
- 2000: Dimitris Avramopoulos, mayor of Athens, announced the formation of the Movement of Free Citizens (Greek: Κίνημα Ελευθέρων Πολιτών, ΚΕΠ), also known by its acronym KEP.
- Births: Manolis Kalomiris, music composer (1883), King Paul of Greece (1901), Zoe Laskari, actress (1943), Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki, 2004 Olympic Games organiser (1955).
- Deaths: Nikos Stavridis, actor (1987)
Recent days: December 13 - December 12
- 1803: The Souliotes were forced to abandon Souli after being defeated by Ali Pasha. The latter would break his truce and trap some of them at Zaloggo.
- 1942: The British destroyer HMS Petard and Coast defense battleship Vasilissa Olga sank the Italian submarine Uarsciek (620 tons) south of Malta, towards the area of Benghazi, Libya.
- 1955: The battle of Soloi was fought during the EOKA struggle against the British in Cyprus. Charalambos Mouskos was killed (first battle fatality of the struggle).
- 1981: PLO leader Yasser Arafat visited Athens on an invitation by Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou.
- Births: Akis Panou, songwriter (1933)
- Deaths: Byzantine emperor Basil II, known as "the Bulgar-slayer" (1025)
Recent days: December 14 - December 13
- 944: Byzantine emperor Romanus I Lekapenos was deposed by his own sons.
- 1803: The forces of Ali Pasha trapped a group of Souliotes at Zalongo. Rather than fall into the hands of the Albanian soldiers, some 60 women took part in the "Dance of Zalongo", throwing themselves over the cliff, one by one, when their dance was done.
- 1828: The first courts of modern Greece were established by Ioannis Kapodistrias.
- 1949: Under Prime Minister Alexandros Diomedes, the martial law that was in place for the Hellenic Civil War was lifted in most areas of the country.
- Births: Nikos Sampson, editor, MP and Junta-appointed "President" of Cyprus (1935), Petros Marinakis footballer for OFI, Olympiakos and CF Sevilla (1968).
- Deaths: Dinos "Bouloukos" Andrianopoulos, Olympiakos footballer (1962), Kostas Varnalis, poet/writer (1974)
Recent days: December 15 - December 14
- 1913: The Florence Protocol was signed drawing the border between Greece and Albania. Northern Epirus was awarded to the newly-created Albanian state.
- 1989: Polish forward Krzysztof Warzycha played his first game in a Panathinaikos jersey against AEK
- 1997: A Russian-built Yakovlev 42, (Ukraine's Aerosweet) destined for Thessaloniki, Macedonia Airport, crashed on Pieria mountains after losing its orientation and contact with ground control. All 70 people on board died.
- 2003: The trial of the Revolutionary Organisation 17 November was completed as sentences were pronounced against the guilty.
- Births: Katina Paxinou, actress (1900), Sotiris Kaiafas, Cypriot footballer (1949), Kostas Gatsioudis, javelin thrower (1973)
Recent days: December 16 - December 15
- 1943: German occupation forces executed 133 persons at Drakia, Thessaly.
- 1956: Evagoras Pallikaridis was arrested in Cyprus by the British.
- 1974: Greece broke a 40 year-old tradition by defeating Bulgaria 2-1 at Karaiskaki Stadium (Sarafis, Antoniadis)
- Births: Eleni Vlachos, newspaper publisher (1911), Mario Frangoulis, tenor opera singer (1966)
- Deaths: Vasilis Michailidis, Cypriot poet (1917)
Recent days: December 17 - December 16
- 1797: Greek poet Rigas Fereos was arrested by Austrian authorities in Trieste.
- 1923: King George II went into exile.
- 1924: The 8-hour workday was established in Greece.
- 1980: Unidentified bombers destroyed mega-stores Katrantzos and Mignon in Athens.
- Deaths: Kostas Pretenteris, journalist/writer of theatrical works (1978).
Recent days: December 18 - December 17
- 1821: During the Greek Revolution, the First National Council met at Epidaurus
- 1950: Nikos Belogiannis, member of the Central Committee of KKE, was arrested as he returned to Greece to help organize the party's structure.
- 1972: Charilaos Florakis was elected Chairman of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), replacing Konstantinos Koligiannis who had resigned for health reasons.
- 1997: A Hellenic Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane crashed while taking part in a search for a missing Ukrainian airliner that crashed three days earlier. All five crew members of the C-130 died.
- Births: Dimitrios Voulgaris, Greek politician and Prime Minister (1802), Anna Vissi, singer (1957)
- Deaths: Dimitris Rondiris, theatrical director (1981)
Recent days: December 19 - December 18
- 1827: The decree by which Ioannis Kapodistrias established a Military Academy in Nafplion was published.
- 1952: Eleni Skoura was appointed by the Greek Rally party of Alexandros Papagos to stand in the January 1953 elections. She became the first woman MP in Greek history.
- 1959: The expedition of a permanent Greek force in Cyprus was decided. This force would come to be known as ELDYK.
- 1963: The Cyprus crisis of 1963-1964 began with a firefight in Nicosia that left one Greek Cypriot policeman and two Turkish Cypriot civilians dead.
- Births: Queen Amalia of Greece (1818), Nikolaos Sifounakis, politician (1949), Mirela Manjani, athlete 1976
- Deaths: Takis Binis, rebetiko singer (2005)
Recent days: December 20 - December 19
- 1940: The Greek 3rd Division liberated Chimara during World War II.
- 1953: Prime Minister Alexandros Papagos brought up the Cyprus matter, for the first time, in a conversation with Anthony Eden. He was rebuffed by the British PM with the words "There is no Cyprus matter".
- 1966: The "apostate" government of Stephanos Stephanopoulos fell as the National Radical Union party withdraw their support.
- 1978: By law, the "sea flag" (nine stripes with a white cross on the upper-left quadrant) was established as the one and only flag of the Greek nation.
- Deaths: Archbishop Chrysostomos I of Cyprus (2007)
Recent days: December 21 - December 20
- 1835: Kyriakos Serfiotis was sworn in as the first mayor of Piraeus.
- 1975: CIA Station Chief Richard Welch was assassinated outside his villa in Psychiko. A previously unheard of organisation called the "Revolutionary Organization 17 November" took responsibility.
- Births: Stjepan Bobek, coached Panathinaikos and Olympiakos (1923); Chronis Aidonidis, folklore singer (1928); Gogo Atzoletaki, actress (1953); Dimitris Mavrogenidis, footballer (1976).
- Deaths: Yiannis Sideris, theater historian, founder of the Museum and Study Centre of the Greek Theatre (1975)
Recent days: December 22 - December 21
- 820: Byzantine Emperor Leo V was assassinated in the Palace Chapel.
- 1944: Sir Winston Churchill arrived in Athens in an attempt to resolve the political crisis between EAM and the re-instated Greek government of Georgios Papandreou.
- 1947: The "Provisional Democratic Government" was set up, during the Greek Civil War, by the Communist Party of Greece with Markos Vafiadis as Prime Minister.
- 1989: The Revolutionary Organization 17 November raided Sykouri army base in Larisa, Greece and stole a quantity of anti-tank rockets and ammunition.
- Births: King George I of Greece (1845).
- Deaths: Byzantine Emperor Leo V (assassinated) (820)
Recent days: December 23 - December 22
- 317 BC: Philip III of Macedon was executed by forces loyal to Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great.
- 1: Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem (according to St. Dionysius the Lesser).
- 390: Byzantine Emperor, Theodosius I accepted responsibility for mass killings that occurred in Thessaloniki.
- 858: Photius the Great was named Patriarch of Constantinople in place of Ignatius I who was deposed. The event led to a strain in the relations of the Eastern Orthodox Church with the Roman Catholic Church which refused to accept the appointment.
- Deaths: Nikolaos Dandolas, known as Nick the Greek, considered one of the biggest gamblers in American history (1966).
Recent days: December 24 - December 23
- 1825: Egyptian general Ibrahim Pasha approached Mesolonghi and initiated the second seige of the city.
- 1912: The Naval Battle of Elli, fought during the First Balkan War, concluded in victory for the Greek Navy
- 1977: Dimitris Saravakos made his debut with Panionios in a match against Aegaleo.
- Births: George Rallis, politician and Prime Minister of Greece (1918)
- Deaths: Heinrich Schliemann, archaeologist (1890), Cornelius Castoriadis, philosopher (1997), Michael Polatof, fashion and stage designer (2002)
Recent days: December 25 - December 24
- 537: Hagia Sophia was rededicated in Constantinople by Byzantine emperor Justinian I with the words: "I have bested you, Solomon!"
- 1944: PM Georgios Papandreou submitted his resignation in the midst of the post-World War II December crisis ("Δεκεμβριανά"). Winston Churchill left Athens for London.
- 1947: A law was passed by the Centrist Sophoklis Venizelos government outlawing the Communist Party of Greece and the National Liberation Front (EAM) and criminalizing the teaching and spreading of Communism.
- Births: Achilleas Karamanlis, politician (1929), Thanasis Polykandriotis, composer of Laika music (1947), Haris Alexiou, singer (1950)
Recent days: December 26 - December 25
- 1820: Grigoris Papaflessas returned to Peloponnesus from Constantinople
- 1909: Eleftherios Venizelos arrived in Athens on invitation by the reformist Military League
- 1946: Shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis married Athina Mary Livanos, daughter of Stavros Livanos another shipping magnate.
- Births: Lefteris Poupakis, football player (1946)
Recent days: December 27 - December 26
- 1924: The Municipal Police Force was established in Athens.
- 1953: Greece replaced the oka with the kilogram as the standard measure of weight.
- 1966: Emmanouil Emmanouilidis and Spyros Kotzamanis were found guilty of "grievous bodily injuries" in the Grigorios Lambrakis trial in Thessaloniki. All the other accused were unanimously acquitted.
- 1998: The governments of Greece and Cyprus decided to proceed with the installation of Russian made antiballistic missiles S-300 in Crete, ignoring Turkey's strong objections and reactions.
- Births: Elias Sapanis, footballer (1973)
- Deaths: Photius II, Patriarch of Constantinople (1935)
Recent days: December 28 - December 27
- 1934: The Government announced its decision to proceed with the establishment of a radio station
- 1963: The Green Line, separating the Greek and Turkish sectors of Lefkosia, was agreed upon by the two communities.
- 1975: The trial for the events at the Athens Polytechnic School student uprising came to an end with all defendants found guilty as charged
- 1981: Drastic measures were taken to combat pollution in Athens. These included the alternating ban of motor vehicles from the city centre, based on the last digit of their license plate (odd-even).
- 2002: Olympiakos defeated Vasas of Hungary 6-5 to win the European Super Cup of Water Polo.
- Births: Nikos Portokaloglou, singer, songwriter (1957)
- Deaths: Christos Filippidis, editor-in-chief of conservative Athens daily "Acropolis" (1980)
Recent days: December 29 - December 28
- 1822: Omer Vrioni and Kutahye ended the first siege of Mesolonghi
- 1836: Gymnastics were introduced to Greek schools
- 1945: Athens Archbishop Damaskinos became the Regent for King George II who had not yet returned to Greece.
- 1989: Private television station ANT1 ("Ant-ena") broadcast for the first time.
- 2005: The Greek Section of the BBC World Service ceased broadcasting after 66 years on air.
- Births: Yiannis Dalianidis, film director (1923), Kostas Voutsas, actor (1931), Petros Filippidis, actor (1963).
Recent days: December 30 - December 29