1620: Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore at in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts [OS=Dec 11]

1898: Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium

1968: Apollo 8: 1st manned Moon voyage launched with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders

1988: Lockerbie disaster: A terrorist bomb destroys Pan Am Flight 103 mid-air, over Scotland; kills all 259 passengers and crew on board, and 11 people on the ground [1]

1991: Soviet Union formally dissolves as 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States

Source: Onthisday.com