Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS, ( 21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881 ) was a British Prime Minister, parliamentarian, Conservative statesman and literary figure.

" That rich island ," he wrote on 1 December 1881, " the key to the Gulf of Mexico, is, though in the hands of Spain, a part of the American commercial system … If ever ceasing to be Spanish, Cuba must necessarily become American and not fall under any other European domination.

Daniel Jones ( 12 September 1881 – 4 December 1967 ) was a London-born British phonetician who studied under Paul Passy, professor of phonetics at the École des Hautes Études at the Sorbonne ( University of Paris ).

Following the death of his wife Jenny in December 1881, Marx developed a catarrh that kept him in ill health for the last 15 months of his life.

Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (,, Klyment Okhrimovych Voroshylov ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov () ( 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969 ) was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman.

During the First Boer War, the city was besieged by Republican forces in December 1880 and March 1881.

* December 24 – François Darlan, French admiral ( b. 1881 )

* December 15 – Jess Willard, American boxer ( b. 1881 )

* December 27 – Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter, English soldier ( b. 1881 )

* December 19 – Jose Ignacio Quinton, Puerto Rican composer and pianist ( b. 1881 )

* December 28 – Giuseppe Maria Giulietti, Italian explorer ( d. 1881 )

* December 21 – Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ( d. 1881 )

* December 4 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian ( d. 1881 )

The opera was soon mounted at major opera houses throughout Italy, including the Teatro Regio di Parma ( 20 April 1872 ), the Teatro di San Carlo ( 30 March 1873 ), La Fenice ( 11 June 1873 ), the Teatro Regio di Torino ( 26 December 1874 ), the Teatro Comunale di Bologna ( 30 September 1877, with Giuseppina Pasqua as Amneris and Franco Novara as the King ), and the Teatro Costanzi ( 8 October 1881, with Theresia Singer as Aida and Giulia Novelli as Amneris ) among others.

The Second Boer War and the earlier, much less well known, First Boer War ( December 1880 to March 1881 ) are collectively known as the Boer Wars.

On December 12, 1881, he was appointed United States Secretary of State by President Chester A. Arthur to succeed James G. Blaine, and served until the inauguration of President Grover Cleveland in 1885.

The first generator proved too small to power the whole building, and though the entire front of house was electrically lit, the stage was lit by gas until 28 December 1881.

Drawing by Adolphe Willette in Le Pierrot, December 7, 1888, inspired by Paul Margueritte's Pierrot, Murderer of His Wife, 1881.

" The Rice trowel bayonet was declared obsolete by the U. S. Army in December 1881.

Leonard Bacon ( February 19, 1802 – December 24, 1881 ) was an American Congregational preacher and writer.

He was elected as the president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in December 1881 and served in that capacity for the next year.

On December 28, 1881, Virgil Earp was maimed in an assassination attempt by the outlaw Cowboys, and on March 18, 1882, they assassinated Morgan Earp.

Virgil Earp was ambushed on the streets of Tombstone on the evening of December 28, 1881, by hidden assailants shooting from the second story of an unfinished building.

After the attempted murder of Virgil, Wyatt requested and was made Deputy U. S. Marshal by U. S. Marshall Crawley Dake on December 29, 1881.

Virgil Earp was ambushed on the streets of Tombstone on the evening of December 28, 1881, by hidden assailants shooting from the second story of an unfinished building.

Alexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz ( December 17, 1835 – March 27, 1910 ), son of Louis Agassiz and stepson of Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, was an American scientist and engineer.

* On December 15, 1993, Colin Powell was created an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, LSA, MD ( 9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917 ), was an English physician and feminist, the first Englishwoman to qualify as a physician and surgeon in Britain, the co-founder of the first hospital staffed by women, the first dean of a British medical school, the first woman M. D.

The wedding was deferred until Anne was 15 and finally took place along with that of Lady Elizabeth Hastings and Lord Herbert, on 16 December 1571 at Whitehall, with the Queen in attendance.

On 5 December 1719, with Philip V fast becoming the common enemy of all Europe, Alberoni was ordered to leave Spain, Elizabeth herself having taken an active part in procuring the decree of banishment.

Cook married Elizabeth Batts ( 1742 – 1835 ), the daughter of Samuel Batts, keeper of the Bell Inn, Wapping and one of his mentors, on 21 December 1762 at St. Margaret's Church in Barking, Essex.

Mary's own household was dissolved ; her servants ( including the Countess of Salisbury ) were dismissed from her service, and in December 1533 she was sent to join the household of the infant Elizabeth at Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

Although her will stated that she wished to be buried next to her mother, Mary was interred in Westminster Abbey on 14 December in a tomb she would eventually share with Elizabeth.

Richard married first on December 5, 1757, Anne Aylett ( 1738 – 1768 ), daughter of William Aylett and Elizabeth Eskridge ( 1719 ).

* December 18 – Lady Elizabeth Barton ( murdered )

* December 28 – The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.

* December 31 – Elizabeth Arden, Canadian-born beautician and cosmetics entrepreneur ( d. 1966 )

* December 29 – Elizabeth of Poland, queen consort of Hungary ( b. 1305 )

* December 23 – Roger Ascham, tutor of Elizabeth I of England ( b. 1515 )

* December 6 – Elizabeth of Russia becomes czarina after a palace coup.

* December 16 – Elizabeth Carter, English writer ( d. 1806 )

* December 18 – Elizabeth of Russia, reigning Empress of Russia ( d. 1762 )

* Mary Elizabeth Gilbreth ( December 13, 1906 – January 31, 1912 ); died of diphtheria at age 5.

* December 27 – Elizabeth Lacković, Croatian-Hungarian noblewoman

Born to Alexander Beaton Ferguson, a plater's helper in the shipbuilding industry, and his wife, the former Elizabeth Hardie, Alex Ferguson was born at his grandmother's home on Shieldhall Road, Govan, on 31 December 1941, but grew up in a tenement at 667 Govan Road ( which has since been demolished ) where he lived with his parents as well as his younger brother Martin.

* On December 13 / 14, 2011 Elizabeth Taylor's complete jewelery collection was auctioned by Christie's.

Elizabeth, the second-oldest surviving daughter of Peter I of Russia and Catherine I of Russia, was born at Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, on 18 December 1709 ( O. S .).

After a successful visit to Northern Ireland in July 1924, the Labour government agreed that Albert and Elizabeth could tour East Africa from December 1924 to April 1925.

By December 1587 the differences between Elizabeth and the Dutch politicians, with Leicester in between, had become insurmountable ; he asked to be recalled by the Queen and gave up his post.

Sir Francis Walsingham ( c. 1532 – 6 April 1590 ) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death, and is popularly remembered as her " spymaster ".