* The HMS Challenger expedition ( December 1872 – May 1876 ) first sounded the depths now known as the Challenger Deep.

Espinosa decided to undertake a new expedition, which left in December of the same year with 200 men including Almagro himself and Francisco Pizarro, who for the first time was designated as a captain.

Following the expedition, Washington retired from his Virginia Regiment commission in December 1758.

In December 1182, Raynald launched a naval expedition on the Red Sea, which made it as far south as Rabigh.

Sacagawea, sometimes called Sakajawea or Sakagawea ( c. 1788 – December 20, 1812 ), was an indigenous woman who accompanied her husband Toussaint Charbonneau on the expedition to the Pacific Ocean.

In December 1871 he made a second eight month excursion, known as the Hassler expedition under the command of Commander Philip Carrigan Johnson ( brother of Eastman Johnson ), visiting South America on its southern Atlantic and Pacific seaboards.

The trench was first sounded during the Challenger expedition ( December 1872 – May 1876 ), which recorded a depth of 4, 475 fathoms, 8, 184 m ( 26, 850 feet ).

He led the Antarctic expedition ( 1910-12 ) to discover the South Pole in December 1911 and he was the first expedition leader to ( undisputedly ) reach the North Pole in 1926.

In December 1831, he joined the Beagle expedition as a geologist and naturalist.

The initial expedition started, probably unwisely, on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season.

In December 1862, with the approval of Halleck, Grant moved to take Vicksburg by an overland route, aided by Charles Hamilton and James McPherson, in combination with a water expedition on the Mississippi led by Maj. Gen. Sherman.

* December 14 – Roald Amundsen's expedition reaches the South Pole.

* December 21 – HMS Challenger sails from Portsmouth on the 4-year scientific expedition that lays the foundation for the science of oceanography.

* December 19 – Vitus Bering dies in his expedition east of Siberia.

Putting down the Slavic forces in eastern Saxony, Otto III began his second expedition into Italy in December 997.

But the king lacked the power, resources, or determination, to enforce them, although in December 1289 he led an expedition into Thuringia where he destroyed a number of robber-castles.

When Basil finally died on 15 December 1025, he was planning a military expedition to recover the island of Sicily.

On December 15, 1906, the National Geographic Society, which was primarily known for publishing a popular magazine, certified Peary's 1905-6 expedition and Farthest with its highest honor, the Hubbard Gold Medal ; no major professional geographical society followed suit.

Their expedition started from Banana at the mouth of the Congo River on 19 March and ended in Bagamoyo, Tanzania on 5 December 1889.

Soon thereafter they continued south and in December 1540, eleven months after they left Cuzco, Valdivia and his expedition reached the valley of the Mapocho river, where they were able to establish the capital of the territory.

The expedition, led by Captain George Nares, sailed from Portsmouth, England, on 21 December 1872.

The first leg of the expedition took the ship from Portsmouth ( December 1872 ) south to Lisbon ( January 1873 ) and then on to Gibraltar.

On December 26, 1541, he accepted to be elected chief of the new expedition and to conquer new lands in name of the king.

In December 1804, Dr. George Hunter and William Dunbar made an expedition to the springs, finding a lone log cabin and a few rudimentary shelters used by people visiting the springs for their healing properties.

Well, the Theatre Guild kept that play, and kept it, and finally in December they turned it down.

His efforts toward the abolition of slavery include issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, encouraging the border states to outlaw slavery, and helping push through Congress the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which finally freed all the black slaves nationwide in December 1865.

AZ were undefeated in all 32 of their home matches in European competitions, a sequence which ran from 1977 until 20 December 2007, when they finally lost to Everton of England by a score of 3 – 2.

Seville finally capitulated on 20 December 913.

Digicel was finally granted a licence on 17 December 2007 and plans to start operations in the BVI sometime in 2008.

Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur ( 14 February 148326 December 1530 ; sometimes also spelt Baber or Babar ) was a conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty in the Indian Subcontinent and became the first Mughal emperor.

They were also criticised for shutting down all servers except the Japanese servers for the games Resident Evil: Outbreak and its sequel Resident Evil Outbreak File 2, which the servers for Outbreak and Outbreak File 2 in Japan finally closed on June 30, 2011, over three and a half years after shutting down the North American and European servers on December 31, 2007.

Charlton finally returned to The Valley in December 1992, celebrating with a 1 – 0 victory against Portsmouth.

On 13 December, he seemed to have finally died.

Shortly thereafter, the Junta elected to launch a military offensive against loyalist regions to the south in Peru, but the poorly trained and badly equipped troops were no match for those of the Viceroy of Peru, which finally crushed the Quiteño rebellion in December 1812.

Leicester finally resigned his command in December 1587.

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 16 December 1971 the Pakistan Armed Forces finally surrendered to the joint liberation forces of Bangladesh freedom fighters and Indian army.

On 16 December 1971 the East Pakistan was finally disintegrated as a part of Pakistan.

He lost his faith in them finally in December 1917, during the process of independence of the Finns, and shifted his energies toward encouraging the Finnish Bolsheviks in Petrograd.

In 1893, judging that his power over Ethiopia was secure, Menelik repudiated the treaty ; in response the Italians ramped up the pressure on his domain in a variety of ways, including the annexation of small territories bordering their original claim under the Treaty of Wuchale, and finally culminating with a military campaign across the Mareb River into Tigray ( on the border with Eritrea ) in December 1894.

Somewhere around the time of the German declaration of war on the United States in December 1941, Hitler finally resolved that the Jews of Europe were to be " exterminated ".

Go Nutz, the album Brood had recorded while in the States, and the movie Cha-Cha, which finally premiered in December 1979, were considered artistic failures, even though Go Nutz produced three charting singles in the Netherlands and the Cha Cha soundtrack attained platinum status.

Papal intervention through the legate Ottobuono finally resulted in the compromise of the Dictum of Kenilworth, under which the rebels were allowed to re-purchase their confiscated lands provided they surrendered the castle ; the siege ended on 14 December 1266.

After months of feuding, the band finally negotiated a deal in December 2005.

The group finally declared its full autonomy and incorporated legally with Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines and was approved on December 7, 2011 with papers held for by present procurators.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ben Bot travelled to Damascus, negotiated and on December 22 the children finally could return to the Netherlands.

The crew were held captive throughout the year despite American protests that the vessel was in international waters and finally released in December after a formal US apology was issued.

Different negotiations continued intermittently until a new treaty was signed on December 21, 1921 which finally and formally accepted the independence of Panama.

A Roman by birth, Pope Alexander III appointed him in succession Archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian Basilica, Cardinal-deacon of Sergio e Bacco, and finally Cardinal bishop of Palestrina in December 1180.