Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 22
December 22: The December solstice (06:08 UTC, 2007); Dongzhi, Yalda, Yule, and other winter solstice festivals (Northern Hemisphere, 2007); Midsummer festivities (Southern Hemisphere, 2007).
- 1808 – German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (pictured) premiered his Fifth Symphony, currently one of the most popular and well-known compositions in all of European classical music, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea ended with the capture of Savannah, Georgia.
- 1885 – Itō Hirobumi, a samurai from Chōshū, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.
- 1989 – Romanian Revolution: After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu took over as President of Romania, ending the Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceauşescu.
- 2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Northern Alliance handed over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai.
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