1898 – Count Muravyov, Russia’s foreign minister, presents a summary of the First Peace Conference in The Hague. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were the first anti-war declarations.
1936 – The Australian Antarctic Territory is created. The Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) is part of East Antarctica administered by the Australian Antarctic Division, an agency of the Federal Department of the Environment and Energy. Australia is one of the 12 countries exercising territorial right over this continent.
1941 – Adolf Hitler orders the cessation of Nazi Germany’s systematic T4 euthanasia program for the mentally ill and disabled due to protests, although killings continue for the remainder of the war. Over 300,000 innocents would lose their lives as a result of this infamous Nazi program.
1947 – Born in Rio de Janeiro, Paulo Coelho. Coelho, is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist, best known for his novel The Alchemist. In 2014, he uploaded his personal papers online to create a virtual Paulo Coelho virtual foundation. He is known as one of the most famous Latin American writers in the world.
1954 – Getulio Vargas, president of Brazil, commits suicide and is succeeded by Joao Cafe Filho. Vargas’ suicide note was found and read on the radio two hours after his son discovered the body. The Vargas family refused a state funeral, but his successor Filho declared official days of mourning. Vargas was one of Brazil’s most vocal leaders.
1989 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki is elected the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe. Mazowiecki, was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist, and politician, one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement and the first Polish non-communist prime minister since 1945. He is known for his great contribution to the beginning of Poland’s liberalization.
1991 – Ukraine declares independence from the Soviet Union. Poland and Canada were the first countries to recognize Ukraine’s independence, both on December 2, 1991. On the same day, it was reported during the evening broadcast of the Vesti news program that Russian SFSR President Boris Yeltsin had recognized independence of Ukraine.
2016 – Dies at age 97 Walter Scheel Scheel, was a German politician. A member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany, he served for the first time in government as Federal Minister of Economy and Development from 1961-66. He headed the FDP from 1968-74. During Willy Brandt’s chancellery, Scheel was Minister of Foreign Affairs.
