One Signature, Five Million Futures: The Hong Kong Agreement
On December 19, 1984, Britain's Margaret Thatcher and China's Zhao Ziyang signed the treaty that would return Hong Kong to China in 1997.
On December 19
The Night the Lights Went Out in Hanoi
On December 19, 1946, Viet Minh fighters attacked French forces in Hanoi, opening the First Indochina War.
Six Thousand Copies by Christmas: Dickens's Carol Goes on Sale
On December 19, 1843, Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol went on sale in London — and all 6,000 copies sold out within days.