1936- British king Edward VIII abdicates throne to Jorge V to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American-born divorcee.
1941- Germany declares war against the US during World War II.
1948- The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
1964- Jean-Paul Sartre refuses Noble Prize in Literature based on his principle of rejecting official honors and distinctions.
1981- Spain joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “NATO”.
1996- Exportation of Iraq oil resumed according to the Oil-for-Food agreement.
1997- The signing of a new constitution abolishing apartheid in South Africa.
1950- UN General Assembly proclaims December 10 as Human Rights Day.
R. al-Jazaeri/ H. Said