Dec24 

1906  "The Story of the Kelly Gang", the first commercially made film of over one hour's duration was premiered in Melbourne, Australia

25 

1959  Ringo Starr received a drum set as a Christmas present

26 

1992  John Kemeny, who with Tom Kurtz created the programming language BASIC, died

1871  "Thespis", the first Gilbert and Sullivan opera, opened in London but ran for less than a month

27 

1945  The International Monetary Fund was established

28 

1999  Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger, died aged 85

1934  The first women's test match took place in Brisbane between England and Australia

1895  Auguste and Louis Lumière opened the first cinema

29 

1845  Texas became the 28th state of the United States of America

30 

1916  Rasputin, confidant and confessor to the Tsarina, was murdered

Dec31 

1960  The British farthing (one quarter of an old penny) ceased to be legal tender at midnight