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German Emperor Wilhelm II arrived in Damascus on a historic visit as part of a tour in the Ottoman Empire that also included Istanbul and Jerusalem.
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The Ottoman authorities hung tons of Syrian national leaders in Damascus and Beirut. This day is still celebrated in Syria and Lebanon as the Martyrs' Day.
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French troops attacked the Syrian Parliament building in Damascus.
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On this day, Israel forced a Syrian airliner to land in Israel and detained its passengers, in the first recorded hijacking of a civilian airliner in modern history.
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Israeli forces launched the deadliest raid into Syria since the end of the 1948 Palestine War, killing 49 Syrians. Hostilities started when two Israeli boats fired at Syrian farms on December 11, to which Syria responded by targeting an Israeli boat patrolling Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee).
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Syria signed a pact with the Soviet Union, providing a foothold for Communist influence within the government in exchange for planes, tanks, and other military equipment being sent to Syria
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The worst fire disaster in Syria’s history killed at least 184 people, most of whom children under the age of 14. A flash fire erupted in a movie theater in the northeastern town of Amuda, during a special screening to raise funds for the Algerian Revolution. A witness said the fire started with a spark in the projection machine and the film caught on fire, and the flames spread quickly.
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The defeat of the Syrians and Egyptians in the June 1967 war with Israel weakened the radical socialist regime established by the 1966 coup.
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Hafez al-Assad, then the defense minister, led the Correction Movement that finally brought Syria long-lasting stability after years of political disturbance.
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To broaden the base of his government, Asad formed the National Progressive Front, a coalition of parties led by the Ba'ath Party, and elections were held to establish local councils in each of Syria's 14 governorates.
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A car bomb exploded in a crowded Damascus neighborhood, killing at least 175 people and injuring several hundreds. It was the deadliest single bombing in Syria’s history.
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A huge explosion near the Air Force Headquarters in Damascus killed 20 people and injured more than 50. A man parked a booby-trapped Peugot 504 outside the headquarters, got out and started running. Security guards opened fire and shot him dead, and seconds later the bomb exploded.
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In response to an attempted uprising by the brotherhood in February 1982, the government crushed the fundamentalist opposition centered in the city of Hama, leveling parts of the city with artillery fire and causing many thousands of dead and wounded
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Two US bombers were shot down by Syrian gunfire during raids on Syrian positions in central Lebanon. It was the first military confrontation between Syria and the United States
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Hafiz Al-Asad died after 30 years in power. Immediately following Al-Asad's death, the parliament amended the constitution, reducing the mandatory minimum age of the president from 40 to 34 years old, which allowed his son, Bashar Al-Asad legally to be eligible for nomination by the ruling Ba'ath Party.
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Bashar Al-Asad was elected President by referendum in which he ran unopposed, garnering 97.29% of the vote, according to Syrian Government statistics. He was inaugurated into office on July 17, 2000 for a 7-year term.
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Syria and Iraq officially restored full diplomatic relations after a 26-year rift. Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem and his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshiyar Zibari, signed the accord in Baghdad. It was the first such visit by a Syrian official to Iraq since the US invasion that overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
