31 December - Microsoft buys Hotmail email service in 1997

Microsoft Corp. today (Dec. 31, 1997) announced it has acquired Hotmail, the award-winning free Web-based e-mail service. Hotmail will become an important component of The Microsoft Network of online communication and information services that Microsoft offers free to all Internet users; it includes sites for news, travel, investment, car buying, games, computing and shopping.

“Hotmail has been a Web-mail pioneer,” said Laura Jennings, vice president, The Microsoft Network. “It has built a strong following by offering a free, high-quality e-mail service that lets its members access a permanent e-mail address from any PC with an Internet connection.

 

28 December - King Taksin Memorial Day

 

Every year people of Thailand observe King Taksin Memorial Day on December 28. This national holiday celebrates the coronation anniversary of Taksin in 1767.

King Taksin reigned Siam from 28 December 1767 to 06 April 1782.

King Taksin, also known as Taksin the Great, was a prominent figure in Thai history. He was born on 17 April 1734, and he played a crucial role during a turbulent period in Thailand's history following the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 to Burmese invaders.

After the fall of Ayutthaya, Taksin emerged as a military leader who rallied Thai forces to resist Burmese rule. He successfully led campaigns to expel the Burmese forces from central Thailand and subsequently established the Thonburi Kingdom in 1768. Taksin became the king of Thonburi and ruled with the title King Taksin the Great.

During his reign, King Taksin implemented various reforms to stabilize and strengthen the kingdom. He encouraged trade, revitalized agriculture, and promoted cultural and economic development. Under his leadership, Thailand experienced a period of recovery and expansion.

However, King Taksin's reign faced internal challenges, including political unrest and opposition from rival factions. In 1782, he was overthrown in a coup led by his trusted general, Chao Phraya Chakri (who later became King Rama I of the Chakri Dynasty). Taksin was captured and later executed.

Despite his relatively short reign, King Taksin is remembered as a national hero in Thailand for his military leadership, resilience, and efforts to defend Thai sovereignty during a critical period in its history. His legacy continues to be celebrated, and there are monuments and memorials dedicated to him throughout Thailand.

28 December - Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani Born in 1932

Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, popularly known as Dhirubhai Ambani (28 December 1932 – 6 July 2002) was an Indian business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries. Ambani took Reliance public in 1977 and was worth $25.6 billion upon his death on 6 July 2002.[citation needed] In 2016, he was honored posthumously with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour for his contributions to trade and industry.

27 December - Mirza Ghalib

Ghalib born Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, (27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869),was a prominent Urdu and Persian poet during the last years of the Mughal Empire. He used his pen-names of Ghalib (Urdu: غالِب, ġhālib means "dominant") and Asad (Urdu: اسَد, Asad means "lion"). During his lifetime, the already declining Mughal empire was eclipsed and displaced by the Colonial British Raj and finally deposed following the defeat of the Indian rebellion of 1857, are some of the events that he described through his work.

Most notably, he wrote in both Urdu and Persian. His Persian Divan is at least five times longer than his Urdu but his fame rests on his poetry in Urdu.

Today, Ghalib remains popular not only in India and Pakistan but also among the Hindustani diaspora around the world.

27 December - Visit The Zoo Day

 

Visit The Zoo Day is an annual celebration observed on December 27th of every year. If you are passionate about animals and wanted to know more about their living, you could visit a zoo. It is not only a place where they stay rather it the same place in which lots of studies are taken place about each animal. The zoo is the place that safeguards the animals that are endangered and makes them out of not becoming extinct. Also, the zoo is the only place other than forest where we could see the wild animals. It is possible to look at them in close which is not possible and safe in the forest. Visit The Zoo Day is the best time to have a look at those animals which you hadn’t seen so far. The Day encourages all of us to take a look at nature in a closer perspective.

25 December - Good Governance Day

Good Governance Day is observed in India annually on the twenty-fifth day of December, the birth anniversary of former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.Good Governance Day was established in 2014 to honor Prime Minister Vajpayee by fostering awareness among the Indian people of accountability in government.

In keeping with this principle, the Government of India has decreed Good Governance Day to be a working day for the government.

25 December - Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari birth anniversary

Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari (25 December 1880 – 10 May 1936) was an Indian nationalist and political leader, and former president of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League during the Indian Independence Movement. One of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia University he remained its chancellor 1928 to 1936

25 December - Atal Bihari Vajpayee born in 1924

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian statesman who served three terms as the Prime Minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he was the first Indian prime minister not of the Indian National Congress to serve a full term in office. He was also noted as a poet and a writer.

The administration of Narendra Modi declared in 2014 that Vajpayee's birthday, 25 December, would be marked as Good Governance Day. In 2015, he was conferred India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. He died on 16 August 2018 of age-related illness.

23 December - Chaudhary Charan Singh born in 1902

Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) served as the 5th Prime Minister of India between 28 July 1979 and 14 January 1980. Historians and people alike frequently refer to him as the 'champion of India's peasants.

Chaudhary Charan Singh led a simple life and spent his spare time reading and writing. He was the author of several books and pamphlets, including ‘Abolition of Zamindari’, ‘Co-operative Farming X-rayed’, ‘India’s Poverty and its Solution’, ‘Peasant Proprietorship or Land to the Workers’ and ‘Prevention of Division of Holdings Below a Certain Minimum’.

19 December - Goa Liberation day

 

Goa Liberation day is observed in the state of Goa each year on 19th December. The festival is celebrated to honor the Indian Armed forces who freed the state from the Portuguese in 1961.

Goa, an Indian state, was liberated on December 19, 1961, from around 450 years of Portuguese rule.