On this day in 1843, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, a novel about the miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation after being visited by three Christmas ghosts, was first published.
On this day in 1984, the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in Beijing by China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Both sides agreed that China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997.
On this day in 2012, Park Geun-hye was elected the first female president of South Korea.