Friday, December 19, 2025

Andrei Karlov (pictured), Russia's ambassador to Turkey, was assassinated at an art gallery in Ankara.

The European Space Agency's spacecraft Gaia was launched with the goal of constructing the largest and most precise star catalogue ever made.

SilkAir Flight 185 crashed into the Musi River in Indonesia, killing 104 people.

Titanic, the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time with a worldwide total of more than US$2.2 billion, was released in the United States.

Aeroflot Flight 101/435 was hijacked by its co-pilot; it landed in a cow pasture in China, where he was apprehended.

China and the United Kingdom signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, agreeing to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997.

The Jules Rimet Trophy, awarded to the winner of the FIFA World Cup, was stolen from the offices of the Brazilian Football Confederation.

The ruling junta of South Vietnam, led by Nguyễn Khánh, initiated a coup, dissolving the High National Council, a civilian advisory body.