21 December: Remembering historic events that occurred on this day

From the discovery of radium to the Lockerbie bombing, the day, 21 December has witnessed some major happenings. On a groundbreaking day in the history of physics, the Pierre couple recognised radium for the first time in 1898. On this day in 1923, Nepal acquired its full independence. In 1988, one of the infamous terrorist attacks demolished Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland’s Lockerbie. On that very day in 2012, Psy-produced South Korean pop song Gangnam Style heralded a new era of online music videos reaching 1 billion views on Youtube. 21 December - Historic Events: Discovery of radium, 1898: On 21 December 1898, Pierre couple - Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive substance radium in the form of radium chloride, extracting it from uraninite. When they initially took the uranium out of the uraninite sample, they noticed that the leftover material was still radioactive, leading them to conduct further research. They found spectral lines that were red carmine together with the barium in the remaining material. They were able to isolate radium chloride from the barium, and this substance was emitting these spectral lines. They submitted their conclusions to the French Academy of Sciences five days later. Nepal-Britain Treaty, 1923: On 21 December 1923, the Nepal-Britain Treaty was signed in Singha Durbar making Nepal a fully independent country freed from the status of a protectorate of Britain. The pact, which was formally accepted by the League of Nations in 1925, is regarded as a significant accomplishment of Chandra Shumsher’s diplomacy over a period of 25 years. It was the British government’s first official declaration that Nepal may pursue its foreign policy on its own. ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ premiered, 1937: On 21 December 1937, Walt Disney, a pioneering American animator, debuted ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles, California, enchanting spectators and scripting history in the film industry. The film was indeed a critical as well as a commercial success. It briefly held the title of the highest-grossing sound film at the time, thanks to its initial release which garnered more than $8 million earnings worldwide. Lockerbie Bombing, 1988: On 21 December 1988, a terrorist event triggered Pan Am Flight 103 to explode over Lockerbie, Scotland. The airliner was destroyed by the explosion into thousands of pieces, which fell over an area measuring around 850 square miles. Both the crew and 259 passengers perished. In addition to damaging 21 homes, falling debris also killed 11 individuals on the ground. In 2004, the Libyan government decided to pay the victims’ families compensation after accepting accountability for the explosion. Gangnam Style reached 1 Billion views, 2012: On 21 December 2012, Psy-produced South Korean pop song ‘Gangnam Style’ became the first ever video to touch 1 billion views on YouTube. Since its release, the song took just 159 days to achieve the feat. The song revolutionised meme culture and helped online videos become so popular. It also encouraged performance charts to include views of music videos in addition to radio performances, modernising the music business as a whole. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.