BBC ON THIS DAY

US aircraft in flames as Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor

1941: Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor

Japan launches a surprise attack on American bases in the Pacific and declares it is at war with Britain and the United States.

1955: Attlee steps down as Labour leader
Mr Attlee resigns as leader of the Labour Party and is made an Earl hours later by the Queen.

Taleban soldiers pictured prior to surrender

2001: Taleban surrender Kandahar
The Taleban regime gives up its last Afghan stronghold of Kandahar after weeks of bombardment by US warplanes.

1979: Lord Soames to govern Rhodesia
Lord Soames is named transitional governor of Rhodesia to oversee its progress into legal independence.

A cat is refusing to come down from a chimney holding up steeplekjack Fred Dibnah's work

1983: Tomcat halts steeplejack
A cat has climbed to a height of 160ft up an industrial chimney holding up the work of chief chimney-toppler Fred Dibnah.

1993: Activists lose battle over chestnut tree
Protesters lose a 20-year fight to save a 250-year-old chestnut tree in east London, making way for a motorway extension.

Around this Day

4 December

Top Story1971: Bomb demolishes crowded Belfast pub

5 December

Top Story1977: Egypt severs ties with Arab hardliners

6 December

Top Story1975: Couple under siege in Balcombe Street

8 December

Top Story1980: John Lennon shot dead

9 December

Top Story1973: Sunningdale Agreement signed

10 December