Editing 1944 (section)

===December===
{{Main article|December 1944}}
[[File:Bodies of U.S. officers and soldiers slain by the Nazis after capture near Malmedy, Belgium. - NARA - 196544.jpg|thumb|Victims of the [[Malmedy massacre]]]]
* [[December 1]] &ndash; [[Edward Stettinius, Jr.]] becomes the last [[United States Secretary of State]] of the [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] administration, filling the seat left by [[Cordell Hull]].
* [[December 3]] &ndash; WWII:
** [[Dekemvriana|Fighting]] breaks out between [[KKE|Communists]] and royalists in newly liberated Greece, eventually leading to a full-scale [[Greek Civil War]].
** The [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)]] is stood down.
* [[December 7]]
** The [[Convention on International Civil Aviation]] is signed in Chicago, creating the [[International Civil Aviation Organization]].
** The [[Arab Women's Congress of 1944]] is hosted by the [[Egyptian Feminist Union]] in Cairo, leading to establishment of the [[Arab Feminist Union]].
** [[1944 Tōnankai earthquake|An earthquake along the coast of Wakayama Prefecture]] in Japan causes a tsunami which kills 1223 people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walker |first1=Brett L. |title=A Concise History of Japan |date=26 February 2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00418-4 |page=292 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NGt2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA292 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[December 10]] &ndash; Italian conductor [[Arturo Toscanini]] leads a concert performance of the first half of [[Beethoven]]'s ''[[Fidelio]]'' (minus its spoken dialogue) on [[NBC]] Radio, starring [[Rose Bampton]]. He chooses this opera for its political message: a statement against tyranny and dictatorship. Presenting it in German, Toscanini intends it as a tribute to the German people who are being oppressed by Hitler. The second half is broadcast a week later. The performance is later released on LP and CD, the first of 7 operas that Toscanini conducts on radio.
* [[December 12]]–[[December 13|13]] &ndash; WWII: British units attempt to take the Italian hilltop town of Tossignano, but are repulsed.
* [[December 13]] &ndash; WWII: [[Battle of Mindoro]] &ndash; United States, Australian and Philippine Commonwealth troops land on [[Mindoro Island]] in the [[Philippines]].
* [[December 14]]
** The Soviet government changes Turkish place names to Russian in the [[Crimean Peninsula|Crimea]].
** The film ''[[National Velvet (film)|National Velvet]]'' is released in the United States, bringing a young [[Elizabeth Taylor]] to stardom.
* [[December 15]] &ndash; A USAAF utility aircraft carrying bandleader Major [[Glenn Miller]] disappears in heavy fog over the [[English Channel]], while flying to Paris.
* [[December 16]] &ndash; WWII:
** Germany begins the Ardennes offensive, later known as the [[Battle of the Bulge]].
** General [[George C. Marshall]] becomes the first [[General of the Army (United States)|U.S. Five-Star General]].
* [[December 17]] &ndash; WWII:
** [[Malmedy massacre]]: German [[SS]] troops under [[Joachim Peiper]] machine gun American prisoners of war captured during the Battle of the Bulge near [[Malmedy]], and elsewhere in Belgium.
** [[Bombing of Ulm in World War II|Bombing of Ulm]]: 707 people are killed and 25,000 left homeless.
* [[December 18]] &ndash; General [[Douglas MacArthur]] becomes the second [[General of the Army (United States)|U.S. Five-Star General]].
* [[December 19]] &ndash; The daily newspaper ''[[Le Monde]]'' begins publication in Paris.
* [[December 20]]
** The United States [[Women Airforce Service Pilots]] are disbanded.
** General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] is promoted to the rank of [[General of the Army (United States)|U.S. Five-Star General]].
* [[December 22]]
** WWII: Brigadier General [[Anthony C. McAuliffe]], commander of the U.S. forces defending [[Bastogne]], refuses to accept demands for surrender by sending a one-word reply, "Nuts!", to the German command.
** The [[Vietnam People's Army]] is formed in [[French Indochina]].
* [[December 24]]
** WWII: Troopship {{SS|Léopoldville|1929|6}} is sunk in the [[English Channel]] by {{GS|U-486}}. Approximately 763 soldiers of the [[66th Infantry Division (United States)|U.S. 66th Infantry Division]], bound for the Battle of the Bulge, drown.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/history/leopoldville.htm|title=The Sinking of SS Leopoldville|publisher=uboat.net|access-date=2010-07-04}}</ref>
** WWII: German tanks reach the furthest point of the Bulge at [[Celles, Houyet|Celles]].
** WWII: Fifty German [[V-1 flying bomb]]s, air-launched from [[Heinkel He 111]] [[bomber]]s flying over the [[North Sea]], target [[Manchester]] in England, killing 42 and injuring more than 100 in the [[Oldham]] area.<ref name=CBH>{{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Alan|last2=Palmer |first2=Veronica|year=1992|title=The Chronology of British History|publisher=Century Ltd|location=London|pages=392–394|isbn=978-0-7126-5616-0}}</ref>
** WWII: [[List of massacres in Belgium|Bande massacre]]: 34 men between the ages of 17 and 32 are executed by the [[Sicherheitsdienst]] near Bande, [[Belgium]], in retaliation for the killing of 3 German soldiers.
** The first complete U.S. production of Tchaikovsky's ballet ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' is presented in [[San Francisco]], choreographed by [[Willam Christensen]]. It will become an annual tradition there, and for the next ten years, the San Francisco Ballet will be the only company in the United States performing the complete work.
* December 24–26 &ndash; [[Agana race riot]] in [[Guam]] between white and black [[United States Marines]].
* [[December 26]]
** WWII: American troops repulse German forces at [[Bastogne]].
** The original stage version of ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' by [[Tennessee Williams]] premieres in [[Chicago]].
** [[Esztergom]], [[Hungary]], is captured by Soviet forces, beginning the [[Siege of Budapest]].
* [[December 30]]
** King [[George II of Greece]] declares a regency, leaving his throne vacant.
** ''[[Stage Door Cartoon]]'' is the first cartoon produced by [[Eddie Selzer]].
* [[December 31]] &ndash; WWII: [[Battle of Leyte]] &ndash; Tens of thousands of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers are killed in action, in a significant Filipino/Allied military victory.