Irish actor Peter O’Toole, who captivated audiences with performances that showcased his versatility in roles ranging from classical drama to contemporary farce during a seven-decade stage and screen career, died at age 81. [Test your knowledge of famous actors.]

A mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, left 20 children and 6 adults dead.

Philadelphia, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, had its world premiere; it was the first major Hollywood film to address the AIDS crisis, and Hanks won an Oscar for his performance. [Take our film buff quiz.]

Wilma Mankiller became the first woman ever to serve as chief of a major Native tribe when she was sworn in as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. [Test your knowledge of Native American history.]

British punk rock band the Clash released its breakthrough album, London Calling. [How much do you know about musical groups?]

The convention establishing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development was signed by 18 European countries, the United States, and Canada. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about world organizations.]

Roald Amundsen—traveling with 4 companions, 52 dogs, and 4 sledges—became the first explorer to reach the South Pole. [Read about the ill-fated explorer who was second to reach the South Pole.]

George VI, who became king of the United Kingdom on December 11, 1936, following the abdication of the throne by his brother Edward VIII, was born. [Take our kings of England quiz.]

George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, died at age 67. [Did George Washington really say, “I can’t tell a lie”?]

The Casket Letters, found to be damaging to the career of Mary, Queen of Scots, were produced at Westminster before a body of English commissioners appointed by Queen Elizabeth I. [Test your knowledge of the queens of England.]

Nostradamus, an astrologer, physician, and the most widely read seer of the Renaissance, was born in Saint-Rémy, France. [Was Nostradamus a gifted seer? Or just skilled at being vague and cryptic?]

Adrian II was elected Roman Catholic pope. [How much do you know about popes?]