Nothomyrmecia, the dinosaur ant, has the most primitive body structure among all living ants. First described by the entomologist John S. Clark in 1934, the genus's rediscovery in Poochera, South Australia, in 1977 attracted scientists from around the world. It nests in old-growth mallee and Eucalyptus woodlands. A medium-sized ant, Nothomyrmecia macrops measures 9.7–11 mm (0.38–0.43 in). Mature colonies are very small, with only 50 to 100 individuals. Workers are nocturnal, solitary foragers, collecting arthropod prey and sweet substances such as honeydew. The ants rely on their vision to navigate; there is no evidence that they use chemicals to help them forage. The queen produces just one generation of ants each year, and initially joins the workers in foraging. Colder temperatures aid the ants by inhibiting their competitors and predators, and climate change poses a threat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the genus as critically endangered. (Full article...)

Agnes Ballard

• ... that architect Agnes Ballard (pictured) once said she designed "apartments, residences and hot dog stands"?
• ... that a record-breaking solar storm of August 1972 is thought to have caused the spontaneous detonation of numerous U.S. Navy sea mines in North Vietnam?
• ... that Brenda Jones is serving in the Detroit City Council and US House of Representatives concurrently?
• ... that King's Cross St Pancras is the busiest station on the London Underground?
• ... that journalist Russ Conway became a hero to retired National Hockey League players for investigating pension fraud?
• ... that the police force of a town in Jalisco, Mexico, was disarmed in 2015 after their own officers ambushed the national police?
• ... that having fought in three wars and numerous battles, Yao Baoqian said the most tragic experience of his life was the Great Tangshan earthquake?
• ... that in the film Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha, 75-year-old Melvin Van Peebles plays himself, while his mother is 40 years younger than him, and his lover is young enough to be his granddaughter?

Christmas market in Strasbourg

• Nine people are killed when a high-speed train collides with a locomotive in Ankara, Turkey.
• French police kill the suspect in a shooting at the Christmas market (pictured in 2014) in Strasbourg, France, in which four people died.
• Scientists announce that Voyager 2 has left the heliosphere and entered interstellar space, becoming the second man-made object to do so.
• In South American association football, the Copa Libertadores concludes with River Plate defeating Boca Juniors in the finals.

December 15: Kingdom Day in Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten (1954); Zamenhof Day in Esperanto culture

Venera 7 descent vehicle

• 687 – Sergius was elected pope, ending the last disputed period of sede vacante during the Byzantine Papacy.
• 1791 – The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified.
• 1943 – World War II: American and Australian forces began the Battle of Arawe as a diversion before a larger landing at Cape Gloucester on New Britain.
• 1970 – The Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 (descent vehicle pictured) touched down on the surface of Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet.
• 2013 – The South Sudanese Civil War began when three opposition leaders voted to boycott the meeting of the National Liberation Council in Juba.

Arthur Dehon Little (b. 1863) · Vibert Douglas (b. 1894) · León Febres Cordero (d. 2008)