Dec. 1, 1950

OU athletes Merrill Gee, Russ Gorman, Jim Spencer and Dick Christie appear on KMTV quiz show, “Penny Auction” dressed in OU uniforms different from the sports in which they compete, trying to stump a woman contestant

Dec. 1, 1947

OU regents approve building of fieldhouse

Big Nine Commissioner Tug Wilson is featured speaker at banquet honoring 1947 football team.

Dec. 1, 1960

The nationally renowned U.S. Army Air Defense Command choral group sings at a special university convocation.

Dec. 2, 1951

A panel of four graduates in downtown retailing posts speak to members of OU's Retailing Club.

Dec. 2, 1954

Washington University of St. Louis Head Football Coach Carl Snavely — "The Gray Fox" — addresses the University Quarterback Club's football banquet at Fontenelle Hotel.

Dec. 2, 1997

UNO radio station KBUL hosts three local bands at Saddlecreek Bar.

Dec. 3, 1934

Five members of Indian Committee appointed by Gateway visit the Omaha Indians in Macy, Neb., to collect lore and traditions

Dec. 3, 1962

OU participates in first national Tele-Lecture Conference, 1962

Dec. 3, 2005

Women’s soccer team wins national championship 

Dec. 3, 2011

Led by 26 points from Mitch Albers, the UNO men's basketball team records its first victory over an NCAA Division I team while playing as a D1 team, beating Northern Illinois 77-72.

Aircraft Manufacturer Glenn L. Martin dies, leaves $100,000 to university via will

Dec. 4, 1957

Nebraska Gov. Victor Anderson is feature speaker during Nebraska Association of College and Universities, held at OU.

Dec. 5, 1941

OU basketball team opens its season against Chihuahua Teachers college in Chihuahua, Mexico; later play West Texas Teachers and No. 1-ranked Phillips 66 Oilers

Dec. 5, 1949

Texas Athletic Director and former NU Football Coach Dana X. Bible featured speaker at OU’s 3rd annual football banquet

Dec. 5, 1955

Vandals hit OU campus, slashing a total of 26 tires on 12 student cars

Dec. 6, 1935

Omaha physician Dr. Aaron McMillan addresses members of the Pre-Med Club to speak on "Tropical Medicine," based on his experiences in Africa.

Dec. 6, 1960

OU has open viewing of a 40-minute film "that features graphic accounts of the injustices suffered by the people of that country at the hands of community military forces." Film was loaned to OU by the Hungarian Students Organization of the United States.

Dec. 6, 1970

Folk group the Youngbloods ("Get Together") perform in Fieldhouse for about 3,000 concertgoers.

Stanton Salisbury, a member of the univeristy's first graduating class and a Navy chaplain, survives strafing of car during attack on Pearl Harbor. Also a World War I vet who survived the Battle of the Argonne Forest, he goes on to become rear admiral and U.S. Navy’s eighth chief of chaplains. See more.

Dec. 7, 1973

Conservative author Russel Kirk speaks on “The Future of Conservatism” in Student Center ballroom.

Dec. 7, 1981

Women's Resource Center and Student Social Work Organization of UNO hosts discussion, "Nuclear Arms Freeze Campaign," in student center."

Dec. 8, 1962

OU football team defeats East Central Oklahoma 34-21 in All-Sports Bowl, 1962

Dec. 9, 1955

OU student Carolyn Nevins murdered while waiting for a bus to take her home from campus

Dec. 9, 1959

OU President Milo Bail attends an Air Force ROTC conference at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.

Dec. 9, 1960

Arnold Air Society and Angels Flight hosts a Toys for Tots Dance, part of the first Toys for Tots campaign on campus.

Dec. 9, 1992

Stephen Covey, author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," speaks at Peony Park Ballroom in appearance sponsored by the UNO College of Continuing Studies.

Dec. 10, 1937

Dr. L.C. Wimberly, English professor at the University of Nebraska and editor of the Prairie Schooner literary magazine speaks in auditorium.

Dec. 10, 1954

1934 graduate Thresa Clark elected vice president of Nebraska State Education Association

Dec. 10, 1959

OU's Public Affairs Institute hosts 27 government and quasi-government representatives forming the Metropolitan Area Discussion group to address urban-rural growing pains.

Dec. 10, 1965

Timothy Adebayo, vice president of the OU Geography Club and a native Nigerian, speaks on "The Geography of Nigeria" at the club's monthly meeting.

Dec. 10, 2004

UNO Marching Mavs receive notice they will perform at President George Bush's inauguration day parade Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C.

Dec. 11, 1935

German newspaperman Karl Klein speaks to International Relations club concerning the “Hitlerite regime in Germany.” He had been employed with the Omaha Daily Tribune and was to take over publication of a German weekly in Buffalo, N.Y.

Dec. 11, 1942

Graduate and faculty member William H. Durand, head of aeronautics instruction at OU, announces plans for a “flying wing” plane for army reconnaissance and civilian use

Dec. 11, 1956

Members of the OU Women's Recreation Association host a Christmas party for 41 homeless children at the Creche Home.

Dec. 12, 1951

Washington University Football Coach Howie Odell addresses OU Football Banquet

Dec. 12, 1956

Cleveland quarterback Otto Graham addresses OU Quarterback Club Football Banquet

Dec. 13, 1866

OU founding president Daniel Jenkins born, in Flintshire, England

Dec. 13, 1948

Chicago Tribune Sports Editor Arch Ward, originator of pro baseball all-star game, Golden Gloves tournament, is main speaker at football banquet

Dec. 13, 1953

"Lupe” Joe Arenas finishes season with the San Francisco 49ers as the NFL’s leading kickoff returner with a 34.4-yard average (551 yards on 16 returns)

Dec. 13, 1966

OU President Leland Traywick announces resignation

Dec. 14, 1934

University of Omaha Regents approve purchase of complete library of Tabor College (Iowa)

Dec. 15, 1948

American Chemical Society hosts a mixer for university and high school chemistry students at OU. Meeting includes displays of chemical instruments and a film, "Bikini Island."

Dec. 15, 1952

Tom Townsend begins duties as executive secretary of OU Alumni Association.

University of Omaha Choral Union presents "The Messiah," leading more than 1,200 singers from throughout Nebraska and Iowa in Omaha's City Audiotirum. The production concluded nearly two years of rehearsals. Noted opera baritone Reginald Werrenwrath. It was broadcast over WOW radio. They repeat the feat the following year, this time incorporating 1,300 singers and assisted by the Bach Quarter of Chicago. Fox Movietone of Chicago sent a sound unit to make "sound pictures" of a few of the choruses. It was thought to be the largest "Messiah" Chorus in the country.

Dec. 17, 1955

University begins “Operation Booklift” involving the movement of 104,000 volumes from the basement stacks in Arts & Sciences Hall to the new Gene Eppley Library

Dec. 18 1971

Barbara Brillhart becomes first woman commencement speaker

Dec. 18, 1989 

Former UNO standout Brad Beckman, a tight end with the Atlanta Falcons, is killed in an auto accident. 

Dec. 18, 1998

UNO's Bethsaida Project, chosen by AMC Oakview 24 Theater and DreamWorks Pictures, hosts first of two showings of Steven Spielberg's animated feature film, "Prince of Egypt." Said project director Richard Freund: "UNO was chosen because no other program in Nebraska has contributed more to the study of the Bible than Bethsaida."

Dec. 19, 1955

Eugene C. Eppey donates $850,000 to OU, the largest gift ever made to the university

Dec. 19, 1968

UNO President Kirk Naylor hosts the Omaha University choir in a "From the President's Office" performance on KYNE-TV.

Dec. 19, 1988

The UNO Chamber Chori takes part in the CBS Radio Network's "Cavalcade of Christmas Music" that airs on KKAR. The tradition dates to 1927 and involves eight university choirs performing Christmas classics. UNO presented a 24-minute collection of "Come Dear Children," "A Cradle Hymn" and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear."

Dec. 20, 1963

Independent Student Association members forge through snow to put “Santa hoods” on 956 parking meters

Dec. 20, 1974

Pulitzer Prize recipient and author James Michener inaugurates the ABC (Academy, Business, Community) Speaker Series debuts with speaker

Dec. 20, 1974

Omaha Mayor Ed Zorinsky dresses as Santa Claus as part of the UNO Graduate Student Association Christmas party to entertain more than 150 senior citizens and orphans in the student center ballroom.

Dec. 21, 1916

Alumni committee chooses red and black as school colors

Dec. 21, 1959

Glen Haven Farm -- Allwine Prairie -- deeded to university by Arthur Allwine.

Dec. 21, 1986

UNO music department awards its first Master of Music degree to Peggy Horracks, a coloratura soprano whose specialization was in voice with an emphasis on performance

Dec. 22, 1944

Death of Rev. Walter N. Halsey, the university's first dean. He also taught mathematics, history and psychology.

Dec. 22, 1973

Dr. Harlan Cleveland, president of the University of Hawaii, receives honorary doctor of letters degree and delivers commencement address in UNO Fieldhouse, speaking on "The Limits of Obsession."

Dec. 23 1930

Nebraska Supreme Court approve Municipal University of Omaha, 1930

Dec. 23, 1950

OU students present "A Dicken's Christmas" radio drama on KFAB.

Dec. 24, 1958

OU President Milo Bail and his wife host a Christmas party for staff and non-faculty members and their spouses in the student conference center.

Dec. 24, 1988

UNO College of Education Professor G. Wayne Glidden dies of a heart attack in Bangkok, Thailand, while with a team of Americans working on an educational project for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He, his wife and their family of five children had lived in Kabul, Afghanistan, from 1974 to 1977 as he taught at Kabul University.

Dec. 25, 1923

Sigma Chi Omicron holds a Christmas dance at the Blackstone Hotel.

Dec. 25, 1934

Herbie Lowe and his South Dakota band perform for the Pi Omega Pi's host Christmas dance at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

Dec. 26, 1954

OU football team leaves Omaha by plane for New Year's night Tangerine Bowl game against Eastern Kentucky State in Orlando, Fla.

Dec. 26, 1974

UNO Chancellor Ron Roskens and 193 others, including students, faculty and staff, leave Omaha for a 10-day tour of the Soviet Union.

Dec. 27, 1971

Students, faculty and staff depart for London and Athens to begin study in first year of the UNO/UNL-sponsored European Study Tour.

Dec. 28, 1953

National service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega hosts more than 100 outstate delegates at a three-day sectional convention at Offutt Air Force Base.

Dec. 29, 1933

Sociology department Chair Dr. Earl T. Sullenger elected secretary-treasurer of the Alpha Kappa Delta national honorary sociological society at its national meeting in Cincinnati, making OU national headquarters of the society.

Dec. 29, 1954

More than 30 students depart on a bus for Orlando to watch the New Year's Day Tangerine Bowl game between OU and Eastern Kentucky State.

Dec. 30, 1936

Dr. V. Royce West, head of the department of foreign languages, addresses the American Association of Teachers of Journalism at St. Louis.

Dec. 31, 1997

At a special session of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, members approve the sale of 140 acres at the north end of Aksarben to First Data Resources. As part of the purchase, FDR agrees to donate half the land to UNO, which planned to build its new College of Information Science and Technology on the site.

Dec. 31, 2005

UNO students join other university students for Pascagoula, Miss., to help with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.