Blast Corps is an action video game for the Nintendo 64, released worldwide on December 22, 1997, in which the player uses vehicles to destroy buildings in the path of a runaway nuclear missile carrier. Through the game's 57 levels, the player solves puzzles by moving objects and bridging gaps with the vehicles. The game was developed at Rare by a small team of recent graduates over the course of a year. They were inspired, in part, by the puzzle elements of Donkey Kong (1994). Nintendo published and released Blast Corps to critical acclaim in March 1997 in Japan and North America, with a wider release at the year's end. The game received several editor's choice awards and Metacritic's second highest Nintendo 64 ratings of 1997, but sold below the team's expectations at one million copies. Reviewers praised the game's originality, variety, and graphics, but some critiqued its controls and repetition. Reviewers of the 2015 Rare Replay retrospective compilation noted Blast Corps as a standout title. ( Full article...)

• ... that the bells of St Stephen's in Ealing (belfry and spire pictured) caused complaints, were later moved to the Docklands, and were finally installed in St Machar's Cathedral in Aberdeen?
• ... that Danish actor Caspar Phillipson has played President John F. Kennedy in the film Jackie (2016), the short film The Speech JFK Never Gave (2017), and live performances of Kennedy's speeches?
• ... that fungi can become resistant to benzimidazole fungicides in two to four seasons?
• ... that Victoria Yar Arol was one of 20–30 children of a Dinka tribal chief?
• ... that the first test flight of the TD2N Gorgon target drone ended in a crash due to a failure of the aircraft's radio control?
• ... that J. P. Crawford was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies major league baseball team with the expectation of eventually superseding Jimmy Rollins?
• ... that the Macdonald hotspot may have formed numerous volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean as well as the Macdonald seamount, which may become an island in the future?
• ... that a silverback gorilla sat on Hilary Swarts' head?

• Sebastián Piñera is elected President of Chile for a second time.
• In the United States, an Amtrak Cascades passenger train derails in DuPont, Washington, killing three people and injuring more than seventy others.
• Incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández (pictured) is declared the winner of the Honduran presidential election, with the Organization of American States calling for a new vote amidst widespread irregularities.
• The United States Federal Communications Commission votes to repeal Title II net neutrality rules.
• The Walt Disney Company announces its intention to buy most of 21st Century Fox's entertainment divisions, valued at roughly $52.4 billion.

December 22

• 856 – An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.9 struck the eastern Alborz mountains of Persia, causing 200,000 deaths.
• 1769 – Having been soundly defeated in battle, the Qing dynasty agreed to terms of truce, ending the Sino-Burmese War.
• 1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel (pictured), connecting New York City to Weehawken, New Jersey, opened.
• 1987 – The Zimbabwe African National Union and Zimbabwe African People's Union agreed to merge, bringing an end to the Gukurahundi, the suppression of predominantly Ndebele civilians by the 5th Brigade.
• 1997 – Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquished the disputed title of President of Somalia.

John Newbery (d. 1767) · Frank B. Kellogg (b. 1856) · Peggy Ashcroft (b. 1907)