1925 – José Ignacio Quintón, Puerto-Rican composer (El coquí; Requiem por Angel Mislán), dies at 44
1929 – Lemon Henry “Blind Lemon” Jefferson, American blues singer and guitarist, dies at 36
1941 – L M Dovator, Russian general, dies in battle
1990 – Basil Henson, actor (Change Partners), dies of stroke at 71
1996 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (8½; La Dolce Vita; Dark Eyes; The Pizza Triangle), dies of pancreatic cancer at 72
2003 – Peter Carter-Ruck, English lawyer (b. 1914)
2005 – Vincent Gigante, Italian-American mafioso, dies at 77
2008 – Carol Chomsky, American linguist and education specialist (b. 1930)
2008 – Dock Ellis, American MLB baseball pitcher, 1968-79, All-Star (Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, and 3 other teams), dies of liver issues at 63
2009 – Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Iranian dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah (b. 1922)
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 19th December 2023
1487 – Opening ceremony of the sixth Great Temple of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City) 4,000 prisoners of war are sacrificed to Aztec gods over four days
1642 – 4 of Abel Tasman’s crew killed at Wharewharangi (Murderers) Bay by Māori; Tasman’s ships depart without landing
1675 – King Philip’s War: Combined colonial millitias stake massive attack against the Great Swamp Fort, owned by the Narragansetts, totally destroying the settlement and killing or displacing hundreds of non-combatant women and children
1870 – After 31 days at sea in a small boat, William Halford and 3 others reach the island of Kauai, Hawaii to seek help for the shipwrecked USS Saginaw. A capsize in the breakers meant only Halford survived.
1974 – “The Man with the Golden Gun”, 9th James Bond film, starring Roger Moore, Britt Ekland and Christopher Lee, premieres in London
1975 – British guitarist Ron Wood joins the Rolling Stones
1980 – Comedy film “9 to 5” starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin is released
2001 – Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots – Riots erupt in Buenos Aires after Domingo Cavallo’s corralito measures restrict the withdrawal of cash from bank deposits.
2004 – World’s largest indoor water park Tropical Islands Resort, opens in the Aerium, an old airship hanger, in the world’s largest free-standing hall, south of Berlin, Germany
2007 – The Lakotah people, a Native American tribe, proclaim independence and withdraw all their treaties with the United States. Establish the Republic of Lakotah, as a separate country.
Today in History for 19th December 2023
Historical Events
1828 – Report by US Vice President John C. Calhoun defending the rights of states to nullify federal laws is presented to the South Carolina legislature but it takes no action
1942 – Robert Stroud, convicted murdered, transferred to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, where he becomes known as “Birdman of Alcatraz”
1986 – Jack Morris agrees to salary arbitration with former team Tigers and accuses owners of collusion against free agency
1988 – Unexploded WW II bomb found in Frankfurt, Germany-5,000 evacuated
2000 – Ballon d’Or: Real Madrid’s Portuguese midfielder Luís Figo is named best football player in Europe ahead of Juventus midfielder Zinedine Zidane and Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko
2023 – “Science” names anti-obesity medications that mimic the hormone GLP-1, containing semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro), their breakthrough of the year
Famous Birthdays
1817 – James Jay Archer, Brigadier General (Confederate Army) (d. 1864)
1894 – Paul Dessau, German orchestral, film, and theater composer and conductor (Adventures of Casanova; Deutsches Miserere; Never Trust a Woman), born in Hamburg, German Empire (d. 1979)
1929 – Herman T M Lauxtermann, Dutch 2nd chamber member (VVD)
1970 – Zac Foley, English rock bassist (EMF “Unbelievable”), born in Gloucester (d. 2002)
1975 – Jon Smith, British writer
1988 – Peter Winn, English footballer
Famous Deaths
1807 – Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm, German writer (b. 1723)
1819 – Thomas Fremantle, British naval officer, dies at 54
1938 – Stephen Warfield Gambrill, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland), dies at 65
1939 – Eric Fogg, English composer, dies under a train at 36
1993 – Anthonius AM “Ton” Kors, writer (Time of Anton de Lange), dies at 47
2005 – Vincent Gigante, Italian-American mafioso, dies at 77
Famous Deaths for 18th December 2023
1751 – Kilian Ignaz von Dientzenhofer, Bohemian Baroque architect (Nepomukkerk, Prague), dies at 62
1832 – Philip Freneau, American poet of the American Revolution (The American Village), dies at 80
1881 – George Edmund Street, English architect, dies at 57
1919 – Horatio Parker, American organist and composer, dies at 56
1930 – Clarence Kummer, American Racing HOF jockey (Preakness Stakes 1920, 25; Belmont Stakes 1920, 28; US Champion Jockey by earnings 1920), dies from pneumonia at 31
1974 – Harry Hooper, American Baseball HOF right fielder (World Series 1912, 15, 16, 18 Boston Red Sox), dies at 87
1982 – Ray Emery, New Zealand cricket all-rounder (2 Tests, 2 wickets, BB 2/52; Auckland, Canterbury), dies at 67
1990 – Paul Tortelier, French concert cellist, composer, and teacher, dies at 76
2000 – James Mitchell, American session baritone saxophonist (The Memphis Horns; Stax Records), dies at 69
2018 – David Austin, English rose breeder (Austin roses), dies at 92
Historical Events for 18th December 2023
1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the US constitution
1865 – 1st US cattle importation law passed
1900 – The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic.
1916 – Battle of Verdun, longest of World War I, officially ends in German defeat after nine months of fighting and almost 1 million total casualties
1963 – Ron Clarke runs world record 10k (28:15.6)
1971 – Three members of the Irish Republican Army die when the bomb they were transporting explodes prematurely in King Street, Magherafelt, County Derry.
1979 – Stuntman Stanley Barrett unofficially breaks the land speed record and the sound barrier in his three-wheeled vehicle the Budweiser Rocket (739.666 mph or Mach 1.01). The speed was never officially recorded and the attempt remains controversial.
1989 – “I Love Lucy” Christmas episode, shown for 1st time in over 30 years
1989 – Athol Fugard’s “My Children, My Africa” premieres in NYC
2012 – Canadian police begin arresting 17 people for ‘the Great Maple Syrup Heist’, for stealing 3,000 tonnes from a storage facility in Quebec
Today in History for 18th December 2023
Historical Events
1773 – A skirmish at Grass Cove in Queen Charlotte Sound results in the deaths of two Māori and nine members of James Cook’s expedition, New Zealand
1774 – Empress Maria Theresa expels Jews from Prague, Bohemia and Moravia
1980 – Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts minister Van Agts abortion laws
1997 – HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium
1998 – Romantic comedy film “You’ve Got Mail”, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, directed by Nora Ephron, and written by sisters Nora and Delia Ephron, is released
2020 – International body Covax, established to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to low and middle income countries, announces deals with vaccine manufacturers and method for countries to share excess vaccines
Famous Birthdays
1835 – Lyman Abbott, American theologian and author, born in Roxbury, Massachusetts (d. 1922)
1860 – Edward Alexander MacDowell, American composer (Indian Suite), born in New York (d. 1908)
1898 – Jacob Kruijt, Dutch sociologist (d. 1975)
1960 – Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korean prosecutor and President of South Korea (2022-), born in Seoul, South Korea
1971 – Joe Dziedzic, NHL left wing (Pitts Penguins), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
1987 – Miki Andō, Japanese figure skater
Famous Deaths
1894 – Erastus Flaval Beadle, American publisher (Beadle’s Dime Novels), dies at 73
1930 – Clarence Kummer, American Racing HOF jockey (Preakness Stakes 1920, 25; Belmont Stakes 1920, 28; US Champion Jockey by earnings 1920), dies from pneumonia at 31
1931 – Jack “Legs” Diamond, American gangster and bootlegger, murdered at 34
1971 – Aleksandr Tvardovsky, Russian poet and editor in chief (Novyj Mir), dies at 61
1992 – Charles Leatherland, Baron Leatherland, British journalist and Labour Party politician, dies at 94
2008 – Mark Felt, the infamous “Deep Throat”, American FBI official and whistle blower during the Watergate Scandal dies aged 95
Famous Deaths for 17th December 2023
1899 – Frederick “Freddy” Roberts, son of British field marshal, dies in battle
1917 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, 1st qualified woman physician in Britain, first woman mayor (Aldeburgh), dies at 81
1933 – Hans Vaihinger, German philosopher (Side-Studies), dies at 81
1933 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama, dies at 57
1957 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English novelist (The Nine Tailors), dies at 66
1973 – Charles Greeley Abbot, American astronomer (Solar Constant), dies at 101
1982 – Homer S. Ferguson, American politician (b. 1889)
2011 – Cesária Évora, Cape Verdean morna singer known as “the Barefoot Diva”, dies from respiratory failure at 70
2018 – Galt MacDermot, Canadian musician and composer (Hair), dies at 89
2022 – Elayne Jones, American classical timpanist and civil rights activist, dies at 94
Historical Events for 17th December 2023
1526 – Ferdinand of Austria chosen as King of Bohemia
1895 – George Brownell patents a machine to make paper twine (Mass)
1920 – British Empire receives League of Nations mandate over Nauru
1944 – San Francisco M-Ocean View streetcar resumes service and is extended to Market St
1965 – British government proclaims ends oil-embargo against Rhodesia
1970 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1971 – “Diamonds are Forever”, 7th James Bond film, last starring Sean Conner, also starring Jill St. John is 1st released in West Germany
1971 – Cease fire between India and Pakistan in Kashmir
1988 – NY Islanders break 12 game losing streak, beat Devils 5-2
2017 – Sebastián Piñera wins Chile’s presidential election run-off, returning to office after 4 years
Today in History for 17th December 2023
Historical Events
1807 – France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
1928 – John McGraw backs NL President John Heydler’s designated hitter idea
1941 – World War II: Beginning of the Siege of Sebastopol.
1978 – Referendum approves new constitution of Rwanda
1983 – The Provisional IRA bombs Harrods department store in London, killing six people and injuring 90
2020 – King Carl XVI Gustaf says Swedish authorities have failed in their response to COVID-19, criticizing the country’s controversial anti-lockdown strategy
Famous Birthdays
1847 – Émile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916)
1914 – Syed Mushtaq Ali, Indian cricketer (prolific batsman of 30’s and 40’s), born in Indore, British India (d. 2005)
1953 – Mark Gane, rocker (M+M), born in Toronto, Ontario
1961 – Sara Dallin, British musician (Bananarama), born in Bristol, England
1973 – Rian Johnson, American filmmaker (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Knives Out), born in Silver Springs, Maryland
1976 – Patrick Müller, Swiss footballer
Famous Deaths
1981 – Edwin Erich Dwinger, German writer (General Vlassov), dies at 83
1983 – Erik Christensen, NHL player
1991 – John Blatnik, (Rep-Minnesota, 1947-75), dies at 80
2009 – Dan O’Bannon, Screenwriter, after a short illness (b.1943)
2010 – Mary Tregear, British museum curator (Ashmolean) and Chinese art historian, dies at 86
2022 – Manuel Muñoz, Chilean soccer striker (26 caps; CSD Colo-Colo), dies at 94
Famous Deaths for 16th December 2023
875 – Ado of Vienne, French archbishop of Vienne, dies at about 75
1669 – Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician (b. circa 1608)
1921 – Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (Samson et Dalila; Organ Symphony), dies of a heart attack at 86
1944 – Philip Guedalla, English barrister and historian, dies at 55
1985 – Dick Pollard, cricketer (England fast-medium bowler 1946-48), dies
1985 – Paul Castellano, American organized-crime chief, shot dead at a NYC restaurant at 70
1994 – Mary Durack, Australian author and historian (Kings in Grass Castles and Keep Him My Country), dies at 81
2003 – Gary Stewart, American country singer (She’s Actin’ Single), commits suicide by shooting himself in the neck at 59
2006 – Taliep Petersen, South African singer and composer (b. 1950)
2021 – Taniela Moa, Tongan rugby union halfback (20 caps; Auckland Blues, Section Paloise RUFC), dies at 36