1674 – Edward Hyde 1st earl of Clarendon, English PM (1660-67), dies at 65
1793 – Yolande de Polastron, Duchess de Polignac, French aristocrat, dies at 44
1814 – Jose Angel Lamas, Venezuelan composer, dies at 39
1925 – Eugène Gigout, French organist (St Augustin de Paris, 1863-1925), and composer (10 pièces pour orgue), dies at 81
1930 – Rube Foster, American Baseball HOF manager and executive (Negro National League pennant 1920–22, 26; Chicago American Giants), dies from insanity at 51
1957 – Carswell Adams, sportscaster (Your Sports Special), dies
1974 – Jorge Croner de Vasconcelos, Portuguese composer, dies at 64
1982 – Paul Godwin, Polish-Dutch violinist, dies at 80
1998 – Archie Moore, American light-heavyweight boxing champion (1952-60), dies at 84
2014 – José Feghali, Brazilian concert pianist (Van Cliburn Gold Medalist, 1985), takes his own life at 53
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 9th December 2023
1854 – Alfred Tennyson’s poem “Charge of the Light Brigade” is published in “The Examiner”
1899 – Boer War: During Siege of Ladysmith, Boers storm King’s Post and Caesar’s Camp – driven back
1907 – Gustav Mahler departs Vienna for America
1951 – West German voters approve merger of 3 states to form Baden-Wurttemberg
1968 – The Derry Citizen’s Action Committee (DCAC) calls for a halt to all marches and protests for a period of one month
1974 – Dow Jones index hits 570.01
1985 – SF 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice begins NFL streak of 274 consecutive games with a reception in a 27-20 loss to LA Rams at Candlestick Park
1990 – Houston scores most points against Cleveland, Oilers 58, Browns 14
2006 – Jigme Singye Wangchuk, King of Bhutan abdicates the throne
2018 – Winter storm hits US south east killing three, leaving hundreds of thousands without power, cancelling over 1,000 flights
Today in History for 9th December 2023
Historical Events
1856 – The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.
1907 – First Christmas Seals sold (Wilmington, Delaware, post office)
1958 – Robert W. Welch Jr and 11 other men meet in Indianapolis to form the conservative and anti-Communist John Birch Society
1961 – “Let It Ride” closes at Eugene O’Neill Theater NYC after 68 performances
1970 – OPEC meeting in Caracas establishes 55 percent as minimum tax rate and demands that posted prices be changed to reflect changes in foreign exchange rates
1973 – Sunningdale Agreement in Northern Ireland
Famous Birthdays
1717 – Johann Winckelmann, German archaeologist (History of Ancient Art), born in Stendal, Prussia (d. 1768)
1901 – Carol Dempster, American actress, born in Duluth, Minnesota (d. 1991)
1933 – Milt Campbell, American decathlete (Olympic gold 1956), born in Plainfield, New Jersey (d. 2012)
1954 – Jack Sonni, American guitarist (Dire Straits, 1985-88), born in Indiana, Pennsylvania (d. 2023)
1957 – Donny Osmond, American singer (Osmond Brothers, Donnie and Marie), born in Ogden, Utah
1958 – Rikk Agnew, American guitarist (The Adolescents), born in Newport Beach, California
Famous Deaths
1437 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1410-37), dies at 70
1971 – Ralph Bunche, American diplomat, UN delegate and 1st person of color to win the Nobel Peace Prize (1950), dies at 67
1975 – William A. Wellman, American director (Ox Bow Incident), dies at 79
1982 – Joey Forman, American actor (Sid Caesar Show, Joey Bishop Show), dies at 53
1996 – Anne Bolt, photo-journalist and trade unionist, dies at 84
2007 – Thore Skogman, Swedish entertainer, dies at 76
Famous Deaths for 8th December 2023
1854 – George Cayley, English inventor who founded science of aerodynamics (built 1st glider to carry a person), dies at 80
1870 – Thomas Brassey, English civil engineering contractor, dies at 65
1982 – Kenneth Goncalves, Suriname deacon and pro-democracy advocate murdered by the military
1982 – Frank Wijngaarde, Suriname journalist and pro-democracy advocate murdered by the military
1991 – (Wilbur) “Buck” Clayton, American jazz trumpet player (Count Basie; Billie Holiday; Lester Young), and bandleader, dies at 80
1994 – Antônio Carlos Jobim [Tom Jobim], Brazilian singer-songwriter and composer (Getz/Gilberto), dies from pulmonary embolism at 67
1995 – Carl Marsden, bodyguard, dies at 36
2000 – Marvin Leath, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas’s 11th district), dies at 69
2018 – Rosanell Eaton, American voting rights advocate, dies at 97
2021 – Jacques Zimako, French soccer forward (13 caps; Saint-Étienne, Sochaux, Bastia), dies at 69
Historical Events for 8th December 2023
1941 – US and Britain declare war on Japan, US enters World War II
1955 – Black Ealing comedy “The Ladykillers”, directed by Alexander Mackendrick and starring Alec Guinness is released in the UK
1961 – Larry Costello scores 32 consecutive pts without a miss (NBA rec)
1970 – Head of the Catholic Church in Ireland Cardinal William Conway publishes a pamphlet on the topic of segregation in education in Northern Ireland
1973 – Romanian tennis star Ilie Năstase wins his 3rd consecutive season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix title with a 6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win over Dutchman Tom Okker in Boston, Massachusetts
1978 – Commencement of the 1st day/night World Series Cricket supertest at VFL Park, Melbourne
1982 – “Herman Van Veen: All of Him” opens at Ambassador NYC for 6 performances
1987 – US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty eliminating medium range nuclear missiles
1992 – Spacecraft Galileo makes its second and closest flyby of Earth at a minimum distance of 305 km for a gravity assist on its way to Jupiter
2019 – Vienna State Opera stages its first show by a female composer in 150 years – Olga Neuwirth’s opera, “Orlando”
Today in History for 8th December 2023
Historical Events
1710 – Battle of Brihuega in the War of the Spanish Succession: British General James Stanhope captured by French and Spanish forces
1921 – Eamon de Valera publicly repudiates Anglo-Irish Treaty
1974 – Irish Republican Socialist Party forms
1991 – Charles Strouse and Richard Maltby, Jr’s musical “Nick and Nora” opens at Marquis Theater, NYC; runs for 9 performances
1993 – 30 killed at religious rebellion in Algeria
2022 – Iran announces first known execution of a protester from recent anti-government unrest, after convicting a man in a revolutionary court of “moharebeh” (enmity against God)
Famous Birthdays
1715 – Jan Althuysen, Frisian vicar and poet (Frisianche rymlery), born in Franeker, Netherlands (d. 1763)
1888 – Paul Cavanagh, British actor (The Woman in Green, Tarzan and his Mate), born in Chislehurst, England (d. 1964)
1894 – E. C. Segar, American cartoonist (Popeye), born in Chester, Illinois (d. 1938)
1941 – Geoff Hurst, English soccer striker (49 caps; FIFA World Cup 1966; West Ham United 411 games, Stoke City), born in Ashton-under-Lyne, England
1947 – Gregg Allman, American Hammond organist, guitarist and vocalist (The Allman Brothers Band – “Whipping Post”), born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 2017)
1982 – Chrisette Michele [Payne], American RandB and soul singer-songwriter (“Be OK”; “Epiphany”), born in Central Islip, New York,
Famous Deaths
1967 – Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., 1st African-American astronaut and U.S. Air Force major, dies in a crash of an F-104 Starfighter while training at 32
1982 – Frank Wijngaarde, Suriname journalist and pro-democracy advocate murdered by the military
1990 – Martin Ritt, American actor and director (The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, Slugger’s Wife, End of the Game), dies at 76
1994 – Israel Aaron Maisels, South African lawyer and communal leader, dies at 89
2019 – Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street (1969-2018), dies at 85
2021 – Lars Høgh, Danish soccer goalkeeper (8 caps; OB 603 games) and GK coach (Denmark, Brøndby IF), dies from pancreatic cancer at 62
Famous Deaths for 7th December 2023
1383 – Wenceslaus, Duke of Brabant, dies
1793 – Joseph Bara, French revolutionary (b. 1780)
1839 – Jan August Vitasek, Bohemian composer working in Prague, dies at 69
1938 – Harry Moses, cricketer (6 Tests for Australia 1887-95), dies
1979 – Mari Andriessen, Dutch sculptor (Dock Worker), dies at 82
1985 – Robert Graves, English writer and poet (King Jesus), dies at 90
1992 – Ruth Corbett Thom, dies after long illness at 78
2004 – Frederick Fennell, American conductor (Time and Winds), dies at 90
2018 – Belisario Betancur, Colombian politician, President of Colombia (1982-86), dies at 95
2020 – Chuck Yeager, American test pilot who was the 1st man to break the sound barrier, dies at 97
Historical Events for 7th December 2023
1876 – NY Mutuals and Philadelphia A’s expelled from NL for not completing sked
1889 – W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s comic opera “The Gondoliers” premieres at the Savoy Theatre, London
1941 – Adolf Hitler issues “Nacht und Nebel Erlass” (Night and Fog Directive), against anti-Nazi resistance fighters in occupied territories; targets sent to concentration camps and/or murdered
1968 – Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 launched into Earth orbit
1972 – Apollo 17 launched, the final manned lunar landing mission where the crew takes the famous “blue marble” photo of the entire Earth
1988 – 6.9 earthquake in Spitak, Armenia kills 25,000-50,000 people and leaves up to 500,000 homeless
1991 – A J Kitt, US, wins World Skiing Cup
1992 – Galileo spacecraft passes North Pole of Moon (Peary Crater)
2018 – Comedian Kevin Hart steps down as 2019 Oscars host after his history of homophobic statements is revealed
2020 – Bob Dylan sells his entire songwriting catalog of more than 600 songs to the Universal Music Publishing Group for over $300 million
Today in History for 7th December 2023
Historical Events
1724 – Tumult of Thorn – religious unrest was followed by the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (Toruń) by Polish authorities.
1902 – Britain and Germany issue an ultimatum to Venezuela demanding that President Cipriano Castro pay claims for damages caused during his takeover of the government in 1899
1931 – After scoring 226 in 1st Test in Brisbane, Don Bradman belts 219 for NSW against the visiting South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground
1932 – 1st gyro-stabilized vessel to cross Atlantic arrives in NY
1971 – An off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment is shot dead by members of the Irish Republican Army in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
2017 – Unrest in West Bank and Gaza, schools closed and a general strike in response to America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
Famous Birthdays
1869 – Frank Laver, Australian cricket medium pace bowler (15 Tests, 37 wickets, BB 8/31) and baseball player (first Australian national team), born in Castlemaine, Australia (d. 1919)
1909 – Jacob Kainen, American painter and curator, born in Waterbury, Connecticut (d. 2001)
1924 – Bent Fabric [Fabricius-Bjerre], Danish pianist and composer (Alley Cat), born in Frederiksberg, Denmark (d. 2020)
1971 – Stephanie D’Abruzzo, American actress, puppeteer (Avenue Q; Sesame Street), and cabaret singer, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1979 – Jennifer Carpenter, American actress (Debra Morgan-Dexter), born in Louisville, Kentucky
1987 – Aaron Carter, American singer, rapper and songwriter, born in Tampa, Florida (d. 2022)
Famous Deaths
1870 – Mykhailo Verbytsky, Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest and composer (Prostachka; The State Anthem of Ukraine), dies at 55
1917 – [Aloysius] Ludwig Minkus, Austrian violinist, and ballet composer (St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, 1871-86; La Bayadère), dies at 91
1990 – Peter Mieg, Swiss composer, dies at 84
1990 – Horst Bienek, German writer and director (The First Polka), dies at 60
2018 – Belisario Betancur, Colombian politician, President of Colombia (1982-86), dies at 95
2019 – Denis Lalanne, French sports journalist (‘Le grand combat du XV de France’; ‘Rugbymania: French flair attitude’), dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 6th December 2023
1598 – Elbertus Leoninus, Dutch lawyer/politician, dies at about 78
1746 – Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (b. 1665)
1779 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter, dies at 80
1959 – Len Doyle, American actor (Harrington-Mr District Attorney), dies at 66
1973 – Justus Hermann Wetzel, German composer, dies at 94
1984 – Ruth Cummings, actress (Daybreak, Dream of Love), dies at 90
1985 – Burleigh Grimes, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1931 St. Louis Cardinals; NL wins leader 1921, 28; NL strikeout leader 1921 Brooklyn Robins, Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at 92
1993 – Prof Wolfgang Paul, German physicist (Nobel 1989), dies at 80
1997 – Eliot Daniel, American composer (I Love Lucy theme), dies at 89
2000 – Werner Klemperer, German-American Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actor (Judgment at Nuremberg; Hogan’s Heroes – “Col. Klink”), dies of cancer at 80