1807 – Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm, German writer (b. 1723)
1946 – Paul Langevin, French physicist (b. 1872)
1953 – Robert A. Millikan, American physicist (photoelectric effect; Nobel 1923), dies at 85
1967 – Alfred Courtens, Belgian sculptor, dies at 78
1991 – Joe Cole, American roadie (Black Flag, Rollins Band), shot and killed at 30
2003 – Roy Hughes, Baron Islwyn, British politician (L), dies at 78
2005 – Keith Duckworth, English mechanical engineer (Cosworth; b. 1933)
2008 – Carol Chomsky, American linguist and education specialist (b. 1930)
2020 – Pelle Alsing, Swedish drummer (Roxette – “Listen to Your Heart”), dies at 60
2021 – Sally Ann Howes, British-American stage and screen actress and singer (Brigadoon; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – “Truly Scrumptious”), dies at 91
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 19th December 2022
1154 – King Henry II of England crowned King of England
1562 – Battle at Dreux: Anne de Montmorency and huguenots under Condé captured
1859 – Grading started for Market Street RR in San Francisco
1862 – Skirmish at Jackson, Salem Church, Tennessee (80 casualties)
1917 – Quebec Bulldogs play their 1st professional hockey game
1919 – American Meteorological Society found
1969 – Beatle’s 7th Christmas fan-club single is released
1980 – Mutual Broadcasting cancels Sears Radio Theater
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.
2018 – First use of a drone to deliver vaccines – to island of Erromango, Vanuatu, by Unicef
Today in History for 19th December 2022
Historical Events
1835 – HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard arrives in New Zealand
1917 – 1st NHL game played on artificial ice in Toronto
1926 – National Football League Championship: Frankford Yellow Jackets (14-1-2) win first past the post title
1976 – Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev receives his 5th Order of Lenin
1980 – Anguilla becomes a British dependency separate from St Kitts
2016 – At least 48 people die after drinking bath lotion in Irkutsk, Siberia, thinking it contained alcohol
Famous Birthdays
1819 – James Clifford Veatch, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Elizabeth, Indiana (d. 1895)
1837 – John Carpenter Carter, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1864)
1861 – Italo Svevo, Italian writer (La Coscienza di Zeno), born in Trieste Austria (d. 1928)
1916 – Hal Hastings, American orchestra leader (Chevrolet on Broadway), born in NYC, New York (d. 1973)
1925 – Robert Sherman, songwriter (Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book), born in NYC, New York (d. 2012)
1957 – Doug Johnson, Canadian rock keyboardist (Loverboy – “Working For The Weekend”), born in Surrey, British Columbia
Famous Deaths
1815 – Robert Hudson, British tenor, organist, and composer, dies at 83
1933 – George Jackson Churchward, British mechanical engineer (Chief of Great Western Railway Chief, 1902-22), truck and killed by a Paddington to Fishguard express train at 76
1951 – Barton Yarbrough, actor (Dragnet), dies at 51
1998 – Antonio Ordóñez, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1932)
2002 – Will Hoy, English auto racer (British Touring Car C’ship 1991), dies from a brain tumour at 50
2017 – Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, American professional baseball player at 1st female pitcher to play in the Negro Leagues, dies from heart complications at 82
Famous Deaths for 18th December 2022
1894 – Erastus Flaval Beadle, American publisher (Beadle’s Dime Novels), dies at 73
1937 – Sandford Schultz, English cricket all-rounder (1 Test, 1 wicket, 20 runs; Cambridge University, Lancashire CCC), dies at 80
1980 – Alexei N Kosygin, Soviet PM (1964-80), suffers heart attack at 76
1991 – George Abecassis, English Formula 1 driver (b. 1913)
2002 – Wayne Owens, former U.S. Congressman (D-Utah) (b. 1937)
2006 – Daniel Pinkham, American organist, composer (Signs of the Zodiac) and educator (New England Conservatory), dies at 83
2008 – Jack Douglas, English actor (Carry On films), dies at 81
2011 – Václav Havel, Czech politician (President of Czechoslovakia, 1990-2, Czech Republic, 1993-2003), dies at 75
2016 – China Machado, Chinese-born model, 1st non-Caucasian super model, dies at 86
2017 – Jonghyun [Kim Jong-hyun], South Korean singer-songwriter, radio host, and author (SHINee), commits suicide at 27
Historical Events for 18th December 2022
1774 – Empress Maria Theresa expels Jews from Prague, Bohemia and Moravia
1902 – British parliament passes the Education Act, which will come to be regarded as the most important legislation of Arthur Balfour’s government
1932 – National Football League Championship; Playoff, Chicago Stadium: Chicago Bears beat Portsmouth Spartans, 9-0
1935 – Edvard Beneš becomes President of Czechoslovakia after Tomáš Masaryk retires
1962 – Ballon d’Or: Dukler Prague midfielder Josef Masopust wins award for best European football player; beats Benfica striker Eusébio and FC Köln defender Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
1963 – “The Pink Panther” film premieres, directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers and David Niven, with theme by Henry Mancini
1963 – Muskegon, Michigan gets 3′ of snow
1970 – Polish uprising fails
1976 – Soviet dissident Viktor Bukovskiexchanged for Chile CP-leader Corvalan
1978 – USSR performs underground nuclear test
Today in History for 18th December 2022
Historical Events
1869 – Canada’s Hamilton Football Club plays its 1st game
1962 – Ballon d’Or: Dukler Prague midfielder Josef Masopust wins award for best European football player; beats Benfica striker Eusébio and FC Köln defender Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
1969 – House of Lords votes to abolish the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland (Northern Ireland 25 July 1973)
1989 – “I Love Lucy” Christmas episode, shown for 1st time in over 30 years
1996 – The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring “Ebonics” a language or dialect.
2020 – US Vice President Mike Pence receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine live on TV
Famous Birthdays
1837 – Adolf Daens, Flemish priest, politician and founder of the Daensist movement, born in Aalst, Belgium (d. 1907)
1907 – Bill Holland, American auto racer (d. 1984)
1946 – Steven Spielberg, American director (ET, Close Encounters, Jaws), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1966 – Mille Petrozza, German singer (Kreator)
1983 – Ady Barkan, American lawyer and activist (Medicare for all)
1995 – Barbora Krejčíková, Czech tennis player (French Open singles 2021; French Open doubles 2018, 21; Wimbledon 2018, 22; US Open and Australian Open 2022; 3 x Australian Open mixed doubles), born in Brno, Czech Republic
Famous Deaths
1577 – Anna, Duchess of Saxony, German born 2nd wife of Prince William of Orange (divorced and imprisoned for adultery), dies at 32
1894 – Erastus Flaval Beadle, American publisher (Beadle’s Dime Novels), dies at 73
1911 – Alberto Randegger, Italian composer, dies at 79
1980 – Alexei N Kosygin, Soviet PM (1964-80), suffers heart attack at 76
1994 – Peter Hebblethwaite, English editor-in-chief (The Month), dies at 64
2020 – Tim Severin, British author and explorer who replicated historic voyages, dies at 80
Famous Deaths for 17th December 2022
1187 – Gregory VIII [Alberto de Morra], Italian Pope (1187), dies
1811 – John Antes, American composer and missionary, dies at 71
1857 – Francis Beaufort, Irish admiral and hydrographer (Beaufort wind force scale), dies at 83
1972 – Erwin Dressel, German composer, dies at 63
1978 – Don Ellis, American avant garde jazz trumpeter, and Grammy Award-winning film score composer (The French Connection), dies of a heart attack at 44
1987 – Marguerite Yourcenar, French-American novelist (Memoirs of Hadrian, The Abyss), dies at 84
1996 – Ruby Murray, Irish singer (“Heartbeat”; “Softly, Softly”), dies of liver cancer at 61
1996 – Elizabeth Hill, Russian-English teacher of Salvonic languages, dies at 96
1999 – Rex Allen, American singer-songwriter known as the “the Arizona Cowboy”, and actor (Frontier Doctor – “Dr. Baxter”), dies at 78
2019 – Karin Balzer, German athlete (Olympic gold 80m hurdles 1964; bronze 100m hurdles 1972), dies at 81
Historical Events for 17th December 2022
1819 – Congress of Angostura establishes Colombia’s independence from Spain
1885 – France declares Madagascar a protectorate
1946 – US V-2 rocket reaches 183 km, White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico
1970 – Workers returning to shipyard in Gdynia, Poland are met by soldiers who shoot at the crowd, killing at least 18, wounding hundreds
1970 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1971 – Radio Bangladesh begins transmitting
1977 – Elvis Costello and The Attractions 1st US TV appearance on “Saturday Night Live”
1983 – In his 352nd NHL game, Wayne Gretzky scores a goal and 5 assists in 8-1 rout of Quebec Nordiques to record his 800th point and 500th assist; averages 2.27 points, 1.42 assists, 0.85 goals per game to start career
1992 – “A Christmas Carol” opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 22 performances
2019 – Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf sentenced to death in absentia for high treason
Today in History for 17th December 2022
Historical Events
1819 – Congress of Angostura establishes Colombia’s independence from Spain
1961 – India seizes Goa and 2 other Portuguese colonies
1963 – West and East Berlin sign accord about travel rules
1971 – Cease fire between India and Pakistan in Kashmir
2012 – 10 girls collecting firewood are killed by a mine blast in east Afghanistan
2013 – Angela Merkel is elected Chancellor of Germany for a third term
Famous Birthdays
1900 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician, born in Aynho, United Kingdom (d. 1998)
1933 – Stefan Florenski, Polish soccer defender (11 caps; Górnik Zabrze), born in Gleiwitz, Poland (d. 2020)
1944 – Jack L[aurence] Chalker, American sci-fi author (Saga of Well World)
1969 – Chuck Liddell, American mixed martial artist
1971 – Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
1974 – Jeffrey “Duff” Goldman, American cake designer, TV personality (Ace of Cakes) and chef, born in Detroit, Michigan
Famous Deaths
1891 – Msiri, ruler of the Garanganze Kingdom, Congo (Katanga), dies in battle against Belgian funded expedition
1990 – Don Draper, American actor (Pepper Agent 00X), dies of AIDS at 61
1996 – Irving Caesar, American lyricist and theater composer (Tea for Two; Just A Gigilo; Sometimes I’m Happy; Animal Crackers In My Soup), dies at 101
2010 – Captain Beefheart [Don Van Vliet], American rock musician, complications from multiple sclerosis at 69
2013 – Leland Smith, American composer, bassoonist and computer coder who led music publishing into the digital age (SCORE), dies at 88
2020 – Stanley Cowell American jazz pianist (Heath Brothers), record label co-founder (Strata-East), and educator, dies from hypovolemic shock at 79
Famous Deaths for 16th December 2022
1774 – Francois Quesnay, French personal physician of Louis XIV, dies at 80
1790 – Ludwig August Lebrun, German composer, dies at 38
1949 – Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (Ben Hur), dies at 76
1994 – Mary Durack, Australian author and historian (Kings in Grass Castles and Keep Him My Country), dies at 81
1995 – Nina Verchinina, dancer choreographer/teacher, dies at 85
1997 – Lillian Disney, widow of animator Walt Disney, dies of a stroke at 98
2004 – Peter Coker, English painter, dies at 78
2005 – Enzo Stuarti [Scapone], Italian-American pop tenor (That’s A’Nice!), dies at 86
2011 – Nicol Williamson, Scottish actor (Excalibur), dies of esophageal cancer at 75
2011 – Robert Easton [Burke], American actor referred to as “The Man of a Thousand Voices” (Someone Up There Likes Me), dies at 81