1900 – A National Civic Federation is formed in the US to arbitrate labor disputes
1912 – 1st US postage stamp picturing an airplane, 20 cent parcel post, issued
1960 – “Wildcat” opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 172 performances
1965 – Gemini 6 returns to Earth
1974 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1975 – Bill Veeck buys 80% of MLB Chicago White Sox from John Allyn
1979 – Dallas QB Roger Staubach throws 3 TDs and 336 yards in his last NFL regular season game with the Cowboys, a 35-34 win over Washington Redskins at Texas Stadium
1990 – Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected President of Haiti
1997 – US President Bill Clinton names his Labrador retriever “Buddy”
2020 – Nine-year-old girl who died of an asthma attack in 2013 becomes first person in the world to officially have air pollution listed as cause of death
Author: gil7
Today in History for 16th December 2022
Historical Events
1826 – Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican controlled Nacogdoches, Texas and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.
1938 – State of California executes Ed Davis (38), leader of Folsom Prison escape attempt resulting in murder of warden and guard (San Quentin State Prison, Marin County)
1944 – US 2nd Infantry division occupies “Heartbreak Crossroads” Wahlerscheid
1950 – “Let’s Make an Opera” closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 5 performances
1991 – UN reverses ruling that Zionism is racism by 111-25 (13 abstain) vote
2016 – US State Department increases reward for information on Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to $25 million
Famous Birthdays
1742 – Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal (d. 1819)
1907 – Barbara Kent, Canadian actress (Lonesome, Flesh and the Devil), born in Gadsby, Alberta, Canada (d. 2011)
1916 – Udom Patpongsiri, Thai property developer (Father of the Thai sex industry), (d. 1996)
1945 – Bobby George, English darts player (BDO World C’ship 1980, 84 runner-up), born in Manor Park, Essex, England
1965 – Chris Jones, outfielder (NY Mets), born in Utica, New York
1988 – Anna Popplewell, English actress
Famous Deaths
714 – Pepin/Pippin II, of Herstal/Héristal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia and Duke and Prince of the Franks, dies
1670 – Dorothy, 1st English marquis of Halifax, dies
1993 – Charizma [Charles Hicks], American rapper, killed in a mugging at 20
1996 – Joe Coral [Joseph Kagarlitski], British bookmaker (Gala Coral Group), dies at 92
1997 – Richard Warwick, English actor (Johnny Dangerously, Sebastine, If), dies of AIDS complications at 52
2018 – John Ford Noonan, American playwright (A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking), dies at 77
Famous Deaths for 15th December 2022
1792 – Joseph Martin Kraus ‘the Swedish Mozart’, German born Swedish composer, dies at 36
1816 – Charles Stanhope, 3rd earl Stanhope, English radical politician and scientist, dies at 63
1826 – William Browser, American slave, executed in NYC for participating in the murder of two ship’s officers during a slave revolt on board the Decatur
1901 – Elias Álvares Lobo, Brazilian composer, dies at 67
1943 – Thomas “Fats” Waller, American jazz organist, piano player, singer and composer (“Ain’t Misbehavin'”; “Honeysuckle Rose”; “Hot Chocolate”), dies of pneumonia at 39
1947 – Arthur Machen, Welsh author (b. 1863)
1950 – Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian freedom fighter and statesman, dies at 75
1990 – Betty Warren British actress (Passport to Pimlico), dies at 83
2009 – Oral Roberts, American television evangelist and author (b. 1918)
2014 – Ray Steadman-Allen, British choral and brass band composer, dies at 92
Historical Events for 15th December 2022
1569 – Hunted by Queen Elizabeth I for treason in “The Rising of the North”, Charles Neville, Earl of Westmorland, escapes to Scotland.
1840 – Napoleon Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death
1863 – Romania’s mountain railway, from Anina to Oravita, opens
1944 – Hizbu’allah (Arm forces for Allah) forms
1965 – D Heneker and J Taylor’s musical “Charlie Girl” premieres in London
1980 – Premier Queddei troops conquers Chad capital N’djamena
1986 – CIA director William J. Casey suffers a cerebral seizure
2011 – ESPN and the NCAA extend their TV rights deal through 2023-24, giving the network worldwide multi-media rights to 24 NCAA championships for various sports; deal worth $500m
2017 – Anita Hill is appointed to lead a Hollywood commission on sexual harassment, spearheaded by Kathleen Kennedy
2020 – MacKenzie Scott announces she has given away more than $4 billion to 384 nonprofit organizations across the US
Today in History for 15th December 2022
Historical Events
1918 – American Jewish Congress holds its 1st meeting
1953 – WJHG TV channel 7 in Panama City, FL (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
1961 – Adolf Eichmann is sentenced to death for war crimes in Israel
1973 – American kidnap victim John Paul Getty III freed after ransom paid by oil tycoon grandfather John Paul Getty
1983 – 3 Kansas City Royals (Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, and Jerry Martin) suspended due to cocaine usage
2017 – Pakistani teenager Ahed Tamimi filmed slapping Israeli officers during protest, arrested 4 days later
Famous Birthdays
1860 – Niels Ryberg Finsen, Danish-Farosese physician and phototherapist (Nobel Prize for Medicine 1903 for treatment for Lupus), born in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands (d. 1904)
1888 – Artturi Leinonen, Finnish journalist and writer (Kati), born in Ylihärmä, Finland (d. 1963)
1892 – J. Paul Getty, American oil magnate and billionaire (Getty Oil), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1976)
1899 – Harold Abrahams, British athlete (Olympic gold 100m, silver 4x100m 1924; depicted in film “Chariots of Fire”), born in Bedford, England (d. 1978)
1930 – Edna O’Brien, Irish novelist and short story writer (Girl with Green Eyes, Casualties of Peace), born in Tuamgraney, County Clare, Ireland
1960 – Doug Phelps, American singer (Ky Headhunters – Davy Crockett), born in Leachville, Arkansas
Famous Deaths
1816 – Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz, Bohemian aristocrat and composer, dies at 44
1855 – Jacques Charles François Sturm, French mathematician (b. 1803)
1896 – John GR Acquoy, Dutch theologian and church historian, dies at 67
1952 – Potti Sreeramulu, Indian revolutionary known as the Father of Andhra for conducting a 56 day hunger strike in support of a separate Telugu-speaking state, fasts to death at 51, sparking rioting and 3 days later Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to declare an intention to form Andhra Pradesh state
1953 – Ed Barrow, American Baseball HOF manager (World Series 1918 Boston Red Sox) and executive (10 x World Series NY Yankees), dies at 85
2009 – Carolyn DeZurik, American country and polka singer and yodeler (The Cackle Sisters; Prairie Ramblers; The Polka Chips), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 14th December 2022
1136 – Harald IV, “Gylle Krist”, king of Norway, murdered at 33
1591 – St. John of the Cross [Juan de Yepes y Álvarez], Spanish Carmelite friar, poet and saint, dies at 49
1948 – R. O. Morris [Reginald Owen], British composer and music teacher, dies at 62
1951 – Coretté Alefred [Hardy], American-Russian-Soviet jazz, spiritual and pop lyrical and dramatic soprano, dancer, and actress, dies at 70
1959 – Lizzy Ansingh, Dutch painter (Cast Off), dies at 84
1966 – Emma Dunn, British-American stage, silent and sound film actress (Dr. Monica; Dr. Kildare (films); Hideaway), dies at 91
1990 – Hope Sansberry, American actress (Rats are Coming), dies at 94
2001 – (Secondo) “Conte” Candoli, American jazz, big band, and session trumpeter (Woody Herman; Stan Kenton; The Brothers Candoli; The Tonight Show, 1967-92), dies of prostate cancer at 74
2002 – Ruth Kobart [Kahn], American actor and singer (King’s Quest VII, Forum), dies at 78
2011 – Boris Chertok, Soviet and Russian rocket engineer, dies at 99
Historical Events for 14th December 2022
1575 – Polish Parliament selects Istvan Bathory as king of Poland
1914 – US President Woodrow Wilson signs Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, to regulate and tax production, importation, and distribution of opiates and coca products
1920 – Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in 12 for heavyweight boxing title in NYC
1954 – WOAY TV channel 4 in Oak Hill-Beckley, WV (ABC) begins broadcasting
1955 – 16 countries join the United Nations, including Austria, Finland, Italy, and Spain
1959 – The album “Time Out” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet is released, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and becomes the first jazz album to sell a million copies.
1960 – Washington Senators joins American League
1980 – Massacre at Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in Los Angeles with 3 people killed and 6 injured
1991 – Ferry boat Salem Express sinks in the Red Sea, 476 killed
2019 – Miss World won by Miss Jamaica Toni-Ann Singh in London. First time all five major beauty titles held by black women.
Today in History for 14th December 2022
Historical Events
1793 – 1st state road authorized, Frankfort, Kentucky, to Cincinnati
1849 – 1st chamber music group in US gives their 1st concert in Boston
1920 – Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in 12 for heavyweight boxing title in NYC
1977 – Dutch war criminal Pieter Menten sentenced in Amsterdam to 15 years
1978 – China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
1978 – “Ballroom” opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 116 performances
Famous Birthdays
1881 – Katherine MacDonald, American actress and film producer (Stranger Than Fiction, The Infidel), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1956)
1917 – June Taylor, American choreographer, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2004)
1941 – Ellen Willis, American journalist and feminist, born in NYC, New York (d. 2006)
1968 – Jamie Crysdale, CFL corner (Calgary Stampeders), born in Calgary, Alberta
1984 – Chris Brunt, Northern Irish footballer, born in Belfast
1985 – Nonami Takizawa, Japanese gravure idol and actress, born in Saitama prefecture, Japan
Famous Deaths
1077 – Agnes of Poitou, German Empress and wife of Emperor Henry III, dies at 52
1715 – Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, dies at 79
1760 – Kacic Miosic, Croatian poet (Razgovar Ugodni Naroda Slovinskoga), dies at 56
1788 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer, dies at 74
1914 – Giovanni Sgambati, Italian pianist and composer, dies at 73
1989 – Andrei Sakharov, Russian nuclear physicist and an activist for disarmament, peace and human rights (Nobel 1975), dies of a heart attack at 68
Famous Deaths for 13th December 2022
1466 – Donatello, Florentine artist and Renaissance sculptor, dies at around 80
1812 – Marianne Martinez, Austrian composer, dies at 68
1931 – Gustave le Bon, French psychologist (b. 1840)
1958 – Tim Moore, American actor (Amos ‘n’ Andy), dies at 71
1971 – Max Mell, Austria artillery officer and literary (Donauweibchen), dies at 88
1977 – Charles Petrie, British historian known for his study of royalism and Jacobitism (If: A Jacobite Fantasy), dies at 82
1991 – Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues, French writer (La marge), dies at 82
1992 – Robert Shone, British economist and director-general (NEDC), dies at 86
2010 – Richard Holbrooke, American diplomat (b. 1941)
2019 – Yasuhiro Takai, Japanese baseball first baseman, designated hitter and broadcaster (NPB record 27 career pinch-hit home runs; Hankyu Braves), dies of kidney failure at 74
Historical Events for 13th December 2022
1572 – Spanish army beats Geuzen fleet (confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles) under admiral Lumey
1920 – Francis G. Pease’s interferometer at Mount Wilson Observatory is the first to measure the diameter of a star – the Betelgeuse
1924 – KOA-AM in Denver CO begins radio transmissions
1928 – George Gershwin’s “An American In Paris” premieres at Carnegie Hall, NYC, performed by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Walter Damrosch
1936 – National Football League Championship, Polo Grounds, NYC: Green Bay Packers beat Boston Redskins, 21-6; Packers 4th title; Redskins move to Washington, D.C. for 1937 season
1961 – “The Young Ones” directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Cliff Richard, Robert Morley and Carole Gray premieres in London
1964 – In El Paso, Texas, LBJ and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion diverting Rio Grande, to reshape US-Mexico border
1966 – 1st battle for Bijlmer flats, Amsterdam
2014 – Two US soldiers killed in a Taliban bombing of a NATO convoy in Kabul
2017 – Scientists begin checking interstellar asteroid Oumuamua for signs of alien technology through radio signals (later studies conclude it a piece of sliced off planet)