Author: gil7

Historical Events

1926 – Detective novelist Agatha Christie mysteriously disappears for 11 days
1961 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1973 – Pioneer 10 passes Jupiter (1st fly-by of an outer planet) [Dec 4-GMT]
1979 – Shadow Traffic begins broadcasting in the New York City metropolitan area.
1982 – 77°F highest December temperature ever recorded in Cleveland, Ohio
2019 – Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announce they are stepping down from roles at parent company Alphabet, Sundar Pichai to become head of both

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Famous Birthdays

1483 – Nicolaus von Amsdorf, German reformation theologist, born in Torgau, Saxony (d. 1565)
1857 – Joseph Conrad, Polish-English novelist (Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness), born in Berdychiv, Poland (d. 1924)
1883 – Anton (Friedrich Wilhelm) von Webern, Austrian 12-tone composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1945)
1973 – Francisco Islas Rueda [Super Crazy], Mexican pro wrestler (WWE; NJPW, Zero-1, AJPW), born in Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico
1978 – Trina [Katrina Laverne Taylor], American rapper (Glamorest Life), born in Miami, Florida
1985 – Amanda Seyfried, American actress (Mamma Mia, The Dropout), born in Allentown, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1765 – Lord John Sackville, English politician (MP Tamworth 1734-47) and cricketer (Kent CCC), dies at 52
1960 – Hermann Stephani, German organist, and musicologist, dies at 83
1976 – Mary Nash, actress (Philadelphia Story, Till the Clouds Roll By), dies at 91
1993 – Lewis Thomas, biologist, dies of cancer at 80
1997 – Violet Carlson, American Broadway actress (The Student Prince), dies at 97
2017 – John B. Anderson, American politician and 1980 Republican presidential candidate, dies at 95

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Historical Events

1907 – Association of Football Players’ and Trainers’ Union (English Professional Football Players’ Association) is formed by Charlie Roberts and Billy Meredith in Manchester, England
1972 – “Via Galactica” closes at Uris Theater NYC after 7 performances
1985 – NFL quarterback legends Dan Marino and John Elway (Denver Broncos) face each other for the first time, a 30-26 win for Marino’s Miami Dolphins (390 yards and 3 TDs)
1988 – STS-27 Atlantis launched (Secret military mission)
1988 – UN votes 151-2 (Israel and US) to move PLO debate to Geneva, Great Britain abstains
1990 – US 69th manned space mission STS 35 (Columbia 11) launches into orbit

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Famous Birthdays

1868 – Francis Jammes, French poet and writer (Jammisme), born in Tournay, Hautes-Pyrénées, France (d. 1938)
1902 – Horace Hildreth, American politician (Gov-Maine, 1945-49) and U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (1953-57), born in Gardiner, Maine (d. 1988)
1910 – Bob Newson, South African cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 4 wickets; Transvaal; Rhodesia), born in Sea Point, Cape Province, South Africa (d. 1988)
1960 – Rick Savage, English bass player (Def Leppard-Hysteria, Rock of Ages), born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
1962 – Kardam, Prince of Turnovo, eldest son of King Simeon II of Bulgaria and his wife Doña Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela, born in Madrid, Spain (d. 2015)
1968 – Lucy Liu, American actress (Ally McBeal), born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York

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Famous Deaths

537 – Saint Silverius, Italian Pope (536-37) till deposed in March 537, starves to death in exile
1552 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Catholic missionary (b. 1506)
1748 – Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, English politician, dies at 86
1814 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher and writer (Justine) and where the words sadism and sadist are derived from, dies at 74
1888 – Franz Xaver Witt, German church musician, composer, and priest, dies at 54
2005 – Van Tuong Nguyen, Australian drug smuggler (hanged) (b. 1980)

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Historical Events

1824 – US House of Representatives begins to decide outcome of election deadlock between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (Adams wins)
1974 – South Africa is awarded the Davis Cup tennis title after India refuses to travel to South Africa for the final in protest of the South African government’s apartheid policies
1984 – American tennis icon Chris Evert wins her 1,000th career professional match; beats Pascale Paradis of France 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 in the round of 16 at the Australian Open; Evert goes on to win the event
1989 – Romanian 5-time Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Nadia Comăneci arrives in NYC requesting political asylum to the United States; granted
1994 – Jim Bakker, American televangelist and convicted fraud is released from jail
2015 – After finishing the season with the largest payroll in MLB history at $298.3 million, the Los Angeles Dodgers are assigned the largest luxury tax bill ever, $43.7 million

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Famous Birthdays

1945 – Ross Edwards, Australian cricket batsman (20 Tests @ 40.37, top score 170no; 9 ODIs), born in Perth Western Australia
1954 – Bob Goen, American TV host (Wheel of Fortune, Entertainment Tonight), born in Long Beach, California
1955 – Pat Spillane, Irish Gaelic football left half forward and broadcaster (8 x All Ireland titles; Kerry), born in Templenoe, County Kerry, Ireland
1971 – Rob Waldrop, American College Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle (Outland Trophy 1993 Arizona; CFL, Toronto Argonauts), born in Atlanta, Georgia
1976 – Konerak Sinthasomphone, Jeffrey Dahmer’s victim, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1988 – Zoë Kravitz, American actress (Big Little Lies), daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz, born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

660 – Eligius [Eloy], French patron saint of horses, goldsmiths and metalworkers who as bishop of Tournay-Noyon spent 20 years converting the pagan population of Flanders to Christianity, dies at around 72
1925 – Vicente Arregui Garay, Spanish composer, dies at 54
1958 – Patricia “Boots” Mallory, American dancer and actress (Handle With Care), dies from chronic throat disease at 45
1970 – Frank Smailes, English cricket all-rounder (1 Test; 8 County C’ships, Yorkshire), dies at 60
1984 – Roelof Frankot, Dutch painter (b. 1911)
2019 – Shelley Morrison, American actress (General Hospital, Will and Grace), dies at 83

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Historical Events

1886 – First commercially successful AC electric power plant opens, Buffalo, NY
1924 – National Football League Championship: Cleveland Bulldogs (7-1-1) [formerly Canton] win first past the post title
1956 – 1st use of videotape on TV (Douglas Edwards and the News)
1981 – NY Yankee Dave Righetti wins AL Rookie of Year Award
2009 – Canada begins its recovery from the recession; economic growth is at 0.4% after 14 months of economic stagnation
2017 – World’s longest recorded rainbow – 8 hrs 58 min in Taipei’s Yangmingshan mountain range

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Famous Birthdays

1726 – Jacques Aliamet, French etcher and engraver, born in Abbeville, France (d. 1788)
1828 – Jedediah Hotchkiss, American topographer and cartographer, born in Windsor, New York (d. 1899)
1890 – John Tasker Howard, American composer and music historian, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1964)
1968 – Des’ree [Desirée Annette Weeks], English singer (“Feel So High”; “You Gotta Be”; “Life”)
1971 – Heath Davis, New Zealand cricket bowler (NZ open v England 1994), born in Wellington, New Zealand
1981 – Rich Harden, Canadian baseball player

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Famous Deaths

1864 – John Adams, US Confederate brigadier general, dies in the Battle of Franklin at about 39
1967 – Patrick Kavanagh, Irish screenwriterr (Great Hunger), dies
1985 – Phil Tucker, American film director (Robot Monster), dies at 58
1993 – Bob Wolf, agent (New Kids on the Block, Larry Bird), dies
2010 – Peter Hofmann, Czech-born German operatic tenor (b. 1944)
2021 – Ray Kennedy, English soccer midfielder, forward (17 caps; Arsenal, Liverpool), dies from Parkinson’s disease at 70

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