1536 – English scholar Reginald Pole appointed cardinal
1940 – World War II: Himarë is captured by the Greek army.
1941 – Japan’s invasion leader lands on Luzon, Philippines
1952 – WSBA (now WPMT) TV channel 43 in York, PA (IND) begins broadcasting
1957 – KWRB (now KFNE) TV channel 10 in Lander-Riverton, WY (ABC) begins
1965 – Radio Mil (Domincan Republic) transmitter blown up
1974 – 2nd cease-fire between IRA and British; lasts until approx April 1975
1983 – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak meets with PLO leader Yasser Arafat
1988 – South Africa signs accord granting independence to South West Africa
1989 – Republic of Chad (Africa) adopts its Constitution
Author: gil7
Today in History for 22nd December 2021
Historical Events
1216 – Pope Honorius III delegates decree “Religiosam vitam eligentibus”
1923 – Bill Ponsford and Edgar Mayne make 456 opening stand for Vict
1939 – Finnish counter offensive at Petsamo
1947 – Italian constituent assembly adopts new constitution
1974 – Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb home of former UK Prime Minister, Edward Heath, just before announcing Christmas ceasefire
1983 – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak meets with PLO leader Yasser Arafat
Famous Birthdays
1819 – Franz Abt, German composer and choir conductor, born in Eilenburg, Germany (d. 1885)
1881 – Enver Pasa, Turkish politician, born in Istanbul, Turkey (d. 1922)
1903 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American biophysicist (Nobel 1967), born in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1983)
1905 – Pierre Brasseur [Espinasse], French actor (Eyes Without a Face, Children of Paradise), born in Paris, France (d. 1972)
1942 – Dick Parry, English session and touring rock saxophonist (Pink Floyd – “Money”), born in Kentford, Suffolk
1961 – Yuri Ivanovich Malinchenko, Russian cosmonaut (1st person to marry in space), born in Khrushchev, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Famous Deaths
1788 – Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (b. 1714)
1828 – William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist and physicist (famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium), dies at 62
1969 – Josef von Sternberg, Austrian-American director (Shanghai Express), dies at 75
1996 – Hetta Empson, South African-British artist, dies at 81
1997 – Juzo Itami, Japanese director, commits suicide at 64
2006 – Dennis Linde, American songwriter (b. 1943)
Famous Deaths for 21st December 2021
1907 – Oskar Lassar, German dermatologist (public baths), dies at 58
1984 – Judith Raskin, American soprano (Susanna-Le Nozze di Figaro), dies at 56
1995 – Robert Francis Vere Heuston, professor of law, dies at 72
1996 – Olga Maria Nicolis di Robilant, patron of the arts, dies at 96
1997 – Bruce Woodcock, English boxer, European Heavyweight Champion, dies at 76
1998 – Ernst Gunther Schenck, German doctor who joined the Sturmabteilung in 1933 {b. 1904)
1999 – John Arnatt, British actor (A Challenge for Robin Hood, Circumstantial Evidence), dies at 82
2004 – Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist, dies at 79
2012 – Lee Dorman, American rock bassist (Iron Butterfly; Captain Beyond), dies at 70
2014 – Sonia d’Artois, British Canadian WWII resistance agent, dies at 90
Historical Events for 21st December 2021
1864 – General Sherman conquers Savannah, Georgia
1900 – Gerhart Hauptmann’s play “Michael Kramer” premieres in Berlin
1919 – J. Edgar Hoover deports anarchists/feminist Emma Goldman to Russia
1941 – German submarine U-567 sinks
1948 – State of Eire (formerly Irish Free State) declares its independence
1975 – Madagascar adopts constitution
1975 – 1st NY Jet to gain 1,000 yards rushing (John Riggins)
1979 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1988 – Drexel agrees guilt to security felonies, pays a $650 million fine
2020 – US President-elect Joe Biden receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine live on TV
Today in History for 21st December 2021
Historical Events
1929 – Coco the Clown first appears for Bertram Mills Circus in Manchester, England
1937 – The first full-length animated feature film and the earliest in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre
1970 – Oregon v. Mitchell Supreme Court case was decided, lowering the minimum voting age in U.S. federal elections to 18. The voting age for state and local elections was left to states discretion
1972 – Soviet Union signs a separate peace with East Germany
1985 – Heart’s “Heart” album goes #1
2016 – Carl Icahn is announced as Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform, under President Donald Trump
Famous Birthdays
1872 – Sidney Ainsworth, British silent film actor (Not in the News, The Rajah’s Tunic), born in Manchester, England (d. 1922)
1892 – Amy Key Clarke, English mystical poet and writer, born in England, United Kingdom (d. 1980)
1909 – Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese mystery writer and journalist, born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan (d. 1992)
1914 – Ivan Generalić, Croatian painter, born in Hlebine, Croatia (d. 1992)
1933 – Huib Eversdijk, Dutch 2nd chamber member (CDA), born in Kapelle, Netherlands (d. 2012)
1977 – Emmanuel Macron, French politician, President of France (2017-), born in Amiens, France
Famous Deaths
1859 – Nicolaas Christiaan Kist, Dutch Reformed theologian and church historian, dies at 66
1890 – Niels Wilhelm Gade, Danish violinist, organist, composer, and conductor, dies at 73
1985 – Kamatari Fujiwara, Japanese film actor (Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo), dies of a heart attack at 80
1996 – Margaret E Rey, author of children’s books, dies at 90
2006 – Sydney Wooderson, English athlete dubbed “The Mighty Atom” (world record 1937), dies at 92
2014 – Billie Whitelaw, British actress (Omen, Adding Machine), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 20th December 2021
1073 – Domingo, Spanish monastery founder/abbot/saint, dies
1768 – Carlo Innocenzo Fragoni, Italian poet, dies at 76
1876 – Hannah Omish, at 12 is youngest ever hanged in US
1937 – Erich Ludendorff, German general during World War I, dies of liver cancer at 72
1954 – James Hilton, English author (Lost Horizon), dies at 54
1989 – Audrey Christie, American actress (Splendor in the Grass, Fair Exchange), dies at 77
1996 – Carl Sagan, American scientist, astronomer, author, (Contact), dies at 62
1997 – Denise Levertov, American poet and essayist (Joy Beneath the Skin), dies at 74
2009 – Arnold Stang, American comedian and actor (Broadside, Milton Berle, Top Cat), dies at 91
2019 – Yuri Pshenichnikov, Soviet soccer goalkeeper and coach (19 caps; FC Pakhtakor Tashkent, CSKA Moscow), dies at 79
Historical Events for 20th December 2021
1600 – Ottario Rinuccini and Giulio Caccini’s opera “Euridice” published
1918 – Eugene O’Neill’s “Moon of the Caribees” premieres in NYC
1973 – Montreal Canadien Henri Richard scores his 1,000th NHL point
1973 – Dutch Antillean government of Evertsz forms
1974 – George Harrison releases his “Dark Horse” album in UK
1974 – Ethiopia becomes socialist one-party state
1975 – Joe Walsh recruited to join Eagles
1975 – Pope Paul VI named J Willebrands archbishop of Utrecht
1987 – 76th Davis Cup: Sweden beats India in Gothenburg (5-0)
1992 – Northwest and KLM introduce a new joint logo “Worldwide Reliability”
Today in History for 20th December 2021
Historical Events
1862 – -Dec 20th] Battle of Kelly’s Ford, VA
1917 – Cheka formed – Soviet state security force and forerunner to the KGB, under Felix Dzerzhinsky after decree by Lenin
1941 – Free France under adm Muselier occupies St-Pierre et Miquelon
1949 – Maurice Ravel and John Cranko’s ballet “Beauty and the Beast” premieres
1963 – “Contempt” film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Brigitte Bardot and Jack Palance, is released
1966 – Nuclear Planning Group forms in Brussels
Famous Birthdays
1729 – Franz Xaver Thomas Pokorny, Czech composer, born in Městec Králové (d. 1794)
1894 – Robert Menzies, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (United Australia Party: 1939-41, Liberal: 1949-66) and its longest-serving, born in Jeparit, Victoria (d. 1978)
1902 – George Edward Alexander Windsor, Duke of Kent, born in York Cottage, United Kingdom (d. 1942)
1925 – Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer, born in Buggiano, Italy (d. 2007)
1963 – Pam Casale, American tennis player (Marco Island finals 1985), born in Camden, New Jersey
1983 – Adrián Varela, Mexican singer, born in Culiacán, Mexico
Famous Deaths
1812 – Sacagawea, Shoshone interpreter for the Lewis and Clark expedition, dies at 24
1936 – Baron De Borchgrave, Belgian ambassador, murdered in Madrid
1962 – Erik William Gustav Leidzen, Swedish American composer, dies at 68
1994 – J C “Jody” Bateman, fiddler, dies at 75
2015 – Patricia Elliott, American actress (Renee-Empire, One Life to Live), dies at 77
2017 – Bernard Francis Law, Disgraced American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (1982-2002), dies at 86
Famous Deaths for 19th December 2021
1810 – Johann Heinrich Egli, composer, dies at 68
1991 – Paul Maxwell, Canadian actor (Aliens, City of Fear, Freedom to Die), dies at 70
1996 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (8½, La Dolce Vita; Dark Eyes, The Pizza Triangle), dies of pancreatic cancer at 72
2000 – Roebuck “Pops” Staples, American gospel singer (The Staple Singers), dies at 85
2010 – Anthony Howard, English Journalist (b. 1934)
2012 – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli military leader, dies from cancer at 68
2015 – Douglas Dick, American actor and psychologist (Rope, Waterfront), dies at 95
2017 – Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, American professional baseball player at 1st female pitcher to play in the Negro Leagues, dies from heart complications at 82
2019 – Shahdon Winchester, Trinidadian soccer winger (27 caps; Murciélagos), dies in a traffic collision at 27
2020 – Rosalind Knight, British stage and screen actress (Friday Night Dinner – “Horrible Grandma”), dies at 87
Historical Events for 19th December 2021
1795 – 1st state appropriation of money for road building, Kentucky
1887 – Jake Kilrain and Jem Smith fight 106 round bare knuckle draw
1900 – General Horatio Kitchener offers protections to all Boers who will surrender and asks the Dutch community of Pretoria to convey this offer, leaders in the field refuse to surrender
1918 – Robert Ripley began his “Believe It or Not” column (NY Globe)
1949 – WJW TV channel 8 in Cleveland, Ohio (CBS) begins broadcasting
1973 – “Molly” closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 68 performances
1988 – NASA unveils plans for lunar colony and manned missions to Mars
1991 – 6,000th episode of One Life To Live
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
2018 – US President Donald Trump announces victory over the Islamic State and planned withdrawal of US troops from Syria