1822 – Ferenc Verseghy, Hungarian poet and composer, dies at 65
1831 – Paulus Roelof Cantz’laar, Dutch naval officer and colonial governor, dies at 60
1880 – Carlo Boncompagni di Mombello, Italian minister of Justice, dies at 76
1896 – John GR Acquoy, Dutch theologian and church historian, dies at 67
1939 – Tom McKibbin, Australian cricketer (5 Tests for Aust 1895-1898, 17 wkts), dies at 69
1971 – Paul Pierre Lévy, French mathematician (b. 1886)
1978 – Chill Wills, American actor (Frontier Circus, Rounders), dies at 75
2010 – Eugene Victor Wolfenstein, American political scientist (b. 1940)
2013 – Harold Camping, American evangelist and founder of Family Radio, dies at 92
2014 – Ray Steadman-Allen, British choral and brass band composer, dies at 92
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 15th December 2021
1582 – Leidse university names Rembert Dodoens professor of botany and medicine
1745 – Battle at Kesseldorf: Prussian force beats Saksen and Austria near Dresden
1868 – Shogunate rebels found Ezo Republic in Hokkaidō
1919 – Edna St Vincent Millay’s play “Aria da Capo” premieres in NYC
1969 – San Francisco Fire Department replaces leather helmets with plastic ones
1973 – American kidnap victim John Paul Getty III freed after ransom paid by oil tycoon grandfather John Paul Getty
1983 – Columbia flies to Kennedy Space Center via El Paso, Kelly AFB
1997 – “Spice World” movie directed by Bob Spiers and starring girl group the Spice Girls premieres in the UK
2011 – Former French President Jacques Chirac is convicted of diverting public funds, receives a two-year suspended prison sentence
2018 – Egyptian Archaeologists announce discovery of 4,400 year old tomb of Fifth Dynasty priest in Saqqara pyramid complex near Cairo
Today in History for 15th December 2021
Historical Events
1680 – Tax revolt on Terschelling due to tax on cereal
1791 – 1st US law school established at University of Pennsylvania
1936 – KVL-AM in Seattle Washington changes call letters to KEEN (now KING)
1967 – The Silver Bridge collapses over the Ohio River in the US, killing 46 people
2008 – 74th Heisman Trophy Award: Sam Bradford, Oklahoma (QB)
2018 – Egyptian Archaeologists announce discovery of 4,400 year old tomb of Fifth Dynasty priest in Saqqara pyramid complex near Cairo
Famous Birthdays
1842 – Henry Gadsby, English musician and composer, born in Hackney, England (d. 1907)
1853 – Jean Baptiste August Kessler, Dutch entrepreneur and director of oil on Dutch Indies, born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (d. 1900)
1899 – Frank Vosper, British actor (The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rome Express), born in London, England (d. 1937)
1937 – John Sladek, American sci-fi author (Tik-Tok, Bugs), born in Waverly, Iowa (d. 2000)
1948 – Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (For Your Eyes Only), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1991)
1950 – Stjepko Gut, Serbian jazz trumpeter, flügelhorn player, and teacher, born in Ruma, Yugoslavia (now Serbia)
Famous Deaths
1817 – Maria Walewska [Leszczinska], Polish lover of Emperor Napoleon I, dies at 31
1855 – Jacques Charles François Sturm, French mathematician (b. 1803)
1953 – Kishio Hirao, Japanese composer, dies at 46
1971 – Paul Pierre Lévy, French mathematician (b. 1886)
2005 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (3 PGA Tour titles), dies of heart failure at 90
2014 – Ray Steadman-Allen, British choral and brass band composer, dies at 92
Famous Deaths for 14th December 2021
1788 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer, dies at 74
1906 – Jean Abraham Chrétien Oudemans, Dutch geographer and astronomer, dies at 78
1965 – Hermann Sandby, Danish cellist and composer, dies at 84
1979 – Nirode Ranjan Chowdhury, Indian cricketer (2 Tests for India, avg 205), dies at 56
1989 – Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and dissident (Nobel 1975), dies at 68
1989 – Jock Mahoney [Jacques Joseph O’Mahoney], American actor and stuntman (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury), dies of a stroke at 70
1991 – Robert Eddison, British actor (Uncle Silas), dies at 83
1997 – Kurt Winter, Canadian musician (The Guess Who), dies of kidney failure at 51
2016 – Karel Husa, Czech-American Pulitzer prize winning composer (Trojan Women), dies at 95
2020 – Eric Freeman, Australian cricket fast bowler (11 Tests, 34 wickets, 2 x 50s; South Australia), dies from a heart attack at 76
Historical Events for 14th December 2021
872 – John VIII elected as Catholic Pope
1702 – The Forty-seven Ronin (leaderless samurai), under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master in Japan
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
1952 – R H Shodhan scores 110 on Test Cricket debut v Pakistan, Calcutta
1959 – Archbishop Makarios proclaimed president of Cyprus
1983 – Muscial “Peg” opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 5 performances
1988 – CBS’ $1.1 B bid wins exclusive 1990-94 major-league baseball rights
1995 – AIDS patient Jeff Getty receives baboon bone marrow transplant
2012 – Gene Wolfe wins the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
Today in History for 14th December 2021
Historical Events
1575 – Polish Parliament selects Istvan Bathory as king of Poland
1918 – Sinn Féin candidates win 73 of 105 Irish seats in UK general election, though all will refuse to take seats in Westminster, instead meeting at a Dail Eireann in Dublin
1969 – Jackson Five make their 1st appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”
1971 – U.S. premiere of “Nicholas and Alexandra”, film adaptation of Robert K. Massie’s best selling novel
2012 – 28 people, including 20 children, are shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut
2020 – US Electoral College votes 306-232 to officially affirm Joe Biden’s presidential election victory
Famous Birthdays
1915 – Ruth Railton, British musical director (National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, 1948-65), born in Kent, England (d. 2001)
1919 – Felix the Cat, anthropomorphic cartoon character created in the silent film era by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer
1950 – Vicki Michelle, English actress (Virgin Witch, Allo Allo), born in Chigwell, England
1964 – C. J. Snare, American vocalist (Firehouse-Love of a Lifetime), born in Washington, D.C.
1973 – Thuy Trang, Vietnamese-American actress (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), born in Saigon, Vietnam (d. 2001)
1977 – Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Colombian-Austrian conductor (Houston Symphony, 2014-22; Frankfurt Radio Symphony, 2005-2021), born in Medellín, Colombia
Famous Deaths
1799 – George Washington, American Founding Father, military leader who commanded Continental Army during War for Independence, first President of the United States (1789-97), dies at 66
1823 – Vincenzo Cuoco, Italian historian (Naples Revolution 1799), dies at 53
1906 – Jean Abraham Chrétien Oudemans, Dutch geographer and astronomer, dies at 78
1956 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Finnish politician (7th President of Finland 1946-56), dies at 86
1966 – Verna Felton, American actress (Hilda-December Bride), dies at 76
2015 – Lillian Vernon, American founder and CEO of the Lillian Vernon Corporation (first company listed on US stock exchange started by a woman), dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 13th December 2021
1404 – Albert I, Duke of Bavaria and third son of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, dies at 74
1862 – Conrad Feger Jackson, US Union brigadier general, dies in Battle of Fredericksburg at 49
1908 – Augustus Le Plongeon, French-American photographer and antiquitarian, dies at 83
1911 – Reggie Duff, Australian cricket batsman (23 Tests; 104 on debut), dies of alcoholism at 33
1980 – Harm van Riel, Dutch Liberal Party politician, dies at 73
1981 – Pigmeat [Dewey] Markham, American comedian (Here Comes da Judge-Laugh In), dies at 75
1992 – Bernard Drukker, Dutch pianist/orchestra leader (duivelswiel), dies
1993 – Charles JB Jonckheere, Flemish poet/writer: Ogentroost, dies at 87
2010 – Stuart “Woolly” Wolstenholme, British keyboardist and vocalist (Barclay James Harvest), commits suicide at 63
2019 – Richard G Hatcher, American attorney and politician (Mayor of Gary, Indiana, 1968-88), dies at 88
Historical Events for 13th December 2021
1861 – Battle of Alleghany Summit, West Virginia
1895 – First complete execution of Gustav Mahler’s 2nd Symphony
1913 – British foreign minister Sir Edward Grey proposes that southern Albania be divided between Greece and Albania with compensation to Greece in the Aegean islands
1939 – Battle of the River Plate – 3 British cruisers vs German pocket battleship Graf Spee
1941 – German occupiers forbid National Front and Netherland Union
1968 – Brazilian President Da Costa e Silva issues Ato Institucional Número Cinco degree
1970 – Greg Chappell scores 108 on Test debut v England at the WACA
1970 – Neil Simon’s “Gingerbread Lady” premieres in NYC
1989 – “Driving Miss Daisy” directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy is released (Best Picture 1990)
2018 – Passenger train collides with maintenance locomotive in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 9 and injuring 47
Today in History for 13th December 2021
Historical Events
1823 – Gioachino Rossini arrives in London
1983 – Islander’s Butch Goring scorings 4 goals against Oilers
1989 – “Driving Miss Daisy” directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy is released (Best Picture 1990)
2010 – 76th Heisman Trophy Award: Cam Newton, Auburn (QB)
2018 – US Senate passes non-binding “war powers resolution” against long-term ally Saudi Arabia
2018 – Passenger train collides with maintenance locomotive in Ankara, Turkey, killing at least 9 and injuring 47
Famous Birthdays
1835 – Phillips Brooks, American Episcopal bishop and composer (Little Town of Bethlehem), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1893)
1928 – Jack Tramiel, American Businessman (Amiga, Commodore 64), born in Łódź, Poland (d. 2012)
1938 – Alvin Curran, American composer, born in Providence, Rhode Island
1949 – Robert Lindsey, English actor (My Family, Citizen Smith), born in Ilkeston, England
1975 – Tom DeLonge, American guitarist (blink-182, Angels and Airwaves), born in Poway, California
2005 – Prince Nicolas of Belgium, twin and second child of Prince Laurent and Princess Claire of Belgium, born in St-Luc University Hospital, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
Famous Deaths
1716 – Charles de La Fosse, French painter (b. 1640)
1883 – Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (b. 1812)
1919 – Amintore Galli, Italian composer, dies at 74
1966 – Charles Watts, actor (Lone Ranger and Lost City of Gold), dies of cancer
1981 – Pigmeat [Dewey] Markham, American comedian (Here Comes da Judge-Laugh In), dies at 75
1986 – Heather Angel, British-American actress (Night in Montmartre; The Informer; The Last of the Mohicans; Lifeboat), dies of cancer at 77
Famous Deaths for 12th December 2021
1212 – Geoffrey, Archbishop of York and illegitimate son of King Henry II of England, dies at about 60
1817 – Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I of Ethiopia, (b. about 1751)
1821 – Phoebe Hessel, English woman who disguised herself as a man to serve in the British Army, probably to be with her lover, Samuel Golding, dies at 108
1938 – James McNeill, Irish politician, 2nd Governor-General of the Irish Free State, dies at 69
1951 – Mildred Bailey, American jazz singer (b. 1907)
1988 – John Canning, NY Post managing editor, dies at 56
1991 – Eleanor Boardman, actor (Crowd), dies in at 93
1993 – Mary Jarred, British mezzo-soprano and contralto singer (The Rake’s Progress), dies at 94
1999 – Joe Benner, American pistol shooter and coach (Olympic gold 1952; World C’ship gold 1949, 52, 54), dies at 82
2007 – Ike Turner, American musician (“Rocket 88”; Ike and Tina Turner – “A Fool in Love”; “Proud Mary”), dies of cocaine overdose at 76