1650 – Johan de Witt installed as Dutch pension advisor of Dordrecht
1894 – Mackenzie Bowell becomes the 5th Prime Minister of Canada
1909 – Unitversity of Copenhagen rejects American Explorer Frederick A Cook’s claim that he was 1st to North Pole
1946 – “If the Shoe Fits” closes at Century Theater NYC after 20 performances
1970 – WUTV TV channel 29 in Buffalo, NY (IND) begins broadcasting
1975 – Davis Cup Men’s Tennis, Stockholm, Sweden: Home town hero Björn Borg beats Czech Jan Kodeš 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to give Sweden unassailable 3-1 lead; ends 3-2
1984 – USSR launches Vega 2 for fly-by of Halley’s Come
1995 – Martina Ertl of Germany wins her 3rd giant slalom world cup
2005 – Civil Partnership Act comes into force in the UK, with Elton John and David Furnish one of the first couples to form a same-sex civil union
2016 – Carl Icahn is announced as Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform, under President Donald Trump
Author: gil7
Today in History for 21st December 2020
Historical Events
1582 – Flanders adopts Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is Jan 1 1583
1946 – Morton Gould’s “Minstrel Show” premieres in Indianapolis
1962 – US and Cuba accord, releases bay of pigs captive
1972 – Soviet Union signs a separate peace with East Germany
1987 – Soyuz TM-4 launches 3 cosmonauts to space station Mir
1988 – Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov return to earth (a year) with Chretien
Famous Birthdays
1891 – John W. McCormack, American politician (D) Speaker of House (1962-70), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1980)
1915 – Werner von Trapp, Austrian singer (Trapp Family Singers), born in Zell am See, Austria (d. 2007)
1943 – Walter Spanghero, French rugby player, born in Payra-sur-l’Hers, France
1948 – Dave Kingman, American baseball player (Mets, NY Yankees, Giants), born in Pendleton, Oregon
1960 – Roger McDowell, American baseball pitcher (NY Mets, Baltimore Orioles), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1960 – Louis Demetrius Alvanis, English classical pianist, born in London, United Kingdom
Famous Deaths
1900 – Roger Wolcott, American political figure, 39th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1847)
1965 – Claude Champagne, Canadian composer, dies at 74
1974 – Richard Long, American actor (Prof-Nanny and the Professor), dies at 47
1997 – Bruce Woodcock, English boxer, European Heavyweight Champion, dies at 76
2017 – Wolfgang Ludewig, German composer, dies at 91
2019 – Sam Strahan, New Zealand rugby union lock (17 caps; Manawatū), dies at 74
Famous Deaths for 20th December 2020
1022 – Elvira Mendes, wife of Alfonso V of Castile (b. 996)
1073 – Domingo, Spanish monastery founder/abbot/saint, dies
1524 – Thomas Linacre, English scholar and physician
1749 – Pakubuwono II, susuhunan of Mataram Java, dies
1916 – Manuel Giro, Spanish composer, dies at 68
1941 – Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887)
1956 – Ramon Carrillo, Argentine neuroscientist and Public Health minister (b. 1906)
1993 – W Edwards Deming, US economist (helped Japan after WW II), dies at 93
1994 – J C “Jody” Bateman, fiddler, dies at 75
2006 – Shi Yuejun, Chinese serial killer
Historical Events for 20th December 2020
1669 – 1st jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for insurrection and sentenced to flogging, branding and slavery
1862 – -Jan 3rd] Vicksburg campaign
1918 – Eugene O’Neill’s “Moon of the Caribees” premieres in NYC
1920 – Bert Collins scores 104 on Test Cricket debut v England SCG
1956 – Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra
1970 – Edward Gierek succeeds Wladyslaw Gomulka as Poland’s communist party leader
1971 – First preview issue of “Ms” magazine is published in the US launched by Gloria Steinem
1984 – 33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in Yale library
1989 – US troops invade Panama and oust Manuel Noriega, but don’t catch him
2005 – New York City’s Transport Workers Union Local 100 goes on strike over pension and wage increases, shutting down all subway and bus services for three days
Today in History for 20th December 2020
Historical Events
1944 – Terence Rattigan’s “O Mistress Mine” premieres in London
1981 – Harry Krieger and Tom Eyen’s musical “Dreamgirls” opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 1522 performances
1983 – NY Islanders score their most goals (11) vs Pitts Penguins
1988 – Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa elected President of Sri Lanka
2002 – US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.
2002 – “Gangs of New York”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz, is released
Famous Birthdays
1890 – Yvonne Arnaud, French-born pianist, singer and actress (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre), born in Bordeaux, Gironde, Aquitaine, France (d. 1958)
1924 – Errol John, Trinidadian actor and playwright (A Man from the Sun, The Nun’s Story, Assault on a Queen), born in Port of Spain, Trinidad (d. 1988)
1951 – Gilbert Montagné, French musician, born in Paris, France
1956 – Blanche Baker, American actress, Carroll Baker’s Daughter (French Postcard), born in NYC, New York
1967 – Duncan Kennedy, American luger (Olympics 1994), born in Burlington, California
1972 – Scott Slutzker, American football tight end (Indianapolis Colts), born in Oakland, California
Famous Deaths
1539 – Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer
1991 – Thomas Newman, actor/composer (Cape Fear), dies of heart attack at 60
1991 – Andries D Copier, Dutch glass designer (Guild glass), dies
1998 – Irene Hervey, American actress (b. 1910)
2001 – Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese poet and 1st President of Senegal (1960-80), dies at 95
2019 – Junior Johnson, American auto racer and team owner (Daytona 500 1960; NASCAR Hall of Fame), dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 88
Famous Deaths for 19th December 2020
1751 – Louise of Great Britain, wife of Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1724)
1848 – Emily Brontë, English novelist (Wuthering Heights), dies of tuberculosis at 30
1932 – Yoon Bong-Gil, Korean activist (b. 1908)
1939 – Eric Fogg, English composer, dies under a train at 36
1951 – Barton Yarbrough, actor (Dragnet), dies at 51
1953 – Rudolf Leonhard, writer, dies
1959 – Walter Williams, claimed to be last survivor of Civil War, dies at 117
1966 – Ehm Welk [Thomas Trimm], German writer, dies at 82
1977 – Nellie Tayloe Ross, American politician and the 1st woman to serve as a governor (Wyoming, 1925-27), dies at 101
2012 – Robert Bork, American legal scholar/jurist, dies from heart disease at 85
Historical Events for 19th December 2020
1055 – Seldjuken under Toghril Beg occupy Baghdad
1686 – Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years (as per Daniel Defoe)
1777 – Washington settles his troops at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania for the winter
1928 – 1st autogyro flight in US
1945 – Austrian Republic re-establishes
1951 – Nazi General Christiansen leaves Netherlands
1978 – Indira Gandhi ambushed in India
1986 – Michael Sergio, who parachuted into Shea Stadium during game 6 of the World Series, sentenced to 100 hrs of community service and fined $500
1986 – “Platoon” directed by Oliver Stone and starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1987)
2014 – The Guardian newspaper calls 2014 ‘The year the people stood up’
Today in History for 19th December 2020
Historical Events
1551 – Dutch west coast hit by hurricane
1952 – Queen Juliana unveals statue “Docker”
1957 – “Music Man” opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 1375 performances
1986 – “Platoon” directed by Oliver Stone and starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1987)
1993 – “Red Shoes” closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 5 performances
2009 – Former Welsh and Lions captain Gareth Thomas is the first international rugby player to reveal he is gay
Famous Birthdays
1896 – John Seldon Whale, theologian
1926 – Jeanne Kirkpatrick, US ambassador to UN
1934 – Casper R. Taylor, Jr., American politician
1948 – Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player
1966 – Eric Weinrich, Roanoke, NHL defenseman (Chicago Blackhawks)
1967 – Frankie Lam, Hong Kong actor
Famous Deaths
1807 – Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm, German writer (b. 1723)
1813 – James McGill, Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, dies at 69
1867 – Jean-Georges Kastner, French composer, dies at 57
1989 – Dorothea “Stella” Gibbons, English journalist and author (Cold Comfort Farm), dies at 87
1996 – Yuli Borisovich Khariton, scientist, dies at 82
2005 – Vincent Gigante, Italian-American mafioso, dies at 77
Famous Deaths for 18th December 2020
1495 – Alphonso II, King of Naples (1494-95), dies at 47
1751 – Kilian I von Dientzenhofer, builder (Nepomukkerk, Prague), dies at 62
1865 – Francisco Manuel da Silva, composer, dies at 70
1919 – Horatio Parker, American organist and composer, dies at 56
1928 – Lucien Capet, French composer and violinist, dies at 55
1968 – Joan Tabor, American actress (Teenage Millionaire), dies at 36 after accidentally overdosing on influenza medication
1977 – Louis Untermeyer, American poet and critic (Immortal Poems, Story Poems), dies at 92
1991 – June Storey, Canadian-born American actress (South of the Border), dies of cancer at 73
2002 – Wayne Owens, former U.S. Congressman (D-Utah) (b. 1937)
2007 – Bill Strauss, American writer on generations, satirist, and founder of the Capitol Steps (b. 1947)
Historical Events for 18th December 2020
1832 – HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard reaches Tierra del Fuego for the first time
1900 – The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic.
1961 – Britain’s EMI Records originally rejects the Beatles
1964 – “The Pink Panther” cartoon series premieres (Pink Phink)
1970 – Polish uprising fails
1977 – Dutch Antilles: premier Boy Rozendal points independence off
1987 – Ivan F Boesky sentenced to 3 years for insider trading
1988 – Seattle Seahawks win their 1st ever division title with 9-7 record
1989 – “I Love Lucy” Christmas episode, shown for 1st time in over 30 years
2019 – US House of Representatives votes to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198)