Author: gil7

Historical Events

1947 – Chic Cards beat Philadelphia Eagles 28-21 in NFL championship game
1973 – US President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law
1981 – Warner-Elektra-Atlantic raises price of 45 records from $1.68 to $1.98
1984 – TV soap “Edge of Night” ends 28 year run
1984 – Creosote bush determined to be 11,700 years old

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Famous Birthdays

1738 – Thaddaus Ferdinand Lipowsky, German composer, born in St. Martin im Innkreis, Duchy of Bavaria (d. 1767)
1842 – Calixa Lavallee, Canadian composer (O Canada), born in Verchères, British Province of Canada (d. 1891)
1908 – Lew Ayres, American actor (All Quiet on Western Front; Holiday; Dr Kildare (films); Johnny Belinda), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1996)
1938 – Dick Sudhalter, American jazz trumpeter, and writer, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2008)
1970 – Elizabeth McIntyre, Miss West Virginia (1996), born in Dunbar, West Virginia

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Famous Deaths

1793 – Louis earl of Bylandt, Dutch admiral, dies at about 75
1949 – Hervey Allen, American writer and poet (Anthony Adverse), dies at 60
1999 – Clayton Moore, American actor (The Lone Ranger), dies at 85
2001 – William X. Kienzle, American novelist (b. 1928)
2020 – Fou Ts’ong, Chinese-British concert pianist, dies of COVID-19 at 86

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Historical Events

1943 – Montgomery discusses Operation Overlord (D-day landings) with Eisenhower and Bedell Smith
1979 – Sire Records releases “Pretenders”, the debut album of The Pretenders, in US
1981 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1983 – Propane gas fire devastated 16 blocks of Buffalo
1995 – Australian cricketer David Boon completes his 21st Test Cricket century (110 v SL, MCG)

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Famous Birthdays

1911 – Anna Russell, English music satirist and composer, born in London, England (d. 2006)
1918 – Gale Cleven, American WWII pilot (100th Bomb Group), portrayed by Austin Butler in “Masters of the Air”, born in Lemmon, South Dakota (d. 2006)
1950 – Jack van Gelder, Dutch sport commentator and TV presenter (football commentator in “Aunt Rita’s Feast”), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1971 – Duncan Ferguson, Scottish soccer striker (7 caps; Everton 230 games, Newcastle Utd) and manager (Everton 2019, 22), born in Stirling, Scotland
1973 – Wilson Cruz [Echevarría], American stage and screen actor (My So Called Life; Party of Five), born in Brooklyn, NYC

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Famous Deaths

1737 – William Bowyer, English printer to the Royal Society, known as ‘the learned printer’, dies at 38
1923 – Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect who designed and built the Eiffel Tower, dies at 91
1955 – Alfred Carpenter, English Royal Navy soldier, dies at 74
1957 – Alan Bridge, actor (Hail the Conquering Hero), dies at 66
1999 – Bernard Chacksfield, British Air Vice-Marshal, dies at 86

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Historical Events

268 – Saint Dionysius, Roman Pope (259-260), dies
1825 – Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins [O.S. 14 December]
1979 – Soviet special forces take over the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan
1993 – Antonov-26 crashes in Gyumri, Armenia, killing 36 people
2012 – China opens the world’s longest high speed rail route from Beijing to Guangzhou

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Famous Birthdays

1820 – Gustavus Adolphus Smith, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania (d. 1885)
1837 – George Dewey, American admiral, naval hero in Battle of Manila Bay, born in Montpelier, Vermont (d. 1917)
1855 – Arnold Mendelssohn, German composer, born in Ratibor, Province of Silesia (now Poland) (d. 1933)
1945 – John Walsh, American activist and television host (America’s Most Wanted), born in Auburn, New York
1948 – Chris Chambliss, American baseball first baseman (MLB All Star 1976; World Series 1977, 78 NY Yankees; AL Rookie of the Year 1971 Cleveland Indians), born in Dayton, Ohio

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Famous Deaths

1530 – Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur, Timurid founder and 1st Emperor of the Mughal dynasty in the Indian Subcontinent (1526-30), dies at 47
1918 – Bertram Luard-Selby, British organist and composer, dies at 65
1974 – Farid al-Atrash [El-Atrache], Syrian composer, musician, virtuoso oud player, and actor (Akher kedba), dies of heart disease at 59
1980 – (John) “Peck” Kelley, American jazz pianist and bandleader (Peck’s Bad Boys), dies from complications of Parkinson’s disease at 82
1997 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek philosopher and economist, dies at 75

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Historical Events

274 – Roman Emperor Aurelian dedicates a temple to Sol Invictus in Rome, on supposed day of the winter solstice, fulfilling vow made during campaign in Palmyra
1818 – First known Christmas carol, “Silent Night, Holy Night” (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht’), is sung in Austria
1921 – Last major Potlatch (ceremony) by Chief Daniel Cranmer (Kwakwaka’wakw) from Alert Bay, British Columbia. Twenty-six people arrested, their masks and regalia sold by Canadian government.
2012 – 27 people are killed after an Antonov An-72 plane crashes near Shymkent, Kazakhstan
2016 – Russian military defence plane crashes into the Black Sea after takeoff from Sochi airport, killing all 92 on board

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Famous Birthdays

1932 – Mabel King (née Washington) American stage and screen actress and singer (What’s Happening!!; The Wiz), born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 1999)
1938 – Duane Armstrong, American painter (Fields of Grass), born in Fresno, California
1957 – Chris Kamara, English soccer midfielder (Swindon Town FC, Brentford FC) and commentator (Sky Sports), born in Middlesbrough, England
1975 – Marcus Trescothick, English cricket batsman (76 Tests, 14 x 100s, HS 219; 123 ODIs; Somerset CCC), born in Keynsham, England
1978 – Jeremy Strong, American actor (Succession), born in Boston, Massachusetts

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Famous Deaths

1976 – Frankie Darro [Frank Johnson], American actor (Radio Ranch, Wild Boys of the Road, Valley of Wanted Men), dies of a heart attack at 58
1989 – Billy Martin, American baseball second baseman (MLB All Star 1956; World Series 1951, 52, 53, 56; NY Yankees) and manager (World Series 1977 NY Yankees), killed in a car accident at 61
2006 – James Brown, American RandB, gospel, soul and funk singer-songwriter known as ‘The Godfather of Soul’ (“Sex Machine”; “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”; “Hot Pants”), dies of heart failure at 73
2021 – John Gleeson, Australian rugby league five eighth (10 Tests; Queensland 25 games; Wynnum-Manly, Brothers RLFC), dies at 82
2021 – Janice Long (née Chegwin), British radio host (Crash FM; BBC), dies of pneumonia at 66

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