1864 – US Civil War: General Sherman’s Union Army captures Savannah, Georgia, which surrenders to him, at the end of his March To the Sea Campaign
1933 – Dried human blood serum is first prepared at the University of Pennsylvania
1951 – Pioneering telenovela “Sua Vida Me Pertence” premieres in Brazil
1958 – Charles de Gaulle wins a seven-year term as the first President of the Fifth Republic of France
1962 – Angolin leaves Comecon
1966 – USSR launches Luna 13; soft-landed in Oceanus Procellarum
1990 – Steve and Mark Waugh complete 464* partnership for NSW v WA
2020 – Hawaiian vocalist Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s official music video for his rendition of Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg’s “Over the Rainbow” reaches a billion views on YouTube
Author: gil7
Today in History for 21st December 2025
Historical Events
1948 – 1949 NFL Draft: University of Pennsylvania linebacker/center Chuck Bednarik is selected first by Philadelphia Eagles
1948 – O’Neil Place in the Bronx erroneously renamed O’Neill Place
1976 – Patricia R Harris named secretary of HUD
1983 – NCAA rules rescinded last 2-minute men’s basketball free throw rule
1991 – El Sayid Nosair acquitted of killing Meir Kahane
Famous Birthdays
1728 – Hermann Friedrich Raupach, German composer, born in Stralsund, kingdom of Sweden (d. 1778)
1914 – Ivan Generalić, Croatian painter, born in Hlebine, Croatia (d. 1992)
1942 – Carla Thomas, American soul and RandB singer (“Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)”; with Otis Redding – “Tramp”), born in Memphis, Tennessee
1955 – Jane Kaczmarek, American actress (Lois in “Malcolm in the Middle”), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1982 – Mike Gansey, American basketball player, born in Olmsted Falls, Ohio
Famous Deaths
1504 – Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild, German archbishop and elector (b. 1442)
1755 – Caspar Ruetz, German composer, dies at 47
1873 – Francis Garnier, French explorer, dies at 34
1937 – Ted Healy [Ernest Nash], American vaudeville, stage, and screen actor, comedian (Mad Love, San Francisco, Soup to Nuts), and developer of the Three Stooges, dies from complications of alcoholism at 41
2006 – Scobie Breasley, Australian jockey (b. 1914)
Famous Deaths for 20th December 2025
1073 – Dominic of Silos, Spanish Benedictine monk and Roman Catholic saint, dies at 73 [exact birthdate uncertain]
1524 – Thomas Linacre, English scholar and physician
1676 – Joannes Galle, Flemish engraver and printer, dies at 76
1749 – Pakubuwono II, susuhunan of Mataram Java, dies
1819 – Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis, French composer, dies at 50
1983 – John Vivyan, American actor (Mr Lucky, Wrong Man, Imitation of Life), dies at 68
1991 – Walter Chiari [Annicchiarico], Italian actor (Bellissima; The Little Hut), dies of a heart attack at 67
2000 – Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, Bangladesh statesman, politician, and philanthropist (b. 1920)
2000 – Adrian Henri, British poet and founder of poetry-rock group (Liverpool Scene), dies at 68
2011 – Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright (Skyvers, You in Your Small Corner), dies at 85
Historical Events for 20th December 2025
1448 – Pope Nicholas V appoints Rudolf of Diepholt, Bishop of Utrecht, as cardinal
1823 – Play “Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus” by Helmina von Chézy with incidental music by Franz Schubert premieres in Vienna
1915 – WWI: ANZAC troops complete their withdrawal from Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula
1941 – Free France under adm Muselier occupies St-Pierre et Miquelon
1985 – Denis Potvin passes Bobby Orr as NHL defenseman scorer (916 points)
1991 – “Father of the Bride” film comedy starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, and Martin Short, premieres; film is a re-make of 1950 vehicle for Spencer Tracy and ELizabeth Taylor
1999 – Portugal returns Macau to China
2018 – New figures show average US male weighs 198 pounds and stands 5 feet 9 inches, women 171 pounds and 5 feet 4 inches
Today in History for 20th December 2025
Historical Events
1192 – Richard the Lionhearted captured near Vienna by Leopold of Austria on his way home from the Third Crusade (released 1194)
1862 – -Jan 3rd] Vicksburg campaign
1865 – De Clear-Alkmaar railway opens
1956 – Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra
1979 – Garry Sherman and Peter Udell’s musical “Comin’ Uptown”, based on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, and starring Gregory Hines, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 45 performances
Famous Birthdays
1925 – Vlastimir Nikolovski, Macedonian composer, born in Prileb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (now North Macedonia) (d. 2001)
1946 – Dick Wolf, American television series creator (Miami Vice, Law and Order), born in New York City
1956 – Guy Babylon, American keyboard player (Elton John) and arranger, born in New Windsor, Maryland (d. 2009|)
1957 – Billy Bragg, English folk-rock singer-songwriter (“Greetings To The New Brunette”; “Sexuality”; “California Stars”), born in Barking, Essex, England
1990 – JoJo [Joanna Levesque], American pop singer-songwriter (“Too Little Too Late”; “Baby It’s You”), born in Brattleboro, Vermont
Famous Deaths
1723 – Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician and botanist, dies at 71
1768 – Carlo Innocenzo Fragoni, Italian poet, dies at 76
1819 – Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis, French composer, dies at 50
1976 – Walter Fitzgerald, actor (Adv of Sadie, Fallen Idol), dies at 80
1996 – Carl Sagan, American scientist, astronomer and author (Broca’s Brain, Cosmos, Contact) known for his research on extraterrestrial life, dies of pneumonia after suffering from myelodysplasia at 62
Famous Deaths for 19th December 2025
1737 – James Louis Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland, dies at 70
1957 – John Van Druten, English playwright (I Remember Mama, I am a Camera) and theater director, dies at 56
1959 – Walter Williams, American, claimed to be last survivor of the US Civil War, dies at 117 (age disputed)
1967 – Alfred Courtens, Belgian sculptor, dies at 78
1982 – Frederick Terman, American professor of engineering at Stanford University known as the “father of Silicon Valley”, dies at 82
1993 – Antoon Veerman, Dutch ARP asst sect of Education (1973-75), dies at 77
1995 – Ruth Nita Barrow, 1st female Governor-General of Barbados (1990-95), dies at 79
2000 – Rob Buck, American musician (10,000 Maniacs), dies at 42
2015 – Douglas Dick, American actor and psychologist (Rope, Waterfront), dies at 95
2019 – Shahdon Winchester, Trinidadian soccer winger (27 caps; Murciélagos), dies in a traffic collision at 27
Historical Events for 19th December 2025
1487 – Opening ceremony of the sixth Great Temple of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City) 4,000 prisoners of war are sacrificed to Aztec gods over four days
1910 – Rayon 1st commercially produced in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania
1934 – Japan agrees to naval treaty of 1922 and 1930
1975 – The Red Hand Commandos, a very secretive Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, explode a no-warning car bomb in Dundalk, killing 2 civilians and wounding 20
1981 – Romuald Spasowski, Polish ambassador to the United States defects to show support for the Solidarity movement amid a crackdown
1983 – The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro
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 – Houston Rockets set NBA single-game record with 26 three-pointers in 136-118 victory over Washington Wizards; 8 players hit from deep as Rockets shoot 26-of-55 (47.3%); James Harden leads charge, shooting 6-of-11 on 3s
Today in History for 19th December 2025
Historical Events
1835 – HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard arrives in New Zealand
1910 – 1st US city ordinance requiring white and black residential areas in Baltimore
1920 – King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite
1984 – Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997
1993 – Marsha Norman, Bob Merrill, and Jule Styne’s fairy tale musical “Red Shoes”, directed by Stanley Donen, closes at Gershwin Theater, NYC, after 5 performances; loses nearly $8 million
Famous Birthdays
1853 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician who was the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec and 5th Chief Justice of Canada, born in Quebec City, Canada (d. 1942)
1902 – Leonard Hirsch, Irish violinist and orchestra leader (RAF Symphony Orchestra), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1995)
1906 – H. Allen Smith, American humorist and author (Low Man on Totem Pole), born in McLeansboro, Illinois (d. 1976)
1909 – W.A. Criswell, American Baptist pastor, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, born in Eldorado, Oklahoma (d. 2002)
1973 – Zulfiya Zabirova, Uzbek road cyclist Olympic gold time trial 1996; UCI World C’ship gold 2002), born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Famous Deaths
1737 – James Louis Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland, dies at 70
1996 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (8½; La Dolce Vita; Dark Eyes; The Pizza Triangle), dies of pancreatic cancer at 72
1997 – Masaru Ibuka, Japanese electronics industrialist (Sony Corp), dies at 89
2012 – Robert Bork, American lawyer, government official (US Solicitor General, 1973-77), jurist (US Court of Appeals, 1982-88), rejected Supreme Court nominee (1987), and professor (Yale), dies from heart disease at 85
2020 – Rosalind Knight, British stage and screen actress (Friday Night Dinner – “Horrible Grandma”), dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 18th December 2025
1787 – Soame Jenyns, British writer (View of the Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion) and Member of Parliament (1741-80), dies at 83
1892 – Richard Owen, English zoologist (Dinosauria), dies at 88
1901 – William F. Perry, American Brigadier General in the Confederate Army (Civil War), dies at 78
1915 – Henry Enfield Roscoe, English chemist (vanadium and photochemistry), dies at 82
1937 – Robert W. Bingham, American newspaper proprietor, attorney and ambassador to the UK (1933-37), dies of cancer at 66
1977 – Cyril Ritchard, Australian actor (Peter Pan; Hans Brinker), dies at 80
1977 – Walter Breedveld, Dutch writer (Een schip vergaat), dies at 76
2004 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricket batsman and captain (30 Tests, 7 x 100, HS 164no; Maharashtra, Central India, Baroda, Holkar), dies at 89
2007 – Jack Linkletter, American TV host (Haggis Baggis, Hootenanny), dies at 70
2022 – Count Desmond [Edward Benjamin], American sword swallower, dies at 81
Historical Events for 18th December 2025
1773 – A skirmish at Grass Cove in Queen Charlotte Sound results in the deaths of two Māori and nine members of James Cook’s expedition, New Zealand
1961 – For second consecutive year, AP names Wilma Rudolph female athlete of year
1991 – DeForest Kelly (Dr McCoy on Star Trek) gets a star in Hollywood
1996 – The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring “Ebonics” a language or dialect
2002 – Governor of California Gray Davis announces the state faces a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier
2012 – Six health workers dispensing polio vaccinations are gunned down in Pakistan
2020 – International body Covax, established to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to low and middle income countries, announces deals with vaccine manufacturers and method for countries to share excess vaccines
2022 – Cinderella’s glass slipper is a witty literary joke by Charles Perrault, poking fun at French King Louis XIV’s love of shoes and Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, according to Scottish professor Genevieve Warwick