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
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
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