This Day in History for 14th December

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All Events Birthdays
Weddings Deaths

Historical Events

Events 1 - 100 of 156

644 - Osman ibn Affan appointed 3rd kalief of islam
867 - Adrian II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
872 - John VIII elected as Catholic Pope
1124 - Theobald Buccapecus elected Pope Coelestinus II (he refuses)
1287 - Zuider Zee seawall collapses with loss of 50,000 lives
1542 - Princess Mary Stuart succeeds her father James V and becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland at 6 days old
1575 - Polish Parliament selects Istvan Bathory as king of Poland
1582 - Zealand/Brabant Neth adopt Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is 12/25
1600 - Olivier van Noort sinks Sp galleon San Diego at Bay of Manila, 350 die
1656 - Artificial pearls 1st manufactured by M Jacquin in Paris made of gypsum pellets covered with fish scales
1702 - The Forty-seven Ronin, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master.
1708 - Prosper Jolyot's "Electre," premieres in Paris
1774 - Portsmouth, New Hampshire militiamen successfully attacked arsenal of Ft William & Mary
1782 - Charleston, SC evacuated by British
1793 - 1st state road authorized, Frankfort, Ky to Cincinnati
1798 - David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patents a nut & bolt machine
1819 - Alabama admitted to Union as 22nd state
1825 - Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins
1836 - The Toledo War unofficially ends.
Queen of Scotland Mary Stuart 1849 - 1st chamber music group in US gives their 1st concert (Boston)
1863 - Battle of Bean's Station-Confederacy repulses Union in Tenn
1882 - Henry Morton Stanley returns to Brussels from the Congo
1889 - American Academy of Political & Social Science organized, Phila
1894 - Day One 1st Test Cricket Aus v Eng Aust 5-346 (Giffen 161, Gregory 85)
1894 - Test Cricket debut of Joe Darling, Ernie Jones, Archie MacLaren
1896 - The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
1900 - Quantum Mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law.
1901 - 1st table tennis tournament is held (London Royal Aquarium)
1903 - Reg Foster completes 287 England v Australia on Test Cricket debut
1907 - The schooner Thomas W. Lawson runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Scilly Isles in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.
1911 - South Pole 1st reached, by Norwegian Roald Amundsen
1913 - Greece formally takes possession of Crete
1914 - Lisandro de la Torre and others found the Democratic Progressist Party (Partido Demócrata Progresista, PDP) at the Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires.
1915 - Jack Johnson is 1st black world heavyweight boxing champion
1917 - UFA, Universal Film AG, forms in Germany
Composer Giacomo Puccini 1918 - Giacomo Puccini's opera "Il Trittico," premieres in NYC
1920 - Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in 12 for heavyweight boxing title in NYC
1923 - Gerard K "Simon" van het Reve, Dutch writer (Evenings)
1924 - Chiang Kai-shek occupies Hankou
1924 - Respighi's symphony "Pini di Roma," premieres in Paris
1926 - Danish Madsen government, forms
1927 - Iraq gains independence from Britain, but British troops remain
1928 - 2nd Test Cricket Australia v England starts with Bradman 12th man
1929 - Alexander Zaimis elected pres of Greece
1930 - NY Giants defeat Notre Dame 22-0 in a charity game
1931 - 1st assembly of Anton Musserts NSB in Utrecht
1932 - French government of Herriot falls
1933 - Josephine Baker performs in Amsterdam
1934 - 1st streamlined steam locomotive introduced (Albany NY)
1935 - Test Cricket debut of "Chuck" Fleetwood-Smith v South Africa, Durban
Heavyweight Boxing Champion Jack Dempsey 1937 - Japanese troops conquer/plunder Nanjing
1938 - AL permits Cleveland & Philadelphia to play night games
1938 - Major leagues agrees on standard ball
1938 - Major leagues disagree on increasing rosters from 23 to 25
1938 - Will Harridge is elected to a 10-year-term as AL president
1939 - Soviet Union attacks Finland-League of Nations drops Soviet Union
1941 - 1st NFL division playoff, Bears beat Packers 33-14
1941 - Premier Winston Churchill travels to US on board HMS Duke of York
1941 - U-557 torpedoes British cruiser Galatea
1944 - Begin(ning) Liese-Aktion: werving of labor force for Germany
1944 - Congress establshes rank of General of Army (5-star General)
1944 - German occupiers forbid use of electricity in parts of Holland
1945 - Elmer Rice' "Dream Girl," premieres in NYC
1946 - "Three to Make Ready" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 323 perfs
1946 - Togo made a trusteeship territory of UN
British war time Prime Minister Winston Churchill 1946 - UN General Assembly votes to establish UN HQs in NYC
1947 - Cleveland Browns beat NY Yankees 14-3 in AAFC championship game
1947 - The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is founded in Daytona Beach, Florida.
1950 - "Bless You All" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 84 perfs
1950 - UN Gen Assembly establishes High Comm for Refugees (Nobel 1954)
1950 - Baseball owners choose Lou Perini (Braves), Phil Wrigley (Cubs), Del Webb (Yankees), & Ellis Ryan (Indians) to select new commissioner
1952 - KROD (now KDBC) TV channel 4 in El Paso, TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
1952 - R H Shodhan scores 110 on Test Cricket debut v Pakistan, Calcutta
1952 - Uprising of captives in Pongam South Korea, 82 die
1953 - Brooklyn Dodgers sign pitcher Sandy Koufax
1954 - WOAY TV channel 4 in Oak Hill-Beckley, WV (ABC) begins broadcasting
1955 - Dutch Reformed Church condemns woman/wife as vicar
1955 - Tappan Zee Bridge in NY opens to traffic
1956 - Paul-Henri Spaak appointed secretary-general of NATO
1957 - "Most Happy Fella" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 678 perfs
1957 - "Rumple" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 45 performances
1959 - Archbishop Makarios proclaimed president of Cyprus
1959 - J B Jordan in F-104C sets world altitude record, 31,513m
1960 - Australia v West Indies 1st Test Cricket at the Gabba ends in a tie
1960 - Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) forms
1960 - Washington Senators joins American League
1961 - Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John" is 1st country song to get a gold record
1962 - Mariner 2 makes 1st US fly-by of another planet (Venus)
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 - Verne Gagne beats The Crusher in Minneapolis, to become NWA champ
1964 - Michael Brown meets Rene Fladen, then writes "Walk Away Rene"
1965 - "La Grusse Valise" opens at 54th St Theater NYC for 7 performances
1967 - DNA created in a test tube
1969 - "La Strada" opens/closes at Lunt Fontanne NYC for 1 performance
1969 - Bishen Bedi takes 7-98 (career-best) v Australia at Calcutta
1969 - Jackson Five made their 1st appearance on "Ed Sullivan Show"
1971 - Golden Gate Bridge lights out all night due to power failure
1971 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1972 - Eugene Cernan & Harrison Schmitt leave the Moon
1972 - Willy Brandt re-elected West German chancellor

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Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 240

1009 - Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (d. 1045)
1363 - John Van [Jean C] Gerson, French theologist
1503 - Nostradamus, [Michel de Nostre-Dam], Saint-Rémy-de-Provence,France, astrologist/prophet (Les Propheties), (d. 1566)
1546 - Tycho Brahe, Knudstrup Denmark, astronomer (Golden nose), (d. 1601)
1553 - Henri IV the Bourbon, King of Navarra (Henri III)/France
1625 - Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville, French orientalist (d. 1695)
1631 - Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway, English philosopher (d. 1679)
1640 - (baptism date) - Aphra Behn, English playwright and novelist (d. 1689)
1678 - Daniel Neal, English historian (d. 1743)
1720 - Justus Möser, German statesman (d. 1794)
1730 - Capel Bond, composer
1738 - Johann Antonin Kozeluch, composer
1775 - Philander Chase, American founder of Kenyon College (d. 1852)
1775 - Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, British admiral (d. 1860)
1777 - Juan N Gallego, Spanish poet/interpreter (El dos the mayo)
1779 - Mariano Rodriguiz de Ledesma, composer
1780 - Karl Robert von Nesselrode, Germ/Russian minister of Foreign Affairs
1783 - Johann Christoph Kienlen, composer
1784 - Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias (d. 1806)
Astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546) 1787 - Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, Empress of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1816)
1789 - Maria Agata Szymanowska, composer
1791 - Charles Wolfe, Irish poet (d. 1823)
1794 - Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (d. 1872)
1812 - Charles J Canning, English earl/1st viceroy of British-Indies
1824 - Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter (d. 1898)
1829 - John Mercer Langston, 1st black to hold US political office
1830 - Allen Thomas, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1907
1832 - Daniel Harris Reynolds, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1902
1837 - William Wells, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1892
1853 - Salvador Diaz Miron, Mexican poet (Los Cien Mejores Poemas)
1862 - Alexander V Amfiteatrov, Russian/French/Italian writer [OS]
1862 - John M Acket, Dutch literary (Grammatic Conceptions)
1866 - Roger Fry, English artist and art critic (d. 1934)
1868 - Richard Batka, composer
1870 - Dirk J de Geer, Dutch premier (1926-29, 39-40)
1870 - Karl Renner, Austrian Chancellor/president (1918-20, 45-50)
1873 - Marie-Alphonse-Nicolas-Joseph Jongen, composer
1875 - Dobri Khristov, composer
1877 - Lieven Duvosel, Flemish music writer/composer (Leiecyclys)
1881 - Katherine MacDonald, American actress and film producer (d. 1956)
1883 - Manolis Kalomiris, Greek opera composer
1883 - Morihei Ueshiba "the founder" founder of the Japanese martial art of aikido
1884 - Regina Ullmann, writer
1884 - Jane Cowl, American actress and playwright (d. 1950)
1894 - Joaquin Zamacois Soler, composer
1895 - Paul Eluard, French poet (d. 1952)
1895 - King George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 1952) Reigned 1936-52.
1896 - James H Doolittle, USAF General (Raid on Tokyo 1942)
1897 - Margaret Chase Smith, (Rep/Sen-R-Maine)
1897 - Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (d. 1977)
1898 - Frederick Douglass Hall, composer
1900 - Boyan Georgiev Ikonomov, composer
1901 - Henri Cochet, tennis champ (US Open-1928)
1901 - Paul I, King of Greece (1947-64)
1902 - Frances Beauvier, actress (Aunt Bea-Andy Griffith Show)
1905 - Sydney Lipton, bandleader/violin
1906 - Helmut Bornefeld, composer
1907 - Guy Middleton, Hove England, actor (Gentlemen Marrie Brunettes)
1908 - Laurence Naismith, Surrey England, actor (Judge Fulton-Persuaders)
1908 - Morey Amsterdam, American comedian and actor (d. 1996)
1908 - Claude Davey, Welsh rugby union footballer
1908 - Mária Szepes, Hungarian authoress (d. 2007)
1909 - Edward L Tatum, US, molecular geneticist (Nobel 1958)
1909 - Phia [Sophia R] Berghout, harpist/founder Eduard of Beinumstichting
1911 - Ota Adler, Czech/British fur trader/founder (Federal Trust)
1911 - Spike Jones, Long Beach California, composer (In a Secluded Rendesvous)
1911 - Hans von Ohain, German/American aerospace engineer (d. 1998)
1912 - Morey Amsterdam, Chicago Ill, comedian (Buddy-Dick Van Dyke Show)
1914 - Dan Dailey, NYC, dancer/actor (Gov Drinkwater-Governor & JJ)
1914 - Karl Carstens, German (CDU)/pres Germany (1979-84)
1914 - Rosalyn Tureck, Chicago Illinois, pianist (Bach & Rock)
1914 - Attila Petschauer, Hungarian fencer (d. 1943)
1915 - Clay Warnick, Tacoma Wash, choral director (Jimmie Rodgers Show)
Writer Shirley Jackson (1916) 1916 - Shirley Jackson, San Francisco, California, writer (Road Through the Wall), (d. 1965)
1917 - Elyse Knox, Hartford Ct, actress (Hit the Ice, Black Gold)
1917 - Wilf Ferguson, cricket leg-spinner (West Indian of post-WWII years)
1917 - June Taylor, American choreographer (d. 2004)
1918 - James T. Aubrey, American television executive (d. 1994)
1918 - B.K.S. Iyengar, Indian yoga advocate
1920 - Albertus Meintser, office clerk/resistance fighter
1920 - Quinton Hazell, businessman
1920 - Clark Terry, American trumpeter
1922 - Charley Trippi, NFL halfback (Chicago Cardinals)
1922 - Don Hewitt, NYC, CBS news executive producer (60 Minutes)
1923 - Gerard K "Simon" van het Reve, Dutch writer (Evenings, Dear Guys)
1923 - Leonardus S van Egeraat, Dutch travel expert
1923 - Sully Boyar, NYC, actor (Car Wash)
1924 - Marion Morgan, singer (Stop the Music)
1924 - Siiri Rantanen, Finland, cross country skier (Olympic-gold-1956)
1924 - Raj Kapoor, Indian actor (d. 1988)
1925 - Sam Jones, American baseball player (d. 1971)
1926 - Frank King, cricketer (WI fast bowler in 14 Tests in 50's, 29 wkts)
1927 - Jacobus G Rietkerk, Dutch internal minister (VVD) (1982-86)
1927 - Richard Cassilly, American tenor (d.1998)
1929 - Ron Nelson, composer
1931 - Jon Elia, Pakistani scholar, poet and philosopher (d. 2002)
1932 - Abbe Lane, Bkln, aka Mrs Xavier Cugat/singer (Xavier Cugat Show)
1932 - Charlie "Silver Fox" Rich, Colt Ark, vocalist (Behind Closed Doors)
1932 - George Furth, Chicago Ill, actor/dir (Tammy, Good Guys, Dumplings)
1933 - Leo N Wright, US saxophonist (I left my heart in SF)

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Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 4 of 4

1490 - Anna van Bretagne marries a proxy Maximilian of Austria
1984 - Singer and actress Bette Midler (39) weds Martin Von Hasselberg at Starlight Chapel in Las Vegas
1985 - "The Cosby Show" actress Phylicia Rashad (37) weds former NFL wide receiver and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad (36)
2005 - Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan (31) weds Mumtaz's daughter Natasha Madhvani at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai, India

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 100 of 120

872 - Adrian II, Italian Pope (867-72) the last married pope, dies at about 80
1077 - Agnes of Poitou, German empress/wife of emperor Henry III, dies
1136 - Harald IV, "Gylle Krist", king of Norway, murdered
1417 - John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, English nobleman, hanged & burned
1460 - Guarino da Verona (b. 1370)
1476 - Vlad III the Impaler (b. 1431)
1510 - Friedrich of Saxony (b. 1473)
1542 - James V, King of Scots (1513-42), dies at 30
1553 - Hanibal Lucić, Croatian writer (b. 1485)
1591 - Juan de la Cruz, [de Yepes], Spanish Carmelet/poet/saint, dies
1624 - Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, English statesman (b. 1536)
1651 - Pierre Dupuy, French scholar (b. 1582)
1713 - Thomas Rymer, English historian (b. 1641)
1715 - Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1636)
1732 - Johann Philipp Fortsch, composer, dies at 80
1734 - Noel-Nicolas Coypel, French painter/cartoonist, dies at 44
1735 - Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (b. 1674)
1741 - Charles Rollin, French historian (b. 1661)
1754 - Mahmud I, sultan of Turkey, dies at 58
1760 - Kacic Miosic, Croatian poet (Razgovar Ugodni Naroda Slovinskoga), dies
1788 - Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, German composer, dies at 74
1788 - Carlos III, King of Naples/Spain (1759-88), dies at 72
First US President George Washington (1799) 1799 - George Washington, 1st president USA (1789-97), dies at 66
1823 - Vincenzo Cuoco, Italian historian (Naple revolution 1799), dies at 53
1829 - Luigi Marchesi, composer, dies at 74
1838 - Jean-Olivier Chénier, French Canadian physician and Patriote (b. 1806)
1849 - Conradin Kreutzer, composer, dies at 69
1861 - Albert, Prince consort of England and husband of Queen Victoria, dies at 42
1861 - George HG earl of Aberdeen, Engl Minister of Foreign affairs, dies at 76
1861 - Heinrich August Marschner, composer, dies at 66
1862 - George Dashiell Bayard, Union Brigadier General, dies at 27
1865 - Johan Georg Forchhammer, Danish geologist (b. 1794)
1873 - J Louis R Agassiz, Swiss geologist/paleo-biologist), dies
1886 - Antoni Wincenty Rutkowski, composer, dies at 27
1893 - Karolina Pawlowa, writer, dies at 86
1900 - Jean B A Kessler, director of oil on Dutch Indies, dies at 46
1903 - William Ennis, 1st cop to die in electric chair
1906 - John A C Oudemans, Dutch geographer/astronomer, dies at 78
1909 - Leopold II, king of Belgium, dies
1912 - Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis, British Army lieutenant (b. 1887)
1914 - Giovanni Sgambati, composer, dies at 73
1918 - Sidonio Pais, prince of Portugal, murdered
1920 - George Gipp, American football player (b. 1895)
1923 - Giuseppi Gallignani, composer, dies at 72
1926 - Theo van Rysselberghe, Belgian painter (pointillism), dies at 64
1927 - Yulian Vasilievich Sokhotski, Russian mathematician (b. 1842)
1928 - Theodore Roberts, actor (Roaring Road, 10 Commandments), dies at 77
1935 - Stanley G Weinbaum, US, sci-fi writer (Martian Odyssey), dies
1938 - Marie FM Emmanuel, French composer/musicologist (Salamine), dies at 76
1942 - Eduard C "Edo" Fimmen, Dutch trade union leader, dies at 61
1945 - Constantino Gaito, composer, dies at 67
1945 - Forrester Harvey, actor (Tarzan & Mate, Chump at Oxford), dies at 61
1945 - Henry van Goudoever, Dutch lawyer/judge, dies on his 69th birthday
1945 - Josef Kramer, known as "beast of Belsen," & 10 others, hanged
1947 - Franz Zorell, German RC lexicographer, dies at 84
1947 - Stanley Baldwin, English premier (1923, 24-29, 35-37), dies at 80
1947 - Edward Higgins, General of The Salvation Army (b. 1864)
1948 - Reginald Owen Morris, composer, dies at 62
1950 - Albrecht Schaeffer, German writer (Heroische Fahrt), dies at 65
1956 - Juho Kusti Paasikivi, president of Finland (b. 1870)
1959 - Maria EG "Lizzy" Ansingh, Dutch painter (Cast Off), dies at 84
1960 - Gregory Ratoff, actor (Skyscraper Souls), dies of leukemia at 63
1963 - Dinah Washington, singer, dies of sleeping pill overdose at 39
1963 - Erich Ollenhauer, German politician (SPD), dies at 62
1964 - William Bendix, actor (Life of Riley), dies at 58
1965 - Hermann Sandby, composer, dies at 84
1966 - Emma Dunn, actress (You Can't Fool Your Wife), dies at 91
1966 - Richard Whorf, actor (Chain Lightning), dies of heart attack at 60
1966 - Verna Felton, actress (Hilda-December Bride), dies at 76
1970 - Franz Schlegelberger, German Nazi politician (b. 1876)
1971 - Dick Tiger, Nigerian-born boxer (b. 1929)
1973 - Yitzhak Edel, composer, dies at 77
1974 - Walter Lippmann, US journalist (One of Dynasty), dies at 85
1975 - Arthur Treacher, TV announcer (Merv Griffin Show), dies at 81
1978 - Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish diplomat, writer, historian and pacifist (b. 1886)
1979 - Nirode Ranjan Chowdhury, cricketer (2 Tests for India, avg 205), dies
1980 - Elston Howard, MVP catcher (NY Yankees), dies at 59
1984 - Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer and Nobel laureate (b. 1898)
American Baseball Player Roger Maris (1985) 1985 - Roger Maris, HR hitter (61 in 61, NY Yankees), dies of cancer at 51
1985 - Stanley G[rauman] Weinbaum, US, sci-fi author (Red Peri), dies at 85
1985 - Catherine Doherty, social justice activist (b. 1896)
1987 - Paul Clinton Sundberg, actor (Belle of NY, Easter Parade), dies
1989 - Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist/dissident (Nobel 1975), dies at 68
1989 - Jock Mahoney, actor (Dallas, Cow Town, Range Rider), dies at 70
1990 - F Dörrenmatt, writer, dies at 69
1990 - Hope Sansberry, actress (Rats are Coming), dies at 94
1990 - Johannes von Thurn und Taxis, prince in Germany, dies at 64
1991 - John Arlott, cricketer (the greatest of cricket commentators), dies
1991 - Robert Eddison, British actor (Uncle Silas), dies at 83
1993 - Myrna Loy, [Williams], US actress (Jazz Singer), dies at 88
1994 - Mary Ann McCall, singer, dies at 75
1994 - Petrus HJ van Doorne, bus manufacturer/owner (BOVA), dies at 58
1994 - Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas (b. 1910)
Actress Myrna Loy (1993) 1995 - Don Anthony, bandleader/songwriter, dies at 85
1995 - Eric Brown, architect, dies at 84
1995 - Rob Harris, sky surfer, dies while skydiving at 28
1996 - Alan Hargreaves, climber, dies at 92
1996 - Norman Hackforth, broadcaster, dies at 88
1997 - Owen Barfield, philosopher of language, dies at 99
1997 - Robert Sutton, electronics engineer, dies at 82