Today in the Past
Events
771 - King Carloman joint King of the Franks, dies, leaving his older brother Charlemagne, sole ruler of the Frankish Kingdom.
1110 - Syria harbor city Saida (Sidon) surrenders to Crusaders
1197 - Crusaders wound Rabbi Elezar ben Judah
1259 - Treaty of Paris: English king Henry III & French king Louis IX
1489 - Battle of Baza-Spanish army captures Baza from Moors
1534 - Turkish sultan Suleiman occupies Baghdad
1563 - Council of Trent holds last session, after 18 years
1619 - 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God. Considered by many as the first Thanksgiving in the Americas.
1674 - Father Marquette builds 1st dwelling in what is now Chicago
1676 - Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V of Denmark engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt.
1680 - Hen in Rome lays an egg imprinted with comet not seen until Dec 16th
1688 - General strategist John Churchill joins with Willem III
1691 - Emperor Leopold I takes control of Transsylvania
1783 - Gen Washington bids officers farewell at Fraunce’s Tavern, NYC
1791 - Britain’s Observer, oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, 1st published
1812 - Peter Gaillard of Lancaster, Pa patents a horse-drawn mower
1816 - James Monroe (VA), elected 5th pres, defeating Federalist Rufus King
1829 - Britain abolished “suttee” in India (widow burning herself to death on her husband’s funeral pyre)
1833 - American Anti-Slavery Society formed by Arthur Tappan in Phila
1836 - Whig party holds its 1st national convention, Harrisburg, Pa
1843 - Manila paper (made from sails, canvas & rope) patented, Mass
1844 - James K Polk elected 11th president of USA
1851 - Pres Louis Napolean Boaparte forces crush a coup d’etat in France
1864 - Battle of Waynesborough (Brier Creek) GA
1867 - Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).
1875 - William Marcy “Boss” Tweed (NYC-Tammany Hall) escapes from jail
1881 - The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.
1889 - Stanley’s expedition reaches Bagamoyo in Indian Ocean
1899 - Webb Hayes son of pres Rutherford Hayes receives medal of honor
1905 - British government of Balfour resigns
1915 - F F Fletcher is 1st admiral to receive Congressional Medal of Honor
1918 - Pres Wilson sails for Versailles Peace Conference in France, 1st chief executive to travel outside US while in office
1921 - The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.
1923 - Cecil B DeMille’s 1st version of “Ten Commandments” premieres
1927 - Duke Ellington opens at Cotton Club in Harlem
1933 - FDR creates Federal Alcohol Control Administration
1935 - 1,200 at St Joseph’s College (Phila) enroll in anticommunism class
1941 - Nazi ordinances places Jews of Poland outside protection of courts
1942 - US bombers struck Italian mainland for 1st time in WW II
1942 - Works Progress Administration liquidated
1944 - Germans destroy Rhine dikes, Betuwe flooded
1945 - 11th Heisman Trophy Award: Doc Blanchard, Army (FB)
1945 - Senate approves US participation in UN
1948 - SS Kiangya hits mine in Whangpoo River China, sinks killing 2,750 die
1951 - Superheated gases roll down Mount Catarman (Philippines), kills 500
1952 - Killer fogs begin in London England, “Smog” becomes a word
1952 - Walter P Reuther chosen chairman of CIO
1954 - The first Burger King is opened in Miami, Florida, USA
1956 - 22nd Heisman Trophy Award: Paul Hornung, Notre Dame (QB)
1957 - 2 commuter trains collide in heavy fog killing 92 (St John’s England)
1961 - Floyd Patterson KOs Tom McNeeley in 4 for heavyweight boxing title
1961 - Museum of Modern Art hangs Matisse’s Le Bateau upside down for 47 days
1961 - Smallest NY Knick, 49th St Madison Square Garden crowd-1,300 (snowstorm)
1961 - Tanganyika becomes 104th member of UN
1963 - Aldo Moro forms Italian government
1965 - Gemini 7 (Borman & Lovell) launched
1970 - Unemployment in US increases to 5.8%
1971 - The UN Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
1971 - The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.
1973 - Pioneer 10 reaches Jupiter
1975 - 6 South Molukkans occupy Indonesian consulate in The Hague, 1 dead
1976 - Liz Taylor’s 7th marriage (John Warner)
1977 - NFL’s 5,000th game, Cincinnati beats KC 27-7
1978 - Dianne Feinstein is named SF 1st female mayor
1978 - Pioneer Venus 1 goes into orbit around Venus
1980 - 2 months after death of drummer John Bonham, Led Zeppelin breaks up
1982 - 48th Heisman Trophy Award: Herschel Walker, Georgia (RB)
1982 - China adopts its constitution
1982 - Police & racist demonstrators clash in Antwerp
1983 - US jet fighters strike Syrian anti-aircraft positions in Lebanon
1984 -Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.
1986 - NASA launches Fltsatcom-7
1987 - Karlstad skates world record 10 km (13:48.51)
1988 - Actor Gary Busey critically injured in motorcycle crash
1990 - Due to Persian Gulf crisis gas hits $1.60 per gallon price in NYC
1990 - Iraq announces it will release all 3,300 Soviet hostages
1991 - Judds final concert (Nashville)
1991 - Muslim Shites release last US hostage Terry Anderson (held 6½ years)
1991 - Pan American World Airways ceased operations
1991 - Patricia Bowman testifies that William Kennedy Smith raped her
1992 - Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.
1993 - Dan Jansen skates world record 500m (35.92 sec)
1993 - Johann Koss skates world record 5K (6:35.53)
1993 - A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.
1996 - NASA’s 1st Mars rover launched from Cape Canaveral
1998 - The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.
2005 - Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.
2006 - An adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.
Births
1555 - Heinrich Meibom, German historian and poet (d. 1625)
1580 - Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (d. 1626)
1584 - John Cotton, Puritan clergyman in Mass Bay colony
1646 - Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon, Marshal of France (d. 1730)
1660 - Andre Campra, composer
1667 - Michel Pignolet de Monteclair, composer
1711 - Barbara of Portugal, queen of Spain (d. 1758)
1713 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and dramatist (d. 1786)
1795 - Thomas Carlyle, Scotland, essayist/historian (French Revolution)
1803 - Augustus Zerega diZerega, Martinique, ship owner (Red Z Lane)
1812 - Elias Smith Dennis, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died 1894
1818 - William Wing “Old Blizzards” Loring, Mjr Gen (Confederate Army)
1840 - Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux chief (d. 1877)
1852 - Orest Khvolson, Russian physicist (d. 1934)
1861 - Lillian Russell, [Helen Leonard], US, singer/actress (Great Mogul)
1875 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austria, poet (Duino Elegies)
1881 - Erwin von Witzleben, German fieldmarshal (July 20th plot)
1892 - Francisco Franco, Ferrol, Galicia Spanish General/dictator (1936-75), (d. 1975)
1895 - Nils FA Nilsson Piraten, Swedish writer (Bombi Bitt Och Jag)
1895 - Fung Yu-lan, Chinese philosopher (d. 1990)
1908 - A D Hershey, US, biologist, worked with bacteriophages (Nobel 1969)
1910 - Alex North, Chester Penn, composer (Spartacus, Viva Zapata)
1912 - John W Pritchard, [Ian Wallace], US, sci-fi author (Megalomania)
1912 - Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, American pilot , Medal Of Honor Recipient (d. 1988)
1914 - Claude Renoir, French cinematographer (d. 1993)
1921 - Deanna Durbin, Winnipeg Manitoba, actress/vocalist (100 Men & a Girl)
1923 - Charles Keating, district attorney (LA California)
1928 - Russell L Rogers, USAF/astronaut (X-20)
1930 - Ronnie Corbett, England, comedian (2 Ronnies)
1930 - Jim Hall, American jazz guitarist
1933 - Horst Buchholz, Berlin Germany, actor (Magnificent 7, Raid on Entebbe)
1934 - Victor French, Santa Barbara California, actor (Highway to Heaven)
1934 - Wink Martindale, Jackson Tn, TV host (Tic-Tac-Dough, Can You Top This)
1935 - Robert Vesco, American financier and fugitive
1936 - Larry Davis, blues singer/guitarist
1937 - Max Baer Jr, Oakland California, actor (Jethro-Beverly Hillbillies)
1938 - Andre Marrou, Libertarian Presidential candidate (1992)
1940 - Freddy Cannon, [Picariello], Lynn Ma, rocker (Palisades Park)
1940 - Gary Gilmore, American murderer (d. 1977)
1942 - Gemma Jones, English actress
1944 - Chris Hillman, San Diego Caliafornia, singer (Byrds-Turn Turn Turn)
1944 - Dennis Wilson, Hawthorne CA, drummer/vocalist (Beach Boys-My Room)
1944 - François Migault, French racing driver
1945 - Michael Gerzon, mathematician
1947 - Terry Woods, Irish musician (The Pogues, Steeleye Span)
1948 - Roberta Lynn Bondar, Ontario, astronaut (STS 42)
1948 - Southside Johnny Lyon, NJ, rocker (Asbury Jukes-Don’t Want Go Home)
1949 - Jeff Bridges, LA California, actor (Stay Hungry, Against All Odds)
1951 - Gary Rossington, rocker (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington-Collins Band)
1951 - Patricia Wettig, Cincinnati Ohio, actress (Nancy Weston-30 Something)
1952 - Ronald Michael Sega, Cleve Ohio, PhD/Astronaut (STS 60, 76)
1955 - Brian Prout, Troy NY, singer (Diamond Rio-Meet in the Middle)
1955 - Cassandra Wilson, American jazz singer
1956 - Bernard King, basketball player (NY Knicks, NJ Nets)
1956 - Blagoi Blagoyev, Bulgaria, 82.5 kg weightlifer (Olympics-silver-1976)
1957 - Raul Boesel,Brazil, Indy-car racer (CART)
1957 - Eric S. Raymond, American open source advocate
1958 - Bill Roy, Versailles Ill, skeet (Olympics-1996)
1963 - Johanna Wright, Raleigh NC, WPVA volleyballer (Pismo Beach-4th)
1963 - Sergey Bubka, Ukraine, pole vaulter (Olympics-gold-88, 92)
1964 - Marisa Tomei, Bkln NY, actress (My Cousin Vinny)
1964 - Sertab Erener, Turkish singer
1966 - Suzanne Malveaux, American television news reporter
1967 - Martha O’Kelley, US softball infielder (Olympics-gold-96)
1968 - Mike Barrowman, Costa Mesa CA, kayak/200m breast stroke (Oly-g-92, 96)
1969 - Jacques Landry, Saskatoon Saskatchawan, cyclist (Olympics-96)
1969 - Marie-Josee Morneau, Longueuil Quebec, 56 kg judoka (Olympics-96)
1969 - Jay-Z, American rapper
1971 - Shannon Briggs, American boxer
1972 - Nikki Tyler, American actress
1973 - Tyra Banks, Inglewood, California, model/actress (Higher Learning, Fresh Prince of Bel Air)
1973 - Steven Menzies, Australian rugby league footballer
1973 - Kate Rusby, English folk singer
1976 - John Lee, Chicago Ill, dance skater (& Julia Bikbova)
Deaths
765 - Jafar Sadiq, Shia Imam (b. 702)
811 - Charles The Younger, King the of Franks, son of the Emperor Charlemagne, dies at about 39
1075 - Archbishop Anno II of Cologne
1123 - Omar Khayyám, Persian poet, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1048)
1137 - Lotharius III of Supplinburg, emperor (1125, 33-37), dies at 67
1182 - Henry, earl of Gelre/Zutphen (1141/79-82), dies
1214 - William I of Scotland
1334 - Pope John XXII (b. 1249)
1371 - Stefanus X Uros V, king of Serbia (1355-71), dies
1459 - Adolf VIII, Duke of Southern Jutland (b. 1401)
1514 - Richard Hunne, English “heretic”, commits suicide(?)
1576 - Rheticus, mathematician, dies
1585 - John Willock, Scottish reformer
1603 - Maarten de Vos, Flemish painter, dies at about 71
1609 - Alexander Hume, Scottish poet
1676 - Johann Georg Ebeling, composer, dies at 39
1679 - Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (b. 1588)
1680 - Thomas Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian (b. 1616)
1696 - Empress Meishō, Japan (b. 1624)
1798 - Luigi Galvani, Italian anatomy/physicist, dies at 61
1807 - Prince Hall, activist/Masonic leader, dies in Boston
1893 - Allan Wilson, British/Rhodesian Major, dies in battle against the Ndebeles during First Matabele War
1902 - Charles Dow, American journalist (Dow Jones & Company – Wall Street Journal) (b. 1851)
1909 - Paul-Albert Besnard, French painter/graphic artist (Elle), dies at 60
1945 - Thomas Hunt Morgan, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (b. 1866)
1956 - Alexandr Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer (b. 1891)
1959 - Rosetta Duncan, (Duncan Sisters), dies in an auto accident at 58
1967 - Bert Lahr, [Irving Lahrheim], US comic (Wizard of Oz), dies at 72
1969 - Fred Hampton, US Black-Panther leader, murdered
1971 - Shunryu Suzuki, Zen teacher, founder of SF Zen Center, dies
1975 - Hannah Arendt, German/US sociologist, dies at 69 [or Dec 5]
1976 - Benjamin Britten, British composer (Beggar’s Opera), dies at 63
1976 - Tommy Bolin, rock guitarist (Deep Purple), dies of heroin overdose
1978 - Samuel Abraham Goldsmith, Neth/US phycists, dies at 76
1980 - Stella Walsh-S-Walasiewicz, sprinter (Olympic-gold-1932), shot at 69
1987 - Rouben Mamoulian, dir (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde), dies at 90
1988 - Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist (b. 1899)
1993 - Frank Sturgis, watergate burglar, dies at 68
1993 - Frank V Zappa, US music/composer (Mothers of Invention), dies at 52
Steve Allen show, Frank Zappa Playing music on a Bicycle 1963
Saint Alphonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
1993 - Margaret Landon, US author (Anna & the King of Siam), dies at 90
1994 - Robert Jesse Charleston, museum curator, dies at 78
1994 - Thomas Roy Garrett, museum curator, dies at 63
1995 - Adrianne Jones, killed by David Graham & Diane Zamora, at 16
1995 - Itzhak Rabin, PM of Israel (1968-73), assassinated
1997 - Richard Vernon, British actor (Gandhi, Hard Days Night), dies at 72
1999 - Rose Bird, American judge (b. 1936)
2003 - Iggy Katona, American race car driver (b. 1916)
2007 - Chip Reese, American professional poker player (b. 1951)
2011 - Hubert Sumlin, American blues guitarist (b. 1931)
2 Trackbacks / Pingbacks for this entry:
[...] Uncurrent Events 12/04 (youviewedblog.wordpress.com) [...]
[...] 1940 - Frank Zappa, Baltimore, rocker (Mothers of Invention, Catholic Girls)(see UE Deaths 12/04) [...]