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Today in History ~ December 23
Events1620 - French Huguenots declare war on King Louis XIII
1620 - Construction of Plymouth, first permanent European settlement in New England begins [H]
1688 - English King James II flees to France
1751 - France sets plan to tax clergymen
1776 - Continental Congress negotiates a war loan of $181,500 from France
1776 - Thomas Paine writes "These are the times that try men's souls"
1779 - Benedict Arnold court-martialed for improper conduct (he followed the time-honored military tradition of using government carts to transport his personal items. He was routinely sentenced to be censured by Gen. Washington -- a formality which the thin-skinned Arnold took personally, ultimately leading him to switch allegiance to the British cause)
1783 - Washington resigns as US Army commander-in-chief following the departure of the last British troops from Manhattan after the Treaty of Paris concluded the American Revolutionary War.
1788 - Maryland votes to cede a 10 mile area for Dist of Columbia
1793 - Thomas Jefferson warned of slave revolts in West Indies
1823 - "Visit from St Nicholas" attributed to Clement C. Moore published in Troy (NY) Sentinel (very recent scholarship reveaals the original to have been written by Major Henry Livingston)
1834 - Joseph Hansom of London receives patent for Hansom cabs
1862 - Union Gen Ben "Beast" Butler is proclaimed a "felon, outlaw & common enemy of mankind" by Jefferson Davis
1893 - Englebert Humperdink's Opera "Hansel und Gretel" is produced (Weimar)
1894 - Debussy's ballet "L'apres-midi d'un faune," premieres in Paris
1907 - 1st all-steel passengar railroad coach completed, Altoona, Pa
1911 - Emmanuel Wolf-Ferrari's opera "I Giojelli Della Madonna" is produced (Berlin)
1912 - 1st "Keystone Kops" film, titled "Hoffmeyer's Legacy"
1912 - Aswan Dam in Nile begins operation
1913 - President Woodrow Wilson signs Federal Reserve Act into law
1919 - 1st hospital ship built to move wounded naval personnel launched
1919 - Alice H Parker patents gas heating furnace
1920 - Ireland divided into 2 parts, each with its own parliament
1928 - NBC sets up a permanent, coast-to-coast radio network
1933 - Marinus van der Lubbe sentenced to death for Reichstag "Fire"
1938 - Margaret Hamilton's costume catches fire in filming of "Wizard of Oz"
1941 - American forces on Wake Island surrender to Japanese
1943 - 1st telecast of a complete opera (Hansel & Gretel), Schenectady, NY
1943 - Gen Montgomery is appointed British commandant for D-day
1945 - Frederick Ashton's "Cinderella" premieres in London
1946 - Highest ridership in NYC subway history (8.8 million passengers)
1947 - Transistor invented by Bardeen, Brattain & Shockley in Bell Labs, leading to a revolution in communications and electronics.
1948 - Former Premier Hideki Tojo of Japan and six other Japanese war leaders were hanged in Tokyo under sentence of the Allied War Crimes Commission.
1961 - Fidel Castro announces Cuba will release 1,113 prisoners from failed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion for $62M worth of food and medical supplies
1962 - Cuba starts returning US prisoners from Bay of Pigs invasion
1964 - India & Ceylon hit by cyclone, 4,850 killed
1964 - Rock 'n' Roll Radio -- in the guise of Pirate Radio -- came to the U.K. England's mainland, one had to listen to the BBC or nothing at all. Pirate Radio was a gallant effort to broadcast commercial radio, which was illegal in Great Britain at that time.
1968 - 82 members of US intelligence ship `Pueblo' released by North Korea [H]
1970 - 7,511th performance of Agatha Christie's "Mousetrap" (record)
1970 - French journalist Regis Debray freed in Bolivia
1970 - NY World Trade Center reaches highest point
1972 - 16 plane crash survivors rescued from the Andes after 70 die, survived by cannabalism
1972 - 6.25 Earthquake destroys central Managua Nicaragua, 10,000 die
1972 - "Immaculate Reception" Steelers turns around a 7-6 defeat with a last second touchdown reception against Raiders to win 13-7
1973 - 6 Persian Gulf nations double their oil prices
1986 - Dick Rutan and Jeana Yaeger landed the experimental aircraft Voyager at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. It completed a record nine-day, 25,012-mile global flight without refueling. [H]
1987 - Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for attempted assassination of Pres Gerald R Ford walks away from Alderson Prison
1990 - Slovenians vote to secede from Yugoslavia
1992 - The first American casualties of the U.S.-led relief operation in Somalia occurred when a vehicle hit a landmine near the city of Badera, killing one civilian and injuring three others.
1993 - President Clinton announced he would instruct his lawyers to give investigators all documents relating to the Whitewater scandal.
1994 - Major league baseball team owners declared an impasse in their negotiations with the players' association and unilaterally imposed a salary cap the players had rejected.
1995 - More than 500 people, including entire families, were killed in Mandi Dabwali, India, when fire engulfed a tent set up for a school ceremony.
1997 - Terry Nichols, the second defendant in the Oklahoma City bombing trial, was convicted of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter -- but not first-degree murder -- by a jury in Denver.
1997 - US Agriculture Dept estimates it costs $149,820 to raise a child to 18
Birthdays Today
1644 - Tomas de Torrejon y Velasco, composer
1716 - Johann Heinrich Rolle, composer
1732 - Richard Arkwright, inventor (spinning frame)
1805 - Joseph Smith Jr, Sharon Vt, founder (Mormon Church)
1828 - Mathilde Wesendonk, German writer/poet (Tagebuchblatter)
1834 - Thomas R Malthus, English vicar/economist (moral restraint)
1853 - Maria Teresa Carreno, composer
1885 - Vincent Sardi (restaurateur: Sardi's Bar & Grill - New York)
1896 - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Sicilian writer (The Leopard)
1907 - Don McNeill (radio host: The Breakfast Club [The Pepper Pot], ABC Radio, 34 years with Eddie Ballantine, Sam Cowling and Fran Allison)
1908 - Yousuf Karsh, portrait photographer (Life Magazine)
1911 - James Gregory (actor: The Manchurian Candidate, Barney Miller, PT 109, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Captain Newman, M.D.)
1918 - Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of Germany
1918 - Jose Greco (Flamenco dancer, actor: Ship of Fools,Holiday for Lovers)
1921 - Gerald O'Loughlin (actor: The Rookies, Our House, Ensign Pulver, A Matter of Life and Death)
1923 - Ruth Roman (actress: The Killing Kind, Love has Many Faces, Since You Went Away, The Window, Knots Landing)
1924 - Dan Devine (football coach)
1924 - Floyd Kalber (newscaster: NBC-TV News, WMAQ-TV, Chicago)
1925 - Harry Guardino (actor: Hell is for Heroes, Dirty Harry, The Enforcer, Fist of Honor)
1926 - Robert Bly, US, poet/editor/translator (Loving a Woman in 2 Worlds)
1929 - Dick Weber (bowler: shares record for most wins [4] in US Open Bowling Tournament [1962-63, 1965-66])
1933 - Akihito (Emperor of Japan)
1935 - 'Little' Esther Phillips (pianist, singer: Release Me, What a Diff'rence a Day Makes; Grammy nomination: Best female R & B vocalist [1973], Aretha Franklin won but gave award to Esther)
1935 - Paul Hornung ('The Golden Boy': football: Green Bay Packers': NFL Individual Record for points [176] scored in season [1960]; Notre Dame: Heisman Trophy winner [1956])
1940 - Tim Hardin (singer, composer: If I Were a Carpenter, Reason to Believe, Hang on to a Dream, Misty Roses, Tippy-Toein')
1941 - Elizabeth Harman (actress)
1942 - Jerry Koosman (baseball: New York Mets)
1945 - Ron Bushy (musician: drummer: group: Iron Butterfly: In-A- Gadda-Da-Vida)
1948 - Jack Ham (football: Pittsburgh Steelers LB, Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, XIV)
1951 - John McDaniel (football)
1951 - Johnny Contardo (singer: group: Sha-Na-Na, formerly Eddie and The Evergreens, Dirty Dozen)
1951 - Kevin Restani (basketball)
1952 - Rod Phillips (football)
Famous deaths
1236 - Philippus Cancellarius, French theologian/poet (Summa Cum Laude), dies
1569 - St Philip, metropolitan of Moscow, martyred by Ivan the Terrible
1588 - Henri de Guise, French leader of Catholic League, murdered at 37
1688 - Jean-Louis Lully, composer, dies at 21
1939 - Anthony H G Fokker, Dutch airplane builder (Spider), dies at 49
1948 - Hideki Tojo, Japan PM (1941-44) & 6 Japanese, hanged for war crimes at 64
1951 - Benito Lynch, Irish/Argentine writer (Palo Verde), dies at 66
1953 - Lavrenti P Beria, Soviet minister of internal security, executed
1972 - Charles Atlas, [Angelo Siciliano], body builder, dies at 79
1975 - Richard S Welch, CIA station chief in Athens, shot dead
1982 - Jack Webb, actor (Joe Friday-Dragnet), dies of a heart attack at 62
1985 - James Vance (20) & Raymond Belknap (18), commit suicide, sparking their families to sue rock group Judas Priest for subliminal messages
If you have other Birthdays or events to add for this day please E-mail me
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