December 16......

December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 15 days remaining in the year on this date.

EVENTS

● 882 - John VIII ends his reign as Catholic Pope

● 882 - Marinus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

● 1392 - Historku-cho - Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.

● 1431 - King Henry VI of England crowned king of France at Notre Dame in Paris.

● 1538 - King François I orders renewed pursuit of Protestants

● 1577 - Danzig surrenders to troops of Polish king István Báthory

● 1598 - Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point - The final battle of the Seven Year War is fought between the Korean and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive Korean victory.

● 1617 - Spanish viceroy Hernando Arias de Saavedra founds provinces Río de la Plata (Argentina)/Guaira (Paraguay)

● 1631 - Mount Vesuvius, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages & kills 4,000

● 1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

● 1659 - General Monck demands free parliamentary election in Scotland

● 1689 - English Parliament adopts Bill of Rights after Glorious Revolution

● 1740 - Prussian Libya falls to Silezie

● 1761 - Seven Years' War: After four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg.

● 1770 - Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany.

● 1773 - American Revolution: Nearly 350 chests of tea were dumped into Boston Harbor off of British ships by Colonial patriots. The patriots were disguised as Indians. The act was to protest taxation without representation and the monopoly the government granted to the East India Company.

● 1786 - Birth of Konrad Kocher, German chorister and composer of the hymn tune DIX ("For the Beauty of the Earth"). Kocher did much to popularize four-part singing in the churches.

● 1809 - Napoleon Bonaparte divorces Empress Josephine by the French Senate

● 1811 - At the Mississippi River Valley near New Madrid, Missouri, the greatest series of earthquakes in U.S. history begins when a quake of an estimated 8.6 magnitude on the Richter scale rocks the region. Although the earthquake greatly changed the topography of the region, the area was only sparsely inhabited at the time and there were no known fatalities. The earthquake raised and lowered parts of the Mississippi Valley by as much as 15 feet, changed the course of the Mississippi River, and actually caused the river to momentarily reverse its direction, giving rise to Reelfoot Lake in northwest Tennessee.

● 1817 - Leaders of Molukkas uprising hanged in Ambon

● 1824 - Great North Holland Canal opens

● 1826 - Birth of John Ellerton, Anglican clergyman and writer of children's hymns. Among his better-known compositions are "Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise" and "Welcome, Happy Morning."

● 1835 - Most of New York City consumed by a fire which destroyed 650 buildings. The estimated $22 million loss bankrupted most New York insurance companies, precipitating the Depression of 1837.

● 1838 - Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius combat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

● 1850 - History of New Zealand: The Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton.

● 1857 - Earthquake in Naples, Italy

● 1858 - Dutch government decides to vacate Schokland Island

● 1862 - Kingdom of Nepal accepts its constitution

● 1864 - American Civil War: Franklin-Nashville Campaign - Battle of Nashville - Major General George H. Thomas's Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee after 4400 causalities.

● 1867 - Birth of Amy Carmichael, Scotch-Irish missionary. She went to India in 1895 under the Zenana Missionary Society, remaining there without furlough until her death 56 years later. An invalid her last 20 years, she worked to rescue children from Hindu cult prostitution, and founded the Dohnavur Fellowship in 1925.

● 1869 - Decree by U.S. Emperor Norton I demands that Sacramento clean its muddy streets and place gaslights on streets leading to the capitol.

● 1870 - The Colored Methodist Church of America was established at Jackson, TN. Its name was changed in 1954 to the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The denomination today is comprised of approximately 3,000 congregations.

● 1871 - France: Louise Michel, 36-year old popular anarchist and teacher, is brought to trial by the Versailles Government.

● 1872 - Spain: The Congress of Cordoue unanimously adopts the positions of the anarchist l'internationale Anti-autoritaire de Saint Imier, in opposition to the Marxist First International.

● 1880 - Republic of South-Africa forms

● 1884 - Great Britain recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State

● 1886 - Rift at Dutch Reformed Church over "Doleantie"

● 1890 - Negro Methodist Episcopal Church founded in Jackson TN

● 1893 - In New York, Voltairine de Cleyre delivers a speech in defense of the young anarchist Emma Goldman, and defends the right of expropriation.

● 1893 - Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From The New World" was given its world premiere at Carnegie Hall.

● 1897 - 1st submarine with an internal combustion engine demonstrated

● 1899 - Playwright Noel Coward was born in London.

● 1899 - Brooklyn Children's Museum opens.

● 1900 - National Civic Federation established to deal with confrontations between labor and management.

● 1900 - Boer army under General Kritzinger take Cape colony

● 1901 - Margaret Mead, the American anthropologist who authored 44 books and over 1000 articles , was born.

● 1901 - "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," by Beatrix Potter, was printed for the first time.

● 1903 - Women ushers were employed for the first time at the Majestic Theatre in New York City.

● 1905 - "Variety", covering all phases of show business, 1st published

● 1907 - The "Great White Fleet," comprising most of U.S. Navy, sent by President Theodore Roosevelt on a world cruise, principally to show Japan, whose laborers he just excluded from the U.S., how powerful the U.S. is.

● 1908 - 1st credit union in US forms (Manchester NH)

● 1909 - US pressure forces Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya from office

● 1910 - During a ground test of his Coandă-1910 plane, Henri Coandă, caught unaware by the power of the engine, finds himself briefly airborne and loses control of the machine which crashes to the ground.

● 1912 - 1st US postage stamp picturing an airplane, 20¢ parcel post, issued

● 1912 - Austria-Hungary engage in conflict with Serbia

● 1913 - Charlie Chaplin began his film career at Keystone for $150 a week

● 1914 - French offensive in Artois (Pétain)

● 1915 - Albert Einstein publishes his "General Theory of Relativity"

● 1916 - Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen.

● 1918 - Germany: First National Congress of Workers and Soldiers Councils held in Reichstag in Berlin, votes in favor of parliamentary democracy.

● 1920 - One of the deadliest earthquakes in history hits the Gansu province of western China, causing massive landslides and the deaths of over 200,000 people. The earthquake, which measures an 8.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, affects an area of some 25,000 square miles, including ten major cities.

● 1922 - President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw.

● 1925 - A regular broadcasting service was instituted in Ceylon.

● 1927 - Chinese and Russian communists killed in Canton uprising.

● 1931 - German SPD begins Eiserne Front against fascism

● 1932 - Heavy earthquake ravages Kansu China, 70,000 killed

● 1933 - Abe de Vries & Sipke Castelein win Elfstedentocht

● 1935 - Death of Walter S. Martin, 73, Disciples of Christ clergyman, teacher and evangelist. He is remembered best today as composer of the hymn tune GOD CARES ("Be Not Dismayed, Whate'er Betide" a.k.a. "God Will Take Care of You").

● 1937 - Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.

● 1940 - French Premier Petain arrested Pierre Laval after learning of a plan for Laval to seize power and set up a new government with German support.

● 1940 - British air raid on Mannheim

● 1941 - World War II: Japanese occupy Miri, Sarawak

● 1942 - Holocaust: Porajmos - Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination should be deported to Auschwitz.

● 1942 - Hitler orders combat against partisans in Russia & Balkan

● 1943 - "Tamiami Champion" trains collide, kills 73 & injures 200

● 1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - General Dwight D. Eisenhower's allied forces and Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt's German army engage in the Belgian Ardennes. It was the final major German counteroffensive in the war.

● 1944 - General Eisenhower's clerk Rickey marries corporal Pearlie

● 1944 - German V-2 strikes Antwerp bioscope (638 kill)

● 1944 - US 2nd Infantry division occupies "Heartbreak Crossroads" Wahlerscheid

● 1946 - Léon Blum becomes Prime Minister of France.

● 1949 - Sukarno becomes President of Indonesia, Mokammed Hatta premier

● 1950 - Truman proclaims state of emergency against "Communist imperialism"

● 1951 - NBC-TV debuted "Dragnet" in a special preview on "Chesterfield Sound Off Time". The show began officially on January 3, 1952.

● 1953 - 1st White House Press Conference (President Eisenhower & 161 reporters)

● 1953 - Charles E Yeager flies over 2,575 kph (1,650 mph) in Bell X-1A (first man to fly at nearly two and one-half times the speed of sound)

● 1955 - NATO decides to equip forces with nuclear weapons.

● 1955 - Queen opens London Airport terminal; Her Majesty inaugurates "The Queen's Building", part of the new central terminal area built to accommodate increasing numbers of air passengers.

● 1957 - Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

● 1958 - Bogotá warehouse fire kills 82

● 1959 - Snow falling in Lowarai Pass West Pakistan kills 48

● 1960 - 1960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York's Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding snowstorm over Staten Island, killing 134.

● 1961 - Martin Luther King, Jr., 266 others arrested in Albany, Georgia.

● 1962 - Only man ever to reach the mainland alive after an escape from Alcatraz Prison emerges from San Francisco Bay, immediately captured by waiting authorities.

● 1962 - Constitutional Monarchical Hindu State of Nepál adopts new constitution

● 1962 - David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" premieres

● 1964 - US performs nuclear test at Pacific Ocean

● 1965 - Gemini 6 returns to Earth

● 1965 - Pioneer 6 launched into solar orbit

● 1965 - Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, becomes King of Tonga

● 1968 - Spain revokes order expelling Jews from country imposed by Queen Isabella in 1492.

● 1969 - British House of Commons votes 343-185 abolishing the death penalty

● 1970 - Polish workers rebel against high prices; over 50 are killed.

● 1970 - 1st successful landing on Venus (USSR)

● 1970 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1971 - Bangladesh (East Pakistan) declares independence from Pakistan

● 1971 - Liberation War of Bangladesh & Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army simultaneously brings an end to both conflicts.

● 1971 - Don McLean's 8+ minute version of "American Pie" released

● 1972 - The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to go unbeaten and untied in a 14-game regular season. The Dolphins went on to defeat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

● 1973 - US kidnap victim Paul Getty III freed

● 1973 - O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills becomes the first NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.

● 1974 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1974 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR

● 1976 - Government swine flu inoculation program halted after 535 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (and numerous deaths) result.

● 1976 - Andrew Young named Ambassador & Chief US Delegate to UN

● 1976 - Charlie Finley's $10 million damage suit against Bowie Kuhn begins

● 1976 - Liberian tanker stranded at Nantucket, 180,000 barrels oil in sea

● 1977 - Queen opens 'tube' link to Heathrow; The Queen unveils the new underground link from central London to Heathrow - the first from a capital city to its major airport.

● 1978 - Ronald Reagan denounces President Jimmy Carter's recognition of China People's Republic

● 1980 - President-elect Reagan announces Alexander Haig as Secretary of State

● 1980 - Harland "Colonel" Sanders dies at 90.

● 1980 - Poland: Leaders of the workers' union, Solidarity, leaders of a new government, representatives of the Catholic Church, and 150,000 gather in Gdansk to recognize the dramatic change which has come to Poland.

● 1981 - In response to massive protests, drilling stopped at 20 potential nuclear waste sites, Britain.

● 1981 - Dutch Van Agt's 2nd government falls

● 1983 - Riverside CA judge denies cerebral palsy victim Elizabeth Bouviato request to starve herself to death in a county hospital

● 1983 - Yogi Berra named Yankee manager for 2nd time

● 1983 - Spokesperson for The Who announces the group is disbanding

● 1984 - Gorbachev visit to Britain a 'success'; Mikhail Gorbachev, the man widely tipped as the next leader of the Soviet Union, holds five hours of talks with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

● 1985 - Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 51-L mission

● 1985 - Mafia: In New York City, Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the Gambino family.

● 1986 - revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist party, known as Zheltoksan, which became the first signs of ethnic strife during Gorbachev's tenure

● 1987 - Roh Tae Woo wins Presidential Election in South Korea

● 1988 - Political cult leader Lyndon LaRouche convicted of tax, mail fraud

● 1989 - Protest breaks out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor, László Tőkés.

● 1990 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a leftist priest, was elected president in Haiti's first democratic elections.

● 1991 - UN reverses ruling that Zionism is racism by 111-25 (13 abstain) vote. UN General Assembly Resolution 4686 revokes UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 after Israel makes revocation of resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.

● 1991 - Canadian Indian Affairs Minister announces "final" agreement with the Inuit of the eastern Arctic, creating the new native-run Territory of Nunavut. When details are worked out three years later, it develops that natives will only control land deemed not to be of commercial or military value to Canadian government.

● 1991 - Activists in Brussels, Belgium, protesting Vatican funding for an observatory desecrating sacred Apache site at Mount Graham, Arizona, pull a bulldozer up to a prominent local cathedral.

● 1992 - Israel orders deportation of 415 Palestinians after escalating terrorist activity

● 1994 - Russian Gen. Babichev refuses orders to kill Chechen civilians.

● 1994 - Davy Jones (Monkees), charged with DWI

● 1995 - Many U.S. government functions were again closed as a temporary finance provision expired and the budget dispute between President Clinton and Republicans in Congress continued.

● 1995 - NATO launched a military operation in support of the Bosnia peace agreement.

● 1996 - Britain's agriculture minister announced the slaughter of an additional 100,000 cows thought to be at risk of contracting BSE in an effort to persuade the EU to lift its ban on Britain.

● 1997 - President Clinton names his Labrador retriever, "Buddy"

● 1997 - Typhoon Paka makes landfall on the island of Guam with 150 mph winds.

● 1997 - The Pokémon episode Electric Soldier Porygon triggers attacks of photosensitive epilepsy in hundreds of Japanese children.

● 1998 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox - The United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq.

● 1999 - Sigourney Weaver received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

● 1999 - Torrential rains and mudslides in Venezuela left thousands of people dead and forced at least 120,000 to leave their homes.

● 2000 - Researchers announced that information from NASA's Galileo spacecraft indicated that Ganymede appeared to have a liquid saltwater ocean beneath a surface of solid ice. Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, is the solar system's largest moon. The discovery is considered important since water is a key ingredient for life.

● 2000 - U.S. President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to be the first African-American secretary of state. Powell was sworn in January 20, 2001.

● 2001 - Thousands rally for Scots countryside; Thousands of countryside campaigners are on the streets of Edinburgh in the largest demonstration of its kind ever witnessed in Scotland.

● 2001 - In Tora Bora, Afghanistan, tribal fighters announced that they had taken the last al-Quaida positions. More than 200 fighters were killed and 25 captured. They also announced that they had found no sign of Osama bin Laden.

● 2001 - Cuba received the first commercial food shipment from the United States in nearly 40 years. The shipment was sent to help Cuba after Hurrican Michelle hit Cuba on November 4, 2001.

● 2001 - A British newspaper, The Observer, reported that a notebook had been found at an al-Quaida training camp in southern Afghanistan. The notebook contained a "blue print" for an bomb attack on London's financial district.

● 2002 - Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The 1997 treaty was aimed a reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

● 2004 - Britain's highest court dealt a huge blow to the government's anti-terrorism policy by ruling that it could not detain foreign suspects indefinitely without trial.

● 2005 - The last scheduled edition of US radio program The Howard Stern Show is broadcast on terrestrial radio.

● 2006 - The Knicks-Nuggets brawl took place making it the first NBA brawl since the Pacers-Pistons brawl in 2004.

BIRTHS

● 1485 - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (d. 1536)

● 1584 - John Selden, English jurist and oriental scholar (d. 1654)

● 1614 - Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1674)

● 1714 - George Whitefield, British-born Methodist leader (d. 1770)

● 1716 - Louis-Jules Mancini-Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais, French diplomat and writer (d. 1798)

● 1717 - Elizabeth Carter, British writer (d. 1806)

● 1742 - Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal (d. 1819)

● 1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (d. 1827)

● 1775 - Jane Austen, British writer (d. 1817)

● 1775 - François-Adrien Boïeldieu, French composer (d. 1834)

● 1776 - Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German physicist (d. 1810)

● 1790 - King Léopold I of Belgium (d. 1865)

● 1804 - Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (d. 1889)

● 1834 - Léon Walras, French economist (d. 1910)

● 1843 - Josephine Shaw Lowell, American social reformer (d. 1905)

● 1850 - Hans Buchner, German bacteriologist (d. 1902)

● 1861 - Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (d. 1917)

● 1863 - George Santayana, Spanish philosopher and writer (d. 1952)

● 1865 - Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (d. 1918)

● 1866 (N.S.) - Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French abstract painter (d. 1944)

● 1867 - Amy Carmichael - missionary in Dohnavur, India (d. 1951)

● 1869 - Hristo Tatarchev - Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1952)

● 1872 - Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (d. 1947)

● 1882 - Sir Jack (John Berry) Hobbs, English test cricketer (d. 1963)

● 1882 - Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (d. 1967)

● 1882 - Walther Meissner, German physicist (d. 1974)

● 1883 - Max Linder, French pioneer of silent film (d. 1925)

● 1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)

● 1888 - Alphonse Juin, marshall of France (d. 1967)

● 1899 - Sir Noel Coward, British playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973)

● 1900 - V. S. Pritchett, British author and critic (d. 1997)

● 1901 - Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978)

● 1902 - Rafael Alberti, Spanish poet (d. 1999)

● 1905 - Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (d. 1996)

● 1906 - Barbara Kent, Canadian Actress

● 1917 - Sir Arthur C. Clarke, British writer

● 1926 - James McCracken, American tenor (d. 1988)

● 1927 - Randall Garrett, American writer

● 1928 - Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982)

● 1929 - Nicholas Courtney, British actor

● 1932 - Rodion Shchedrin, Soviet-born Russian composer

● 1934 - Elgin Baylor, American basketball player

● 1936 - Morris Dees, Civil rights attorney

● 1937 - Joyce Bulifant, Actress

● 1938 - Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress

● 1941 - Lesley Stahl, American journalist (''60 Minutes'')

● 1942 - Don Carcieri, Governor of Rhode Island

● 1943 - Steven Bochco, American television producer and writer (''NYPD Blue,'' ''Hill Street Blues'')

● 1943 - Tony Hicks, British guitarist (The Hollies)

● 1944 - Jim Gibbons, Nevada governor-elect

● 1945 - Yukio Hattori, Japanese Iron Chef commentator

● 1946 - Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (ABBA)

● 1946 - Trevor Pinnock, British conductor and harpsichordist

● 1947 - Vincent Matthews, American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist

● 1947 - Ben Cross, British actor

● 1949 - Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (ZZ Top)

● 1950 - Roy Schuiten, Dutch cyclist (d. 2006)

● 1951 - Bill Bateman, Rock musician (The Blasters)

● 1951 - Robben Ford, American guitarist

● 1952 - Joel Garner, West Indian test cricketer

● 1955 - Xander Berkeley, American actor

● 1959 - Alison LaPlaca, Actress

● 1961 - Sam Robards, Actor

● 1961 - Jon Tenney, Actor (''The Closer'')

● 1961 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994)

● 1962 - William Perry, American football player

● 1963 - Jeff Carson, Country singer-songwriter

● 1963 - Benjamin Bratt, American actor

● 1964 - Heike Drechsler, East German-born sprinter

● 1964 - Billy Ripken, former American baseball player

● 1965 - Nancy Valen, American actress

● 1965 - Chris Jones, Former American Baseball Player

● 1966 - Denis Wise, English soccer player

● 1967 - Donovan Bailey, Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter

● 1967 - Miranda Otto, Australian actress

● 1971 - Paul van Dyk (real name Matthias Paul), German trance DJ and producer

● 1971 - Michael McCary, American singer (Boyz II Men)

● 1972 - Željko Kalac, Australian footballer

● 1972 - Charles Gipson, American Baseball player

● 1973 - Scott Storch- Canadian / American hip-hop producer

● 1975 - Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian musician (Billy Talent)

● 1977 - Sylvain Distin, French footballer

● 1977 - Éric Bélanger, National Hockey League player

● 1978 - Gunter Van Handenhoven, Belgian footballer

● 1979 - Mihai Trăistariu, Romanian singer

● 1979 - Jessie Ward, American former professional wrestler

● 1981 - Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer

● 1981 - Gareth Williams, Scottish footballer

● 1981 - Took Leng How, Malaysian convicted of murder

● 1982 - Chris Scruggs, Country musician

● 1983 - Kelenna Azubuike, Basketball player

● 1985 - Keita Tachibana, Japanese singer

● 1987 - Hallee Hirsh, American actress (''JAG'')

● 1988 - Anna Popplewell, English actress

● 1989 - Chen Yaoye, professional Go player

DEATHS

● 705 - Empress Wu of Zhou (China; b. 625)

● 714 - Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia

● 866 - Eberhard of Friuli

● 999 - Saint Adelaide of Italy (b. 931)

● 1325 - Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (b. 1270)

● 1378 - Otto III of Montferrat

● 1379 - John Fitzalan, Marshal of England

● 1470 - John II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1425)

● 1515 - Afonso de Albuquerque Portuguese naval general (b. 1453)

● 1598 - Yi Sun-sin, Korean admiral (b. 1545)

● 1669 - Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician

● 1687 - William Petty, English scientist and philosopher (b. 1623)

● 1751 - Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (b. 1700)

● 1765 - Peter Frederick Haldimand, Swiss military officer and surveyor

● 1774 - François Quesnay, French economist (b. 1694)

● 1783 - Johann A. Hasse, German composer (b. 1699)

● 1783 - Sir William James British naval commander (b. 1720)

● 1809 - Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist (b. 1755)

● 1859 - Wilhelm Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1786)

● 1898 - Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (b. 1832)

● 1914 - Ivan Zajc, Croatian composer (b. 1832)

● 1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)

● 1921 - Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (b. 1835)

● 1922 - Gabriel Narutowicz, first President of Poland (b. 1865)

● 1928 - Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b. 1885

● 1935 - Thelma Todd, American actress (b. 1905)

● 1945 - Giovanni Agnelli, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1866)

● 1945 - Fumimaro Konoye, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1891)

● 1949 - Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (b. 1873)

● 1956 - Nina Hamnett, British artist (b. 1890)

● 1965 - W. Somerset Maugham, British writer (b. 1874)

● 1976 - Réal Caouette, French Canadian politician (Social Credit Party of Canada) (b. 1917)

● 1977 - Risto Jarva, Finnish filmmaker (b. 1934)

● 1980 - Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)

● 1980 - Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b. 1900)

● 1982 - Colin Chapman, British engineer and automobile manufacturer, founder of Lotus Cars (b. 1928)

● 1984 - Debs Garms, baseball player (b. 1907)

● 1985 - Paul Castellano, American mafioso (b. 1915)

● 1985 - Thomas Bilotti, American mafioso (b. 1940)

● 1988 - Sylvester James, American R&B singer, disco performer (b. 1948)

● 1989 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925)

● 1989 - Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895)

● 1989 - Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (b. 1930)

● 1990 - Douglas Campbell, American pilot (b. 1896)

● 1993 - Moses Gunn, American actor (b. 1929)

● 1993 - Tanaka Kakuei, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918)

● 1995 - Mariele Ventre, Italian choir director (b. 1939)

● 1995 - Johnny Moss, American poker player (b. 1907)

● 1996 - Quentin Bell, British art historian (b. 1910)

● 1997 - Nicolette Larson, American singer (b. 1952)

● 2001 - Stuart Adamson, British musician (b. 1958)

● 2003 - Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1914)

● 2003 - Gary Stewart, American musician, singer and songwriter (b. 1945)

● 2004 - Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b. 1933)

● 2005 - Kenneth Bulmer, British author (b.1921)

● 2005 - John Spencer, American actor (b. 1946)

● 2006 - Pnina Salzman, Israeli pianist

● 2006 - Taliep Petersen, South African singer and composer (b. 1950)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. O Sapientia
● St. Adelaide of Italy
● St. Ado of Vienne
● St. Albina
● St. Beoc
● St. Valentine
● St. Nicholas Chrysoberges
● Bl. Raynald de Bar

● Old Roman Catholic:
● St. Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli, martyr

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for December 3 (Civil Date: December 16)
● Nativity Fast.
● Prophet Zephaniah (Sophonias).
● St. Sabbas, abbot of Zvenigorod, disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
● St. Theodulus, eparch of Constantinople.
● St. John the Silent of St. Sabbas' Monastery.
● Hieromartyr Theodore, Archbishop of Alexandria.
● New Hieromartyr Gabriel, Bishop of Ganos.
● New Martyr Angelos of Chios.
● St. Nicetius, Bishop of Lyons (Gaul).

● Greek Calendar:
● Martyrs Agapius, Seleucus and Mamas.
● Repose of King Magnus II of Sweden (Gregory in schema) of Valaam (1371)
● Repose of Archimandrite Theophanes of Novoezersk Monastery (1832).

● Bahrain - National Day

● Bangladesh - Victory Day (1971)

● Kazakhstan - Independence Day

● Nepál : Constitution Day (1962)

● South Africa - Day of Reconciliation

● Mexico - First day of Las Posadas

● Philippines - First day of Misa de Gallo

● Cyprus - Independence from British

● Namibia, South Africa : Day of the Covenant

● Pretoria, South Africa : Foretrekkers' Day

● South Africa : Dingaan's Day (1838)

● This Holiday is only applicable on a given "day of the week":
● World : Underdog Day - ( Friday )


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

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