December 18......

December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 13 days remaining in the year on this date.

EVENTS

● 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic.

● 1118 - Alfonso van Aragón occupies Saragossa on Almoraviden

● 1271 - Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China.

● 1352 - Etienne Aubert elected as Pope Innocentius VI

● 1406 - Anton van Bourgondies becomes duke of Brabant

● 1603 - Admiral Steven van der Haghens fleet departs to East-Indies

● 1621 - English parliament accept unanimously, Protestation

● 1642 - Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand

● 1719 - Thomas Fleet publishes "Mother Goose's Melodies For Children"

● 1737 - Violin maker Antonio Stradivari died in Cremona, Italy.

● 1774 - Jews expelled from Prague, Bohemia & Moravia by Empress Maria Theresa

● 1777 - 1st national Thanksgiving Day, commemorating Burgoyne's surrender

● 1783 - English king George III fires government of Portland

● 1787 - New Jersey becomes 3rd state to ratify constitution

● 1793 - Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French royalists to Lord Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.

● 1796 - 1st US newspaper to appear on Sunday (Baltimore Monitor)

● 1799 - George Washington's body interred at Mount Vernon

● 1813 - British take Fort Niagara in the War of 1812

● 1819 - Birth of Isaac Thomas Hecker, American Roman Catholic leader. He entered the Redemptorist Order in 1845, and in 1858 founded the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (the Paulist Fathers). He was superior general of the Paulist Society during his last 30 years (1858-88).

● 1830 - Trial of Swing Rioters, peasants and workers who fought for minimum wage.

● 1832 - Charles Darwin visits Vurland

● 1834 - Emory College was chartered in Oxford, GA, under Methodist auspices. In 1915 it changed its name to Emory University and in 1919 the campus was relocated in Atlanta, GA.

● 1839 - 1st celestial photograph (the moon) made in US, John Draper, New York NY

● 1849 - William Bond obtains 1st photograph of Moon through a telescope

● 1859 - South Carolina declared an "independent commonwealth"

● 1862 - The first orthopedic hospital was organized in New York City. It was called the Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled.

● 1862 - Battle at Lexington TN (Forrest's Second Raid)

● 1865 - The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified by Georgia, fulfilling the two-thirds requirement for ratification, and banning legal slavery in the United States.

● 1865 - 1st US cattle importation law passed

● 1878 - French SS Byzantin sinks after collision in Dardanellen, 210 killed

● 1886 – Baseball hall-of-famer and bigot Ty Cobb was born in Narrows, Ga.

● 1888 – Robert Moses, the American public servant who supervised the construction of many New York landmarks, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Shea Stadium , was born.

● 1890 – Lugard's expedition to Mengo/Kampala, Uganda

● 1892 - Rabbi H. Rosenberg was expelled from Temple Beth-Jacob in Brooklyn, NY, for eating pork.

● 1892 - The first performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker is held at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

● 1898 - Automobile speed record set-63 kph (39 mph)

● 1899 - Fieldmarshal Lord Roberts appointed British supreme commander in South Africa

● 1900 - The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia opened for traffic.

● 1903 - The Panama Canal Zone was acquired 'in perpetuity' by the U.S. for an annual rent.

● 1904 - Indian mystic Sundar Singh, 15, was converted to Christianity through a vision. Baptized into the Church of England in 1905, Singh afterward donned the robe of a Sadhu (holy man) in an endeavor to present Christianity in a Hindu form. (He disappeared in April 1929, while undertaking a strenuous work in Tibet.)

● 1915 - President Wilson, widowed the year before, marries Edith Bolling Galt

● 1912 - The U.S. Congress prohibited the immigration of illiterate persons.

● 1912 - The discovery of the Piltdown Man in East Sussex was announced. It was proved to be a hoax in 1953.

● 1915 - U.S. President Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt at her Washington home.

● 1916 - During World War I, after 10 months of fighting the French defeated the Germans in the Battle of Verdun.

● 1917 - The Eighteenth Amendment (Alcohol Prohibition) to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress.

● 1920 - First public radio broadcast in U.S.

● 1920 - 1st US postage stamps printed without the words United States or US

● 1922 - Nelly Roussel dies. Free thinker, anarchist, feminist. She gave talks throughout France, claiming complete independence for women, founded on new relationships between the sexes.

● 1922 - In Turin, Italy, fascists attack the "Chambre du Travail," set fire to the Circle of the Railwaymen, the Circle Karl Marx and the seat of Ordine Nuova. 22 workmen, socialists, communists, and anarchists are assassinated. The anarchist Pietro Ferrero, secretary of the trade union of metallurgists (F.I.O.M.) and organizer of the Councilist movement in the factories, is attached to a truck and dragged to his death in the street.

● 1923 - International zone of Tangier set up in Morocco

● 1929 - Canada: Founding of the Workers' Unity League.

● 1935 - A $1 silver certificate was issued for the first time in the U.S.

● 1935 - The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Sri Lanka.

● 1935 - Edward Benes becomes President of Czechoslovakia

● 1936 - Su-Lin, the first giant panda to come to the U.S. from China, arrived in San Francisco, CA. The bear was sold to the Brookfield Zoo for $8,750.

● 1939 - Finnish army recaptures Agläjärvi

● 1940 - Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation "Barbarossa" was launched in June 1941.

● 1941 - German submarine U-434 sinks

● 1941 - Japanse troops land on Hong Kong

● 1943 - German theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter from prison: 'The man who finds God in his earthly happiness...does not lack reminder that earthly things are transient...and...there will be times when he can say in all sincerity, "I wish I were home."'

● 1944 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also stated that undeniably loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry could not be detained.

● 1944 - World War II: 77 B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. Fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow, China, a Japanese supply base.

● 1944 - Destroyers "Hull", "Spence" & "Monaghan" sink in typhoon (Philippines)

● 1944 - Nazi occupiers of Amsterdam destroy electricity plants

● 1945 - Uruguay joins the United Nations

● 1946 - Birth of Steven Biko, South African/Azanian leader of the Black Consciousness Movement; murdered by South African police in 1977.

● 1947 - Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Optissima Pax

● 1948 - Indonesia begins its 2nd political election

● 1950 - Radio Times hits Christmas deadline; The Christmas edition of the Radio Times returns after an industrial dispute in time for the festive season.

● 1950 - NATO foreign ministers approved plans to defend Western Europe, including the use of nuclear weapons, if necessary.

● 1953 - WPTZ, in Philadelphia, PA, presented a Felso commercial, it was the first color telecast seen on a local station.

● 1956 - "To Tell the Truth" debuted on CBS-TV.

● 1956 - Japan admitted to the United Nations

● 1956 - Israeli flag hoisted on Mount Sinai

● 1957 - The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania went online. It was the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States. It was taken out of service in 1982.

● 1958 - 1st test project of Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment

● 1958 - Niger gains autonomy within French Community (National Day)

● 1960 - General Meeting of United Nations condemns apartheid

● 1961 - Indonesia invades Netherlands New Guinea.

● 1961 - India annexes Portuguese colonies of Goa, Damao & Diu

● 1961 - Britain's EMI Records originally rejects the Beatles

● 1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR

● 1963 - Ron Clarke set a world record when he ran six miles in 28 minutes and 15.6 seconds.

● 1963 - Muskegon MI gets 3' of snow

● 1963 - African students protest against racial discrimination. Moscow, U.S.S.R.

● 1964 - U.S. "negotiates" a new Panama Canal Treaty.

● 1964 - During services held for Sam Cooke, fans caused damage to Funeral Home

● 1964 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1965 - Borman & Lovell Splash down in Atlantic ends 2 week Gemini VII mission

● 1965 - Kenneth LeBel jumps 17 barrels on ice skates

● 1966 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR

● 1966 - Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.

● 1968 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR

● 1969 - Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan's motion to remove the limit on the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act, which suspended the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland for all crimes, except treason, piracy with violence, and certain crimes under the jurisdiction of the armed forces for a period of five years, is carried by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

● 1969 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1970 - Divorce became legal in Italy.

● 1970 - Polish uprising fails

● 1970 - Underground nuclear test in Nevada blows cloud of radioactive dust 8,000 feet in air into Wyoming.

● 1971 - 1st Candlelight Processional

● 1971 - People United To Save Humanity (PUSH) forms by Jesse Jackson in Chicago

● 1971 - US dollar devalued 7.9% in Holland ($1=ƒ3,245)

● 1972 - Bach Mai hospital, Vietnam, bombed by the U.S. U.S. launches heaviest air barrage of the entire Indochina war against North Vietnam, the so-called "Christmas bombing.". The attack ended 12 days later, with the North Vietnamese no closer to surrendering despite whatever Kissinger believed.

● 1973 - The IRA launched its Christmas bombing campaign in London.

● 1973 - Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union into Earth orbit for 8 days

● 1974 - Compensation for Bloody Sunday victims; The Government says it will pay £42,000 compensation to relatives of the 13 men killed in the Bloody Sunday riots in Londonderry nearly three years ago.

● 1974 - San Francisco Visitors Center at City Hall opens

● 1976 - Soviet dissident Viktor Bukovski exchanged for Chile CP-leader Corvalan

● 1977 - Dutch Antilles: premier Boy Rozendal points independence off

● 1978 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

● 1978 - USSR performs underground nuclear test

● 1979 - Stanley Barrett 1st to exceed land sonic speed (739.666 MPH)

● 1980 - Former Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin died at age 76.

● 1980 - Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts minister Van Agts abortion laws

● 1980 - IRA's Sean McKenna becomes critically ill, ends hunger strike

● 1980 - Vietnam adopts constitution

● 1982 - Flight readiness firing of Challenger's main engines; 20 seconds

● 1983 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) scored his 100th point of the season.

● 1984 - Christopher Guest and Jamie Lee Curtis were married.

● 1985 - Drug traffickers' appeal rejected; Two Australians are facing the death penalty after their appeal against a conviction for smuggling heroin was rejected by a Malaysian court.

● 1985 - UN Security Council unanimously condemns "acts of hostage-taking"

● 1986 - Mr Gates serves as acting director of CIA

● 1987 - Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's future president, marries Asif Ali Zardari

● 1987 - Ivan F. Boesky was sentenced to three years in prison for plotting Wall Street's biggest insider-trading scandal. He only served about two years of the sentence.

● 1989 - Labour's union U-turn; The Labour Party abandons its policy on trade union closed shops in line with European legislation.

● 1991 - DeForest Kelly (Dr McCoy on Star Trek) gets a star in Hollywood

● 1991 - General Motors announces the closing of 21 plants

● 1992 - Two activists arrested in Des Moines, Iowa, for disrupting city council meeting to demand a civilian review board for charges of police racism and brutality.

● 1992 - FCC vote 4-1 to allow Infinity to purchase Cook Inlet stations

● 1994 - Darryl Strawberry pleads not guilty on tax evasion charges

● 1994 - Socialist Party (ex-communist) wins Bulgaria parliamentary election

● 1996 - Despite a U.N. truce, factional fighting in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, broke out in which at least 300 fighters and civilians were killed.

● 1996 - TV industry executives agree to adopt a ratings system

● 1996 - The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring "Ebonics" a language or dialect.

● 1997 - Dawn of Scottish parliament; Scottish Secretary Donald Dewer unveils a blueprint for Scotland's new parliament.

● 1997 - Comedian and ''Saturday Night Live'' alum Chris Farley was found dead at age 33 of an accidental overdose of morphine and cocaine.

● 1997 - HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.

● 1998 - The U.S. House of Representatives began the debate on the four articles of impeachment concerning U.S. President Bill Clinton. It was only the second time in U.S. history that process had begun.

● 1998 - Russia recalled its U.S. ambassador in protest of the U.S. attacks on Iraq.

● 1998 - South Carolina proceeded with the U.S.' 500th execution since capital punishment was restored.

● 1999 - NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.

● 1999 - After living atop an ancient redwood in Humboldt County, CA, for two years, environmental activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill came down, ending her anti-logging protest.

● 2001 - Mark Oliver Gebel, a Ringling Bros. Circus star, went on trial for animal abuse. The charges stemmed from an incident with an elephant that was marching too slowly into a circus performance on August 25, 2001. He was acquitted on December 21, 2001.

● 2001 - The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan, New York City, is damaged by fire.

● 2001 - In Seattle, WA, Gary Leon Ridgeway pled innocent to the charge of murder for four of the Green River serial killings. He had been arrested on November 30, 2001.

● 2002 - Nine competing designs for the World Trade Center site were unveiled. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. expected to choose a design by January 31, 2003.

● 2002 - 2003 California recall: Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.

● 2003 - A judge in Seattle sentenced confessed Green River killer Gary Ridgeway to 48 consecutive life terms.

● 2003 - Adam Rich was arrested for driving onto a closed section of Interstate 10 and nearly struck a California Highway Patrol car.

● 2006 - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigns, Robert Gates is sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense.

BIRTHS

● 1507 - Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese warlord (d. 1551)

● 1602 - Simonds d'Ewes, English antiquarian and politician (d. 1650)

● 1610 - Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist (d. 1688)

● 1620 - Heinrich Roth, German Sanskrit scholar (d. 1668)

● 1626 - Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)

● 1661 - Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (d. 1751)

● 1662 - James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician (d. 1711)

● 1724 - Louise of Great Britain, wife of Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1751)

● 1725 - Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and Bible commentator (d. 1791)

● 1825 - Charles Griffin (general), American general (d. 1876)

● 1835 - Lyman Abbott, American author (d. 1922)

● 1847 - Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)

● 1856 - Sir J. J. Thomson, British physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)

● 1860 - Edward MacDowell, American composer and pianist (d. 1908)

● 1863 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (d. 1914)

● 1870 - Saki, British writer (d. 1916)

● 1873 - Francis Burton Harrison, American political figure (d. 1957)

● 1878 - Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1953)

● 1879 - Paul Klee, Swiss-born painter and graphic artist (d. 1940)

● 1886 - Ty Cobb, American baseball player (d. 1961)

● 1888 - Robert Moses, American public works planner; supervised construction of Lincoln Center and Shea Stadium (d. 1981)

● 1888 - Dame Gladys Cooper, British actress (d. 1971)

● 1890 - Edwin Armstrong, American inventor (d. 1954)

● 1897 - Fletcher Henderson, American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer (d. 1952)

● 1904 - George Stevens, American film director, producer, writer and cinematographer (d. 1975)

● 1907 - Bill Holland, American auto racer (d. 1984)

● 1908 - Paul Siple, American Antarctic explorer (d. 1969)

● 1911 - Jules Dassin, American film director

● 1912 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American General (d. 2002)

● 1913 - Alfred Bester, American author (d. 1987)

● 1913 - Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)

● 1913 - Ray Meyer, former head coach of DePaul University men's basketball team (d. 2006)

● 1916 - Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)

● 1916 - Douglas Fraser, British-born trade unionist

● 1917 - Ossie Davis, American actor (d. 2005)

● 1918 - Hal Kanter, TV writer-producer

● 1927 - Ramsey Clark, U.S. Attorney General

● 1927 - Romeo LeBlanc, 25th Governor General of Canada

● 1928 - Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal

● 1929 - Gino Cimoli, baseball player

● 1930 - Moose Skowron, baseball player

● 1931 - Allen Klein, rock and roll business manager

● 1932 - Roger Smith, Actor

● 1933 - Lonnie Brooks, Blues musician

● 1934 - Boris Volynov, cosmonaut

● 1935 - Jacques Pépin, French chef

● 1936 - Malcolm Kirk, wrestler (d. 1987)

● 1938 - Roger E. Mosley, American actor

● 1938 - Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (d. 2005)

● 1938 - Chas Chandler, English musician (The Animals) (d. 1996)

● 1939 - Michael Moorcock, British author

● 1939 - Harold E. Varmus, American scientist and Nobel Prize laureate

● 1940 - Bramwell Morrison, member of children's musical group Sharon, Lois & Bram

● 1943 - Alan Rudolph, Writer-director

● 1943 - Keith Richards, British guitarist (The Rolling Stones)

● 1945 - Jean Pronovost, National Hockey League player

● 1946 - Steven Spielberg, American film director

● 1946 - Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1977)

● 1947 - Rod Piazza, Blues musician

● 1948 - Bill Nelson, British musician (Be Bop Deluxe)

● 1948 - Laurent Voulzy, French singer and composer

● 1950 - Gillian Armstrong, Australian film director

● 1950 - Leonard Maltin, American film critic

● 1950 - Randy Castillo, American drummer (Ozzy Osbourne's band) (d.2002)

● 1953 - Elliot Easton, American guitarist (The Cars)

● 1955 - Ray Liotta, American actor

● 1956 - Ron White, American comedian

● 1961 - Brian Orser, Canadian figure skater

● 1963 - Karl Dorrell, American football coach

● 1963 - Brad Pitt, American actor

● 1964 - Stone Cold Steve Austin, American professional wrestler

● 1964 - Don Beebe, American football player

● 1964 - Robson Green, British actor and singer

● 1965 - Tommy Davidson, American actor

● 1966 - Tracy Byrd, Country singer

● 1967 - Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch sports journalist

● 1968 - Casper Van Dien, American actor

● 1968 - Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer

● 1970 - DMX, American rapper and actor

● 1970 - Miles Marshall Lewis, American author

● 1970 - Rob Van Dam, American professional wrestler

● 1970 - Cowboy Troy, American rapper

● 1970 - Anthony Catanzaro, American male fitness model and bodybuilder

● 1970 - Johnny Yeo, British artist

● 1971 - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player

● 1971 - Barkha Dutt, Indian Journalist

● 1972 - DJ Lethal, Latvian DJ (House of Pain & Limp Bizkit)

● 1973 - Raymond Herrera, American drummer (Fear Factory)

● 1974 - Peter Boulware, American football player

● 1974 - Knut Euroboy Schreiner, Norwegian musician (Turbonegro)

● 1975 - Trish Stratus, Canadian professional wrestler

● 1975 - Masaki Sumitani, Japanese comedian

● 1976 - Koyuki, Japanese actress and model

● 1977 - José Acevedo, Baseball player

● 1978 - Katie Holmes, American actress

● 1978 - Ali Curtis, American footballer

● 1978 - Daniel Cleary, Canadian ice hockey player

● 1979 - Carlos Fernandes, Portuguese footballer

● 1980 - Christina Aguilera, American singer

● 1982 - Dave Luetkenhoelter, American bassist (Kutless)

● 1983 - Darren Carter, English footballer

● 1985 - Hana Soukupová, Czech supermodel

● 1987 - Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater

● 1989 - Ashley Benson, American actress

DEATHS

● 821 - Theodulf, Bishop of Orléans

● 1133 - Hildebert, French writer

● 1290 - King Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1240)

● 1442 - Pierre Cauchon, French Catholic bishop (b. 1371)

● 1495 - King Alphonso II of Naples (b. 1448)

● 1692 - Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (b. 1626)

● 1737 - Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644)

● 1787 - Francis William Drake, British Admiral and Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1724)

● 1787 - Soame Jenyns, English writer (b. 1704)

● 1799 - Jean-Étienne Montucla, French mathematician (b. 1725)

● 1803 - Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (b. 1744)

● 1843 - Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch, British Viceroy of India (b. 1748)

● 1848 - Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1781)

● 1869 - Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (b. 1829)

● 1880 - Michel Chasles, French mathematician (b. 1793)

● 1936 - Andrija Mohorovičić, Austro-Hungarian-born Yugoslav seismologist (b. 1857)

● 1971 - Bobby Jones, American golfer (b. 1902)

● 1971 - Diana Lynn, American actress (b. 1926)

● 1974 - Harry Hooper, American baseball player (b. 1887)

● 1975 - Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist (b. 1900)

● 1980 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the USSR (b. 1904)

● 1982 - Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German pilot (b. 1916)

● 1985 - Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1916)

● 1990 - Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (b. 1914)

● 1990 - Anne Revere, American actress (b. 1903)

● 1991 - George Abecassis, British Formula 1 driver (b. 1913)

● 1992 - Mark Goodson, American game show producer (b. 1915)

● 1993 - Sam Wanamaker, American actor (b. 1919)

● 1994 - Roger Apéry, French mathematician (b. 1916)

● 1995 - Konrad Zuse, German engineer and computing pioneer (b. 1910)

● 1996 - Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (b. 1904)

● 1997 - Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)

● 1998 - Lev Demin, cosmonaut (b. 1926)

● 1999 - Robert Bresson, French film director (b. 1907)

● 2000 - Kirsty MacColl, British singer and songwriter (b. 1959)

● 2001 - Gilbert Bécaud, French singer (b. 1927)

● 2002 - Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1934)

● 2004 - Anthony Sampson, British journalist and biographer (b. 1926)

● 2005 - Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (b. 1922)

● 2006 - Joseph Barbera, American cartoonist (b. 1911)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Gatianus of Tours
● St. O Adonai
● St. Flannan
● St. Rufus
● St. Auxentius
● St. Bodagisil
● St. Victurus
● St. Winebald
● St. Theotimus & Basilian
● St. Samthan
● St. Desideratus
● St. Gatian
● St. Rufus and Zosimus
● St. Quintus
● St. Moses
● St. Paul My
● St. Peter Truat

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for December 5 (Civil Date: December 18)
● Nativity Fast.
● Our Holy Father Sava the Sanctified.
● Our Holy Fathers, the Martyrs of Karyes.
● Our Holy Father Nectarius of Bitola.
● Our Holy Fathers Karyon and Zachariah.
● St. Sebastian the Martyr

● Christian:
● Feast of Our Lady of Solitude, patron of lonely

● Roman festivals:
● Feast of Epona (during Saturnalia)

● New Jersey : Ratification Day (1787)

● Niger : Republic Day (1958)

● 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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