| Today In History | |
| December 16th | |
| Events | |
| 1392 - Historku-cho - Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu. 1431 - Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris. 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. 1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. 1689 - Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights. 1761 - Seven Years' War: After four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg. 1773 - American Revolution: Boston Tea Party - Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act. 1811 - The first two in a series of severe earthquakes occurs, in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri. 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. 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. 1893 - Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From The New World" was given its world premiere at Carnagie Hall. 1899 - Brooklyn Children's Museum opens. 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. 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. 1941 - World War II: Japanese occupy Miri,Sarawak 1942 - Holocaust: Porajmos - Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination should be deported to Auschwitz. 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. 1946 - Léon Blum becomes Prime Minister of France. 1957 - Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan. 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. 1971 - Liberation War of Bangladesh & Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army simultaneously brings an end to both conflicts. 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. 1989 - Protest breaks out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor, László Tőkés. 1991 - United Nations General Assembly: 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. 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. 2005 - The last scheduled edition of US radio program The Howard Stern Show is broadcast on terrestrial radio. |
|
| 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) 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 - a missionary in Dohnavur, India 1869 - Hristo Tatarchev - Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1952) 1872 - Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (d. 1947) 1882 - Sir Jack Hobbs, English test cricketer (d. 1963) 1882 - Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (d. 1967) 1882 - Walther Meissner, German physicist (d. 1974) 1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934) 1899 - Sir Noel Coward, British playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973) 1901 - Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978) 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 1938 - Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress 1941 - Lesley Stahl, American journalist 1943 - Steven Bochco, American television producer and writer 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 1949 - Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (ZZ Top) 1950 - Roy Schuiten, Dutch cyclist (d. 2006) 1951 - Robben Ford, American guitarist 1952 - Joel Garner, West Indian test cricketer 1955 - Xander Berkeley, American actor 1961 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994) 1962 - William Perry, American football player 1963 - Benjamin Bratt, American actor 1964 - Heike Drechsler, East German-born German sprinter 1964 - Billy Ripken, former American baseball player. 1966 - Denis Wise, British soccer player 1967 - Donovan Bailey, Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter 1967 - Miranda Otto, Australian actress 1970 - Nancy Valen, American actress 1971 - Paul van Dyk (real name Matthias Paul), German trance DJ and producer 1972 - Željko Kalac, Australian footballer 1973 - Scott Storch- American hip-hop producer 1975 - Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian musician (Billy Talent) 1977 - Sylvain Distin, French footballer 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 1983 - Kelenna Azubuike, Basketball player 1985 - Keita Tachibana, Japanese singer 1987 - Hallee Hirsh, American actress 1988 - Anna Popplewell, British 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 999 - Saint Adelaide of Italy (b. 931) 1325 - Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (b. 1270) 1379 - John Fitzalan, Marshal of England (drowned) 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) 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) 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) 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) 1989 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925) 1989 - Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895) 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) 1996 - Quentin Bell, British art historian (b. 1910) 2001 - Stuart Adamson, British musician (suicide) (b. 1958) 2003 - Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1914) 2003 - Gary Stewart, American musician, singer and songwriter (suicide) (b. 1945) 2004 - Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b. 1933) 2005 - Kenneth Bulmer, British author (b.1921) 2005 - John Spencer, American actor (b. 1946)
| |
