This day in History

[Babba_not_Gump]

December 8.
1777. Captain James Cook leaves the Society Islands.

1792. 1st cremation in US: Henry Laurens.

1869. Timothy Eaton founds T. Eaton Co. Limited in Toronto, Canada.

1874. James-Younger gang led by Jesse James robs a train at Muncie, Kansas stealing $30,000.

1914. Battle of the Falkland Island: British Royal Navy destroys a German battle squadron.

1915. John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields" appears anonymously in "Punch" magazine.

1931. Coaxial cable patented.

1938. Highest temperature for December in US recorded in La Mesa Calif, 100 F.

1941. US, Canada and Britain declare war on Japan, US enters World War II.

1952. 1st TV acknowledgement of pregnancy (I Love Lucy).

1956. XVI Summer Olympic Games close at the MCG in Melbourne, Australia; start of an Olympic tradition - amidst international tensions, athletes mingle together, parade into and around MCG arena for final appearance to close the Games.

1961. Construction workers top off the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington, less 8 months after work began.

1967. NHL California Seals change name to Oakland Seals.

1972. Led Zepplin played a concert in Manchester, ticket cost was £1.25.

1978. "The Deer Hunter", directed by Michael Cimino and starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep, premieres in Los Angeles (Academy Awards Best Picture 1979).

1987. Flyers' Ron Hextall becomes 1st NHL goalie to actually score a goal, shooting the puck into Boston Bruins empty net in 5-2 win at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

2010. With the second launch of the SpaceX Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first privately held company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.

2022. Canadian pop singer Celine Dion reveals via Instagram that she has been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder.

2024. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift concludes "The Eras Tour" with her 149th show, at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada; the international concert tour is the highest-grossing of all time, with box office gross estimated at over $1.9 billion.

manchester12-8-72tkt_0.jpg

[Babba_not_Gump]

December 11.
1395. John "Eleanor" Rykener, a male cross-dressing prostitute, is brought to court in London for "committing that detestable unmentionable and ignominious vice" in late medieval England's only recorded case on same-sex intercourse (verdict unknown).

1719. 1st recorded display of Aurora Borealis in north American colonies (New England).

1844. 1st dental use of nitrous oxide in Hartford, Connecticut.

1896. Chief Electrical Engineer of the British Post Office, William Preece, gives a public lecture in London called "Telegraphy without Wires", praising the work of 22-year-old Guglielmo Marconi.

1905. High temperature of 120°F (49°C) recorded in Rivadavia, Argentina, a record for all of South America.

1909. Canadian Football exhibition game played in Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, Hamilton Tigers beat Ottawa Rough Riders, 11-6 before 15,000.

1913. "Mona Lisa" recovered two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum.

1931. Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland (Free State), and Newfoundland (not then part of Canada).

1932. San Francisco's coldest day (27°F) - it snows.

1936. Edward VIII announces in a radio broadcast that he is abdicating the British throne to marry Wallis Simpson.

1941. Axis powers Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declare war against the United States.

1961. Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii" album goes #1 and stays #1 for 20 weeks.

1967. "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn, premieres in NYC (Hepburn - Academy Award for Best Actress 1968).

1973. 1973 NA Soccer League awards LA, San Francisco, Seattle & Vancouver franchises.

1981. Former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali's 61st and last fight; loses to Trevor Berbick by unanimous decision in 10 rounds.

1995. Thomas O Hicks buys NHL Dallas Stars for $84 million.

2002.  Joe Sakic scores his 500th career goal at Vancouver.

2006. International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

2011. Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek suffers a minor heart attack in his home and is admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

2014. World's 1st penis transplant procedure by a team from Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.

2015. "Playboy" magazine publishes its last nude issue, features Pamela Anderson on the cover.

2020. America's FDA authorizes the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

2023. Canadian accused poison seller Kenneth Law who allegedly sent 200 packages to people in more than 40 countries, is charged with 14 counts of murder.

[Babba_not_Gump]

December 18.
1642. Abel Tasman's expedition is the first European voyage to reach New Zealand sailing into Wharewharangi Bay at the top of the South Island, making the first confirmed contact with Maori.

1719. Thomas Fleet publishes "Mother Goose's Melodies For Children" in Boston, Massachusetts.

1774. Empress Maria Theresa expels Jews from Prague, Bohemia and Moravia.

1813. British capture Fort Niagara in War of 1812.

1869. Canada's Hamilton Football Club plays its 1st game.

1898. First automobile speed record set of 63 kph (39 mph) by French Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat of Paris.

1941. Japanese troops land on Hong Kong.

1943. British guitarist Keith Richards of the rock band the Rolling Stones was born.

1956. "To Tell the Truth" debuts on CBS-TV.

1963. "The Pink Panther" film premieres, directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Peter Sellers and David Niven, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini.

1966. Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" airs for 1st time on CBS; animated special directed by Chuck Jones, features voices of Boris Karloff, June Foray, and Thurl Ravenscroft.

1976. Second remake of "A Star is Born" film, directed by Frank Pierson and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, premieres.

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

2011. The last US troops withdraw from Iraq, formally ending the Iraq War.

2012. 6 health workers dispensing polio vaccinations are gunned down in Pakistan.

2012. Canadian police begin arresting 17 people for 'the Great Maple Syrup Heist', for stealing 3,000 tonnes from a storage facility in Quebec.

2020. Moderna COVID-19 vaccine granted emergency authorization by US Food and Drug Administration.

2020. US Vice President Mike Pence receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine live on TV.

[Babba_not_Gump]

December 23.
1888. Vincent van Gogh cuts off his left ear with a razor, after argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin, and sends it to a female courtesan for safe keeping.

1912. Aswan Low Dam in Nile begins operation again, after being raised for the first time.

1919. Alice H. Parker patents a gas heating furnace.

1928. NBC sets up a permanent coast-to-coast radio network.

1937. First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.

1941. American forces on Wake Island surrender to Japanese.

1947. Transistor invented by John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain and William Shockley is first publicly demonstrated at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey.

1951. National Football League Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum: Los Angeles Rams beat Cleveland Browns, 24-17; first coast-to-coast televised NFL title game.

1954. First human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

1968. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders become the first people to orbit the Moon aboard Apollo 8.

1972. 16 plane crash survivors rescued from Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 after 72 days on the Andean Mountains, after only surviving through cannibalism.

1979. NY Islanders greatest shutout lose (8-0) vs Chicago Black Hawks.

1987. Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford, escapes from Alderson Prison.

1997. A Channukah candle is officially lighted in Vatican City for the 1st time to celebrate Hanukkah and to reconcile Roman Catholics and Jews.

2022. Washington Capitals center Alex Ovechkin scores two goals to move past Gordie Howe on most NHL career goals list in 4-1 win over visiting Winnipeg Jets.

[Babba_not_Gump]

December 25.
1. The first Christmas according to calendar-maker and Eastern Roman monk Dionysius Exiguus.

274. Roman Emperor Aurelian dedicates a temple to Sol Invictus in Rome, on supposed day of the winter solstice, fulfilling vow made during campaign in Palmyra.

352. 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th

597. England adopts Julian calendar.

1066. William the Conqueror is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey, completing the Norman conquest of England.

1492.  Christopher Columbus' flagship the Santa María runs aground and sinks on the north coast of Hispaniola. The crew are left to found a colony as Columbus returns to Spain.

1643. Christmas Island founded and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company vessel, the Royal Mary.

1741. Astronomer Anders Celsius introduces Centigrade temperature scale.

1809. Physician Ephraim McDowell performs the first abdominal surgery in the U.S, an ovariotomy to remove a 22 lb ovarian tumor.

1818. First known Christmas carol, "Silent Night, Holy Night" (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht'), is sung in Austria.

1914. Legendary "Christmas Truce" takes place on the battlefields of WWI between British and German troops. Instead of fighting, soldiers exchange gifts and play football.

1939. Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th red-nosed reindeer.

1941. Japan announces surrender of British-Canadian garrison at Hong Kong.

1956. Detroit's future Hockey Hall of Fame right wing Gordie Howe picks up a Xmas hat-trick & 3 assists in Red Wings' 8-1 win over NY Rangers; most points he scores in a single game in entire 26-year NHL career.

1957. 17-year old Liverpudlian Richard Starkey (later known as Ringo Starr) receives his first drum set as a Christmas gift from his stepfather.

1962. "To Kill a Mockingbird", a film adaptation of the novel by Harper Lee, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck, is released (Gregory Peck - Best Actor Academy Awards 1963).

1969. 5 Israeli gunboats escape from Cherbourg Harbour.

1973. "The Sting" directed by George Roy Hill, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, with music inspired by Scott Joplin, premieres in Los Angeles and New York (Best Picture 1974).

1979. Soviet forces invade Afghanistan to prop up the Communist government, beginning a disastrous and failed ten-year war.

1989. Japanese scientists achieve -271.8°C, coldest temperature ever recorded.

2021. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launched in joint effort with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America.

[Babba_not_Gump]

December 26.
1492. First Spanish settlement in the New World, La Navidad, is founded by Christopher Columbus (modern Môle-Saint-Nicolas in Haiti).

1606. First known performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" before the court of King James I at Whitehall, London.

1862. Largest mass execution in US history: 38 Dakota men were executed via hanging in the aftermath of the U.S.-Dakota War in Mankato, Minnesota.

1872. 4th largest snowfall in NYC history (18").

1919. Yankees and Boston Red Sox reach agreement to move future Baseball Hall of Fame pitching slugger Babe Ruth to New York.

1944. Battle of Bastogne: US General George S. Patton's 3rd Army repulses German forces.

1947. Heavy snow blankets Northeast, buries NYC under 25.8" of snow in 16 hrs. That same day, LA set a record high of 84°F.

1951. "The African Queen", directed by John Huston and based on the 1935 novel of the same name, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, is released in LA, California (Academy Awards Best Actor 1952).

1963. The Beatles release "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" in the US.

1968. Arab terrorists in Athens fire on El Al plane, killing 1.

1973. Horror film "The Exorcist" based on book and screenplay by William Peter Blatty, starring Linda Blair, rated X, premieres - 1st horror film to be nominated for Best Picture.

1982. TIME's Man of the Year is a computer.

1986. Mark Messier is suspended for 10 games for instigating a fight with Jamie Macoun and breaking his cheekbone.

1994. French commandos terminate Air France hijacking by Arab terrorists in Marseille.

1996. Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey is found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.

2004. A 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami, causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives, and the edges of the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people.

[Babba_not_Gump]

December 28.
1065. New church devoted to St. Peter the Apostle is built by Edward the Confessor, later called the 'west minster,' consecrated in London (rebuilt mid-13th century) and later named Westminster Abbey.

1612. First observation of Neptune - Galileo observes and records a "fixed star" without realizing it is a planet.

1828. 6.8 earthquake strikes Echigo, Japan, 30,000 people are killed.

1836. Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.

1867. United States claims Midway Island, the first territory annexed outside continental limits.

1902. 1st indoor pro football game, Syracuse beats Philadelphia 6-0 (Madison Square Garden, NYC).

1912. 1st municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco, California as SF Municipal Railway starts operation at Geary St.

1918. 1918 Montreal's Georges Vezina becomes the first NHL goalie to record an assist during the Canadiens’ 6-3 win over the Toronto Arenas.

1944. Dutch Resistance fighter Corrie ten Boom is accidentally released from the Ravensbrück concentration camp, living to speak and educate of her experience in "The Hiding Place".

1944. Montreal right wing Maurice 'Rocket' Richard becomes first player in NHL history to score 8 points in one game with 5 goals and 3 assists in the Canadiens' 9-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

1950. Chinese troops cross 38th Parallel, into South Korea.

1968. 100,000 attend Miami Pop Festival in Florida; performers included: The Jimi Hendrix Experience; The Mothers of Invention; Chuck Berry; John Lee Hooker; The Crazy World of Arthur Brown; and Blues Image.

1968. The Beatles' "The Beatles" aka "The White Album" goes #1 & stays #1 for 9 weeks.

1973. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn publishes "Gulag Archipelago" - a literary investigation of the police-state system in the Soviet Union.

1975. "The Hail Mary", with 32 seconds left in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game, Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach throws a legendary 50-yard winning touchdown pass to Drew Pearson to defeat the Minnesota Vikings, and the "Hail Mary" play gains national recognition.

1975. In the aftermath of the Cold War, the New York Rangers become first team in NHL history to face a touring Soviet hockey squad; Soviet Army beats the Rangers, 7-3 at Madison Square Garden.

1983. US threatens to leave UNESCO after objecting to its domination by a coalition of third world and Soviet bloc nations.

1991. Ted Turner is named Time Magazine Man of Year.

2005. US immigration judge orders John Demjanjuk deported to Ukraine for crimes against humanity committed during World War II.

2015. Japan and South Korea reach agreement over WWII "comfort women", Japan apologies and pays 1bn yen compensation.

[Babba_not_Gump]

January 4.
1570. Spanish viceroy Alva banishes Zutphen City's only physician, Joost Sweiter, "because he is a Jew".

1656. Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, laden with gold and jewellery bound for Spain, sinks off the coast of the Bahamas, only 45 of 650 people survive (most eaten by sharks).

1847. Manuscripts of Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights" and Anne Brontë's "Agnes Grey" sent to publisher T.C. Newby (published December 1847).

1847. Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.

1863. Four-wheeled roller skates are patented by James Plimpton in New York.

1885. Dr William Grant of Iowa, performs 1st appendectomy in America on Mary Gartside, aged 22.

1896. Following Mormon abandonment of sanctioned polygamy, Utah is admitted as 45th US state.

1902. The French Panama Canal Company offers to sell its right to build a canal to the US for 40 million, tipping the balance away from those favoring a canal through Nicaragua.

1904. Stanley Cup, Aberdeen Pavilion, Ottawa, Ontario: Ottawa HC beats Winnipeg Rowing Club, 2-0 for 2-1 challenge series victory.

1935. Bob Hope is first heard on network radio as part of "The Intimate Revue".

1939. Hermann Goering appoints Reinhard Heydrich head of Jewish Emigration.

1958. NZ team led by Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole, the 1st to reach the Pole overland using motor vehicles and the 1st since Amundsen in 1911 and Scott in 1912.

1968. Leo Fender sells Fender Guitars for $13 million to CBS.

1975. Ice thickness measured at 4776 m, Wilkes Land, Antarctica.

1975. NHL Montreal Canadiens shutout Washington Capitals 10-0.

1983. Eurythmics release their breakthrough second studio album "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)".

1998. A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continues through January 10, and causes widespread destruction.

2004. NASA Mars rover Spirit lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.

2021. South Korea, already the country with world's lowest birth rate, records more deaths than births for the first time.

2022. Toyota becomes the first foreign automaker to top US sales, beating GM in 2021, partly due to supply issues.

[The Green Barbarian]

January 22, 1977 - on his first day in office, Jimmy Carter pardons 10,000 Vietnam War draft dodgers, many living in Canada, the majority of whom were white men from wealthy families. Carter was criticized for not also pardoning 100,000 deserters, who were mostly poor white and black men.

[The Green Barbarian]

Screenshot 2025-01-31 154812.jpg

https://x.com/BeatlesEarth/status/1884985622269448669