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December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap
years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 15 days
remaining.
Events
- 1653 - Oliver Cromwell
becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
- 1689 - The English Parliament adopts the Bill of Rights.
- 1773 - The Boston Tea
Party
- 1811 - The first of a series of severe earthquakes occurs, in the vicinity of New
Madrid, Missouri in the United States.
- 1838 - Boers defeat Zulu troops at Battle of Blood River, led by
Dambuza and Nhlela, celebrated in South Africa as the day of the vow.
- 1850 - The first four ships arrive at Lyttelton to settle Christchurch, New Zealand.
- 1864 - Union troops led by general George Thomas defeat Confederate troops in the Battle of Nashville.
- 1893 - World premiere of Antonin
Dvorak's "New World Symphony".
- 1910 - Henri Coanda makes first
short flight in aircraft with jet engine
- 1922 - Poland's President Gabriel Narutowicz assassinated.
- 1944 - The Battle of
the Bulge begins. A V-2 rocket hits the Rex Cinema in Antwerp killing 567 people.
- 1946 - Léon Blum becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1960 - A United Airlines
DC-8 and a TWA Super-Constellation collide over New York City killing 134
- 1966 - Mao's Little Red Book is published in
Beijing
- 1971 - Pakistan surrenders, leading to
the establishment of Bangladesh the following day.
- 1973 - O.J. Simpson becomes the
first player in NFL history to rush for 2000 yards in one season.
- 1985 - In New York City,
mafia bosses Paul Castellano
and Thomas Bilotti are shot
dead when exiting from Sparks Steak House, making hit organizer John Gotti the
leader of the powerful Gambino organized
crime family.
- 1990 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected president of Haiti
- 1991 - United Nations
reverses ruling that Zionism is racism by 111-25, with 13 abstentions
- 1998 - Operation
Desert Fox: American and British troops begin to bomb Iraqi targets after Iraq obstructs UN
weapons inspectors.
- 1999 - Mud streams kill thousands in Venezuela.
- 2000 - NASA announces that there is an ocean
beneath Jupiter moon Ganymede's icy surface.
- 2003 - Deborah Jin induces the formation of a fermionic condensate among fermionic atoms
Births
- 1485 - Catherine of
Aragon, Queen of England (d. 1536)
- 1742 - Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, general field marshal (d. 1819)
- 1770 - Ludwig van
Beethoven, composer (d. 1827)
- 1775 - Jane Austen, writer (d.
1817)
- 1776 - Johann Wilhelm Ritter, physicist (d. 1810)
- 1790 - King Leopold I
of Belgium (d. 1865)
- 1861 - Antonio de
La Gandara, painter (d. 1917)
- 1863 - George Santayana,
philosopher, poet (d. 1952)
- 1865 - Olavo Bilac, poet (d.
1918)
- 1882 - Zoltán Kodály,
composer (d. 1967)
- 1882 - Walther Meissner, physicist
- 1888 - King Alexander of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
- 1899 - Noel Coward, playwright (d.
1973)
- 1901 - Margaret Mead,
anthropologist (d. 1978)
- 1917 - Sir Arthur C.
Clarke, science fiction writer
- 1928 - Philip K. Dick,
science fiction writer (d. 1982)
- 1934 - Elgin Baylor, basketball great
- 1938 - Frank DeFord, sports journalist
- 1938 - Liv Ullmann, actress
- 1941 - Lesley Stahl, journalist
- 1943 - Steven Bochco, producer,
writer
- 1946 - Benny Andersson,
musician (ABBA)
- 1952 - Joel Garner, West Indian
cricketer
- 1963 - Benjamin Bratt, actor
(Law & Order)
- 1964 - Heike Drechsler, track and field athlete
- 1967 - Donovan Bailey,
athlete
Deaths
- 716 - Pippin of Herstal,
Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia (b. 635 or 640)
- 999 - Saint Adelaide of
Italy (b. 931)
- 1515 - Afonso de
Albuquerque portuguese naval general (in sea) (b. 1453)
- 1783 - Johann A. Hasse,
composer
- 1783 - William James (naval
commander) (b. c. 1720)
- 1859 - Wilhelm Grimm,
folklorist (b. 1786)
- 1916 - Grigori Rasputin,
Russian monk (b. 1869)
- 1921 - Camille
Saint-Saëns, composer (b. 1835)
- 1922 - Gabriel
Narutowicz, first President of Poland (b. 1865)
- 1945 - Fumimaro Konoye,
prince and prime minister of Japan (b. 1891)
- 1949 - Sidney Olcott, pioneer
motion picture director (b. 1873)
- 1956 - Nina Hamnett, artist (b.
1890)
- 1965 - W. Somerset
Maugham, writer (b. 1874)
- 1980 - Colonel Harland
Sanders, fast food entrepreneur (Kentucky Fried Chicken) (b. 1890)
- 1980 - Hellmuth Walter, engineer and inventor (b. 1900)
- 1985 - Paul Castellano,
mafia boss (b. 1915)
- 1989 - Lee Van Cleef, actor (b.
1925)
- 1993 - Tanaka Kakuei, Japanese political leader (b. 1918)
- 2003 - Robert Stanfield,
Canadian politician (b. 1914)
Holidays and Observances:
December 15 - December
17 - November 16 - January
16 -- listing of all days
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