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December 19th
Holidays and Festivals
Liberation day (Goa)
Day for South-South Cooperation
Opalia (Roman Empire)
Look for an Evergreen Day
Oatmeal Muffin Day
Christian Feast Day of O Radix
Christian Feast Day of Pope Anastasius I
Fête de la Olive Translation: Olive Day (French Republican) The 29th day of the Month of Frimaire in the French Republican Calendar
Toast of The Day
"May you live as long as you Wish,
and have all you Wish as long as you live.
This is my Christmas Wish for you."
- Unknown
Drink of The Day
Bumbo (Also Known as Bombo)
2 ounces Rum
1 ounce Water
2 Sugar Cubes
Sprinkle cinnamon
Sprinkle nutmeg
Mix together and garnish
Wine of The Day
Reynolds Family Winery (2007) Merlot
Style - Merlot
Stags Leap District
$45
Beer of The Day
Firestone Walker Hefeweizen
Brewer - Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA, USA
Style - South German-Style Hefeweizen
Joke of the Day
Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, an honest lawyer and an old drunk are walking down the street together when they simultaneously spot a hundred dollar bill.
Who gets it?
The old drunk, of course, the other three are mythical creatures.
Quote of the Day
"If life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. And try to find somebody who's life is giving them vodka, and have a party."
- Ron White (December 19th 1956), an American stand up comedian.
Whisky of The Day
Pendleton Blended Canadian Whisky
Price: $30
December Observances
AIDS Awareness Month
Art and Architecture Month
Awareness Month of Awareness Months Month
Bingo's Birthday Month
Bingo Month
Cancer-Related Fatigue Awareness Month
Choose a Summer Camp Month, Natl
Colorectal Cancer Education and Awareness Month
Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month
International Calendar Awareness Month
International Sharps Injury Prevention and Awareness Month
Learn A Foreign Language Month
National Drugged and Drunk Driving Prevention Month
National Hand Washing Awareness Month
National Made in America Month
National Sign-Up for Camp Month
National Tie Month
National Write A Business Plan Month
Nativity Fast (Eastern churches) starts September 1st
Operation Santa Paws December 1st - 24th
Quince and Watermelon Month
Read a New Book Month
Root Vegetables and Exotic Fruits Month
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
Seasonal Depression Awareness Month
Spiritual Literacy Month
Take a New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking (TANYRSS) December 17th - February 5th
The Christmas Seal Campaign Month
Tomato and Winter Squash Month
Universal Human Rights Month
Winter-een-mas season (to celebrate the joy of video gaming)
World Aids Month
Worldwide Food Service Safety Month
Write (to) a Friend Month
Observances this Week
Gluten-free Baking Week, Full Week Before Christmas
Las Posadas, December 16th through December 24th (Spain, Mexico, Guatamala, Southern USA)
Saturnalia, (Ancient Rome) December 17th - 23rd
Christmas Bird Count Week, December 14th through February 5th
Halcyon Days, 7 days before and 7 days after the Winter Solstice
Historical Events on December 19th
211 Publius Septimius Geta, co-emperor of Rome, is lured to come without his bodyguards to meet his brother Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla), to discuss a possible reconciliation. When he arrives the Praetorian Guard murders him and he dies in the arms of his mother Julia Domna.
324 Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor.
401 St Anastasius I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1055 Seldjuken under Toghril Beg occupy Baghdad
1154 Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.
1490 Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.
1551 Dutch west coast hit by hurricane
1562 Battle at Dreux: Anne de Montmorency & huguenots under Condé captured
1606 The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who found, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
1686 Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years (as per Defoe)
1688 King James II's wife & son flee to France
1696 Jean-Francois Regnard's "Le Joueur," premieres in Paris
1732 Benjamin Franklin under the name Richard Saunders begins publication of "Poor Richard's Almanack"
1776 Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis", in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls".
1777 George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in the American Revolutionary War.
1783 English government of Pitt Jr forms
1788 Chinese troops occupy capital Thang Long Vietnam
1795 1st state appropriation of money for road building, Kentucky
1796 French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.
1823 Georgia passes 1st US state birth registration law
1828 Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun pens the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.
1828 South Carolina declares right of states to nullify federal laws
1835 HMS Beagle & Charles Darwin approaches NZ
1842 US recognizes independence of Hawaii
1843 Charles Dickens publishes "A Christmas Carol," in England
1854 Allen Wilson of Conn patents sewing machine to sew curving seams
1859 Grading started for Market Street RR
1861 Battle of Black Water
1862 Skirmish at Jackson/Salem Church, Tenn (80 casualties)
1867 Victims of "Angola Horror" burned to death (Angola NY)
1871 Albert L Jones (NYC), patents corrugated paper
1881 Opera "Hérodiade" is produced (Brussels)
1884 Italy recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State
1887 Jake Kilrain & Jem Smith fight 106 round bare knuckle draw
1888 Stanley's expedition reaches Fort Bodo, East-Africa
1889 Bishop Museum founded in Hawaii
1890 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Beryl Coronet" (BG)
1891 First Negro Catholic priest ordained in US, Charles Uncles, Baltimore
1891 Canadian Rugby Union forms
1894 Cricket day 5 1T Aus v Eng Eng 437 all out, Aus need 177 are 2-113
1900 Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government and is forced to resign.
1903 Williamsburg suspension bridge opens between Brooklyn & Manhattan
1904 Dawson City hockey team begins 9 day walk to get a boat to Seattle to catch a train to Ottawa to play in Stanley Cup on Jan 13 1905
1907 239 coal miners die in a mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
1910 First city ordinace requiring white & black residential areas (Balt)
1910 Rayon 1st commercially produced, Marcus Hook, Penn
1912 William Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over 1,000 people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after three-and-a-half-years in Sing Sing prison.
1913 Jack Johnson fights Jim Johnson to a draw in 10 for hw boxing title
1916 Suriname Bauxite Company forms in Paramaribo
1916 Battle of Verdun On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position in World War I.
1917 First NHL game played on artificial ice (Toronto)
1917 Quebec Bulldogs play their 1st professional hockey game
1918 Robert Ripley began his "Believe It or Not" column (NY Globe)
1919 American Meteorological Society found
1920 First US indoor curling rink opens (Brookline, Mass)
1920 King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite.
1922 Mrs Theres Vaughn, 24, confessed in court to being married 62 times
1924 Test Cricket debut of Bill Ponsford, who scored 110 in 1st innings
1924 The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
1927 Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan are executed by the British government.
1928 1st autogiro (predecessor of helicopter) flight in US
1930 James Weldon Johnson resigns as executive secretary of NAACP
1931 Bradman scores 112 Australia v South Africa at cricket SCG
1931 Joseph A Lyons (C) becomes premier of Australia
1932 British Broadcasting Corp begins transmitting overseas as the BBC Empire Service.
1933 Electric Home & Farm Authority Inc, authorized
1934 Japan agress to fleet treaty of 1922 & 1930
1939 Russian air & ground attack against Finnish positions near Summa
1941 German submarine U-574 sinks
1941 Hitler takes complete command of German Army
1941 US Office of Censorship created to control info pertaining to WW II
1941 Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-chief of the German Army, World War II.
1941 Limpet mines placed by Italian divers sink the HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth in Alexandria harbour in World War II.
1943 Military coup in Bolivia
1945 Austrian Republic re-establishes
1945 Jean Giraudoux' "La Folle de Chaillot," premieres in Paris
1946 Noel Cowards musical "Pacific 1860," premieres in London
1946 Start of the First Indochina War, War breaks out in Indochina as Ho Chi Minh attacks French in Hanoi.
1948 2nd political action of Java, Sumatra
1948 8th largest snowfall in NYC history (15.3")
1948 Cleveland Browns beats Buffalo Bills 49-7 in AAFC championship game
1948 Philadelphia Eagles shutout Chicago Cards 7-0 in NFL championship game
1949 Luxury passenger ship Aquitania demolished in Garelock Scotland
1949 WJW TV channel 8 in Cleveland, OH (CBS) begins broadcasting
1950 General Eisenhower named NATO commander
1950 Tibet's Dalai Lama flees Chinese invasion
1951 Nazi General Christiansen leaves Nethe
1952 Queen Juliana unveals statue "Docker"
1953 KFYR TV channel 5 in Bismarck, ND (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
1955 Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes"
1956 Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.
1957 "Music Man" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 1375 performances
1958 First radio broadcast from space (Pres Eisenhower voice "To all mankind, America's wish for Peace on Earth & Good Will to Men Everywhere")
1959 First Liberty Bowl game-Penn State beats Alabama 7-0
1960 Fire aboard USS Constellation, under construction at Bkln (50 die)
1960 Frank Sinatra's 1st session with Reprise Records (Ring-A-Ding-Ding)
1960 Mercury-Redstone 1A reaches 210 km in test flight
1961 British government begins decimal coin system
1961 India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.
1961 Indonesian President Sukarno proclaims general mobilization
1962 Nyasaland secedes from Rhodesia & Nyasaland
1962 Street signs in Golden Gate Park approved by Park Commission
1962 Transit 5A1, 1st operational navigational satellite, launched
1963 Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.
1964 The South Vietnamese military junta of Nguyen Khanh dissolve the High National Council and arrest some of the members.
1965 French president De Gaulle re-elected (Mitterrand gets 45%)
1967 Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt is officially presumed dead.
1968 WCWB (now WMGT) TV channel 41 in Macon, GA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1969 Beatle's 7th Christmas album is released
1971 "Inner City" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 97 performances
1971 CBS airs "Homecoming A Christmas Story," (introducing the Waltons)
1971 NASA launches Intelsat 4 F-3 for COMSAT Corp
1971 Stanley Kubrick's X-rated "A Clockwork Orange" premieres
1972 The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
1973 "Molly" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 68 performances
1973 Grenada adopts constitution
1974 "Man With Golden Gun" premieres in US
1974 Dave Kryskow scores Washington Capitals 1st NHL shorthanded goal
1974 Nelson A Rockefeller sworn-in as 41st VP
1975 John Paul Stevens is appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
1975 Ron Wood joined the Rolling Stones
1976 Jo Ann Washam & Chi Chi Rodriguez win Pepsi-Cola Mixed Team Golf Champ
1976 John Lever takes 7-46 in 1st Test Cricket innings, v India Delhi
1976 Piper Cherokee crashes into Balt Memorial Stadium upper stands, 10 minutes after Colts lose 40-14 to Steelers. No one seriously hurt
1976 President Brezhnev receives his 5th Lenin order
1977 Dutch government of Van Agt/Wiegel forms
1978 France performs nuclear test
1978 Indira Gandhi ambushed in India
1980 Anguilla becomes a British dependency separate from St Kitts
1980 Iran requests $24 billion in US guarantees to free hostages
1980 Mutaual Broadcasting cancels Sears Radio Theater
1981 Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
1983 The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1984 Fire at Wilberg Mine in central Utah killed 27 people
1984 Scotty Bowman becomes NHL's all time winningest coach
1984 The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997 is signed in Beijing, China by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.
1984 Wayne Gretzky, 23, is 18th & youngest NHL-er to score 1,000 points
1985 "Wind in the Willows" opens at Nederlander Theater NYC for 4 perfs
1985 Mary Lund is the first woman to receive a Jarvik VII artificial heart
1985 STS 61-C scrubbed at T -13s because of SRB auxiliary power problem
1986 Jack Morris agrees to salary arbitration with former team Tigers & accuses owners of collusion against free agency
1986 Michael Sergio, who parachuted into Shea Stadium during game 6 of the World Series, sentenced to 100 hrs of community service & fined $500
1986 Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from exile in Gorky.
1986 USSR frees dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile
1987 Bruins' Linseman & Blues' Doug Gilmore score goals, 2 seconds apart
1987 Gari Kasparov becomes world chess champ
1988 NASA unviels plans for lunar colony & manned missions to Mars
1988 Oklahoma's College football team gets 3 year probation
1988 Unexploded WW II bomb found in Frankfurt, Germany-5,000 evacuated
1989 American Airlines purchases Eastern Airline's Latin American route
1989 Larry Bird (Celtics) begins NBA free throw streak of 71 games
1991 "Christmas Carol" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 14 perfs
1991 6,000th episode of One Life To Live
1991 Boris Yeltsin takes control of Kremlin
1991 NY Yankee pitcher Steve Howe arrested for cocaine possession
1993 "Red Shoes" closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 5 performances
1993 Guinee general Lansana re-elected president
1994 Rolls-Royce announces its future cars will feature V12 engine which will be produced by BMW.
1995 Queen Elizabeth askes Prince Charles & Diana to divorce
1995 The United States Government restores federal recognition to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indian tribe.
1996 "Once Upon a Matress," opens at Broadhurst NYC for 187 performances
1997 MTV drops video "Smack My Bitch Up" by Prodigy
1997 SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
1998 The United States House of Representatives forwards articles I and III of impeachment against President Bill Clinton to the Senate regarding the Lewinsky scandal.
2000 The Leninist Guerrilla Units wing of the Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist attack a Nationalist Movement Party office in Istanbul, Turkey, killing one person and injuring three.
2001 A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia.
2001 Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots Riots erupt in Buenos Aires, Argentina after Domingo Cavallo's corralito measures restrict the withdrawal of cash from bank deposits.
2007 The Lakotah people, a Native American tribe, proclaim independence and withdraw all their treaties with the United States. They then proceed to establish the Republic of Lakotah, with an ongoing process of international recognition as a separate country.
2012 A gang rape of a woman on a bus in India that resulted in her death leads to national and international outrage
2012 Park Geun-hye wins the South Korean presidential election to become the nation’s first female president
2012 UBS bank is fined $1.5 billion for its role in manipulating the Libor rate
2013 81 people are injured after part of the ceiling caved in at London's Apollo Theatre
2014 The Guardian newspaper calls 2014 'The year the people stood up'
2015 Third Democratic presidential candidates debate, broadcast by ABC, held in Goffstown, New Hampshire
Born on December 19th
1036 Su Tung-p'o, China, poet/essayist/painter/calligrapher
1498 Andreas Osiander, Germany, Protestant Reformation theologist
1554 Philip William, Prince of Orange (d. 1618)
1587 Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1645)
1676 Louis-Nicholas Clerambault, Paris France, composer, organist
1683 Philip V, King of Spain (1700-24, 1724-1746) (d. 1746)
1699 William Bowyer, English printer (d. 1777)
1714 John Winthrop, American astronomer and educator (d. 1779)
1723 Susanne K von Klettenberg, German friend of Goethes mother
1744 Jacobus J Cramer, priest of Holland, Zealand, West-Friesland
1753 John Taylor, American philosopher (Jeffersonian Democracy)
1778 Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Princess, eldest child of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI (d. 1851)
1779 Auguste-Gaspard-Louis Desnoyers, French engraver
1783 Charles-Julien Brianchon, French mathematician (Brianchon's theorem)
1784 Marcus Morton, American politician, 16th and 18th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1864)
1790 William Parry, English Arctic explorer
1792 (Andries) Hendrik Potgieter, American settled Transvaal
1796 Manuel Bretón de los Herreros, Spanish playwright, poet (d. 1873)
1797 Josef Theodor Krov, composer
1809 Pierre-Joseph van Beneden, Belgian paleont (life cycle of tapeworms)
1813 Thomas Andrews, Irish chemist, physicist (ozone)
1814 Edwin M(cMasters) Stanton, American US Secretary of War (1861-65)
1817 James Jay Archer, American lawyer and Brigadier General (Confederate Army) (d. 1864)
1819 James Clifford Veatch, Bvt Mjr Gen (Union volunteers) (d. 1895)
1821 Mary Ashton Livermore, American journalist, activist, reformer, women's suffrage leader (d. 1905)
1824 Hercules Robinson, Irish-South Africa Commissioner (1880-89, 1895-97)
1825 George Frederick Bristow, American composer (d. 1898)
1831 Bernice Pauahi Bishop, American philanthropist (d. 1884)
1832 John Kirk Barry, Scottish Doctor, companion to explorer David Livingstone
1836 Maria L Sanford, pioneer educator (PTA)
1837 John Carpenter Carter, Brigadier General (Confederate Army) (d. 1864)
1849 Henry Clay Frick, American businessman, built world's largest coke & steel operation (d. 1919)
1850 Friedrich Lüthi, Swiss target shooter (d. 1913)
1852 A(lbert) A(braham) Michelson, Prussian-American physicist (Nobel Prize laureate 1907) (d. 1931)
1853 Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec (d. 1942)
1861 Constance (Clara) Garnett, English Russian-English translator
1861 Italo Svevo, Italian author (La Coscienza di Zeno) (d. 1928)
1863 Wallace Bryant, American archer (d. 1953)
1864 Adolf Sandberger, composer
1865 Hermann Hirt, Prussian linguist (Indo-European Grammar)
1865 Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress (Henrik Ibsen's plays) (d. 1932)
1865 Tikhon Toropets, Russian patriarch of Russian Orthodox, saint
1869 Eduard Hermann, German linguist (Homer)
1873 Alphonse Kirchhoffer, French fencer (d. 1913)
1875 Carter G. Woodson, American historian (black studies) and author, founded Black History Month (d. 1950)
1876 Carlo Gatti, composer
1878 Anton Lajovic, composer
1879 Beals C Wright, tennis champ (US Open-1905)
1879 Otto Emanuel Olsson, composer
1880 Nemesio Otano y Eugenio, composer
1881 John Fraser, Canadian soccer player (d. 1959)
1882 Walter Braunfels, composer
1883 Louis Davids (Simon David), Dutch cabaret performer, chorus performer
1883 (Francis) Barry Byrne, American architect
1884 Antonin Zapotocky, Czechoslovak president (Ceskoslovensky Spisouatel)
1884 Ferdinando Liuzzi, composer
1885 F S Flint, English translator, poet (imagist movement)
1885 Joe "King" Oliver, American jazz musician (d. 1938)
1888 Fritz Reiner, Hungarian-American conductor (Chicago Symphony Orch) (d. 1963)
1890 Klaas Schilder, Dutch theologist, vicar (Occupied Territory)
1891 Edward Bernard Andre Maria Raczynski, Polish president in exile (1979-86)
1894 Ford C Frick, American journalist and businessman, baseball commissioner (1951-65) (d. 1978)
1894 Paul Dessau, German composer, conducter (Berlin, 1925-33)
1894 Yoshida Isoya, Japanese architect (modern sukiya style)
1895 Ingeborg Refling Hagen, Norwegian author, poet (Loke Saar Havre), and educator (d. 1989)
1895 Maurice Roelants, Belgian author (Jazz Player)
1896 John Seldon Whale, theologian
1897 Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, French anti-Semite, nazi collaborator
1899 Martin Luther King Sr., American pastor, missionary, and activist (d. 1984)
1901 Fritz Mauruschat, German footballer (d. 1974)
1901 Oliver (Hazard Perry) La Farge, American anthropologist, novelist
1901 Rudolf Hell, German inventor, invented the Hellschreiber (d. 2002)
1902 Leonard Hirsch, British violinist/orchestra leader (RAF Symph Orch)
1902 Ralph Richardson, English actor (Anna Karenina, Dr Zhivago) (d. 1983)
1903 Cyril Dean Darlington, English biologist (hereditary mechanisms)
1903 George Davis Snell, American geneticist (Nobel Prize laureate) (H-2 gene) (d. 1996)
1903 Theo Harych, writer
1905 Charles Robert Owen Medley, dancer, choreographer
1905 Irving Kahn, American businessman
1906 H Allen Smith, American humorist, author (Low Man on Totem Pole)
1906 Leonid I Brezhnev, Ukrainian 1st Secretary of USSR (1964-82) (d. 1982)
1907 Jimmy McLarnin, Irish boxer, Welterweight Champion (d. 2004)
1909 W. A. Criswell, American pastor (Baptist) and author (d. 2002)
1910 Jean Genet, French author, poet, and playwright (The Blacks) (d. 1986)
1910 Jose Lezama Lima, Cuban poet, novelist
1913 William C De Vries, surgeon, inventor (artificial heart)
1914 Mel Shaw, American animator and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1915 Edith Piaf (E Giovanna Gassion), French singer-songwriter and actress (Little Sparrow) (d. 1963)
1916 Adriaan van der Veen, Dutch writer (Sister at Sea)
1916 Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, German political scientist (d. 2010)
1916 Hal Hastings, American orchestra leader (Chevrolet on Broadway)
1916 Mervyn Wallace, New Zealand cricketer
1916 Roy Ward Baker, English director (d. 2010)
1917 Graham Sharp, ice skater
1918 Professor Longhair, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1980)
1919 Benedict Freedman, American novelist and mathematician (Mrs Mike), (d. 2012)
1920 David Susskind, American talk show host (Open End, David Susskind Show) and producer (d. 1987)
1920 Little Jimmy Dickens, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
1920 Ragnild Hveger, Danish 400m swimmer (Olympic-silver-1936) [NS]
1921 Ludvik Podest, composer
1922 Eamonn Andrews, Irish radio and television host (d. 1987)
1923 Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor (d. 1990)
1923 Luigi Innocenti, designer
1924 Carlo Chiti, Italian race car engineer (d. 1994)
1924 Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1989)
1924 Edmund Purdom, English actor (Asissi Underground, Pieces) (d. 2009)
1924 Gary Morton, American comedian, actor, and producer, second husband of Lucille Ball (d. 1999)
1924 Peter Prowtiny, English real estate developer/multi-millionaire
1925 Jimmy Dickens, American country singer (Grand Ole Opry)
1925 Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book) (d. 2012) (d. 2012)
1925 Tankred Dorst, German playwright
1925 William Schutz, American psychologist (d. 2002)
1926 Bobby Layne, American football player, NFL QB (Detroit Lions) (d. 1986)
1926 Herb Stempel, American game show contestant
1926 Jeanne Kirkpatrick, American ambassador to UN
1927 James Booth, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
1928 Eve Bunting, Irish author
1928 Galt MacDermot, Canadian composer (Letting Down My Hair)
1928 Michael Hurd, composer
1928 Nathan Oliveira, American painter and sculptor (d. 2010)
1929 Bob Brookmeyer, American trombonist, pianist, and composer (d. 2011)
1929 Herman T M Lauxtermann, Dutch 2nd chamber member (VVD)
1929 Howard Sackler, American screenwriter (d. 1982)
1932 Salvador Elizondo, Mexican author (d. 2006)
1933 Cicely Tyson, American actress (Roots, Miss Jane Pittman, The Help)
1933 James Booth, English actor, writer (Zulu, Robbery, Revenge)
1933 Kevan Gosper, Australian athlete
1934 Al Kaline, American baseball player, Hall of Fame outfielder (Detroit Tigers)
1934 Casper R. Taylor Jr., American politician
1934 Pratibha Patil, Indian politician, 12th President of India
1934 Rudi Carrell (Rudolf W Kesselman), Dutch actor and singer (d. 2006)
1935 Barbara Bostock, American actress
1935 Bobby Timmons, American jazz pianist and composer (d. 1974)
1935 Joanne Weaver, American baseball player (d. 2000)
1936 Marian McKnight, American model (Miss America 1957)
1940 Phil Ochs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Joe Hill, War is Over) (d. 1976)
1941 Lee Myung-bak, South Korean politician, 10th President of South Korea
1941 Maurice White, American singer-songwriter and producer (Earth, Wind & Fire)
1942 Cornell Dupree, American guitarist
1942 Dennis E. Fitch, American pilot (d. 2012)
1942 Jean-Patric Manchette, thriller writer
1942 Rufus, French actor
1943 James L. Jones, American general 22nd United States National Security Advisor
1943 Ross M. Lence, American political scientist and academic (d. 2006)
1943 William De Vries, American surgeon-inventor (Symbion artifical heart)
1944 Alvin Lee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Ten Years After)
1944 Maurice White, rocker
1944 Mitchell Feigenbaum, American mathematical physicist
1944 Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist and politician
1944 Tim Reid, American actor, director, and comedian (Venus Flytrap-WKRP, Frank's Place)
1944 William Christie, American-French harpsichordist and conductor (Les Arts Florissants)
1944 Zal Yanovsky, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful) (d. 2002)
1945 Elaine Joyce, American actress (City of Angels, Mr Merlin)
1945 John McEuen, American guitarist (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
1946 Marianne Faithfull, English singer (Money, As Tears Go By)
1946 Robert Urich, Canadian actor (Magnum Force, Spenser for Hire, Vega$) (d. 2002)
1946 Rosemary Conley, English businesswoman, author, and broadcaster
1947 Charlie Van Dyke, American actor and radio host
1947 Janie Fricke, American singer (It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy)
1947 Jimmy Bain, Scottish bass player (Rainbow and Wild Horses)
1948 Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player
1949 Claudia A Kolb, American 200m breast stroke swimmer (Olympic-silver-1964)
1949 Lenny White, rocker
1949 Nancy Kyes, American actress
1949 Sebastian, Danish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1950 Eleanor J. Hill, American lawyer and diplomat
1951 Alan Rouse, English mountaineer (d. 1986)
1951 Fred W Leslie, Panama doctor, astronaut (STS 73)
1952 Walter Murphy, American pianist and composer
1953 Peter McEwan, New Zealand cricketer
1955 Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (d. 2012)
1955 Rob Portman, American politician
1955 Susil Fernando, Sri Lankan cricketer
1956 Alice Barrett, American actress (Frankie Frame-Another World)
1956 Shane McEntee, Irish politician (d. 2012)
1956 Tom Lawless, American baseball player
1957 Cyril Collard, French actor, director, and composer (d. 1993)
1957 Doug Johnson, rock keyboardist (Loverboy-Get Lucky)
1957 John Gulager, American actor, cinematographer, and director
1957 Kevin McHale, American basketball player, NBA forward (Boston Celtics)
1957 Liz Glazowski, American playmate (April, 1980)
1958 Iqbal Sikander, Pakistani cricketer (1992 World Cup)
1958 Limahl, English singer and keyboard player (Kajagoogoo, Brooks)
1958 Rick Pearson, American Nike golfer (1990 Yuma Open)
1958 Steven Isserlis, English cellist
1959 Edward Metgod, Dutch soccer goalie (Haarlem, Sparta)
1959 Ivan Vallejo, Ecuadorian mountaineer
1959 Kathryn "Furu" Carpenter, American fencer-epee (Olympics-96)
1960 Derrick Jensen, American author and activist
1960 Michelangelo Signorile, American journalist
1960 Mike Lookinland, American actor (Bobby-Brady Bunch)
1961 Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1961 Matthew Waterhouse, English actor
1961 Reggie White, American football player, NFL defensive end (Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31) (d. 2004)
1961 Scott Cohen, Actor (One Life to Live)
1962 Bettina Huebers, illegitimate daughter of Paul McCartney
1962 Charith Senanayake, Sri Lankan cricketer
1962 Gary Fleder, American director, screenwriter, and producer
1962 Jill Talley, American actress
1963 Chris Greatrex, LPGA golfer (1995 Fielcrest Cannon Classic-71st)
1963 Jennifer Beals, American actress (Flashdance, Bride)
1963 Karen Bliss-Livingston, American cyclist (Olympics-96)
1963 Til Schweiger, German actor (Inglourious Basterds)
1964 Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player, NBA center (Portland Trailblazers)
1964 Béatrice Dalle, French actress (Betty Blue, Sabbath)
1964 Lorie Kane, Canadian LPGA golfer (du Maurier Ltd-1994, 95)
1964 Mike Fetters, American pitcher (Milwaukee Brewers)
1964 Randall McDaniel, NFL guard (Minnesota Vikings)
1965 Chito Martínez, Belizean baseball player
1965 Chuckii Booker, Musician
1965 Jessica Steen, American actress (Armageddon, Earth II, Homefront, Trial & Error)
1966 Alberto "La Bomba" Tomba, Italian skier (Olympic-gold-1988, 92)
1966 Chuckii Booker, American singer-songwriter and producer
1966 Courtney Griffin, CFL defensive back (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
1966 Eric Weinrich, American ice hockey player, NHL defenseman (Chicago Blackhawks)
1966 Monique Oliver, American WPVA volleyballer (US Open-4th-1994)
1966 Rajesh Chauhan, Indian cricketer
1966 Robert MacNaughton, American actor (ET)
1966 Roberto Beam, soccer player (Vitesse/MVV)
1967 Criss Angel, American magician, Illusionist, actor (Burned Alive)
1967 Doug Johns, American pitcher (Oakland A's)
1967 Frankie Lam, Hong Kong actor
1968 Jennifer Devine, American rower (Olympics-96)
1968 Ken Marino, American actor (Children's Hospital, Role Models) and comedian
1969 Chris Robinson, American singer-songwriter (The Black Crowes)
1969 Kristy Swanson, American actress (Knots Landing, Buffy Vampire Slayer)
1969 Michael Bates, NFL wide receiver (Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers)
1969 Mike Alexander, WLAF corner (Rhein Fire)
1969 Nayan Mongia, Indian cricketer
1969 Richard Hammond, English journalist and television host
1969 Santana Dotson, NFL defensive tackle (Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31)
1969 Scott Pearson, Canadian NHL left wing (Buffalo Sabres)
1969 Tom Gugliotta, American basketball player, NBA forward (Minnesota Timberwolves)
1969 Villano IV, Mexican professional wrestler
1970 Jon Cleveland, Canadian 100m/200m swimmer (Oly-br-92, 96)
1970 Robert Lang, Czech NHL forward (Team Czech Rep, Los Angeles)
1970 Tyson Beckford, American model and actor
1970 Wendy Miles, Australian golfer (1993 T77 Alpine Aust Ladies Masters)
1970 Zac Foley, bassist (EMF-Unbelievable)
1971 Amy Locane, American actress (Andrea-Spencer, Sandy-Melrose Place)
1971 Jen(nifer) Dore, American rower (Olympics-4TH-96)
1971 Liz Cho, American journalist, television reporter
1971 Mike Groh, WLAF quarterback (Rhein Fire)
1971 Tiffany Towers, Canadian adult film actress
1972 Alyssa (Jane) Milano, American actress (Samantha-Who's the Boss, Commando) and singer
1972 Rosa Blasi, American actress
1972 Warren Sapp, American football player, NFL defensive tackle (Tampa Bay Bucs)
1972 Waverly Jackson, DL (Carolina Panthers)
1973 Kebu Stewart, NBA forward (Phila 76ers)
1973 Michalis Grigoriou, Greek footballer and coach
1973 Takashi Sorimachi, Japanese actor
1973 Zulfiya Zabirova, Russian cyclist
1974 Bryant Westbrook, cornerback (Detroit Lions)
1974 Felipe Lopez, Dominican basketball player
1974 Jake Plummer, American football player, quarterback (Arizona Cardinals)
1974 Joe Jurevicius, American football player
1974 Mikko Paananen, Finnish bassist (HIM)
1974 Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketer
1975 Casual (Jon Owens), rapper
1975 Jon Smith, English journalist and author
1975 Kristin Folkl, American volleyball outside hitter (alt-Oly-96)
1975 Makis Belevonis, Greek footballer
1975 Michiel van den Bos, Dutch composer
1975 Olivier Tebily, Ivorian footballer
1975 Russell Branyan, American baseball player
1977 Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball player
1977 Maria Joana Parizotto, Miss Universe-Brazil (1996)
1978 Lauren Petty, Miss New Jersey Teen USA (1997)
1978 Patrick Casey, American screenwriter and actor
1979 Kevin Devine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bad Books)
1979 Paola Rey, Colombian actress
1979 Tara Summers, Actress (Alfie)
1980 Chris Haslam, Canadian skateboarder
1980 Iman Ali, Pakistani model and actress
1980 Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor (Donnie Darko, Jarhead)
1980 Marla Sokoloff, American actress (Dude, Where's My Car?)
1981 Stevie Ficker, Miss Oregon Teen USA (1997)
1982 Maurice (Mo) Williams, American basketball player
1982 Tero Pitkamaki, Finnish javelin thrower
1982 Vincent Accardi, American musician
1983 Casey Crescenzo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Dear Hunter and The Receiving End of Sirens)
1983 Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 Nektarios Alexandrou, Cypriot footballer
1984 Ian Kennedy, American baseball player, MLB pitcher (Arizona Diamondbacks)
1985 Dan Logan, English bass player (The Kooks, Cat the Dog, and The Ordinary Boys)
1985 Gary Cahill, English footballer
1985 Lady Sovereign, English rapper
1985 Neil Kilkenny, English-Australian footballer
1986 Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Greek footballer
1986 Miguel Lopes, Portuguese footballer
1986 Ryan Babel, Dutch Footballer
1987 Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
1987 Cédric Baseya, French-Congolese footballer
1987 Karim Benzema, French footballer
1988 Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
1988 Paulina Gretzky, American singer and model
1988 Peter Winn, English footballer
1988 Spoken Reasons, Actor (The Heat)
1989 Hamza Riazuddin, English cricketer
1989 Valdimar Bergstað, Icelandic horse rider
1990 Greg Bretz, American snowboarder
1991 Declan Galbraith, English singer
1992 Iker Muniain, Spanish footballer
1993 Rocco Bretscher, Actor (Vis-à-Vis)
1994 M'Baye Niang, French footballer
1994 Taylor Love, Actress (The Price of a Miracle)
1995 Delano Morsink, Musician (AVRO Junior Songfestival 2008)
1996 Paige Speakman, English Twin, born 19 days before her twin sister
1998 Nazareno Antón, Actor (When You Smile)
1999 Shane Stephenson, Actor (Stanley's Cup)
2002 Momoka Ishii, Actress (Kamen Rider Decade the Movie: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker)
2003 Lena Meyer, Actress (Das Killer-Alphabet)
Died on December 19th
211 Publius Septimius Geta, Roman Emperor (b. 189)
401 Anastasius I, Bishop of Rome (399-401)
1075 Edith of Wessex, wife of Edward the Confessor of England
1111 Al-Ghazali, Islamic philosopher (b. 1058)
1327 Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy (b. 1260)
1370 Urban V (Guillaume de Grimoard), first Avignon Pope (1362-70) (b. 1310)
1614 Melchior Bischoff, composer
1737 James Louis Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland, son of John III Sobieski (b. 1667)
1741 Vitus J Bering, Dutch navigator, navy officer, and explorer (b. 1681)
1745 Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (b. 1684)
1749 Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (b. 1672)
1751 Louise of Great Britain, wife of Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1724)
1798 Charles-Joseph Panckoucke, publisher (Moniteur Universel)
1800 Georg Peter Weimar, composer
1804 Mary Bright, British PM Rockingham
1807 Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German-French author (b. 1723)
1810 Johann Heinrich Egli, composer
1813 James McGill, Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded McGill University (b. 1744)
1814 Joseph Bramah, English inventor and locksmith, inventer (Hydraulic press, beer pump) (b. 1748)
1815 Michel Woldemar, composer
1815 Robert Hudson, composer
1819 Thomas Fremantle, English navy officer and politician (b. 1765)
1823 Nicolas-Joseph Hullmandel, composer
1848 Adam FJA van Duyn, governor of South Holland
1848 Emily Jane Bronte, English author (b. 1818)
1851 J M William Turner, British painter (Rain, Steam & Speed)
1867 Jean-Georges Kastner, composer
1878 Bayard Taylor, American author and poet (b. 1825)
1914 Johann F Ritter von Schulte, German catholic lawyer
1915 Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neuropathologist (Alzheimer Disease) (b. 1864)
1916 Thibaw Min, Burmese king (b. 1859)
1925 Jose Ignacio Quinton, composer
1927 Ashfaqulla Khan, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1900)
1927 Roshan Singh, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1892)
1930 Johnny Douglas, cricketer and boxer (Olympic gold medalalist, drowned
1932 Yoon Bong-Gil, South Korean activist (b. 1908)
1933 George Jackson Churchward, English engineer, GWR Chief mechanical engineer (b. 1857)
1938 Stephen Warfield Gambrill, American politician, U.S. Congressman (b. 1873)
1939 Eric Fogg, composer
1939 Hans Langsdorff, German navy officer (b. 1894)
1939 Karl Wagenfeld, Low German writer (Lucifer, Death & Devil)
1939 Willem Benoy, Flemish actor, director (The White)
1941 L M Dovator, Russian general, dies in battle
1944 Abbas II of Egypt (b. 1874)
1944 Rudolph Karstadt, German businessman (b. 1856)
1946 Paul Langevin, French physicist (b. 1872)
1951 Barton Yarbrough, actor (Dragnet)
1952 Harry Makepeace, English cricketer
1953 Robert Andrews Millikan, American physicist (Nobel Prize laureate 1923) (b. 1868)
1953 Rudolf Leonhard, writer
1957 John W Van Druten, Amrican stage, screenwriter (I Remember Mama)
1959 Walter Williams, claimed to be last survivor of Civil War
1962 Warren Brittingham, American soccer player (b. 1886)
1966 Ehm Welk, writer
1967 Alfred Courtens, Belgian sculptor
1968 Norman Thomas, American minister, founder (ACLU) (1926-1955) (b. 1884)
1977 Nellie Tayloe Ross, 1st woman governor
1982 Dwight Macdonald, American philosopher, author, and critic (b. 1906)
1982 Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, French organist, composer
1982 Lawrence Collingwood, composer
1984 Joy Ridderhof, American missionary (b. 1903)
1984 Michel Magne, composer
1986 V. C. Andrews, American author (b. 1923)
1986 Werner Dankwort, German diplomat (b. 1895)
1988 Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (b. 1919)
1989 Dorothea "Stella" Gibbons, English journalist, author (b. 1902)
1990 Basil Henson, actor (Change Partners)
1991 Ernest K Gann, US adventure novelist, dies at 81
1991 Joe Cole, American roadie and author (b. 1961)
1991 Paul Maxwell, actor (City of Fear, Freedom to Die)
1993 Anthonius AM "Ton" Kors, writer (Time of Anton de Lange)
1993 Antoon Veerman, Dutch ARP asst sect of Education (1973-75)
1993 Michael Clarke, American drummer (The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Firefall) (b. 1946)
1994 Noel Pointer, jazz violinist
1995 Dame Ruth Nita Barrow, governor-general of Barbados
1995 Harold Watkinson, politician, businessman
1995 Janet Wilder, stuntwoman
1996 Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (8½, Assassin, Family Diary) (b. 1924)
1996 Ronald Howard, actor (Hunting Party, Koroshi)
1996 Yuli Borisovich Khariton, scientist
1997 David Norman Schramm, physicist
1997 Jimmy Rogers, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1924)
1997 Masaru Ibuka, Japanese businessman, co-founder (Sony Corp) (b. 1908)
1998 Antonio Ordóñez, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1932)
1998 Mel Fisher, American treasure hunter (b. 1922)
1999 Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (b. 1914)
2000 David Dewayne Johnson, American murderer (b. 1963)
2000 John Lindsay, American lawyer and politician, 103rd Mayor of New York City (b. 1921)
2000 Milt Hinton, American jazz double bassist (b. 1910)
2000 Pops Staples, American singer and guitarist (The Staple Singers) (b. 1915)
2000 Rob Buck, American guitarist and songwriter (10,000 Maniacs) (b. 1958)
2001 Arkie Whiteley, Australian actress (b. 1964)
2001 Marcel Mule, French saxophonist. (b. 1901)
2002 Arthur Rowley, English footballer (b. 1926)
2002 George Weller, American author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1907)
2003 Hope Lange, American actress (b. 1933)
2003 Les Tremayne, English-American actor (b. 1913)
2003 Peter Carter-Ruck, English lawyer, founder (Carter-Ruck) (b. 1914)
2004 Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist (Nobel Prize laureate) (b. 1912)
2004 Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (b. 1922)
2005 Keith Duckworth, English mechanical engineer (b. 1933)
2005 Vincent Gigante, American mobster (b. 1927)
2008 Carol Chomsky, American linguist and education specialist (b. 1930)
2008 Dock Ellis, American baseball player, pitcher (b. 1945)
2008 James Bevel, American minister and activist, 1960s Civil rights movement leader (b. 1936)
2008 Kenny Cox, American jazz pianist (b. 1940)
2008 Michael Connell, American political consultant (b. 1963)
2009 Giridharilal Kedia, Indian businessman (b. 1936)
2009 Hussein-Ali Montazeri, Iranian theologian, scholar, and activist (b. 1922)
2009 Kim Peek (Rain Man), American prodigious savant and inspiration for the 1988 film Rain Man (b. 1951)
2010 Anthony Howard, English Journalist (b. 1934)
2010 Trudy Pitts, American jazz organist, pianist, and vocalist (b. 1932)
2012 Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli military officer and politician (b. 1944)
2012 Colin Davis, English race car driver (b. 1933)
2012 George O'Donnell, American baseball player (b. 1929)
2012 Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross rider (b. 1961)
2012 Inez Andrews, American singer (The Caravans) (b. 1929)
2012 Keiji Nakazawa, Japanese writer and illustrator (b. 1939)
2012 Larry Morris, American football player, NFL (b. 1933)
2012 Lawrie Barratt, English businessman, founded Barratt Developments (b. 1927)
2012 Paul Crauchet, French actor (b. 1920)
2012 Pecker Dunne, Irish singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
2012 Peter Struck, German politician (b. 1943)
2012 Robert Bork, American judge and legal scholar (b. 1927)