December 21

From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia

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December 21 is the Template:Day/Totaldays Template:Ordinal/th day of the year (Template:Day/Totaldays Template:Ordinal/th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "[" days remaining until the end of the year.

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

[edit] Events

69 - Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian becomes the fourth Emperor of Rome within a year.
1620 - Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1844 - The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
1861 - Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.
1865 - Kappa Alpha Order is founded under the name of Phi Kappa Chi at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia.
1872 - Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth.
1883 - The first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army are formed: The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment.
1912 - The movie Das Mirakel premiered in Germany.
1913 - Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
1917 - Meiji Dairies, a Japanese dairy company, is founded.
1936 - First flight of the Junkers JU-88 bomber prototype.
1937 - The film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles.
1958 - French presidential election, 1958: Charles de Gaulle is elected President of France as his Union des Démocrates pour la République party gain 78.5% of the vote.
1962 - Rondane National Park is established as Norway's first national park.
1967 - Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, after living for 18 days.
1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 2h:50m:37s Mission elapsed time (MES), the crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to leave Earth's gravity.
1970 - Elvis Presley meets with President Richard Nixon to discuss the war on drugs.
1970 - The F-14 Tomcat flies for the first time.
1971 - The United Nations Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Secretary-General.
1973 - The Geneva Conference on the Arab-Israeli conflict opens.
1979 - Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and Dr. S.C. Mundawarara.
1987 - The passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing 1,565.
1988 - A bomb explodes on board Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270.
1991 - Charilaos Florakis is elected honorary president of the Communist Party of Greece.
1992 - A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport (Portugal), killing 56 people.
1994 - A homemade bomb explodes on the # 4 train on Fulton Street in New York City.
1995 - The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid.
2007 - The Schengen Agreement area increases to include 9 European Union member states; Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia on land and sea borders.

[edit] Births

1118 - Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1170)
1401 - Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (d. 1428)
1596 - Petro Mohyla, Moldovan Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of Kiev and Galicia (d. 1646)
1603 - Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist (d. 1684)
1714 - John Bradstreet, Canadian-born soldier (d. 1774)
1778 - Anders Sandøe Ørsted, Danish politician (d. 1860)
1795 - Leopold von Ranke, German historian (d. 1886)
1804 - Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1881)
1805 - Thomas Graham, British chemist (d. 1869)
1811 - Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1882)
1815 - Thomas Couture French painter and teacher (d. 1879)
1818 - Amalia of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece (d. 1875)
1832 - John H. Ketcham, American politician (d. 1906)
1843 - Thomas Bracken, Irish-born New Zealander poet (d. 1898)
1850 - Zdeněk Fibich, Bohemian composer (d. 1900)
1851 - Thomas Chipman McRae, American politician, 34th Governor of Arkansas (d. 1929)
1859 - Gustave Kahn, French poet (d. 1936)
1872 - Sidney Ainsworth, British actor (d. 1922)
1872 - Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (d. 1956)
1872 - Albert Payson Terhune, American author (d. 1942)
1873 - Blagoje Bersa, Croatian composer (d. 1934)
1876 - Jack Lang (John Thomas Lang), Premier of New South Wales (d. 1975)
1878 - Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish philosopher and mathematician (d. 1956)
1885 - Frank Patrick, hockey player (d. 1960)
1889 - Sewall Wright, American biologist (d. 1988)
1890 - Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and Nobel laureate (d. 1967)
1891 - John William McCormack, American politician (d. 1980)
1892 - Walter Hagen, American golfer (d. 1969)
1892 - Rebecca West, American writer (d. 1983)
1896 - Leroy Robertson, American composer (d. 1971)
1905 - Anthony Powell, British author (d. 2000)
1909 - Seicho Matsumoto, Japanese mystery writer and journalist (d. 1992)
1911 - Josh Gibson, American baseball player (d. 1947)
1914 - Ivan Generalić, Austro-Hungarian-born Croatian painter (d. 1992)
1915 - Werner von Trapp, member of the Trapp Family Singers (d. 2007)
1917 - Heinrich Böll, German writer and Nobel laureate (d. 1985)
1917 - Sophie Masloff, American politician
1918 - Donald Regan, American White House Chief of Staff (d. 2003)
1918 - Kurt Waldheim, Austrian United Nations Secretary-General and Federal President of Austria (d. 2007)
1920 - Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina
1920 - Bob Bindig, cartoonist (d. 2006)
1920 - Jean Gascon, Canadian actor (d. 1988)
1921 - Vampira (Maila Nurmi), Finnish-born actress
1921 - John Severin, American comics artist
1922 - Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist (d. 2005)
1923 - Intizar Hussain, Urdu writer and colomnist of Pakistan
1926 - Joe Paterno, American football coach
1932 - Edward Hoagland, American essayist
1935 - John G. Avildsen, American film director
1935 - Yusuf Bey (Joseph Stephens), American activist (d. 2003)
1935 - Phil Donahue, American talk show host
1935 - Edward Schreyer, Canadian politician, Premier of Manitoba
1937 - Jane Fonda, American actress
1937 - Donald F. Munson, American politician
1939 - Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian politician
1940 - Frank Zappa, American musician (d. 1993)
1940 - Ray Hildebrand, American singer (Paul & Paula)
1942 - Hu Jintao, Chinese president
1942 - Reinhard Mey, German singer
1942 - Carla Thomas, American singer
1943 - André Arthur. Quebec radio host
1944 - Michael Tilson Thomas, American conductor
1944 - Bill Atkinson, English footballer
1946 - Carl Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (d. 1998)
1946 - Christopher Keene, American conductor (d. 1995)
1947 - Paco de Lucía, Spanish musician
1947 - Bryan Hamilton, Northern Irish footballer
1948 - Samuel L. Jackson, American actor
1948 - Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician
1948 - Dave Kingman, baseball player
1949 - Nikolaos Sifounakis, Greek politician
1950 - Jeffrey Katzenberg, American producer
1950 - Lillebjørn Nilsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter
1951 - Nick Gilder, English musician (Sweeney Todd)
1952 - Joaquín Andújar, baseball player
1953 - Betty Wright, American singer
1954 - Chris Evert, American tennis player
1955 - Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
1955 - Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese musician
1956 - Lee Roy Parnell, American country singer
1957 - Tom Henke, American baseball player
1957 - Ray Romano, Italian-American comedian
1959 - Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter (d. 1998)
1960 - Louis Demetrius Alvanis, London-based pianist
1960 - Roger McDowell, Former Major League Baseball Pitcher
1960 - Andy Van Slyke, baseball player
1961 - Francis Ng, Hong Kong actor
1961 - Ryuji Sasai, Japanese composer
1964 - Rob Kelly, English football manager
1964 - Fabiana Udenio, Argentine actress
1965 - Andy Dick, American actor and comedian
1965 - Anke Engelke, German comedian
1966 - Kiefer Sutherland, British-born Canadian actor
1966 - Karri Turner, American actress
1967 - Mikhail Saakashvili, Soviet-born President of Georgia
1969 - Julie Delpy, French actress
1969 - Mihails Zemļinskis, Latvian footballer
1970 - Jamie Theakston, English television presenter
1971 - Mathieu Chedid, French musician
1971 - Fenton Keogh, Australian celebrity chef
1971 - Brett Scallions, American singer (Fuel, The X's)
1972 - Latroy Hawkins, baseball player
1972 - Dustin Hermanson, baseball player
1973 - Karmen Stavec, German-born Slovenian singer
1973 - Mike Alstott, American football player
1974 - Karrie Webb, Australian golfer
1975 - Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballet dancer
1976 - Mirela Manjani, Greek javelin thrower
1978 - Mike Vitar, American actor
1979 - Tuva Novotny, Swedish actress and singer
1981 - Cristian Zaccardo, Italian football player
1981 - Lynda Thomas, Mexican singer
1981 - Sajid Mahmood, English cricketer
1982 - Mike Gansey, American basketball player
1984 - Darren Potter, Irish footballer
1985 - James Stewart Jr., American motorcycle racer

[edit] Deaths

72 - Thomas the Apostle
1295 - Marguerite Berenger of Provence, wife of Louis IX of France (bc. 1221)
1308 - Henry I of Hesse (b. 1244)
1375 - Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian writer (b. 1313)
1504 - Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild, German archbishop and elector (b. 1442)
1549 - Marguerite of Navarre, wife of Henry II of Navarre (b. 1492)
1579 - Vicente Masip, Spanish painter
1597 - Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (b. 1521)
1807 - John Newton, English cleric and hymnist (b. 1725)
1824 - James Parkinson, English physician, geologist, paleontologist, and political activist (b. 1755)
1873 - Francis Garnier, French explorer (b. 1839)
1889 - Friedrich August von Quenstedt, German geologist (b. 1809)
1900 - Roger Wolcott, American political figure, 39th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1847)
1933 - Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen, Greenlandic polar explorer and anthropologist (b. 1879)
1935 - Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist and satirist (b. 1890)
1937 - Frank B. Kellogg, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1856)
1940 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (b. 1896)
1945 - George S. Patton, U.S. general (b. 1885)
1957 - Eric Coates, English composer (b. 1886)
1958 - Lion Feuchtwanger, German writer (b. 1884)
1959 - Rosanjin, Japanese calligrapher, restaurateur and ceramicist (b. 1883)
1964 - Carl Van Vechten, American writer and photographer (b. 1880)
1965 - Claude Champagne, Quebec composer (b. 1891)
1967 - Stuart Erwin, American actor (b. 1903)
1974 - James Henry Govier, British artist (b. 1910)
1974 - Richard Long, American actor (b. 1927)
1981 - Allan Dwan, Canadian-born American director and screenwriter (b. 1885)
1983 - Paul de Man, Belgian-born literary critic (b. 1919)
1987 - John Spence, founding No Doubt member (b. 1969)
1988 - Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ornithologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1907)
1990 - Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, American aeronautical engineer (b. 1910)
1992 - Albert King, American musician (b. 1924)
1992 - Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1903)
1997 - Amie Comeaux, American country music singer (b. 1976)
1998 - Roger Avon, Durham actor (b. 1914)
1998 - Karl Denver, Scottish singer (b 1931)
1998 - Ernst Gunther Schenck, German doctor who joined the Sturmabteilung in 1933 {b. 1904)
2001 - Dick Schaap, American sports journalist (b. 1934)
2003 - Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Spanish playboy and businessman (b. 1924)
2004 - Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist (b. 1925)
2005 - Elrod Hendricks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1940)
2006 - Scobie Breasley, Australian jockey (b. 1914)
2006 - Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (b. 1940)
2007 - Ken Hendricks, American businessman (b. 1941)

[edit] Holidays and observances

Roman festivals - Divalia in honour of Angerona
R.C. Saints - O Oriens, Saint Petrus Canisius - the patron saint of half days and not making or receiving phone calls; formerly feast day of Thomas the apostle
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice, sometimes known as Yule, occurs on or very close to this date. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around this time. It is also an important festival in the Chinese calendar.
Yalda, originally a religious holiday for Zoroastrians, is now a social holiday in Iran.
A baktun of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar will end and a new one will begin on December 21, 2012.
National Homeless Person's Memorial Day in the U.S.