The United States House of Representatives impeaches Donald Trump for the first time.
Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was impeached for the first time by the House of Representatives of the 116th United States Congress on December 18, 2019. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate acquitted Trump of these charges on February 5, 2020.
List of bolides: A meteor exploded over the Bering Sea with a force over 10 times greater than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.
The following is a list of bolides and fireballs seen on Earth in recent times. These are small asteroids that regularly impact the Earth. Although most are so small that they burn up in the atmosphere before reaching the surface, some larger objects may reach the surface as fragments, known as meteorites. A few of these are detected by NASA's Sentry system, in which case the impact is predicted.
An Amtrak Cascades passenger train derailed near DuPont, Washington, killing three people and injuring sixty-five others.
The Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train corridor in the Pacific Northwest, operated by Amtrak in partnership with the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. It is named after the Cascade mountain range that the route parallels. The 467-mile (752 km) corridor runs from Vancouver, British Columbia, through Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon to Eugene, Oregon. Service to Vancouver ceased during the pandemic; Seattle to Vancouver service resumed on September 26, 2022.
On December 18, 2017, Amtrak Cascades passenger train 501 derailed near DuPont, Washington, United States. The National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) final report said regional transit authority Sound Transit failed to take steps to mitigate a curve at the accident location, and inadequately trained the train engineer. The train was making the inaugural run of the Point Defiance Bypass, a new passenger rail route south of Tacoma, Washington, operated by Amtrak in partnership with state and local authorities in Oregon and Washington, on right-of-way owned and operated by Sound Transit. The bypass was intended to reduce congestion and separate passenger and freight traffic, and was designed for faster speeds and shorter travel times, saving ten minutes from Seattle to Portland compared with the previous route used by Cascades.
DuPont is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,151 at the 2020 census. Originally a company town, the city is named after the DuPont chemical company which operated an explosives manufacturing plant in the area from 1909 to 1975.
Amtrak Cascades passenger train 501, derailed near DuPont, Washington, a city in United States near Olympia, Washington killing six people, and injuring 70 others.
The Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train corridor in the Pacific Northwest, operated by Amtrak in partnership with the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. It is named after the Cascade mountain range that the route parallels. The 467-mile (752 km) corridor runs from Vancouver, British Columbia, through Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon to Eugene, Oregon. Service to Vancouver ceased during the pandemic; Seattle to Vancouver service resumed on September 26, 2022.
On December 18, 2017, Amtrak Cascades passenger train 501 derailed near DuPont, Washington, United States. The National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) final report said regional transit authority Sound Transit failed to take steps to mitigate a curve at the accident location, and inadequately trained the train engineer. The train was making the inaugural run of the Point Defiance Bypass, a new passenger rail route south of Tacoma, Washington, operated by Amtrak in partnership with state and local authorities in Oregon and Washington, on right-of-way owned and operated by Sound Transit. The bypass was intended to reduce congestion and separate passenger and freight traffic, and was designed for faster speeds and shorter travel times, saving ten minutes from Seattle to Portland compared with the previous route used by Cascades.
DuPont is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,151 at the 2020 census. Originally a company town, the city is named after the DuPont chemical company which operated an explosives manufacturing plant in the area from 1909 to 1975.
Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is 60 miles (100 km) southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region.
Kellingley Colliery, the last deep coal mine in Great Britain, closes.
Kellingley Colliery was a deep coal mine in North Yorkshire, England, 3.6 miles (5.8 km) east of Ferrybridge power station. It was owned and operated by UK Coal.
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a 'pit', and the above-ground structures are a 'pit head'. In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is dominated by a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. The 60% smaller island of Ireland is to the west—together with these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands and named substantial rocks, form the British Isles archipelago.
The Copenhagen Summit on climate change ended with the drafting of the non-binding Copenhagen Accord.
The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit, was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 and 18 December. The conference included the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 5th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. According to the Bali Road Map, a framework for climate change mitigation beyond 2012 was to be agreed there.
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global average temperature is more rapid than previous changes, and is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices increase greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight. Larger amounts of these gases trap more heat in Earth's lower atmosphere, causing global warming.
A non-binding resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body that can or cannot progress into a law. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion.
The Copenhagen Accord is a document which delegates at the 15th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to "take note of" at the final plenary on 18 December 2009.
The first of a series of floods strikes Malaysia. The death toll of all flooding is at least 118, with over 400,000 people displaced.
The 2006–2007 Southeast Asian floods were a series of floods that mostly affected Malaysia from 18 December 2006 to 13 January 2007. The floods were caused by above average rainfall, which was attributed to Typhoon Utor (2006) which had hit the Philippines and Vietnam a few days earlier. By the third week of January 2007, Johor had been affected by a larger flood. Singapore and certain parts of Indonesia were flooded due to the same typhoon.
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital, largest city and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government. The nearby planned capital of Putrajaya is the administrative capital, which represents the seat of both the executive branch and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 32 million, Malaysia is the world's 45th-most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia is in Tanjung Piai. In the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries, home to numerous endemic species.
United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.
The United Arab Emirates, or simply the Emirates, is a country in Western Asia. It is located at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula and shares borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, while having maritime borders in the Persian Gulf with Qatar and Iran. Abu Dhabi is the nation's capital, while Dubai, the most populous city, is an international hub.
Parliamentary election were held for the first time in the United Arab Emirates in December 2006 to elect half of the 40 members of Federal National Council. Voting took place in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah on 16 December, in Dubai and Ras al-Khaimah on 18 December, and in Sharjah, Ajman and Umm al-Quwain on 20 December.
The Chadian Civil War begins when rebel groups, allegedly backed by neighbouring Sudan, launch an attack in Adré.
The most recent Chadian Civil War began on December 18, 2005. Since its independence from France in 1960, Chad has been swamped by the civil war between the Arab-Muslims of the north and the Sub-Saharan-Christians of the south. As a result, leadership and presidency in Chad drifted back and forth between the Christian southerners and Muslim northerners. When one side was in power, the other side usually started a revolutionary war to counter it.
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in East Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south and the Red Sea. It has a population of 45.70 million people as of 2022 and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres, making it Africa's third-largest country by area, and the third-largest by area in the Arab League. It was the largest country by area in Africa and the Arab League until the secession of South Sudan in 2011, since which both titles have been held by Algeria. Its capital is Khartoum and its most populated city is Omdurman.
The Battle of Adré took place in Adré, Chad on 18 December 2005. The battle began when the Chadian rebel groups Rally for Democracy and Liberty (RDL) and Platform for Change, Unity, and Democracy (SCUD), allegedly backed by the government of Sudan, attacked the garrison in this city. However, Chadian loyalists, who had been forewarned by military intelligence of the attack, easily repulsed the attackers. Either seventy, one hundred, or three hundred rebels were killed, depending on reports. Governmental losses are unknown, but they lost at least one Russian-made helicopter in a collision with electric wires during the fighting, while another Mil Mi-17 helicopter was heavily damaged by rebel fire which killed at least one crew member.
California gubernatorial recall: Then Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.
The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003. Seven of the nine previous governors, including Davis, had faced unsuccessful recall attempts.
The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard.
Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and removed from office. He is the second state governor in U.S. history to have been recalled.
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7 million residents and the latter having over 9.6 million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west.
The government budget balance, also alternatively referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall difference between government revenues and spending. A positive balance is called a government budget surplus, and a negative balance is a government budget deficit. A government budget is a financial statement presenting the government's proposed revenues and spending for a financial year. A budget is prepared for each level of government and takes into account public social security obligations.
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color.
NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
Terra is a multi-national, NASA scientific research satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit around the Earth that takes simultaneous measurements of Earth's atmosphere, land, and water to understand how Earth is changing and to identify the consequences for life on Earth. It is the flagship of the Earth Observing System (EOS) and the first satellite of the system which was followed by Aqua and Aura. Terra was launched in 1999.
The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a Japanese remote sensing instrument onboard the Terra satellite launched by NASA in 1999. It has been collecting data since February 2000.
Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) is on-going NASA climatological experiment from Earth orbit. The CERES are scientific satellite instruments, part of the NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS), designed to measure both solar-reflected and Earth-emitted radiation from the top of the atmosphere (TOA) to the Earth's surface. Cloud properties are determined using simultaneous measurements by other EOS instruments such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Results from the CERES and other NASA missions, such as the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE), could enable nearer to real-time tracking of Earth's energy imbalance and better understanding of the role of clouds in global climate change.
The multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) is a scientific instrument on the Terra satellite launched by NASA on 18 December 1999. This device is designed to measure the intensity of solar radiation reflected by the Earth system in various directions and spectral bands; it became operational in February 2000. Data generated by this sensor have been proven useful in a variety of applications including atmospheric sciences, climatology and monitoring terrestrial processes.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra satellite, launched by NASA in 1999; and one on board the Aqua satellite, launched in 2002. MODIS has now been replaced by the VIIRS, which first launched in 2011 aboard the Suomi NPP satellite.
MOPITT is a payload scientific instrument launched into Earth orbit by NASA on board the Terra satellite in 1999. It is designed to monitor changes in pollution patterns and its effect in the lower atmosphere of the Earth. The instrument was funded by the Space Science Division of the Canadian Space Agency.
The school board of Oakland, California, passed a controversial resolution officially declaring African-American Vernacular English to be a separate language or dialect.
Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates a total of 80 elementary schools (TK–5), middle schools (6–8), and high schools (9–12). There are also 28 district-authorized charter schools in Oakland, California, United States, serving a total of 48,704 students across both district-run and district-authorized charter schools.
African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) has been the center of controversy about the education of African-American youths, the role AAVE should play in public schools and education, and its place in broader society.
African-American Vernacular English, also referred to as Black (Vernacular) English, Black English Vernacular, or occasionally Ebonics, is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban communities, by most working- and middle-class African Americans and some Black Canadians.
A Lockheed L-188 Electra crashes in Jamba, Cuando Cubango, Angola, killing 141 people.
The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensive modifications to fix a design defect, no more were ordered. With its unique high power-to-weight ratio, huge propellers and very short wings, large Fowler flaps which significantly increased effective wing area when extended, and four-engined design, the airplane had airfield performance capabilities unmatched by many jet transport aircraft even today—particularly on short runways and high field elevations. Jet airliners soon supplanted turboprops for many purposes, and many Electras were modified as freighters. Some Electras are still being used in various roles into the 21st century. The airframe was also used as the basis for the Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft.
The Trans Service Airlift Lockheed L-188 crash occurred on 18 December 1995 when a Lockheed L-188C Electra owned by Trans Service Airlift crashed near Jamba, Angola, killing 141 of the passengers and crew.
Jamba is a town in Angola, located in the southeastern province of Cuando Cubango, just north of the Namibian border along the Caprivi Strip.
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country located on the west coast of central-southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population, and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda, that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populous city is Luanda.
First flight of the Russian heavy strategic bomber Tu-160, the world's largest combat aircraft, largest supersonic aircraft and largest variable-sweep wing aircraft built.
Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry and longest range of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the largest and most powerful military aircraft at any point in time. In the second half of the 20th century, heavy bombers were largely superseded by strategic bombers, which were often smaller in size, but had much longer ranges and were capable of delivering nuclear bombs.
A strategic bomber is a medium- to long-range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, penetrators, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft, which are used in air interdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment, strategic bombers are designed to fly into enemy territory to destroy strategic targets. In addition to strategic bombing, strategic bombers can be used for tactical missions. There are currently only three countries that operate strategic bombers: the United States, Russia and China.
The Tupolev Tu-160 is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. It is the largest and heaviest Mach 2+ supersonic military aircraft ever built and second to the experimental XB-70 Valkyrie in overall length. As of 2022, it is the largest and heaviest combat aircraft, the fastest bomber in use and the largest and heaviest variable-sweep wing airplane ever flown.
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equipment or personnel using their own aircraft ordnance. Combat aircraft are typically developed and procured only by military forces. Non-combat aircraft are not designed for combat as their primary function, but may carry weapons for self-defense. These mainly operate in support roles, and may be developed by either military forces or civilian organizations.
A supersonic aircraft is an aircraft capable of supersonic flight, that is, flying faster than the speed of sound. Supersonic aircraft were developed in the second half of the twentieth century. Supersonic aircraft have been used for research and military purposes, but only two supersonic aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-144 and the Concorde, ever entered service for civil use as airliners. Fighter jets are the most common example of supersonic aircraft.
A variable-sweep wing, colloquially known as a "swing wing", is an airplane wing, or set of wings, that may be swept back and then returned to its original straight position during flight. It allows the aircraft's shape to be modified in flight, and is therefore an example of a variable-geometry aircraft.
United Airlines Flight 2860 crashes near Kaysville, Utah, killing all three crew members on board.
United Airlines Flight 2860 was a scheduled domestic cargo flight in the United States from San Francisco, California, to Chicago, Illinois, with an intermediate stop added at Salt Lake City, Utah. On December 18, 1977, operated by one of the airline's Douglas DC-8 Jet Traders, registration N8047U, the flight was in a holding pattern in Utah and crashed into a mountain in the Wasatch Range near Fruit Heights. All three crew members, the only occupants of the plane, were killed in the accident.
Kaysville is a city in Davis County, Utah. It is part of the Ogden–Clearfield metropolitan area. The population was 27,300 at the time of the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 32,390 in 2019.
SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 crashes near Madeira Airport in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, killing 36.
SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 was a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 10R aircraft, registered as HB-ICK, that crashed on approach to Funchal Airport, Madeira, on December 18, 1977.
Madeira Airport, informally Funchal Airport, formally Santa Catarina Airport and officially Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, is an international airport in the civil parish of Santa Cruz in the Portuguese archipelago and autonomous region of Madeira. The airport is located 13.2 km (8.2 mi) east-northeast of the regional capital, Funchal, after which it is sometimes informally named. It mostly hosts flights to European metropolitan destinations due to Madeira's importance as a leisure destination, and is pivotal in the movement of cargo in and out of the archipelago of Madeira. It is the fourth-busiest airport in Portugal. The airport is named after Madeiran native Cristiano Ronaldo. During its renaming ceremony in 2017, the airport drew media notoriety for an infamous bust of Ronaldo unveiled at the ceremony, now replaced.
Funchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of its high cultural and historical value, Funchal is one of Portugal's main tourist attractions; it is also popular as a destination for New Year's Eve, and it is the leading Portuguese port on cruise liner dockings.
Madeira, officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira, is one of two autonomous regions of Portugal, the other being the Azores. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in a region known as Macaronesia, just under 400 kilometres (250 mi) to the north of the Canary Islands and 520 kilometres (320 mi) west of the Kingdom of Morocco. Madeira is geologically located on the African Tectonic Plate, notwithstanding being culturally, sociologically, economically and politically European as it is its southern archipelago neighbor. Its population was 251,060 in 2021. The capital of Madeira is Funchal, which is located on the main island's south coast.
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira. It features the westernmost point in continental Europe, and its Iberian portion is bordered to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and east by Spain, the sole country to have a land border with Portugal. Its two archipelagos form two autonomous regions with their own regional governments. Lisbon is the capital and largest city by population.
Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
The Soyuz programme is a human spaceflight programme initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. The Soyuz spacecraft was originally part of a Moon landing project intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. It was the third Soviet human spaceflight programme after the Vostok (1961–1963) and Voskhod (1964–1965) programmes.
Soyuz 13 was a December, 1973, Soviet crewed space flight, the second test flight of the redesigned Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft that first flew as Soyuz 12. The spacecraft was specially modified to carry the Orion 2 Space Observatory. The flight, crewed by Pyotr Klimuk and Valentin Lebedev, was the Soviet Union's first dedicated science mission, and was the first mission controlled by the new Kaliningrad Mission Control Center.
This is a list of cosmonauts who have taken part in the missions of the Soviet space program and the Russian Federal Space Agency, including ethnic Russians and people of other ethnicities.
Valentin Vitalyevich Lebedev is a Soviet cosmonaut who made two flights into space. His stay aboard the Space Station Salyut 7 with Anatoly Berezovoy in 1982, which lasted 211 days, was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.
Pyotr Ilyich Klimuk is a former Soviet cosmonaut and the first Belarusian to perform space travel. Klimuk made three flights into space.
Baikonur, formerly known as Leninsk, is a city of republic significance in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river, rented and administered by the Russian Federation as an enclave. It was constructed to service the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was officially renamed Baikonur by Russian president Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995. During the Soviet period, it was sometimes referred to as Zvezdograd (Звездоград), Russian for Star City.
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics; in practice, both its government and its economy were highly centralized until its final years. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the city of Moscow serving as its capital as well as that of its largest and most populous republic: the Russian SFSR. Other major cities included Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It was the largest country in the world, covering over 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi) and spanning eleven time zones.
Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.
The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The north was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist states, while the south was supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies. The war is widely considered to be a Cold War-era proxy war. It lasted almost 20 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973. The conflict also spilled over into neighboring states, exacerbating the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist states by 1975.
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was the 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. His five years in the White House saw reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the first manned Moon landings, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early, when he became the only president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed from 1945 to 1976 and was recognized in 1954. Both the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese states ceased to exist when they unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Operation Linebacker II was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by U.S. Seventh Air Force, Strategic Air Command and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 against targets in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam during the final period of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The operation was conducted from 18 to 29 December 1972, leading to several informal names such as The December Raids and The Christmas Bombings. In Vietnam, it is just simply called "12 days and nights" and "Operation Dien Bien Phu in the air" or just simply "Dien Bien Phu in the air". Unlike the Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Linebacker air interdiction operations, Linebacker II was designed to be a "maximum effort" bombing campaign to "destroy major target complexes in the Hanoi and Haiphong areas, which could only be accomplished by B-52s". It saw the largest heavy bomber strikes launched by the U.S. Air Force since World War II.
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the sixth James Bond film and the only one to star George Lazenby, premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a 1969 spy film and the sixth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is based on the 1963 novel by Ian Fleming. Following Sean Connery's decision to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon selected George Lazenby, a model with no prior acting credits, to play the part of James Bond. During filming, Lazenby announced that he would play the role of Bond only once.
James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. Eon Productions, which now holds the adaptation rights to all of Fleming's Bond novels, made all but two films in the film series.
George Robert Lazenby is an Australian actor. He was the second actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Having appeared in only one film, Lazenby's tenure as Bond is the shortest among the actors in the series.
The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the first Dolby Cinema in the United Kingdom.
Epimetheus, one of the moons of Saturn, was discovered, but was mistaken for Janus; it took twelve years to determine that they are two distinct objects sharing the same orbit.
Epimetheus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It is also known as Saturn XI. It is named after the mythological Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus.
The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets only tens of meters across to enormous Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury. Saturn has 83 moons with confirmed orbits that are not embedded in its rings—of which only 13 have diameters greater than 50 kilometers—as well as dense rings that contain millions of embedded moonlets and innumerable smaller ring particles. Seven Saturnian moons are large enough to have collapsed into a relaxed, ellipsoidal shape, though only one or two of those, Titan and possibly Rhea, are currently in hydrostatic equilibrium. Particularly notable among Saturn's moons are Titan, the second-largest moon in the Solar System, with a nitrogen-rich Earth-like atmosphere and a landscape featuring dry river networks and hydrocarbon lakes, Enceladus, which emits jets of gas and dust from its south-polar region, and Iapetus, with its contrasting black and white hemispheres.
Janus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It is also known as Saturn X. It is named after the mythological Janus.
In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a planet, moon, asteroid, or Lagrange point. Normally, orbit refers to a regularly repeating trajectory, although it may also refer to a non-repeating trajectory. To a close approximation, planets and satellites follow elliptic orbits, with the center of mass being orbited at a focal point of the ellipse, as described by Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by astronomer Richard Walker.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; however, with its larger volume, Saturn is over 95 times more massive.
Epimetheus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It is also known as Saturn XI. It is named after the mythological Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus.
Ghanaian and other African students organized a protest in Moscow's Red Square in response to the alleged murder of medical student Edmund Assare-Addo.
On 18 December 1963 a number of students from Ghana and other African countries organized a protest on Moscow's Red Square in response to the alleged murder of medical student Edmund Assare-Addo. The number of participants was reported at 500–700, but according to the Ghanaian physician Edward Na, who participated in the events, there were at most 150 protesters. The ambassador of Ghana in the Soviet Union John Banks Elliott requested a militsiya protection of the Ghanaian embassy.
Red Square is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical buildings, it is regarded as one of the most famous squares in Europe and the world. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, in the eastern walls of the Kremlin. It is the city landmark of Moscow, with iconic buildings such as Saint Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Mausoleum and the GUM. In addition, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990.
The United States launched SCORE, the world's first communications satellite.
SCORE was the world's first purpose-built communications satellite. Launched aboard an American Atlas rocket on December 18, 1958, SCORE provided the second test of a communications relay system in space, the first broadcast of a human voice from space, and the first successful use of the Atlas as a launch vehicle. It captured world attention by broadcasting a Christmas message via shortwave radio from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower through an on-board tape recorder. The satellite was popularly dubbed "The Talking Atlas". SCORE, as a geopolitical strategy, placed the United States at an even technological par with the Soviet Union as a highly functional response to the Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 satellites.
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. Communications satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. As of 1 January 2021, there are 2,224 communications satellites in Earth orbit. Most communications satellites are in geostationary orbit 22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the equator, so that the satellite appears stationary at the same point in the sky; therefore the satellite dish antennas of ground stations can be aimed permanently at that spot and do not have to move to track the satellite.
Project SCORE, the world's first communications satellite, is launched.
SCORE was the world's first purpose-built communications satellite. Launched aboard an American Atlas rocket on December 18, 1958, SCORE provided the second test of a communications relay system in space, the first broadcast of a human voice from space, and the first successful use of the Atlas as a launch vehicle. It captured world attention by broadcasting a Christmas message via shortwave radio from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower through an on-board tape recorder. The satellite was popularly dubbed "The Talking Atlas". SCORE, as a geopolitical strategy, placed the United States at an even technological par with the Soviet Union as a highly functional response to the Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 satellites.
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. Communications satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. As of 1 January 2021, there are 2,224 communications satellites in Earth orbit. Most communications satellites are in geostationary orbit 22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the equator, so that the satellite appears stationary at the same point in the sky; therefore the satellite dish antennas of ground stations can be aimed permanently at that spot and do not have to move to track the satellite.
World War II: XX Bomber Command responds to the Japanese Operation Ichi-Go offensive by dropping five hundred tons of incendiary bombs on a supply base in Hankow, China.
The XX Bomber Command was a United States Army Air Forces bomber formation. Its last assignment was with Twentieth Air Force, based on Okinawa. It was inactivated on 16 July 1945.
Operation Ichi-Go was a campaign of a series of major battles between the Imperial Japanese Army forces and the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, fought from April to December 1944. It consisted of three separate battles in the Chinese provinces of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi.
Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow, was one of the three towns merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers where the Han flows into the Yangtze. Hankou is connected by bridges to its triplet sister towns Hanyang and Wuchang.
Second World War: The Luftwaffe won a victory over the Royal Air Force in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight, greatly influencing both sides' future aerial warfare strategy.
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries.
The Luftwaffe was the aerial-warfare branch of the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the Luftstreitkräfte of the Imperial Army and the Marine-Fliegerabteilung of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain.
The Battle of the Heligoland Bight was the first "named" air battle of the Second World War, which began the longest air campaign of the war, the Defence of the Reich. On 3 September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland, which started the European War. The British did not assist Poland by land or sea but RAF Bomber Command flew several missions against German targets. A number of these air raids were directed at Kriegsmarine warships in German ports to prevent their use in the Battle of the Atlantic. With the front lines static between September 1939 and May 1940, a period known as the "Phoney War" set in, with little fighting on land or in the air.
World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries.
The Battle of the Heligoland Bight was the first "named" air battle of the Second World War, which began the longest air campaign of the war, the Defence of the Reich. On 3 September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland, which started the European War. The British did not assist Poland by land or sea but RAF Bomber Command flew several missions against German targets. A number of these air raids were directed at Kriegsmarine warships in German ports to prevent their use in the Battle of the Atlantic. With the front lines static between September 1939 and May 1940, a period known as the "Phoney War" set in, with little fighting on land or in the air.
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon.
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP, is a major Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. It was the first political party in Sri Lanka, having been founded in 1935 by Leslie Goonewardene, N.M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva, Philip Gunawardena and Robert Gunawardena. It currently is a member of the main ruling coalition in the government of Sri Lanka and is headed by Tissa Vitharana. The party was founded with leninist ideals, and is classified as a party with Socialist aims.
Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and southeast of the Arabian Sea; it is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with India and the Maldives. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its largest city and financial centre.
Playing indoors at Chicago Stadium on a modified American football field, the Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth Spartans in the first playoff game of the National Football League.
Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls.
American football, also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or passing it, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive. Points are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NFL Championships, including one Super Bowl, and hold the NFL record for the most enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the most retired jersey numbers. The Bears have also recorded the second-most victories of any NFL franchise, only behind the Green Bay Packers.
The professional American football team now known as the Detroit Lions previously played in Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Portsmouth Spartans, from its founding in 1928 to its relocation to Detroit in 1934. Originally drawing players from defunct independent professional and semi-professional teams, they joined the fledgling National Football League in 1930. Their home stadium was Universal Stadium.
The 1932 NFL Playoff Game was an extra game held to break a tie in the 1932 season's final standings in the National Football League. It matched the host Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans. Because of snowfall and anticipated extremely cold temperatures in Chicago, Illinois, it was moved indoors and played at the three-year-old Chicago Stadium on December 18 on a reduced-size field on Sunday night.
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and the highest professional level of American football in the world. Each NFL season begins with a three-week preseason in August, followed by the 18-week regular season which runs from early September to early January, with each team playing 17 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament that culminates in the Super Bowl, which is contested in February and is played between the AFC and NFC conference champions. The league is headquartered in New York City.
The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL playoff game to win the NFL Championship.
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NFL Championships, including one Super Bowl, and hold the NFL record for the most enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the most retired jersey numbers. The Bears have also recorded the second-most victories of any NFL franchise, only behind the Green Bay Packers.
The professional American football team now known as the Detroit Lions previously played in Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Portsmouth Spartans, from its founding in 1928 to its relocation to Detroit in 1934. Originally drawing players from defunct independent professional and semi-professional teams, they joined the fledgling National Football League in 1930. Their home stadium was Universal Stadium.
The 1932 NFL Playoff Game was an extra game held to break a tie in the 1932 season's final standings in the National Football League. It matched the host Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans. Because of snowfall and anticipated extremely cold temperatures in Chicago, Illinois, it was moved indoors and played at the three-year-old Chicago Stadium on December 18 on a reduced-size field on Sunday night.
The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress.
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933. It is the only amendment to be repealed.
In the United States, prohibition was a nationwide constitutional law that strictly prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933.
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The vice president of the United States has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members.
The French defeated German forces around the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in northeast France, ending the longest and one of the bloodiest battles in the First World War.
The Battle of Verdun was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun and those of the French Second Army on the right (east) bank of the Meuse. Using the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position, with good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses at little cost to the German infantry.
Verdun is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when the second French offensive pushes the Germans back two or three kilometres, causing them to cease their attacks.
World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, and referred to by some Anglophone authors as the "Great War" or the "War to End All Wars", was a global conflict which lasted from 1914 to 1918, and is considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war.
The Battle of Verdun was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun and those of the French Second Army on the right (east) bank of the Meuse. Using the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position, with good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses at little cost to the German infantry.
The Jew's Christmas, the first American film to include a rabbi as a character, was released.
The Jew's Christmas is a 1913 silent film. The film was written by Lois Weber, and directed by Weber and her husband Phillips Smalley. The first American film to include a rabbi as a character, it was positively received, and novelized the year after its release. Modern analysts have described the film as encouraging Jewish assimilation and interfaith marriage in Judaism, and as incorporating prejudiced ideas about Jews.
A rabbi is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as semikha – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic and Talmudic eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis", and in 19th-century Germany and the United States rabbinic activities including sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside, all increased in importance.
Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat (pictured) set the first official land speed record, averaging 63.16 km/h (39.245 mph) over 1 km (0.62 mi) in Achères, France.
Count Charles-François Gaston Louis Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat was a French aristocrat and race car driver.
The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The land speed record (LSR) is standardized as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs. Two runs are required in opposite directions within one hour, and a new record mark must exceed the previous one by at least one percent to be validated.
Achères is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France. It is located 23.7 km (14.7 mi) from the centre of Paris.
Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first officially recognized land speed record of 63.159 km/h (39.245 mph) in a Jeantaud electric car.
Count Charles-François Gaston Louis Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat was a French aristocrat and race car driver.
The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The land speed record (LSR) is standardized as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs. Two runs are required in opposite directions within one hour, and a new record mark must exceed the previous one by at least one percent to be validated.
The Jeantaud was a make of French automobile manufactured in Paris from 1893 until 1907. It was the brainchild of Charles Jeantaud, a coachbuilder who built his first electric carriage in 1881. Among the vehicles he constructed was the first car to set a land speed record at 63.15 km/h (39.24 mph), driven by Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat, as well as coupes and hansom cabs; in these the driver sat high, and to the rear. Some cars had an unusual bevel-gear front-wheel-drive layout. From 1902 to 1904, Jeantaud offered a range of 2-, 3- and 4-cylinder gasoline-engined cars similar to 1898 Panhards.
Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The Nutcracker is an 1892 two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King".
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin.
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia. It is situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, with a population of roughly 5.4 million residents. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe after Istanbul, Moscow and London, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.
The Al-Thani family become the rulers of the state of Qatar.
The House of Thani is the ruling family of Qatar, with origins tracing back to the Banu Tamim tribal confederation.
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. The Gulf of Bahrain, an inlet of the Persian Gulf, separates Qatar from nearby Bahrain. The capital is Doha, home to over 80% of the country's inhabitants, and the land area is mostly made up of flat, low-lying desert.
In Angola, New York, the last coach of a Lake Shore Railway train derailed, plunged 40 feet (12 m) down a gully, and caught fire, resulting in approximately 49 deaths.
Angola is a village in the town of Evans in Erie County, New York, United States. Located 2 miles (3 km) east of Lake Erie, the village is 22 miles (35 km) southwest of downtown Buffalo. As of the 2010 Census, Angola had a population of 2,127. An unincorporated community known as Angola on the Lake, with a population of 1,675, lies between Angola village and Lake Erie.
The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad (CP&A), also known informally as the Cleveland and Erie Railroad, the Cleveland and Buffalo Railroad, and the Lake Shore Railroad, was a railway which ran from Cleveland, Ohio, to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Founded in 1848, the line opened in 1852. The railroad completed the rail link between Buffalo, New York, and Chicago, Illinois.
The Angola Horror train wreck occurred on December 18, 1867, just after 3 p.m. when the last coach of the Buffalo-bound New York Express of the Lake Shore Railway derailed at a bridge, slid down into a gorge and caught fire in Angola, New York, United States, killing approximately 49 people. At the time, it was one of the deadliest train wrecks in American history.
A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to tens of metres in depth and width and are characterised by a distinct 'headscarp' or 'headwall' and progress by headward erosion. Gullies are commonly related to intermittent or ephemeral water flow usually associated with localised intense or protracted rainfall events, or snowmelt. Gullies can be formed and accelerated by cultivation practices on hillslopes in farmland, and they can develop rapidly in rangelands from existing natural erosion forms subject to vegetative cover removal and livestock activity.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquakes strikes off the coast of Taiwan, triggering a tsunami and killing at least 580 people.
The 1867 Keelung earthquake occurred off the northern coast of Taiwan on the morning of December 18 with a magnitude of 7.0. It produced strong shaking that seriously damaged the cities of Keelung and Taipei. A tsunami, thought to be the only confirmed destructive of its kind in Taiwan, drowned hundreds and had a run-up exceeding 15 m (49 ft). The total death toll was estimated to be 580 while more than 100 were injured. It was followed by aftershocks that were felt on average ten times a day.
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. The territories controlled by the ROC consist of 168 islands, with a combined area of 36,193 square kilometres (13,974 sq mi). The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, has an area of 35,808 square kilometres (13,826 sq mi), with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanised population is concentrated. The capital, Taipei, forms along with New Taipei City and Keelung the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Other major cities include Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the most densely populated countries in the world.
A tsunami is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. Unlike normal ocean waves, which are generated by wind, or tides, which are in turn generated by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun, a tsunami is generated by the displacement of water from a large event.
US Secretary of State William Seward proclaims the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the USA.
William Henry Seward was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, he was a prominent figure in the Republican Party in its formative years, and was praised for his work on behalf of the Union as Secretary of State during the Civil War. He also negotiated the treaty for the United States to purchase the Alaskan Territory.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on December 6, 1865, and proclaimed on December 18. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War.
The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Slavery was established throughout European colonization in the Americas. From 1526, during early colonial days, it was practiced in what became Britain's colonies, including the Thirteen Colonies that formed the United States. Under the law, an enslaved person was treated as property that could be bought, sold, or given away. Slavery lasted in about half of U.S. states until abolition. In the decades after the end of Reconstruction, many of slavery's economic and social functions were continued through segregation, sharecropping, and convict leasing.
The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada abolishes the seigneurial system.
The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the province of Ontario. It was created by The Union Act of 1840. Canada East and Canada West each elected 42 members to the assembly. The upper house of the legislature was called the Legislative Council.
The manorial system of New France, known as the seigneurial system, was the semi-feudal system of land tenure used in the North American French colonial empire.
The national anthem of the Russian Empire, "God Save the Tsar!", is first performed.
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European nations tend towards more ornate and operatic pieces, while those in the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, and the Caribbean use a more simplistic fanfare. Some countries that are devolved into multiple constituent states have their own official musical compositions for them ; their constituencies' songs are sometimes referred to as national anthems even though they are not sovereign states.
The Russian Empire was the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The rise of the Russian Empire coincided with the decline of neighbouring rival powers: the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Qajar Iran, the Ottoman Empire, and Qing China. It also held colonies in North America between 1799 and 1867. Covering an area of approximately 22,800,000 square kilometres (8,800,000 sq mi), it remains the third-largest empire in history, surpassed only by the British Empire and the Mongol Empire; it ruled over a population of 125.6 million people per the 1897 Russian census, which was the only census carried out during the entire imperial period. Owing to its geographic extent across three continents at its peak, it featured great ethnic, linguistic, religious, and economic diversity.
"God Save the Tsar!" was the national anthem of the Russian Empire. The song was chosen from a competition held in 1833 and was first performed on 18 December 1833. It was composed by violinist Alexei Lvov, with lyrics written by the court poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It was the anthem until the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which "Worker's Marseillaise" was adopted as the new national anthem until the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government.
Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French Royalists to Lord Samuel Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was an admiral in the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of Antelope, he drove a French ship ashore in Audierne Bay, and captured two privateers in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. He held senior command as Commander-in-Chief, North American Station and then as Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station, leading the British fleet to victory at Battle of the Mona Passage in April 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, then First Naval Lord and, after briefly returning to the Portsmouth command, became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet during the French Revolutionary Wars. His younger brother was Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport (1726–1814), and his first cousin once-removed was Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet (1762–1814).
Lutine was a frigate which served in both the French Navy and the Royal Navy. She was launched by the French in 1779. The ship passed to British control in 1793 and was taken into service as HMS Lutine. She sank among the West Frisian Islands during a storm in 1799.
New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware River and Pennsylvania; and on the southwest by Delaware Bay and the state of Delaware. At 7,354 square miles (19,050 km2), New Jersey is the fifth-smallest state in land area; but with close to 9.3 million residents, it ranks 11th in population and first in population density. The state capital is Trenton, and the most populous city is Newark. With the exception of Warren County, all of the state's 21 counties lie within the combined statistical areas of New York City or Philadelphia.
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress ; the executive, consisting of the president and subordinate officers ; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Article IV, Article V, and Article VI embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment. Article VII establishes the procedure subsequently used by the 13 states to ratify it. It is regarded as the oldest written and codified national constitution in force.
The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the American rebels over British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga in October.
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and of the preceding year.. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and around the same part of the year in other places. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.
General John Burgoyne was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, most notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762.
The Battles of Saratoga marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led an invasion army of 7,200-8,000 men southward from Canada in the Champlain Valley, hoping to meet a similar British force marching northward from New York City and another British force marching eastward from Lake Ontario; the goal was to take Albany, New York. The southern and western forces never arrived, and Burgoyne was surrounded by American forces in upstate New York 15 miles (24 km) short of his goal. He fought two battles which took place 18 days apart on the same ground 9 miles (14 km) south of Saratoga, New York. He gained a victory in the first battle despite being outnumbered, but lost the second battle after the Americans returned with an even larger force.
The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290.
The Whitehall Conference was a gathering of prominent English merchants, clergymen, and lawyers convened by Oliver Cromwell for the purpose of debating whether Jews should be readmitted to England. The conference lasted from 4 to 18 December 1655.
The Edict of Expulsion was a royal decree issued by King Edward I of England on 18 July 1290 expelling all Jews from the Kingdom of England. Edward advised the sheriffs of all counties he wanted all Jews expelled by no later than All Saints' Day that year. The expulsion edict remained in force for the rest of the Middle Ages. The edict was not an isolated incident, but the culmination of over 200 years of increasing antisemitism in England. The edict was eventually overturned more than 350 years later, during the Protectorate when Oliver Cromwell permitted the resettlement of the Jews in England in 1657.
Portuguese forces and their Imbangala allies defeated the Kongo army at the Battle of Mbumbi.
The Imbangala or Mbangala were 17th-century groups of Angolan warriors and marauders who founded the Kasanje Kingdom.
The Kingdom of Kongo was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo. At its greatest extent it reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Kwango River in the east, and from the Congo River in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The kingdom consisted of several core provinces ruled by the Manikongo, the Portuguese version of the Kongo title Mwene Kongo, meaning "lord or ruler of the Kongo kingdom", but its sphere of influence extended to neighbouring kingdoms, such as Ngoyo, Kakongo, Loango, Ndongo and Matamba, the latter two located in what is Angola today.
The Battle of Mbumbi was a military engagement between forces of Portuguese Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo in 1622. Although the Portuguese were victorious, the battle served as the impetus for the Kingdom of Kongo to expel the Portuguese from their territory.
Portuguese forces score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in present-day Angola.
The Portuguese Empire, also known as the Portuguese Overseas or the Portuguese Colonial Empire, was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the later overseas territories governed by Portugal. It was one of the longest-lived empires in European history, lasting almost six centuries from the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa, in 1415, to the transfer of sovereignty over Macau to China in 1999. The empire began in the 15th century, and from the early 16th century it stretched across the globe, with bases in North and South America, Africa, and various regions of Asia and Oceania.
The Kingdom of Kongo was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo. At its greatest extent it reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Kwango River in the east, and from the Congo River in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The kingdom consisted of several core provinces ruled by the Manikongo, the Portuguese version of the Kongo title Mwene Kongo, meaning "lord or ruler of the Kongo kingdom", but its sphere of influence extended to neighbouring kingdoms, such as Ngoyo, Kakongo, Loango, Ndongo and Matamba, the latter two located in what is Angola today.
The Battle of Mbumbi was a military engagement between forces of Portuguese Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo in 1622. Although the Portuguese were victorious, the battle served as the impetus for the Kingdom of Kongo to expel the Portuguese from their territory.
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country located on the west coast of central-southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population, and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda, that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populous city is Luanda.
Muslims in Granada began a rebellion against their Castilian rulers in response to forced conversions to Catholicism.
Granada is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of four rivers, the Darro, the Genil, the Monachil and the Beiro. Ascribed to the Vega de Granada comarca, the city sits at an average elevation of 738 m (2,421 ft) above sea level, yet is only one hour by car from the Mediterranean coast, the Costa Tropical. Nearby is the Sierra Nevada Ski Station, where the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 were held.
The First Rebellion of the Alpujarras was a series of uprisings by the Muslim population of the Kingdom of Granada, Crown of Castile against their Catholic rulers. They began in 1499 in the city of Granada in response to mass forced conversions of the Muslim population to the Catholic faith, which were perceived as violations of the 1491 Treaty of Granada. The uprising in the city quickly died down, but it was followed by more serious revolts in the nearby mountainous area of the Alpujarras. The Catholic forces, on some occasions led personally by King Ferdinand, succeeded in suppressing the revolts and inflicted severe punishment on the Muslim population.
The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then Castilian king, Ferdinand III, to the vacant Leonese throne. It continued to exist as a separate entity after the personal union in 1469 of the crowns of Castile and Aragon with the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs up to the promulgation of the Nueva Planta decrees by Philip V in 1715.
The forced conversions of Muslims in Spain were enacted through a series of edicts outlawing Islam in the lands of the Spanish Monarchy. This persecution was pursued by three Spanish kingdoms during the early 16th century: the Crown of Castile in 1500–1502, followed by Navarre in 1515–1516, and lastly the Crown of Aragon in 1523–1526.
A rebellion breaks out in Alpujarras in response to the forced conversions of Muslims in Spain.
The First Rebellion of the Alpujarras was a series of uprisings by the Muslim population of the Kingdom of Granada, Crown of Castile against their Catholic rulers. They began in 1499 in the city of Granada in response to mass forced conversions of the Muslim population to the Catholic faith, which were perceived as violations of the 1491 Treaty of Granada. The uprising in the city quickly died down, but it was followed by more serious revolts in the nearby mountainous area of the Alpujarras. The Catholic forces, on some occasions led personally by King Ferdinand, succeeded in suppressing the revolts and inflicted severe punishment on the Muslim population.
The Alpujarra is a natural and historical region in Andalusia, Spain, on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent valley. The average elevation is 1,200 metres (4,000 ft) above sea level. It extends over two provinces, Granada and Almería; it is sometimes referred to in the plural as "Las Alpujarras". There are several interpretations of this Arabic-origin name: the most convincing is that it derives from al-basharāt (البَشَرَات), meaning something like "sierra of pastures". The administrative centre of the part in Granada is Órgiva, while that of the part in Almería is Alhama de Almería.
The forced conversions of Muslims in Spain were enacted through a series of edicts outlawing Islam in the lands of the Spanish Monarchy. This persecution was pursued by three Spanish kingdoms during the early 16th century: the Crown of Castile in 1500–1502, followed by Navarre in 1515–1516, and lastly the Crown of Aragon in 1523–1526.
Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan dynasty of Mongolia and China.
Kublai, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294, although after the division of the empire this was a nominal position. He proclaimed the empire's dynastic name "Great Yuan" in 1271, and ruled Yuan China until his death in 1294.
The Yuan dynasty, officially the Great Yuan, was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire from the Borjigin clan, and lasted from 1271 to 1368. In orthodox Chinese historiography, the Yuan dynasty followed the Song dynasty and preceded the Ming dynasty.
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of 1,564,116 square kilometres, with a population of just 3.3 million, making it the world's most sparsely populated sovereign nation. Mongolia is the world's largest landlocked country that does not border a closed sea, and much of its area is covered by grassy steppe, with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city, is home to roughly half of the country's population.
Sayaka Kanda, Japanese actress and singer (b. 1986) deaths
Sayaka Kanda was a Japanese actress and singer. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and pop singer Seiko Matsuda.
Jerry Relph, American politician and member of the Minnesota Senate (b. 1944) deaths
Jerry O. Relph was an American politician and member of the Minnesota Senate. A Republican, he represented District 14 in central Minnesota from 2017 until his death from COVID-19 complications in 2020. Prior to his death, he attended a superspreader event, along with several other Minnesota Republicans, where attendees did not comply with public health recommendations, such as wearing protective face masks.
The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are held in the west wing of the State Capitol in Saint Paul. Committee hearings, as well as offices for senators and staff, are located north of the State Capitol in the Minnesota Senate Building. Each member of the Minnesota Senate represents approximately 80,000 constituents.
Kim Jong-hyun, South Korean singer (b. 1990) deaths
Kim Jong-hyun, known mononymously as Jonghyun, was a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, radio host, and author under the SM Entertainment label. He was the main vocalist of the South Korean boy band Shinee for nine years, releasing twelve albums with the group in both Korean and Japanese. He also participated in SM Entertainment's project group, SM the Ballad, for the release of two EP albums.
Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite (b. 1917) deaths
Zsa Zsa Gabor was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor.
Luc Brewaeys, Belgian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1959) deaths
Luc Brewaeys was a Belgian composer, conductor, pianist and recording producer at the VRT. He studied composition with André Laporte in Brussels, with Franco Donatoni in Siena (Italy) and with Brian Ferneyhough in Darmstadt (Germany).
Helge Solum Larsen, Norwegian businessman and politician (b. 1969) deaths
Helge Solum Larsen was a Norwegian businessman and politician for the Liberal Party. He served as deputy leader of the party from 2010 to 2012.
Donald J. Albosta, American soldier and politician (b. 1925) deaths
Donald Joseph Albosta was an American farmer, businessman, and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He served three terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985.
Gideon Ben-Yisrael, Israeli soldier and politician (b. 1923) deaths
Gideon Ben-Yisrael was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Mapai and Rafi in the 1950s and 1960s.
Larry Henley, American singer-songwriter (b. 1937) deaths
Larry Joel Henley was an American singer and songwriter, best known for co-writing the 1989 hit record "Wind Beneath My Wings".
Virna Lisi, Italian actress (b. 1936) deaths
Virna Pieralisi, better known as Virna Lisi, was an Italian actress. Her international film appearances included How to Murder Your Wife (1965), Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966), The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969), Beyond Good and Evil (1977), and Follow Your Heart (1996). For the 1994 film La Reine Margot, she won Best Actress at Cannes and the César Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Mandy Rice-Davies, English model and actress (b. 1944) deaths
Marilyn Rice-Davies was a Welsh model and showgirl best known for her association with Christine Keeler and her role in the Profumo affair, which discredited the Conservative government of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1963.
Robert Simpson, American meteorologist and author (b. 1912) deaths
Robert Homer Simpson was an American meteorologist, hurricane specialist, first director of the National Hurricane Research Project (NHRP) from 1955 to 1959, and a former director (1967–1974) of the National Hurricane Center (NHC). He was the co-developer of the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale with Herbert Saffir. His wife was Joanne Simpson.
Ken Hutcherson, American football player (b. 1952) deaths
Kenneth Lee Hutcherson was an American football linebacker in the National Football League and senior pastor at Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington, where he had been since 1985. His nickname from his NFL days was "The Hutch". Hutcherson died on December 18, 2013, after more than a decade-long battle with prostate and bone cancer.
Graham Mackay, South African-English businessman (b. 1949) deaths
Ernest Arthur Graham Mackay was a South African businessman, former chief executive and chairman of SABMiller plc, a South African multinational brewing and beverage company registered on the London Stock Exchange, and the world's second-largest brewing company measured by revenues. He was succeeded as chief executive of SABMiller by Alan Clark in April 2013.
Frank Macchiarola, American lawyer and academic (b. 1941) deaths
Frank J. Macchiarola, was an American academic. His interests and expertise spanned the legal, academic, executive management and public service areas. From 2008 until his death, Macchiarola was the Chancellor of St. Francis College, after having been the college's president from 1996 to 2008.
Mustafa Ould Salek, Mauritanian colonel and politician, President of Mauritania (b. 1936) deaths
Col. Mustafa Ould Salek was the President of Mauritania from 1978 through 1979.
This is a list of heads of state of Mauritania since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day.
Jim Whalen, American football player (b. 1943) deaths
James Francis Whalen, Jr. was a professional American football tight end.
Anatoliy Zayaev, Ukrainian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1931) deaths
Anatoliy Zayaev was a Soviet football player and a Ukrainian coach. Merited Coach of Ukraine.
Václav Havel, Czech poet, playwright, and politician, 1st President of the Czech Republic (b. 1936) deaths
Václav Havel GCB was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then as the first president of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003 and was the first democratically elected president of either country after the fall of communism. As a writer of Czech literature, he is known for his plays, essays, and memoirs.
The president of the Czech Republic is the head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic.
Phil Cavarretta, American baseball player and manager (b. 1916) deaths
Philip Joseph Cavarretta was an American Major League Baseball first baseman, outfielder, and manager. He was known to friends and family as "Phil" and was also called "Philibuck", a nickname bestowed by Cubs manager Charlie Grimm.
Jacqueline de Romilly, French philologist, author, and scholar (b. 1913) deaths
Jacqueline Worms de Romilly was a French philologist, classical scholar and fiction writer. She was the first woman nominated to the Collège de France, and in 1988, the second woman to enter the Académie française.
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italian economist and politician, Italian Minister of Economy and Finances (b. 1940) deaths
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, OMRI was an Italian banker and economist who served as Italy's Minister of Economy and Finance from 2006 to 2008. He previously served as a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank from 1998 to 2005. Padoa-Schioppa is considered as a founding father of the European single currency. He was a former member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group.
The Italian Minister of Economy and Finance is a senior member of the Italian Cabinet who leads the Ministry of Economy and Finance since its creation in 2001 by the fusion of three former ministries, the Ministry of Treasury, the Ministry of Budget and the Ministry of Finance.
James Pickles, English judge and journalist (b. 1925) deaths
James Pickles was an English barrister and circuit judge and who later became a tabloid newspaper columnist. He became known for his controversial sentencing decisions and press statements. His obituaries variously described him as forthright, colourful, and outspoken.
Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (b. 1932) deaths
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry was an American actress and producer. She was best known for her roles as various characters in the Star Trek franchise: Nurse Christine Chapel, Number One, Lwaxana Troi, and the voice of most onboard computer interfaces throughout the series from 1966 to 2009. She married Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in 1969. As his wife and given her relationship with Star Trek—participating in some way in every series during her lifetime—she was sometimes referred to as "the First Lady of Star Trek".
Mark Felt, American FBI agent and informant (b. 1913) deaths
William Mark Felt Sr. was an American law enforcement officer who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1942 to 1973 and was known for his role in the Watergate scandal. Felt was an FBI special agent who eventually rose to the position of Associate Director, the Bureau's second-highest-ranking post. Felt worked in several FBI field offices prior to his promotion to the Bureau's headquarters. In 1980, he was convicted of having violated the civil rights of people thought to be associated with members of the Weather Underground, by ordering FBI agents to break into their homes and search the premises as part of an attempt to prevent bombings. He was ordered to pay a fine, but was pardoned by President Ronald Reagan during his appeal.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.
Hans Billian, Polish-German actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1918) deaths
Hans Billian was a German film director, screenwriter, and actor noted for the "sex comedies" he directed in the 1970s. He was also credited as Hans Billan, Phillip Halliday, and Christian Kessler.
Gerald Le Dain, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1924) deaths
Gerald Eric Le Dain, was a Canadian lawyer and judge, who sat on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1984 to 1988.
William Strauss, American author and playwright (b. 1947) deaths
William Strauss was an American author, playwright, theater director, and lecturer. As an author, he is known for his work with Neil Howe on social generations and for Strauss–Howe generational theory. He is also known as the co-founder and director of the satirical musical theater group the Capitol Steps, and as the co-founder of the Cappies, a critics and awards program for high school theater students.
Alan Wagner, American businessman and critic (b. 1931) deaths
Alan Cyril Wagner was an American television executive, radio personality, writer, and opera historian and critic. He served as the East Coast vice president of programming at CBS from 1976 to 1982. After he left CBS, he became the first president of Disney Channel, but only presiding the role for a year.
Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (b. 1911) deaths
Joseph Roland Barbera was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera.
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio and production company that produced animated programming until 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by Tom and Jerry creators and former MGM cartoon studio staff William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Their shows included Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo and The Smurfs. Its cartoons won a record-breaking eight Emmys.
Ruth Bernhard, German-American photographer (b. 1905) deaths
Ruth Bernhard was a German-born American photographer.
Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani author and activist (b. 1923) deaths
Shaukat Siddiqi was a Pakistani writer of fiction who wrote in Urdu language. He is best known for his novels Khuda Ki Basti and Jangloos.
Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (b. 1922) deaths
Alan Manners Voorhees was an American transportation engineer and urban planner who designed many large public works in the United States. Voorhees was born in Highland Park, New Jersey.
Anthony Sampson, English journalist and author (b. 1926) deaths
Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson was a British writer and journalist. His most notable and successful book was Anatomy of Britain, which was published in 1962 and was followed by five more "Anatomies", updating the original book under various titles. He was the grandson of the linguist John Sampson, of whom he wrote a biography, The Scholar Gypsy: The Quest For A Family Secret (1997). He also gave Nelson Mandela advice on Mandela's famous 1964 defence speech at the trial which led to his conviction for life.
Necip Hablemitoğlu, Turkish historian and academic (b. 1954) deaths
Necip Hablemitoğlu was a Turkish historian and intellectual. He was assassinated in front of his home in 2002. The perpetrators of this assassination have still not been found. In Ergenekon trial testimony, however, detained suspects Osman Yıldırım claimed that Osman Gürbüz killed him by the motivation of detained suspects Veli Küçük and Muzaffer Tekin for a false flag operation.
Ray Hnatyshyn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 24th Governor General of Canada (b. 1934) deaths
Ramon John Hnatyshyn was a Canadian lawyer and statesman who served as governor general of Canada, the 24th since Canadian Confederation.
The governor general of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently King Charles III. The King is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but he resides in his oldest and most populous realm, the United Kingdom. The King, on the advice of his Canadian prime minister, appoints a governor general to carry on the Government of Canada in the King's name, performing most of his constitutional and ceremonial duties. The commission is for an indefinite period—known as serving at His Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the usual length of time. Since 1959, it has also been traditional to alternate between francophone and anglophone officeholders—although many recent governors general have been bilingual.
Wayne Owens, American lawyer and politician (b. 1937) deaths
Douglas Wayne Owens was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Utah's 2nd congressional district from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1987 to 1993.
Lucy Grealy, Irish-American author (b. 1963) deaths
Lucinda Margaret Grealy was an Irish-American poet and memoirist who wrote Autobiography of a Face in 1994. This critically acclaimed book describes her childhood and early adolescent experience with cancer of the jaw, which left her with some facial disfigurement. In a 1994 interview with Charlie Rose conducted right before she rose to the height of her fame, Grealy stated that she considered her book to be primarily about the issue of "identity."
Billie Eilish, American singer births
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom she collaborates on music and live shows. In 2017, she released her debut extended play (EP), titled Don't Smile at Me. Commercially successful, it reached the top 15 of record charts in numerous countries, including the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
Gilbert Bécaud, French singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (b. 1927) deaths
Gilbert Bécaud was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et maintenant", a 1961 release that became an English language hit as "What Now My Love". He remained a popular artist for nearly fifty years, identifiable in his dark blue suits, with a white shirt and "lucky tie"; blue with white polka dots. When asked to explain his gift he said, "A flower doesn't understand botany." His favourite venue was the Paris Olympia under the management of Bruno Coquatrix. He debuted there in 1954 and headlined in 1955, attracting 6,000 on his first night, three times the capacity. On 13 November 1997, Bécaud was present for the re-opening of the venue after its reconstruction.
Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek violinist and composer (b. 1914) deaths
Dimitris Dragatakis was a Greek composer of classical music and Greek art music.
Marcel Mule, French saxophonist and educator (b. 1901) deaths
Marcel Mule was a French classical saxophonist. He was known worldwide as one of the great classical saxophonists, and many pieces were written for him, premiered by him, and arranged by him. Many of these pieces have become staples in the classical saxophone repertoire. He is considered to be the founder of the French Saxophone School and the most representative saxophone soloist of his time, being a fundamental figure in the development of the instrument.
Korapat Kirdpan, Thai actor and singer births
Korapat Kirdpan, nicknamed Nanon, is a Thai television actor. He is best known for his leading roles in Senior Secret Love (2016), My Dear Loser (2017), The Gifted (2018), Blacklist (2019), The Gifted: Graduation (2020), Bad Buddy Series (2021) and most recently in Vice Versa (2022).
Stan Fox, American race car driver (b. 1952) deaths
Stanley Cole Fuchs, known professionally as Stan Fox, was an American open wheel race car driver. Fox was one of the last links between the midget car racing world and the Indianapolis 500.
Randolph Apperson Hearst, American businessman (b. 1915) deaths
Randolph Apperson Hearst was the fourth son of the five sons of William Randolph Hearst and Millicent Hearst. His twin brother, David, died in 1986. Randolph is the father of Patty Hearst.
Kirsty MacColl, British singer-songwriter (b. 1959) deaths
Kirsty Anna MacColl was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" and cover versions of Billy Bragg's "A New England" and The Kinks' "Days." Her song "They Don't Know" was covered with great success by Tracey Ullman. MacColl also sang on recordings produced by her then-husband Steve Lillywhite, most notably "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues. Her death in 2000 has led to the Justice for Kirsty campaign.
Robert Bresson, French director and screenwriter (b. 1901) deaths
Robert Bresson was a French film director.
Lev Dyomin, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1926) deaths
Lev Stepanovich Dyomin was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the Soyuz 15 spaceflight in 1974. This spaceflight was intended to dock with the space station Salyut 3, but the docking failed.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Venezuelan baseball player births
Ronald José Acuña Blanco Jr. is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). After signing with the Braves as an international free agent in 2014, Acuña made his MLB debut in 2018, and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. The next season, Acuña was named an MLB All-Star, was the NL stolen base leader, and won a Silver Slugger Award.
Chris Farley, American comedian and actor (b. 1964) deaths
Christopher Crosby Farley was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live for five seasons from 1990 to 1995. He later went on to pursue a film career, appearing in films such as Airheads, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, Beverly Hills Ninja, and Almost Heroes.
Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1904) deaths
Yulii Borisovich Khariton, also known as YuB, Phd, was a Russian physicist who was a leading scientist in the former Soviet Union's program of nuclear weapons.
Irving Caesar, American composer (b. 1895) deaths
Irving Caesar was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including "Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Crazy Rhythm", and "Tea for Two", one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written. In 1972, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Barbora Krejčíková, Czech tennis player births
Barbora Krejčíková is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 28 February 2022, and on 22 October 2018, she became world No. 1 in doubles.
Brian Brockless, English organist, composer, and conductor (b. 1926) deaths
Brian Brockless was an English composer, organist and conductor and, for much of his life, was the Director of Music at the Priory Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great, Smithfield, London where he succeeded Paul Steinitz in 1961. He was a much respected Choral Trainer and his annual performances of Bach's St John Passion were noted for their musicality. He was the founder of Pro Cantione Antiqua, originally known as the St Bartholomew Singers.
Ross Thomas, American author (b. 1926) deaths
Ross Thomas was an American writer of crime fiction. He is best known for his witty thrillers that expose the mechanisms of professional politics. He also wrote five novels under the pseudonym Oliver Bleeck about professional go-between Philip St. Ives.
Konrad Zuse, German engineer, designed the Z3 computer (b. 1910) deaths
Konrad Ernst Otto Zuse was a German civil engineer, pioneering computer scientist, inventor and businessman. His greatest achievement was the world's first programmable computer; the functional program-controlled Turing-complete Z3 became operational in May 1941. Thanks to this machine and its predecessors, Zuse has often been regarded as the inventor of the modern computer.
The Z3 was a German electromechanical computer designed by Konrad Zuse in 1938, and completed in 1941. It was the world's first working programmable, fully automatic digital computer. The Z3 was built with 2,600 relays, implementing a 22-bit word length that operated at a clock frequency of about 5–10 Hz. Program code was stored on punched film. Initial values were entered manually.
Natália Kelly, American-Austrian singer births
Natália Kelly is an American-Austrian singer. She currently resides in Bad Vöslau, Lower Austria. Kelly represented Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, with the song "Shine".
Gerard Gumbau, Spanish professional footballer births
Gerard Gumbau Garriga is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Elche CF. Mainly a central midfielder, he can also play as a defensive midfielder or central defender.
Roger Apéry, Greek-French mathematician and academic (b. 1916) deaths
Roger Apéry was a French mathematician most remembered for Apéry's theorem, which states that ζ(3) is an irrational number. Here, ζ(s) denotes the Riemann zeta function.
Lilia Skala, Austrian-American actress (b. 1896) deaths
Lilia Skala was an Austrian-American architect and actress known for her role in the film Lilies of the Field (1963), for which she received critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination. During her career, Skala was also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Byron Buxton, American baseball player births
Byron Keiron Buxton is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was the second highest-rated prospect in baseball according to MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus in 2015.
Thomas Lam, Finnish professional football defender births
Thomas Anton Rudolph Lam, is a Finnish-Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for Melbourne City and the Finland national football team. He began his senior club career playing for AZ Alkmaar, before signing with PEC Zwolle at age 20 in 2014.
Helm Glöckler, German race car driver (b. 1909) deaths
Helmut Erik "Helm" Glöckler was a German amateur racing driver.
Sam Wanamaker, American-English actor, director, and producer (b. 1919) deaths
Samuel Wanamaker, was an American actor and director who moved to the United Kingdom after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views. He is credited as the person most responsible for saving The Rose Theatre, which led to the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, where he is commemorated in the name of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the site's second theatre.
Bridgit Mendler, American singer, songwriter and actress births
Bridgit Claire Mendler is an American singer and actress. In 2004, she began her career in the animated Indian film The Legend of Buddha, later starring in the films Alice Upside Down (2007), The Clique (2008), Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009) and Labor Pains (2009) as a teenager. In 2009, Mendler signed with Disney Channel and played Juliet van Heusen on Wizards of Waverly Place. Following the positive reception to her character, she landed the role of Teddy Duncan on the Disney series Good Luck Charlie, which ran from April 2010 to February 2014. Mendler also starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Lemonade Mouth in 2011. Subsequently, Mendler portrayed Candace in the NBC sitcom Undateable (2015–2016) and Ashley Willerman in the musical television series Nashville (2017).
Ryan Crouser, American shot putter births
Ryan Crouser is an American shot putter and discus thrower. He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and Olympic record holder. Crouser is the current world record holder in the shot put, both indoor and outdoor. On June 18, 2021, at the U.S. Olympic Trials he threw 23.37 m on his fourth attempt to beat Randy Barnes's 31-year-old record of 23.12 m by almost 10 inches (25 cm). As of September 2022, Crouser has thrown 8 of the 12 longest shot puts of all time outdoors.
Mark Goodson, American game show producer, created Family Feud and The Price Is Right (b. 1915) deaths
Mark Leo Goodson was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions.
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The Price Is Right is an American television game show created by Bob Stewart, Mark Goodson and Bill Todman where contestants compete by guessing the prices of merchandise to win cash and prizes. Contestants are selected from the studio audience as the announcer calls their names and invokes the show's famous catchphrase, "Come on down!"
Marcus Butler, English internet celebrity births
Marcus Lloyd Butler is an English model and former YouTuber, whose channels have reached over 4.1 million subscribers. In 2015, he released an autobiographical book, titled Hello Life!. Butler co-hosted a radio show with fellow YouTuber Alfie Deyes on BBC Radio 1.
George Abecassis, English race car driver (b. 1913) deaths
George Edgar Abecassis was a British racing driver, and co-founder of the HWM Formula One team.
Sierra Kay, American singer-songwriter births
Sierra Kay Kusterbeck, better known as Sierra Kay, is an American singer-songwriter and model. She rose to prominence as the lead vocalist of the rock band VersaEmerge.
Victor Hedman, Swedish ice hockey defenceman births
Victor Erik Olof Hedman is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenseman and alternate captain for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Hedman was selected second overall by the Lightning in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
Anne Revere, American actress (b. 1903) deaths
Anne Revere was an American actress and a progressive member of the board of the Screen Actors' Guild. She was best known for her work on Broadway and her film portrayals of mothers in a series of critically acclaimed films. An outspoken critic of the House Un-American Activities Committee, her name appeared in Red Channels: The Report on Communist Influence in Radio and Television in 1950 and she was subsequently blacklisted.
Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (b. 1914) deaths
Paul Tortelier was a French cellist and composer. After an outstanding student career at the Conservatoire de Paris he played in orchestras in France and the US before the Second World War. After the war he became a well-known soloist, playing in countries round the globe. He taught at conservatoires in France, Germany and China, and gave televised masterclasses in England. He was particularly associated with the solo part in Richard Strauss's Don Quixote, cello concertos by Elgar and others, and Bach's Cello Suites.
Joseph Zubin, Lithuanian-American psychologist and academic (b. 1900) deaths
Joseph Zubin was a Lithuanian-born American educational psychologist and an authority on schizophrenia who is commemorated by the Joseph Zubin Awards.
Lizzie Deignan, English cyclist births
Elizabeth Mary Deignan is an English professional world champion track and road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam Trek–Segafredo. She was the 2015 World road race champion.
Seth Doege, American football player births
Seth Colton Doege is an American football coach and former quarterback, recently worked as a tight ends coach for USC. After playing college football for Texas Tech University, he was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2013. On February 27, 2014, he was signed to the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. Doege was Texas Tech's starting quarterback for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. He was wide receivers coach for Bowling Green.
Brianne Theisen-Eaton, Canadian heptathlete births
Brianne Theisen-Eaton is a Canadian retired track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon and women's pentathlon. She won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Theisen-Eaton holds the Canadian record for the heptathlon with 6,808 points, as well as the indoor pentathlon with a score of 4768 points. Theisen-Eaton is a heptathlon silver medallist from the 2013 World Championships and 2015 World Championships, as well as a pentathlon silver medalist from the 2014 World Indoor Championships. She is the first and only Canadian woman to podium in the multi-events at the World Championships. Theisen-Eaton won Commonwealth Games gold in the heptathlon at Glasgow 2014 and was the 2016 World Indoor Champion in the pentathlon. She also won a bronze medal as part of the women's 4 x 400 m relay at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
Imad Wasim, Pakistani cricketer births
Syed Imad Wasim Haider, commonly known as Imad Wasim, is a Pakistani international cricketer. He is a left-handed all-rounder.
Niyazi Berkes, Turkish Cypriot-English sociologist and academic (b. 1908) deaths
Niyazi Berkes was a Turkish Cypriot sociologist.
Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater births
Miki Ando is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2007 and 2011 World champion, 2011 Four Continents champion, 2004 World Junior champion, and a three-time Japanese national champion.
Conny Plank, German keyboard player and producer (b. 1940) deaths
Konrad "Conny" Plank was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was involved in releases by Neu!, Kraftwerk, Cluster, Harmonia, Ash Ra Tempel, Guru Guru, Kraan, and other German groups of the era. He later produced for new wave acts such as D.A.F., Eurythmics, and Ultravox. As a billed performer, Plank also formed the group Moebius & Plank, releasing 5 studio albums between 1979 and 1986.
François Hamelin, Canadian speed skater births
François Hamelin is a Canadian former short track speed skater from Sainte-Julie, Quebec, residing in Montreal. He is the younger brother of acclaimed Canadian short tracker Charles Hamelin. His father Yves Hamelin is also the director of the Canadian short track program.
Usman Khawaja, Pakistani-Australian cricketer births
Usman Tariq Khawaja is an Australian cricketer who represents Australia and Queensland. Khawaja made his first-class cricket debut for New South Wales in 2008 and played his first international match for Australia in January 2011. Khawaja was born in Pakistan and emigrated to Australia with his family at the age of five. He has played county cricket in the United Kingdom and briefly played in both the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League.
Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet and author (b. 1916) deaths
Ngô Xuân Diệu was a Vietnamese poet, journalist, short-story writer, and literary critic, best known as one of the prominent figures of the twentieth-century Thơ mới Movement. Heralded by critics as "the newest of the New Poets", Xuân Diệu rose to popularity with the collection Thơ thơ (1938), which demonstrates a distinct voice influenced by Western literature, notably French symbolism. He was one of the first to employ Western poetic devices like enjambment in Vietnamese poetry, while occasionally adhering to traditional forms like lục bát. Between 1936 and 1944, his poetry was characterized by a desperation for love, juxtaposed with a desire to live and to experience the beauty of the world. After joining the Vietnamese Communist Party in 1945, the themes of his works shifted towards the Party and their resistance against the French and the Americans. When he died in 1985, he left behind about 450 poems, as well as several short stories, essays, and literary criticisms.
Brian Boyle, American ice hockey player births
Brian Paul Boyle is an American professional ice hockey center who is currently a free agent. Boyle has previously played for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL).. He attended St. Sebastian's School in Needham, Massachusetts, before moving on to Boston College. Boyle grew up in Hingham, just south of Boston.
Paul Harrison, English footballer births
Paul Anthony Harrison is a retired former English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He most recently played for Cymru Premier side The New Saints.
Giuliano Razzoli, Italian skier births
Giuliano Razzoli is a World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Italy. He specializes in the slalom; he won the Slalom at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Derrick Tribbett, American bass player and singer births
Derrick Tribbett, better known by his stage names Tripp Lee and Sinister, is an American musician and songwriter who is the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Twisted Method. He is the younger brother of Audiotopsy and Mudvayne lead guitarist Greg Tribbett. He is also known for his role on the reality show Daisy of Love starring former Rock of Love 2 contestant Daisy De La Hoya.
Andy Fantuz, Canadian football player births
Andrew Fantuz is a former professional Canadian football wide receiver. Fantuz spent the majority of his professional career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played for the Riders for six seasons after he was drafted by them in the first round of the 2006 CFL Draft. He then played six seasons for the Tiger-Cats. Fantuz was also signed by the Chicago Bears in 2011. He played CIS football for the Western Ontario Mustangs.
Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German colonel and pilot (b. 1916) deaths
Hans-Ulrich Rudel was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist.
Christina Aguilera, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress births
Christina María Aguilera is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the "Voice of a Generation". Aguilera rose to stardom with her eponymous debut album, for which she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Her works, which incorporate feminism, sexuality, and domestic violence, have generated both critical praise and controversy, for which she is often cited as an influence by other artists.
Neil Fingleton, English actor and basketball player, one of the tallest 25 men in the world (d. 2017) births
Neil Fingleton was an English actor and basketball player. He was the tallest British-born man and the tallest man in the European Union at 7 ft 7.56 in (232.6 cm) in height and among the 25 tallest men in the world.
Benjamin Watson, American football player births
Benjamin Seth Watson is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the New England Patriots 32nd overall in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft and won Super Bowl XXXIX with the Patriots over the Philadelphia Eagles in his rookie year. He played college football at Duke and Georgia. Watson has also played for the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and New Orleans Saints.
Dobriša Cesarić, Croatian poet and translator (b. 1902) deaths
Dobriša Cesarić was a Croatian poet and translator born in Požega. Cesarić is considered one of the greatest Croatian poets of the 20th century. In 1951 he became a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Alexei Kosygin, Russian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1904) deaths
Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1980 and was one of the most influential Soviet policymakers in the mid-1960s along with General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev.
The Premier of the Soviet Union was the head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The office had four different names throughout its existence: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1923–1946), Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991), Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet Economy. Long before 1991, most non-Soviet sources referred to the post as "Premier" or "Prime Minister."
Daniel Cleary, Canadian ice hockey player births
Daniel Michael Cleary is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes and Detroit Red Wings. He currently serves as the Director of Player Development for Detroit.
Ali Curtis, American soccer player births
Ali Curtis is a sports executive and former American soccer player. He was the 1999 Hermann Trophy and 2000 MAC Award winner before playing in Major League Soccer from 2001 to 2004. Curtis became the first African American General Manager in Major League Soccer's history when he joined the New York Red Bulls in 2014. He was most recently the General Manager of Toronto FC.
Josh Dallas, American actor births
Joshua Paul Dallas is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Prince Charming/David Nolan in the ABC television series Once Upon a Time and as Ben Stone in the NBC/Netflix sci-fi drama series Manifest.
Katie Holmes, American actress births
Kate Noelle Holmes is an American actress. She first achieved fame as Joey Potter on the television series Dawson's Creek (1998–2003).
José Acevedo, Dominican baseball player births
José Omar Acevedo is a retired right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who last played for the Baltimore Orioles organization. Acevedo played previously with the Cincinnati Reds from 2001-2004 and the Colorado Rockies from 2005 to 2006. In his five-year career, Acevedo has a career record of 18–25 with an ERA of 5.74. He is a cousin of Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal. He has no relation to pitcher Juan Acevedo, as he is from Mexico. Acevedo was released by the Baltimore Orioles on March 12, 2007.
Claudia Gesell, German runner births
Claudia Andrea Barbara Gesell is a former German middle distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres.
Michio Nishizawa, Japanese baseball player and manager (b. 1921) deaths
Michio Nishizawa was a prominent Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player who excelled as both a pitcher and a position player. Playing with the Chunichi Dragons franchise for most of his career, Nishizawa became one of Japan's most beloved athletes. His number 15 jersey is one of only two retired by the team.
Louis Untermeyer American poet, anthologist, critic (b. 1885) deaths
Louis Untermeyer was an American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor. He was appointed the fourteenth Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1961.
Sia, Australian singer-songwriter births
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she released her debut studio album, titled OnlySee, in Australia. She moved to London and provided vocals for the British duo Zero 7. Sia released her second studio album, Healing Is Difficult, in 2001, and her third, Colour the Small One, in 2004.
Randy Houser, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births
Shawn Randolph Houser is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Universal South Records in 2008, he charted the single "Anything Goes". It was a top 20 hit on the Billboard country singles chart and the title track to his debut album of the same name, which also produced his first top 5 hit, "Boots On". In 2012, he moved to Broken Bow Records imprint Stoney Creek. He reached number one with "How Country Feels", the title track to his third album, and with "Runnin' Outta Moonlight" in 2013. The follow up singles from the same album were "Goodnight Kiss", which reached number one on the Mediabase Country Chart and number two on the Country Airplay chart, and "Like a Cowboy", which reached number 3 on the Country Airplay chart in March 2015 and received a 2015 Country Music Association Awards Song of the Year nomination.
Trish Stratus, Canadian wrestler and actress births
Patricia Anne Stratigeas better known by the ring name Trish Stratus is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE. Often regarded as one of the greatest Women's Performers of all time, she was also one of the most popular wrestlers in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). She is considered one of the icons of the Attitude Era.
Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist and biologist (b. 1900) deaths
Theodosius Grigorovich Dobzhansky was a prominent Ukrainian-American geneticist and evolutionary biologist, and a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern synthesis. Dobzhansky was born in Nemirov, in the Russian Empire and emigrated to the United States in 1927, aged 27. He was a distant relation of the Russian writer Feodor Dostoevsky.
Peter Boulware, American football player and politician births
Peter Nicholas Boulware is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for Florida State University, and was recognized as an All-American. A first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 1997 NFL Draft, he played his entire pro career for the Ravens.
Knut Schreiner, Norwegian singer, guitarist, and producer births
Knut Schreiner, is a Norwegian singer, musician and producer currently residing in Oslo. Also known by his stage name Euroboy, he has been part of important Norwegian bands like Kåre and The Cavemen known in its last years as Euroboys, with Turbonegro known in Norway as Turboneger, in the musical project Black Diamond Brigade and recently is a member of Mirror Lakes. He has also been in other musical projects and produced other bands, notably Euroboys, Amulet and The Lovethugs.
Harry Hooper, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1887) deaths
Harry Bartholomew Hooper was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Hooper batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Hooper was born in Bell Station, California, and he graduated from Saint Mary's College of California. He played for major league teams between 1909 and 1925, spending most of that time with the Boston Red Sox and finishing his career with the Chicago White Sox.
Fatuma Roba, Ethiopian runner births
Fatuma Roba is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, best known for being the first African woman to win a gold medal in the women's Olympic marathon race at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics and for winning three successive Boston Marathons.
Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Indian-Pakistani religious leader and philosopher (b. 1908) deaths
Raza Hussain also known as Allama Rasheed Turabi (1908–1973) was an Islamic scholar, religious leader, public speaker, poet and philosopher. He was born on 9th Jamadi-us-Sani 1326, 9 July 1908 in Hyderabad, India. He was the eldest son of Maulvi Sharaf Hussain Khan, a nobleman from Hyderabad. He got his basic Islamic education from his father who taught him till the age of 5. He did matriculation from Hyderabad, Intermediate-high school from Shia College, Lucknow. He was awarded a BA from Osmania University and MA in Philosophy from University of Allahabad, India.
Anzhela Balakhonova, Ukrainian pole vaulter births
Anzhela Anatoliyivna Balakhonova is a retired female pole vaulter from Ukraine who won the silver medal at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics. She held the European record, and formerly held the world indoor record. She finished 6th at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Raymond Herrera, American drummer and songwriter births
Raymond Herrera is an American musician and entrepreneur, best known as the former drummer and founding member of the heavy metal band Fear Factory. He is the former drummer for his previous band Brujeria and for industrial metal band Arkaea. He is a composer and producer of music for video games, television, feature films, and transmedia.
Barkha Dutt, Indian journalist births
Barkha Dutt is an Indian television journalist and author. She has been a reporter and news anchor at NDTV and Tiranga TV. She currently runs her own digital news channel called 'MoJo Story'. She is also an opinion columnist with The Hindustan Times and The Washington Post.
Noriko Matsueda, Japanese pianist and composer births
Noriko Matsueda is a Japanese former video game composer. She is best known for her work on the Front Mission series, The Bouncer, and Final Fantasy X-2. Matsueda collaborated with fellow composer Takahito Eguchi on several games. Composing music at an early age, she began studying the piano and electronic organ when she was three years old. She graduated from the Tokyo Conservatoire Shobi, where she met Eguchi.
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player and sportscaster births
Aránzazu Isabel María "Arantxa" Sánchez Vicario is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. She won 14 Grand Slam titles: four in singles, six in women's doubles, and four in mixed doubles. She also won four Olympic medals and five Fed Cup titles representing Spain. In 1994, she was crowned the ITF World Champion for the year.
Bobby Jones, American golfer and lawyer (b. 1902) deaths
Robert Tyre Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer who was one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport; he was also a lawyer by profession. Jones founded and helped design the Augusta National Golf Club, and co-founded the Masters Tournament. The innovations that he introduced at the Masters have been copied by virtually every professional golf tournament in the world.
Diana Lynn, American actress (b. 1926) deaths
Diana Marie Lynn was an American actress.
DMX, American rapper and actor (d. 2021) births
Earl Simmons, known professionally as DMX, was an American rapper and actor. He began rapping in the early 1990s and released his debut album It's Dark and Hell Is Hot in 1998, to both critical acclaim and commercial success, selling 251,000 copies within its first week of release. DMX released his best-selling album, ... And Then There Was X, in 1999, which included the hit single "Party Up ". His 2003 singles "Where the Hood At?" and "X Gon' Give It to Ya" were also commercially successful. He was the first artist to debut an album at No.1 five times in a row on the Billboard 200 charts. Overall, DMX sold over 74 million records worldwide.
Lucious Harris, American basketball player births
Lucious H. Harris is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the 1993 NBA draft. Harris has played for the Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, and Cleveland Cavaliers in 12 NBA seasons. He played in the 2002 and 2003 NBA Finals as a member of the Nets.
Giannis Ploutarhos, Greek singer-songwriter births
Yannis Ploutarchos is a Greek singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most popular laïko singers of his time, and has been characterized with having a genuine laïko voice. To date, he has released 14 studio albums along with one greatest hits album.
Rob Van Dam, American wrestler births
Robert Alexander Szatkowski is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)/Impact Wrestling.
Jonathan Yeo, English painter births
Jonathan Yeo is a British artist who rose to international prominence in his early 20s as a contemporary portraitist, having painted Kevin Spacey, Dennis Hopper, Cara Delevingne, Damien Hirst, Prince Philip, Erin O'Connor, Tony Blair, and David Cameron among others. GQ has called him 'one of the world's most in-demand portraitists'. He was educated at Westminster School.
Norman Brown, American singer and guitarist births
Norman Brown is an American smooth jazz guitarist and singer.
Santiago Cañizares, Spanish footballer births
José Santiago Cañizares Ruiz is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently a rally driver.
Justin Edinburgh, English footballer and manager (d. 2019) births
Justin Charles Edinburgh was an English professional football manager and player who played as a left back.
Akira Iida, Japanese race car driver births
Akira Iida is a Japanese racing driver currently competing in the Super GT series in GT300 class with LM corsa, one of the teams under Toyota Motorsport's GAZOO racing arm. Iida won the 2002 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 class with Esso Toyota Team LeMans, driving with Juichi Wakisaka. He also won 2013 Asian Le Mans Series GTE class driving for Team Taisan Ken Endless.
Charles Dvorak, American pole vaulter and coach (b. 1878) deaths
Charles Edward Dvorak was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the pole vault. He attended the University of Michigan where he competed for the Michigan Wolverines men's track and field team from 1900 to 1904. He participated in the 1900 Summer Olympics where he was a favorite in the pole vault. However, he missed the competition after being told by officials that the finals would not be held on a Sunday. He won a special silver medal in a consolation competition. In 1903, he set a world's record in the pole vault with a jump of 11 feet, 11 inches.(This mark doesn't appear in the progression of World or American Records). Dvorak returned to international competition and won the gold medal in the pole vault at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Dvorak later served as a high school football, basketball and track coach in Seattle, Washington, where he died in 1969 at age 91.
Mario Basler, German footballer and manager births
Mario Basler is a German football manager and former professional player who mainly played as a right midfielder. He is currently at TSG Eisenberg as a player and advisor.
Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress births
Rachel Anne Griffiths is an Australian actress. Raised primarily in Melbourne, she began her acting career appearing on the Australian series Secrets before being cast in a supporting role in the comedy Muriel's Wedding (1994), which earned her an AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 1997, she was the lead in Nadia Tass's drama Amy. She had a role opposite Julia Roberts in the American romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), followed by her portrayal of Hilary du Pré in Hilary and Jackie (1998), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist births
Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz, is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. Sanz has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year three times. The singer is notable for his flamenco-influenced ballads, and has also experimented with several other genres including pop, rock, funk, R&B and jazz.
Casper Van Dien, American actor and producer births
Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the 1997 science-fiction action film Starship Troopers. He has also appeared in a large number of television and film roles, often in daytime and primetime soap operas, and a large number of TV movies and direct-to-video films, including Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, a 2008 sequel to the original film.
Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch journalist births
Toine van Peperstraten is a Dutch sports journalist, best known for hosting the NOS TV sports program Studio Sport.
Mille Petrozza, German singer-songwriter and guitarist births
Miland "Mille" Petrozza is a German guitarist and singer of Italian descent. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of thrash metal band Kreator, which he started playing in as Tyrant in 1982 and renamed into Tormentor in 1984. He is also the principal songwriter of the band and the only member to appear on every Kreator album.
Gianluca Pagliuca, Italian footballer and sportscaster births
Gianluca Pagliuca is an Italian football coach and former professional goalkeeper.
Shawn Christian, American actor, director, and screenwriter births
Shawn Patrick Christian is an American television and film actor.
Manuel Peña Escontrela, Spanish footballer (d. 2012) births
Manuel "Manolo" Peña Escontrela was a Spanish professional footballer who played as a forward.
Stone Cold Steve Austin, American wrestler and producer births
Steve Austin, better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation during the Attitude Era, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Don Beebe, American football player and coach births
Donald Lee Beebe is an American football former wide receiver and coach who is the head football coach at Aurora University. He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. In addition to his six seasons with the Bills, who selected him in the third round of the 1989 NFL Draft, he was a member of the Carolina Panthers during their inaugural season and played for the Green Bay Packers in his last two seasons.
Greg D'Angelo, American drummer births
Greg D'Angelo, is an American drummer most famous for his work in the band White Lion.
Karl Dorrell, American football player and coach births
Karl James Dorrell is an American football coach who was most recently the head coach at the University of Colorado. Dorrell most notably served as the head football coach of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 2003 to 2007, compiling a record of 35–27. He led the UCLA Bruins to five bowl appearance in five seasons, but did not coach in the fifth after he was fired in December 2007. Dorrell was the first and only African American head football coach in UCLA's history to date. In 2020, Dorrell was hired as the new head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. In his first season at CU, he was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year. In 2022, Dorrell was fired after an 0–5 start to the season, with 4 consecutive 25+ point losses, being named the worst start to college football season in 65 years.
Pierre Nkurunziza, Burundian soldier and politician, President of Burundi (d. 2020) births
Pierre Nkurunziza was a Burundian politician who served as the ninth president of Burundi for almost 15 years from August 2005 until his death in June 2020.
The president of Burundi, officially the President of the Republic, is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Burundi. The president is also commander-in-chief of the National Defence Force. The office of the presidency was established when Michel Micombero declared Burundi a republic on 28 November 1966. The first constitution to specify the powers and duties of the president was the constitution of 1974 adopted in 1976. The constitution, written by Micombero, affirmed Micombero's position as the first president of Burundi. The powers of the president currently derive from the 2005 constitution implemented as a result of the 2000 Arusha Accords after the Burundian Civil War. The current president since 18 June 2020 is Évariste Ndayishimiye.
Charles Oakley, American basketball player and coach births
Charles Oakley is an American former professional basketball player. Oakley played for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, and Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A power forward, he consistently ranked as one of the best rebounders in the NBA. Since 2017, he has been the coach of the Killer 3's of the BIG3.
Brad Pitt, American actor and producer births
William Bradley Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. As a public figure, Pitt has been cited as one of the most powerful and influential people in the American entertainment industry.
Brian Orser, Canadian figure skater and coach births
Brian Ernest Orser, is a Canadian former competitive and professional figure skater and coach to Olympic champions. He is the 1984 and 1988 Olympic silver medallist, 1987 World champion and eight-time (1981–88) Canadian national champion. At the 1988 Winter Olympics, the rivalry between Orser and American figure skater Brian Boitano, who were the two favorites to win the gold medal, captured media attention and was described as the "Battle of the Brians".
Leila Steinberg, American singer, producer, author, and poet births
Leila Steinberg is an American manager, business woman, educator, writer, poet, and founder of AIM4TheHeART, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to helping at-risk youth find their voice using an emotional literacy curriculum and writing workshops. She is best known as the artist mentor and first manager for superstar rapper Tupac Shakur. They met when he was a student in her writing workshop, The Microphone Sessions, in the Oakland Bay area. Today Leila manages the rapper Earl Sweatshirt, formerly of Odd Future.
Daniel S. Loeb, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Third Point Management births
Daniel Seth Loeb is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chief executive of Third Point, a New York-based hedge fund focused on event-driven, value-oriented investing with $14.8 billion in assets under management, as of June 2019. New York magazine noted that Loeb's "preferred strategy" is to buy into troubled companies, replace inefficient management, and return the companies to profitability, which "is the key to his success." Loeb was described as "one of the most successful activists" in 2014.
Third Point Management is a New York-based hedge fund founded by Daniel S. Loeb in 1995. The firm operates as an employee-owned and SEC-registered investment advisor with approximately $16 billion in assets under management as of April 30, 2022. As of December 2016, it has returned an average of 15.7% a year since inception.
Lalchand Rajput, former Indian cricketer births
Lalchand Sitaram Rajputpronunciation (help·info); is an Indian cricket coach and former cricketer who was also the former head coach of the Zimbabwe national team.
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a 22-yard (20-metre) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at one of the wickets with the bat and then running between the wickets, while the bowling and fielding side tries to prevent this and dismiss each batter. Means of dismissal include being bowled, when the ball hits the stumps and dislodges the bails, and by the fielding side either catching the ball after it is hit by the bat, but before it hits the ground, or hitting a wicket with the ball before a batter can cross the crease in front of the wicket. When ten batters have been dismissed, the innings ends and the teams swap roles. The game is adjudicated by two umpires, aided by a third umpire and match referee in international matches. They communicate with two off-field scorers who record the match's statistical information.
Leo Reisman, American violinist and bandleader (b. 1897) deaths
Leo F. Reisman was an American violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he was of Jewish ancestry; from German immigrants who immigrated to the United States in the 19th century. Inspired by the Russian-American violinist Jascha Heifetz, Reisman studied violin as a young man. After being rejected by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he formed his own band in 1919. He became famous for having over 80 hits on the popular charts during his career. Jerome Kern called Reisman's orchestra "The String Quartet of Dance Bands".
Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist and academic births
Kazuhide Uekusa is a Japanese economist, economic analyst, former senior economist at Nomura Research Institute, and chairman of the Three-Nations Research Institute. He was arrested in 2004 and 2006 for sex offences.
Naoko Yamano, Japanese singer, guitarist and composer births
Naoko Yamano is a Japanese musician, best known as a founding member, singer/guitarist, and primary songwriter for the pop-punk band Shonen Knife. She is the only member of the band to have remained throughout its entire history. After briefly working as a receptionist in a doctor's office, she formed the band in late 1981 with her college friend Michie Nakatani and her younger sister Atsuko Yamano. Naoko Yamano is known for her songs about food and animals, with music that is primary influenced by the Ramones and the Beatles.
Geordie Walker, English guitarist births
Kevin "Geordie" Walker is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist of post-punk group Killing Joke. His unorthodox style of electric guitar playing is widely acclaimed.
Julia Wolfe, American composer and educator births
Julia Wolfe is an American composer and professor of music at New York University. According to The Wall Street Journal, Wolfe's music has "long inhabited a terrain of its own, a place where classical forms are recharged by the repetitive patterns of minimalism and the driving energy of rock". Her work Anthracite Fields, an oratorio for chorus and instruments, was awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Music. She has also received the Herb Alpert Award (2015) and was named a MacArthur Fellow (2016).
Jonathan Cainer, English astrologer and author (d. 2016) births
Jonathan Cainer was a British astrologer. He wrote astrological predictions six days a week for the Daily Mail, and forecasts for three Australian newspapers: the Sydney Daily Telegraph, the Melbourne Herald Sun, and the Perth Sunday Times. Cainer's predictions were also published in Hello, the Auckland Sunday News, the Botswana Echo, and Misty Magazine (Japan). It has been estimated that over twelve million people read his predictions.
Vijay Mallya, Indian businessman and politician births
Vijay Vittal Mallya is an Indian businessman, former politician and fugitive. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India.
Bogusław Mamiński, Polish runner births
Bogusław Mamiński is a retired long-distance runner from Poland, known for winning the silver medal in the men's 3,000m Steeplechase event at the 1982 European Championships in Athens, Greece. He did the same one year later at the inaugural World Championships. Mamiński set his personal best (8:09.18) in the event on 24 August 1984 at a meet in Brussels, Belgium.
John Booth, English race car driver births
John Alfred Booth is the former Director of Racing at Scuderia Toro Rosso. He is the former team principal of the Virgin/Marussia Formula One team. He was initially the team's sporting director, but took over the role of team principal from Alex Tai less than one month after the team's launch.
Ray Liotta, American actor (d. 2022) births
Raymond Allen Liotta was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990). He was a Primetime Emmy Award winning actor and received nominations for a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Willi Wülbeck, German runner births
Wilhelm "Willi" Wülbeck is a retired German middle-distance runner. Competing in the 800 m he finished fourth at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the West German boycott and could not participate in the 1984 Summer Olympics because of an injury. He also finished eighth at the 1974 and 1982 European Championships.
Elliot Easton, American guitarist and singer births
Elliot Easton is an American guitarist. He played lead guitar and sang backing vocals for The Cars, and his guitar solos are an integral part of the band's music. Easton has also recorded music as a solo artist, and has played in other bands. He is a left-handed guitarist. In 2018, Easton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars.
Kevin Beattie, English footballer (d. 2018) births
Thomas Kevin Beattie was an English footballer. Born into poverty, he played at both professional and international levels, mostly as a centre-half. He spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town, the club with which he won both the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup. He was also named the inaugural Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year at the end of the 1972–73 season, and featured in the film Escape to Victory alongside many of his Ipswich teammates.
John Leventhal, American songwriter and producer births
John Leventhal is a musician, producer, songwriter, and recording engineer who has produced albums for William Bell, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Michelle Branch, Rosanne Cash, Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin, Sarah Jarosz, Rodney Crowell, Jim Lauderdale, Joan Osborne, Loudon Wainwright III and The Wreckers. He has won six Grammy Awards.
Bobby Jones, American basketball player births
Robert Clyde Jones is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Denver Nuggets in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Secretary of Defense", Jones won an NBA championship with the 76ers in 1983, was a four-time NBA All-Star, an eight-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team, and was the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1983.
Gillian Armstrong, Australian director, producer, and screenwriter births
Gillian May Armstrong is an Australian feature film and documentary director, who specializes in period drama. Her films often feature female perspectives and protagonists. Many of her movies are historical dramas.
Randy Castillo, American drummer and songwriter (d. 2002) births
Randolpho Francisco Castillo was an American musician. He was Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999 to his death in 2002.
Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan general and politician births
Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka, commonly known as Sarath Fonseka, is a retired Sri Lankan army officer and politician. He was the eighteenth Commander of Sri Lanka Army, and under his command the Sri Lanka Army ended the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009, defeating the militant group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; he thereafter briefly served as the Chief of Defence Staff. After retiring from the Army with the rank of General, he entered politics as the common opposition candidate in the 2010 presidential election contesting against President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Lizmark, Mexican wrestler (d. 2015) births
Juan Baños was a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler better known by the ring name Lizmark. The name was taken from the German battleship Bismarck. He was a multiple-time champion, having held singles and tag team championships in both Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre / Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (EMLL/CMLL) and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). In 2001, Lizmark was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. His nickname was El Geniecillo Azul, which is Spanish for "The Little Blue Genius". He has two sons who are also professional wrestlers, Lizmark, Jr. and El Hijo de Lizmark.
Leonard Maltin, American historian, author, and critic births
Leonard Michael Maltin is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is best known for his eponymous annual book of movie capsule reviews, Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, published annually from 1969 to 2014.
David A. Johnston, American volcanologist and geologist (d. 1980) births
David Alexander Johnston was an American United States Geological Survey (USGS) volcanologist who was killed by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. A principal scientist on the USGS monitoring team, Johnston was killed in the eruption while manning an observation post six miles (10 km) away on the morning of May 18, 1980. He was the first to report the eruption, transmitting "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!" before he was swept away by a lateral blast; despite a thorough search, Johnston's body was never found, but state highway workers discovered remnants of his USGS trailer in 1993.
Bill Nelson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist births
William Nelson is an English singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, painter, video artist, writer and experimental musician. He rose to prominence as the chief songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of the rock group Be-Bop Deluxe, which he formed in 1972. Nelson has been described as "one of the most underrated guitarists of the seventies art rock movement". In 2015, he was recognised with the Visionary award at the Progressive Music Awards.
Mimmo Paladino, Italian sculptor and painter births
Mimmo Paladino is an Italian sculptor, painter and printmaker. He is a leading name in the Transvanguardia artistic movement and one of the many European artists to revive Expressionism in the 1980s.
Laurent Voulzy, French-English singer-songwriter and guitarist births
Lucien Voulzy, better known as Laurent Voulzy, is a French singer-songwriter, composer and musician.
Leonid Yuzefovich, Russian author and screenwriter births
Leonid Abramovich Yuzefovich is a Russian writer known for the series of crime fiction stories taking place in pre-Revolution Russian Empire. He also writes non-fiction books about history, and currently adapts his stories for TV serials.
Steve Biko, South African activist, founded the Black Consciousness Movement (d. 1977) births
Bantu Stephen Biko was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known as the Black Consciousness Movement during the late 1960s and 1970s. His ideas were articulated in a series of articles published under the pseudonym Frank Talk.
The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. The BCM represented a social movement for political consciousness.[Black Consciousness'] origins were deeply rooted in Christianity. In 1966, the Anglican Church under the incumbent, Archbishop Robert Selby Taylor, convened a meeting which later on led to the foundation of the University Christian Movement (UCM). This was to become the vehicle for Black Consciousness.
Steven Spielberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded DreamWorks births
Steven Allan Spielberg is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spielberg is the recipient of various accolades, including three Academy Awards, a Kennedy Center honor, a Cecil B. DeMille Award, and an AFI Life Achievement Award. Seven of his films been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
DreamWorks Pictures is an American film company and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994 as a live-action film studio by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, of which they owned 72%. The studio formerly distributed its own and third-party films. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each.
Jean Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach births
Jean Joseph Denis Pronovost is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Flames and Washington Capitals.
Crispian Steele-Perkins, English trumpet player and educator births
Crispian Steele-Perkins is an internationally acclaimed classical trumpeter who was educated at Copthorne Preparatory School, Marlborough College and the Guildhall School of Music.
Bobby Keys, American saxophone player (d. 2014) births
Robert Henry Keys was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Nilsson, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, George Harrison, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and other prominent musicians. Keys played on hundreds of recordings and was a touring musician from 1956 until his death in 2014.
Keith Richards, English musician births
Keith Richards, often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership with Mick Jagger is one of the most successful in history. His career spans over six decades, and his guitar playing style has been a trademark of the Rolling Stones throughout the band's career. Richards gained press notoriety for his romantic involvements and illicit drug use, and he was often portrayed as a countercultural figure.
Alan Rudolph, American director and screenwriter births
Alan Steven Rudolph is an American film director and screenwriter.
Lenore Blum, American mathematician and academic births
Lenore Carol Blum is an American computer scientist and mathematician who has made pioneering contributions to the theories of real number computation, cryptography, and pseudorandom number generation. She was a distinguished career professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University until 2019 and is currently a professor in residence at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also known for her efforts to increase diversity in mathematics and computer science.
Bobby Keyes, Australian rugby league player births
Robert John Keyes was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s.
Sam Andrew, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015) births
Sam Houston Andrew III was an American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, artist and founding member and guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company. During his career as musician and composer, Andrew had three platinum albums and two hit singles. His songs have been used in numerous major motion picture soundtracks and documentaries.
Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpet player and composer births
Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Ten Freedom Summers, released on May 22, 2012.
Joan Wallach Scott, American historian, author, and academic births
Joan Wallach Scott is an American historian of France with contributions in gender history. She is a professor emerita in the School of Social Science in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Scott is known for her work in feminist history and gender theory, engaging post-structural theory on these topics. Geographically, her work focuses primarily on France, and thematically she deals with how power works, the relation between language and experience, and the role and practice of historians. Her work grapples with theory's application to historical and current events, focusing on how terms are defined and how positions and identities are articulated.
Ilario Castagner, Italian football manager births
Ilario Castagner is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a striker.
John Cooper, English sprinter and hurdler (d. 1974) births
John Cooper was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metre hurdles.
Michael Moorcock, English author and songwriter births
Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worked as an editor and is also a successful musician. He is best known for his novels about the character Elric of Melniboné, a seminal influence on the field of fantasy since the 1960s and '70s.
Harold E. Varmus, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate births
Harold Eliot Varmus is an American Nobel Prize-winning scientist. He is currently the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and a senior associate at the New York Genome Center.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, are awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace.
Pedro Jirón, Nicaraguan footballer births
Pedro Jose Jirón Rugama "Peche Jirón" was a Nicaraguan professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Ernest Lawson, Canadian-American painter (b. 1873) deaths
Ernest Lawson was a Canadian-American painter and exhibited his work at the Canadian Art Club and as a member of the American group The Eight, artists who formed a loose association in 1908 to protest the narrowness of taste and restrictive exhibition policies of the conservative, powerful National Academy of Design. Though Lawson was primarily a landscape painter, he also painted a small number of realistic urban scenes. His painting style is heavily influenced by the art of John Henry Twachtman, J. Alden Weir, and Alfred Sisley. Though considered a Canadian-American Impressionist, Lawson falls stylistically between Impressionism and realism.
Chas Chandler, English bass player and producer (d. 1996) births
Bryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager, best known as the original bassist in The Animals, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He also managed the band Slade, and Jimi Hendrix, about whom he was regularly interviewed until his death in 1996.
Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (d. 2005) births
Joel Hirschhorn was an American songwriter. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song on two occasions. He also wrote songs for a number of musicians, including Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. Hirschhorn was born in the Bronx and attended the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan. After graduating, Hirschhorn became a regular performer on New York's nightclub circuit, both as a solo singer and as a member of the rock & roll band, The Highlighters.
Nancy Ryles, American politician (d. 1990) births
Nancy Ann Ryles was an Oregon politician. She served in the Oregon House of Representatives, the Oregon Senate and as one of three members of the state's Public Utility Commission. She was known as an advocate for education and for equality for women and minorities. An elementary school in Beaverton is named after her.
Malcolm Kirk, English rugby player and wrestler (d. 1987) births
Malcolm Kirk was an English professional wrestler who went by the ring name of "King Kong" Kirk as well as Kojak Kirk, Killer Kirk and "Mucky" Mal Kirk. He started as a professional rugby league player before becoming a professional wrestler. Kirk died of a heart attack on 23 August 1987 after collapsing in the ring during a tag team match at the Hippodrome in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. The wrestling event was run by Joint Promotions with the main event being a tag team match between Kirk and King Kendo against Big Daddy and Greg Valentine in front of 1,500 people.
Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian meteorologist and seismologist (b. 1857) deaths
Andrija Mohorovičić was a Croatian geophysicist. He is best known for the eponymous Mohorovičić discontinuity and is considered one of the founders of modern seismology.
Rosemary Leach, English actress (d. 2017) births
Rosemary Anne Leach was a British stage, television and film actress. She won the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play for 84, Charing Cross Road and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her roles in the films That'll Be the Day (1973) and A Room with a View (1985).
Jacques Pépin, French-American chef and author births
Jacques Pépin is a French chef, author, culinary educator, television personality, and artist. After having been the personal chef of French President Charles de Gaulle, he moved to the US in 1959 and after working in New York's top French restaurants, refused the same job with President John F. Kennedy in the White House and instead took a culinary development job with Howard Johnson's. During his career, he has served in numerous prestigious restaurants, first, in Paris, and then in America. He has appeared on American television and has written for The New York Times, Food & Wine and other publications. He has authored over 30 cookbooks, some of which have become best sellers. Pépin was a longtime friend of the American chef Julia Child, and their 1999 PBS series Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home won a Daytime Emmy Award. He also holds a BA and a MA from Columbia University in French literature.
Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman, founded Glencore (d. 2013) births
Marc Rich was an international commodities trader, hedge fund manager, financier, businessman, and alleged financial criminal. He founded the commodities company Glencore, and was later indicted in the United States on federal charges of tax evasion, wire fraud, racketeering, and making oil deals with Iran during the Iran hostage crisis. He fled to Switzerland at the time of the indictment and never returned to the United States. He received a widely criticized presidential pardon from U.S. President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001, Clinton's last day in office; Rich's ex-wife Denise had made large donations to the Democratic Party.
Glencore plc is a Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in Baar, Switzerland. Glencore's oil and gas head office is in London and its registered office is in Saint Helier, Jersey. The current company was created through a merger of Glencore with Xstrata on 2 May 2013. As of 2015, it ranked tenth in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Glencore International was ranked as the 484th-largest public company in the world. As of July 2022, it is the world's largest commodity trader.
Boris Volynov, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut births
Boris Valentinovich Volynov is a Soviet cosmonaut who flew two space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 5, and Soyuz 21. Following the death of Alexei Leonov in October 2019, he is the last surviving member of the original group of cosmonauts. He is also considered to be the first Jew in space.
Lonnie Brooks, American blues singer and guitarist (d. 2017) births
Lonnie Brooks was an American blues singer and guitarist. The musicologist Robert Palmer, writing in Rolling Stone, stated, "His music is witty, soulful and ferociously energetic, brimming with novel harmonic turnarounds, committed vocals and simply astonishing guitar work." Jon Pareles, a music critic for the New York Times, wrote, "He sings in a rowdy baritone, sliding and rasping in songs that celebrate lust, fulfilled and unfulfilled; his guitar solos are pointed and unhurried, with a tone that slices cleanly across the beat. Wearing a cowboy hat, he looks like the embodiment of a good-time bluesman." Howard Reich, a music critic for the Chicago Tribune, wrote, "...the music that thundered from Brooks' instrument and voice...shook the room. His sound was so huge and delivery so ferocious as to make everything alongside him seem a little smaller."
Norm Provan, Australian rugby league player, coach, and businessman births
Norman Douglas Somerville Provan was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Also nicknamed "Sticks", he was a second-row forward with the St George Dragons during the first ten of their eleven consecutive premiership-winning years, from 1956 to 1966. Named amongst the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century, he was a representative in the Australia national team from 1954 to 1960, earning 14 Tests and two World Cups. In 2018, he was inducted as the 13th Immortal of Australian rugby league.
Roger Smith, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017) births
Roger LaVerne Smith was an American television and film actor, producer, and screenwriter. He starred in the television detective series 77 Sunset Strip and in the comedy series Mister Roberts. Smith went on to manage the career of Ann-Margret, his wife of 50 years.
Eduard Bernstein, German theorist and politician (b. 1850) deaths
Eduard Bernstein was a German social democratic Marxist theorist and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Bernstein had held close association to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but he began to identify what he believed to be errors in Marxist thinking and began to criticize views held by Marxism when he investigated and challenged the Marxist materialist theory of history. He rejected significant parts of Marxist theory that were based upon Hegelian metaphysics and rejected the Hegelian perspective of an immanent economic necessity to socialism.
Allen Klein, American businessman and music publisher (d. 2009) births
Allen Klein was an American businessman whose aggressive negotiation tactics affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased profits for his musician clients by negotiating new record company contracts. He first scored monetary and contractual gains for Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen, one-hit rockabillies of the late 1950s, then parlayed his early successes into a position managing Sam Cooke, and eventually managed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones simultaneously, along with many other artists, becoming one of the most powerful individuals in the music industry during his era.
Alison Plowden, English historian and author (d. 2007) births
Alison Margaret Chichele Plowden was an English historian and biographer well known for her popular non-fiction about the Tudor period.
Bill Thompson, American television host (d. 2014) births
William Earnest Thompson, better known as Wallace, co-hosted The Wallace and Ladmo Show, a daily children's variety show broadcast on KPHO-TV in Phoenix, Arizona for 36 years. The program featured short comedy skits and cartoons and was known for humor that appealed to adults as well as children.
Moose Skowron, American baseball player (d. 2012) births
William Joseph Skowron, nicknamed "Moose", was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1954 to 1967 for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, and California Angels. He was an eight-time All-Star and a five-time World Series champion. He is one of just six players in MLB history to have won back-to-back Series championships on different teams.
Gino Cimoli, American baseball player (d. 2011) births
Gino Nicholas Cimoli was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Braves, Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles Angels from 1956 through 1965. He was an MLB All-Star in 1957, and a member of the 1960 World Series champions.
Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (d. 2013) births
Józef Glemp was a Polish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Warsaw from 1981 to 2006, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983.
Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Indian-English caliph and author (d. 2003) births
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was the fourth caliph and the head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Community. He was elected as the fourth successor of the founder of the community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He was elected on 10 June 1982, the day after the death of his predecessor, Mirza Nasir Ahmad.
Harold Land, American tenor saxophonist (d. 2001) births
Harold de Vance Land was an American hard bop and post-bop tenor saxophonist. Land developed his hard bop playing with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown band into a personal, modern style, often rivalling Clifford Brown's instrumental ability with his own inventive and whimsical solos. His tone was strong and emotional, yet hinted at a certain introspective fragility.
Ramsey Clark, American lawyer and politician, 66th United States Attorney General (d. 2021) births
William Ramsey Clark was an American lawyer, activist, and federal government official. A progressive, New Frontier liberal, he occupied senior positions in the United States Department of Justice under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, serving as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969; previously, he was Deputy Attorney General from 1965 to 1967 and Assistant Attorney General from 1961 to 1965.
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.
Roméo LeBlanc, Canadian journalist and politician, 25th Governor General of Canada (d. 2009) births
Roméo-Adrien LeBlanc was a Canadian journalist, politician and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 25th since Canadian Confederation.
The governor general of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, currently King Charles III. The King is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but he resides in his oldest and most populous realm, the United Kingdom. The King, on the advice of his Canadian prime minister, appoints a governor general to carry on the Government of Canada in the King's name, performing most of his constitutional and ceremonial duties. The commission is for an indefinite period—known as serving at His Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the usual length of time. Since 1959, it has also been traditional to alternate between francophone and anglophone officeholders—although many recent governors general have been bilingual.
Hamo Thornycroft, English sculptor and academic (b. 1850) deaths
Sir William Hamo Thornycroft was an English sculptor, responsible for some of London's best-known statues, including the statue of Oliver Cromwell outside the Palace of Westminster. He was a keen student of classical sculpture and was one of the youngest artists to be elected to the Royal Academy, in 1882, the same year the bronze cast of Teucer was purchased for the British nation under the auspices of the Chantrey Bequest.
Edwin Bramall, Baron Bramall, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Greater London (d. 2019) births
Field Marshal Edwin Noel Westby Bramall, Baron Bramall, was a British Army officer. He served as Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, between 1979 and 1982, and as Chief of the Defence Staff, professional head of the British Armed Forces, from 1982 to 1985.
The Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London is the personal representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Greater London.
Jack Brooks, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012) births
Jack Bascom Brooks was an American Democratic Party politician from the state of Texas who served 42 years in the United States House of Representatives, initially representing Texas's 2nd congressional district from 1953 through 1967, and then, after district boundaries were redrawn in 1966, the 9th district from 1967 to 1995. He had strong political ties to prominent Texas Democrats including Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and President Lyndon B. Johnson. For over fifteen years, he was the dean of the Texas congressional delegation.
Esther Lederberg, American microbiologist (d. 2006) births
Esther Miriam Zimmer Lederberg was an American microbiologist and a pioneer of bacterial genetics. She discovered the bacterial virus λ and the bacterial fertility factor F, devised the first implementation of replica plating, and furthered the understanding of the transfer of genes between bacteria by specialized transduction.
Sir Carl Meyer, 1st Baronet, German-English banker and businessman (b. 1851) deaths
Sir Carl Ferdinand Meyer, 1st Baronet was a British banker and mining magnate.
Robert Leckie, American soldier and author (d. 2001) births
Robert Hugh Leckie was a United States Marine and an author of books about the military history of the United States, sports books, fiction books, autobiographies, and children's books. As a young man, he served with the 1st Marine Division during World War II; his service as a machine gunner and a scout during the war greatly influenced his work.
John Alcock, English captain and pilot (b. 1892) deaths
Captain Sir John William Alcock was a British Royal Navy and later Royal Air Force officer who, with navigator Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, piloted the first non-stop transatlantic flight from St. John's, Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland in June 1919. He died in a flying accident in France in December later that same year.
Ossie Davis, American actor and activist (d. 2005) births
Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame; were awarded the National Medal of Arts and were recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994.
Douglas Fraser, Scottish-American trade union leader and academic (d. 2008) births
Douglas Andrew Fraser was a Scottish - American union leader. He was president of the United Auto Workers from 1977 to 1983 and an adjunct professor of labor relations at Wayne State University for many years.
Betty Grable, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1973) births
Elizabeth Ruth Grable was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer.
Alfred Bester, American author and screenwriter (d. 1987) births
Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. He is best remembered for his science fiction, including The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953.
Willy Brandt, German politician, 4th Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992) births
Willy Brandt was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1969 to 1974. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his efforts to strengthen cooperation in western Europe through the EEC and to achieve reconciliation between West Germany and the countries of Eastern Europe. He was the first Social Democrat chancellor since 1930.
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the German Armed Forces during wartime. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Cabinet and heads the executive branch. The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag on the proposal of the federal president and without debate.
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine and Literature. Since March 1901, it has been awarded annually to those who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (d. 2006) births
Raymond Joseph Meyer was an American men's collegiate basketball coach from Chicago, Illinois. He was well known for coaching at DePaul University from 1942 to 1984, compiling a 724–354 record. Meyer coached DePaul to 21 post-season appearances. In total, Meyer recorded 37 winning seasons and twelve 20-win seasons, including seven straight from 1978 to 1984. Two Meyer-coached teams reached the Final Four, and in 1945, Meyer led DePaul past Bowling Green to capture the National Invitation Tournament, the school's only post-season title.
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American general and pilot (d. 2002) births
Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. was a United States Air Force (USAF) general and commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen.
Jules Dassin, American-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008) births
Julius "Jules" Dassin was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, where he continued his career. He was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Screen Directors' Guild.
Abe Burrows, American author, playwright, and director (d. 1985) births
Abe Burrows was an American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage. He won a Tony Award and was selected for two Pulitzer Prizes, only one of which was awarded.
Eric Tindill, New Zealand rugby player, cricketer, and umpire (d. 2010) births
Eric William Thomas Tindill was a New Zealand sportsman. Tindill held a number of unique records: he was the oldest ever Test cricketer at the time of his death, the only person to play Tests for New Zealand in both cricket and rugby union, and the only person ever to play Tests in both sports, referee a rugby union Test, and umpire a cricket Test: a unique "double-double".
Celia Johnson, English actress (d. 1982) births
Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson, was an English actress, whose career included stage, television and film. She is especially known for her roles in the films In Which We Serve (1942), This Happy Breed (1944), Brief Encounter (1945) and The Captain's Paradise (1953). For Brief Encounter, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. A six-time BAFTA Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969).
Paul Siple, American geographer and explorer (d. 1969) births
Paul Allman Siple was an American Antarctic explorer and geographer who took part in six Antarctic expeditions, including the two Byrd expeditions of 1928–1930 and 1933–1935, representing the Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout. In addition to being an Eagle Scout, Siple was also a Sea Scout. His first and third books covered these adventures. With Charles F. Passel he developed the wind chill factor, and Siple coined the term.
Bill Holland, American race car driver (d. 1984) births
Willard Holland was an American race car driver from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1949 and finished second in 1947, 1948 and 1950. He also was runner up in the 1947 American Automobile Association (AAA) National Championship.
Lawrence Lucie, American guitarist and educator (d. 2009) births
Lawrence Lucie was an American jazz guitarist.
George Stevens, American director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer (d. 1975) births
George Cooper Stevens was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. Films he produced were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture six times while he had five nominations as Best Director, winning twice.
Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian philosopher and author (d. 1990) births
Peter Wessel Zapffe was a Norwegian philosopher, author, artist, lawyer and mountaineer. He is often noted for his philosophically pessimistic and fatalistic view of human existence. His system of philosophy was inspired by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, as well as his firm advocacy of antinatalism. His thoughts regarding the error of human life are presented in the essay "The Last Messiah". This essay is a shorter version of his best-known and untranslated work, the philosophical treatise On the Tragic.
Fletcher Henderson, American pianist and composer (d. 1952) births
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musical arrangers and, along with Duke Ellington, is considered one of the most influential arrangers and bandleaders in jazz history. Henderson's influence was vast. He helped bridge the gap between the Dixieland and the swing eras. He was often known as "Smack" Henderson.
Gerald Barry, English colonel and cricketer (d. 1977) births
Gerald Barry MC was a career officer in the British Army who played in one first-class cricket match for the Combined Services against Essex.
Richard Owen, English biologist, anatomist, and paleontologist (b. 1804) deaths
Sir Richard Owen was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils.
Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (d. 1954) births
Edwin Howard Armstrong was an American electrical engineer and inventor, who developed FM radio and the superheterodyne receiver system. He held 42 patents and received numerous awards, including the first Medal of Honor awarded by the Institute of Radio Engineers, the French Legion of Honor, the 1941 Franklin Medal and the 1942 Edison Medal. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and included in the International Telecommunication Union's roster of great inventors. Armstrong attended Columbia University, and served as a professor there for most of his life.
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is capable of higher fidelity—that is, more accurate reproduction of the original program sound—than other broadcasting technologies, such as AM broadcasting. It is also less susceptible to common forms of interference, reducing static and popping sounds often heard on AM. Therefore, FM is used for most broadcasts of music or general audio. FM radio stations use the very high frequency range of radio frequencies.
Gladys Cooper, English actress and singer (d. 1971) births
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Robert Moses, American urban planner (d. 1981) births
Robert Moses was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful individuals in the history of the New York City and State governments. The grand scale of his infrastructural projects and his philosophy of urban development influenced a generation of engineers, architects, and urban planners across the United States.
Bhikhari Thakur, Indian actor, singer, and playwright (d. 1971) births
Bhikari Thakur was an Indian Bhojpuri language poet, playwright, lyricist, actor, folk dancer, folk singer and social activist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest writer in Bhojpuri language and most popular folk writer of Purvanchal and Bihar. He is often called the "Shakespeare of Bhojpuri" and "Rai Bahadur". His works consist of more than a dozen plays, Monologues, Poems, Bhajans which appeared in print as nearly three dozen books. His noteworthy works are Bidesiya, Gabarghichor, Beti Bechwa and Bhai Birodh, Gabarghichor is often compared with Bertolt Brecht's play The Caucasian Chalk Circle. He is also known as the father of the naach folk theatre tradition. He is also credited as the first person to cast male actors in female roles.
Ty Cobb, American baseball player and manager (d. 1961) births
Tyrus Raymond Cobb, nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the last six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1936, Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes (98.2%); no other player received a higher percentage of votes until Tom Seaver in 1992. In 1999, the Sporting News ranked Cobb third on its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players."
Emil Starkenstein, Czech pharmacologist, co-founded clinical pharmacology (d. 1942) births
Emil Starkenstein was a Czech-Jewish pharmacologist and one of the founders of clinical pharmacology. He was killed in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp along with a few hundred refugees from Amsterdam after an incident in which a Dutch Jew resisted a Nazi patrol.
Clinical pharmacology has been defined as "that discipline that teaches, does research, frames policy, gives information and advice about the actions and proper uses of medicines in humans and implements that knowledge in clinical practice". Clinical Pharmacology is inherently a translational discipline underpinned by the basic science of pharmacology, engaged in the experimental and observational study of the disposition and effects of drugs in humans, and committed to the translation of science into evidence-based therapeutics. It has a broad scope, from the discovery of new target molecules to the effects of drug usage in whole populations. The main aim of clinical pharmacology is to generate data for optimum use of drugs and the practice of 'evidence based medicine'.
Richard Maury, American-Argentinian engineer, designed the Salta–Antofagasta railway (d. 1950) births
Richard Fontaine Maury was an American railway engineer and naturalized Argentine. He became known for the project of the Argentine "Ramal C-14" of the Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano and the touristic Tren a las Nubes.
The Salta–Antofagasta railway, also named Huaytiquina, is a non-electrified single track railway line that links Argentina and Chile passing through the Andes. It is a 1,000 mm metre gauge railway with a total length of 941 km, connecting the city of Salta (Argentina) to the one of Antofagasta (Chile), on the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Puna de Atacama and Atacama Desert.
Michel Chasles, French mathematician and academic (b. 1793) deaths
Michel Floréal Chasles was a French mathematician.
Paul Klee, Swiss-German painter and educator (d. 1940) births
Paul Klee was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented with and eventually deeply explored color theory, writing about it extensively; his lectures Writings on Form and Design Theory, published in English as the Paul Klee Notebooks, are held to be as important for modern art as Leonardo da Vinci's A Treatise on Painting was for the Renaissance. He and his colleague, Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, both taught at the Bauhaus school of art, design and architecture in Germany. His works reflect his dry humor and his sometimes childlike perspective, his personal moods and beliefs, and his musicality.
Joseph Stalin, Georgian-Russian marshal and politician, 4th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1953) births
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–1952) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (1941–1953). Initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he consolidated power to become a dictator by the 1930s. Ideologically adhering to the Leninist interpretation of Marxism, he formalised these ideas as Marxism–Leninism, while his own policies are called Stalinism.
The Premier of the Soviet Union was the head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The office had four different names throughout its existence: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1923–1946), Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991), Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet Economy. Long before 1991, most non-Soviet sources referred to the post as "Premier" or "Prime Minister."
Matt McGrath, Irish-American hammer thrower (d. 1941) births
Matthew John "Matt" McGrath was a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, the New York Athletic Club, and the New York City Police Department. At the time of his death at age 64, he attained the rank of Police Inspector, and during his career received the NYPD's Medal of Valor twice. He competed for the U.S. team in the Olympics in 1908, 1912, 1920 and 1924. In his prime, he was known as "one of the world's greatest weight throwers."
Francis Burton Harrison, American general and politician, 6th Governor-General of the Philippines (d. 1957) births
Francis Burton Harrison was an American statesman who served in the United States House of Representatives and was appointed governor-general of the Philippines by President of the United States Woodrow Wilson. Harrison was a prominent adviser to the president of the Philippine Commonwealth, as well as the next four presidents of the Republic of the Philippines. He is the only former governor-general of the Philippines to be awarded Philippine citizenship.
The Governor-General of the Philippines was the title of the government executive during the colonial period of the Philippines, governed by Mexico City and Madrid (1565–1898) and the United States (1898–1946), and briefly by Great Britain (1762–1764) and Japan (1942–1945). They were also the representative of the executive of the ruling power.
Saki, British short story writer (d. 1916) births
Hector Hugh Munro, better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered by English teachers and scholars a master of the short story and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, he himself influenced A. A. Milne, Noël Coward and P. G. Wodehouse.
Edward Willis Redfield, American painter and educator (d. 1965) births
Edward Willis Redfield was an American Impressionist landscape painter and member of the art colony at New Hope, Pennsylvania. He is best known today for his impressionist scenes of the New Hope area, often depicting the snow-covered countryside. He also spent his summers on Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where he interpreted the local coastline. He frequently painted Maine's Monhegan Island.
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist and composer (b. 1829) deaths
Louis Moreau Gottschalk was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States.
Foxhall P. Keene, American polo player and horse breeder (d. 1941) births
Foxhall Parker Keene was an American thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder, a world and Olympic gold medallist in polo and an amateur tennis player. He was rated the best all-around polo player in the United States for eight consecutive years, a golfer who competed in the U.S. Open, and a pioneer racecar driver who vied for the Gordon Bennett Cup. In addition to his substantial involvement in flat racing, he was also a founding member of the National Steeplechase Association.
José Justo Corro, Mexican politician and president, (1836-1837) (b. 1794) deaths
José Justo Corro Silva was a Mexican lawyer and statesman who was made president of Mexico on March 2, 1836, after the sudden death of President Miguel Barragán. During his administration, he oversaw the transition from the First Mexican Republic to the Centralist Republic of Mexico and the publication of the new constitution: the Siete Leyes. The nation also faced the ongoing Texas Revolution, and Mexican independence was recognized by Spain and by the Holy See.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (d. 1914) births
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
Lionel Monckton, English composer and critic (d. 1924) births
Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English composer of musical theatre. He became Britain's most popular composer of Edwardian musical comedy in the early years of the 20th century.
Edward MacDowell, American pianist and composer (d. 1908) births
Edward Alexander MacDowell was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites Woodland Sketches, Sea Pieces and New England Idylls. Woodland Sketches includes his most popular short piece, "To a Wild Rose". In 1904 he was one of the first seven Americans honored by membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
J. J. Thomson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940) births
Sir Joseph John Thomson was a British physicist and Nobel Laureate in Physics, credited with the discovery of the electron, the first subatomic particle to be discovered.
The Nobel Prize in Physics is a yearly award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions for humankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901, the others being the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Physics is traditionally the first award presented in the Nobel Prize ceremony.
Henrietta Edwards, Canadian activist and author (d. 1931) births
Henrietta Muir Edwards was a Canadian women's rights activist and reformer. She was the eldest of "The Famous Five", along with Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby, who fought to have women recognized as "persons" under the law, and for the woman's right to vote in elections.
Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian priest and mathematician (b. 1781) deaths
Bernard Bolzano was a Bohemian mathematician, logician, philosopher, theologian and Catholic priest of Italian extraction, also known for his liberal views.
Augusta Holmès, French pianist and composer (d. 1903) births
Augusta Mary Anne Holmès was a French composer of Irish descent. In 1871, Holmès became a French citizen and added the accent to her last name. She wrote the texts to almost all of her vocal music herself, including songs, oratorios, the libretto of her opera La Montagne noire and the programmatic poems for her symphonic poems including Irlande and Andromède.
Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch, Scottish-English general and politician (b. 1748) deaths
Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch was a Scottish aristocrat, politician and British Army officer. After his education at Oxford, he inherited a substantial estate in Scotland, married and settled down to a quiet career as a landowning gentleman. However, with the death of his wife, when he was aged 42, he immersed himself in a military career, during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.
Lyman Abbott, American minister, theologian, and author (d. 1922) births
Lyman J. Abbott was an American Congregationalist theologian, editor, and author.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French soldier, biologist, and academic (b. 1744) deaths
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck, often known simply as Lamarck, was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biological evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws.
Charles Griffin, American general (d. 1876) births
Charles Griffin was a career officer in the United States Army and a Union general in the American Civil War. He rose to command a corps in the Army of the Potomac and fought in many of the key campaigns in the Eastern Theater.
John S. Harris, American surveyor and politician (d. 1906) births
John Spafford Harris was an American politician for the state of Louisiana and member of the Republican Party. Born to a farm family in Truxton, New York, Harris was a delegate to the Louisiana state constitutional convention in 1868. He was a member of Louisiana State Senate in 1868 and the first Republican U.S. Senator from Louisiana, having served from 1868 to 1871. Harris was buried at Forestvale Cemetery in Helena, Montana.
John Hall, English-New Zealand politician, 12th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1907) births
Sir John Hall was a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th premier of New Zealand from 1879 to 1882. He was born in Kingston upon Hull, England, the third son of George Hall, a captain in the navy. At the age of ten he was sent to school in Switzerland and his education continued in Paris and Hamburg. After returning to England and being employed by the Post Office, at the age of 27 he decided to emigrate. He was also Mayor of Christchurch.
The prime minister of New Zealand is the head of government of New Zealand. The incumbent prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017.
Johann Gottfried Herder, German philosopher, theologian, and poet (b. 1744) deaths
Johann Gottfried Herder was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Weimar Classicism.
James Watney, English brewer and businessman (d. 1884) births
James Watney was an English brewer and landowner who resided at Haling Park, Croydon, and Beddington, Surrey. He was born to Daniel Watney (1771–1831) of Mitcham, Surrey and Mary Galpin (1771–1830), daughter of James Galpin of Mitcham, Surrey. He was the grandson of John Watney (1747–1814) and great-grandson of Daniel Watney (1705–1780) of Wimbledon, Surrey who was an ale conner.
Jean-Étienne Montucla, French mathematician and historian (b. 1725) deaths
Jean-Étienne Montucla was a French mathematician and historian.
Soame Jenyns, English poet and politician (b. 1704) deaths
Soame Jenyns was an English writer and Member of Parliament. He was an early advocate of the ethical consideration of animals.
Antonio Stradivari, Italian instrument maker (b. 1644) deaths
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial Strad are terms often used to refer to his instruments. It is estimated that Stradivari produced 1,116 instruments, of which 960 were violins. Around 650 instruments survive, including 450 to 512 violins. His instruments are considered some of the finest ever made, and are extremely valuable collector's items.
Jean-Baptiste Rey, French conductor and composer (d. 1810) births
Jean-Baptiste Rey was a French conductor and composer.
Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and theologian (d. 1791) births
Johann Salomo Semler was a German church historian, biblical commentator, and critic of ecclesiastical documents and of the history of dogmas. He is sometimes known as "the father of German rationalism".
Charles Wesley, English missionary and composer (d. 1788) births
Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It Be", "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today", the carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", and "Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending".
Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German scholar and politician (b. 1626) deaths
Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff or Seckendorf, German statesman and scholar, was a member of the House of Seckendorff, a noble family which took its name from the village of Seckendorf between Nuremberg and Langenzenn. The family was divided into eleven distinct lines, widely distributed throughout Prussia, Württemberg, and Bavaria.
James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish colonel and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland (d. 1711) births
James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry and 1st Duke of Dover was a Scottish nobleman.
The secretary of state for Scotland, also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, 18th in the ministerial ranking.
Christopher Polhem, Swedish physicist and inventor (d. 1751) births
Christopher Polhammar better known as Christopher Polhem, which he took after his ennoblement in 1716, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining. He was ennobled by King Charles XII of Sweden for his contributions to Swedish technological development.
Countess Johanna Magdalene of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1715) births
Countess Johanna Magdalene of Hanau-Lichtenberg was a daughter of Johann Reinhard II of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1628–1666) and the Countess Palatine Anna Magdalena of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (1640–1693).
William Brabazon, 1st Earl of Meath, English lawyer and politician (b. 1580) deaths
William Brabazon, 1st Earl of Meath was an Anglo-Irish peer.
Nur Jahan, empress consort of the Mughal Empire (b. 1577) deaths
Nur Jahan, born Mehr-un-Nissa persian: نورجهان was the wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir from 1620 until his death in 1627.
Christina, Queen of Sweden (d. 1689) births
Christina, a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death at the Battle of Lützen in 1632, but began ruling the Swedish Empire when she reached the age of eighteen in 1644.
Heinrich Roth, German missionary and scholar (d. 1668) births
Heinrich Roth was a missionary and pioneering Sanskrit scholar.
Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist and historian (d. 1688) births
Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, also known simply as Charles Dufresne, was a distinguished French philologist and historian of the Middle Ages and Byzantium.
Simonds d'Ewes, English historian and politician (d. 1650) births
Sir Simonds d'Ewes, 1st Baronet was an English antiquary and politician. He was bred for the bar, was a member of the Long Parliament and left notes on its transactions. D'Ewes took the Puritan side in the Civil War. His Journal of all the Parliaments of Elizabeth is of value; he left an Autobiography and Correspondence.
William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken (d. 1640) births
William Louis of Nassau-Saarbrücken, was a Count of Saarbrücken.
Anna of Saxony, Princess consort of Orange (b. 1544) deaths
Anna of Saxony was the heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes, eldest daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. Maurice's only son, Albert, died in infancy. Anna was the second wife of William the Silent.
Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi, Moroccan writer, judge and mathematician (d. 1616) births
Shihab al-Din abu l-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Mohammed ibn Mohammed ibn Ahmed ibn Ali ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi'l-'Afiyya al-Miknasi az-Zanati, known simply as Ahmad ibn al-Qadi or Ibn al-Qadi (1552/1553–1616), was a Moroccan polygraph. He was the leading writer from Ahmad al-Mansur's court in Morocco next to Abd al-Aziz al-Fishtali. He was also a renowned judge and mathematician.
Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyō (d. 1551) births
Ōuchi Yoshitaka was the daimyō of Suō Province and the head of the Ōuchi clan, succeeding Ōuchi Yoshioki.
Philipp von Hutten, German explorer (d. 1546) births
Philipp von Hutten was a German adventurer and an early European explorer and conquistador of Venezuela. He is a significant figure in the history of Klein-Venedig, the concession of Venezuela Province to the Welser banking family by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain.
Sebald Heyden, German musicologist and theologian (d. 1561) births
Sebald Heyden was a German musicologist, cantor, theologian, hymn-writer and religious poet. He is perhaps best known for his De arte canendi which is considered to have had a major impact on scholarship and the teaching of singing to young boys. He wrote hymns such as "O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß". It has been speculated that Heyden was the world's first true musicologist.
Alfonso II of Naples (b. 1448) deaths
Alfonso II was Duke of Calabria and ruled as King of Naples from 25 January 1494 to 23 January 1495. He was a soldier and a patron of Renaissance architecture and the arts.
Sophie of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Saxony (d. 1503) births
Sophie of Mecklenburg, also spelled Sophia was a German noblewoman. She was a Duchess of Mecklenburg by birth and by marriage Electoral Princess of Saxony.
Pierre Cauchon, French Catholic bishop (b. 1371) deaths
Pierre Cauchon was Bishop of Beauvais from 1420 to 1432. He was a strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War. He was the judge in the trial of Joan of Arc and played a key role in her execution. The Catholic Church overturned his verdict in 1456.
Richard Olivier de Longueil, French Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal (d. 1470) births
Richard Olivier de Longueil (1406–1470) was a French Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals.
Magnus III, king of Sweden (b. 1240) deaths
Magnus III, also called Magnus Ladulås, was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290.
Hildebert, French poet and scholar (b. 1055) deaths
Hildebert was a French ecclesiastic, hagiographer and theologian. From 1096–97 he was bishop of Le Mans, then from 1125 until his death archbishop of Tours. Sometimes called Hildebert of Lavardin, his name may also be spelled Hydalbert, Gildebert, or Aldebert.
Edith of Wessex (b. 1025) deaths
Edith of Wessex was Queen of England from her marriage to Edward the Confessor in 1045 until Edward died in 1066. Unlike most English queens in the 10th and 11th centuries, she was crowned. The principal source on her life is a work she herself commissioned, the Vita Ædwardi Regis or the Life of King Edward who rests at Westminster, which is inevitably biased.
Yaonian Yanmujin, Chinese empress dowager deaths
Yaonian Yanmujin or Xiao Yanmujin, formally Empress Xuanjian (宣簡皇后), was an empress dowager of the Khitan-led Chinese Liao dynasty. She was the mother of Liao's founder Emperor Taizu of Liao and the wife of his father Yelü Saladi (耶律薩剌的). During the reign of Emperor Taizu's son Emperor Taizong, she was grand empress dowager.
Empress dowager is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere.
Lady Wu, wife of Qian Liu (b. 858) deaths
Lady Wu, formally Lady Zhuangmu of Wuyue (吳越莊穆夫人), was the wife of Qian Liu, the first king of the Chinese state Wuyue of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
Qian Liu, known as Qian Poliu during his childhood, was a warlord of the late Tang dynasty who founded the Wuyue kingdom.
Christian feast day: Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a Catholic Feast that was originally celebrated in Spain, but started to be celebrated in other Catholic countries. It is not on the universal calendar, but is still commemorated on December 18 in some places such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland as well as in a few religious orders. The Dominicans honor Mary under the title of "Our Lady of the Expectation".
Christian feast day: Flannán
Flannán mac Toirrdelbaig was an Irish saint who lived in the 7th century and was the son of an Irish chieftain, Toirdhealbhach of Dál gCais. He entered Mo Lua's monastery at Killaloe, where it is believed he became an Abbot. He is remembered as a great preacher.
Christian feast day: Gatianus of Tours
Gatianus in the third century AD was the founding bishop of the see of Tours. He was one of the "seven apostles of Gaul" commissioned by Pope Fabian to evangelize in the region.
Christian feast day: O Adonai
The O Antiphons are Magnificat antiphons used at vespers on the last seven days of Advent in Western Christian traditions. They likely date to sixth-century Italy, when Boethius refers to the text in The Consolation of Philosophy. They subsequently became one of the key musical features of the days leading up to Christmas.
Christian feast day: Sebastian (Eastern Orthodox Church)
Saint Sebastian was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this did not kill him. He was, according to tradition, rescued and healed by Saint Irene of Rome, which became a popular subject in 17th-century painting. In all versions of the story, shortly after his recovery he went to Diocletian to warn him about his sins, and as a result was clubbed to death. He is venerated in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the head of the Roman Catholic Church—the Pope—but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognized by them as primus inter pares, which may be explained as a representative of the church. As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The Eastern Orthodox Church officially calls itself the Orthodox Catholic Church.
Christian feast day: Winibald
Winibald was abbot of the Benedictine double monastery of Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm. Traditionally, he is called the brother of Willibald and Walpurga.
Christian feast day: December 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
December 17 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - December 19
International Migrants Day
On 18 December 1990, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
National Day (Qatar)
Qatar National Day is a national commemoration of Qatar's unification in 1878. It is celebrated annually on 18 December. The holiday was established by a 21 June 2007 decree of the then Crown Prince and Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. It is also known as Founder's Day.
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. The Gulf of Bahrain, an inlet of the Persian Gulf, separates Qatar from nearby Bahrain. The capital is Doha, home to over 80% of the country's inhabitants, and the land area is mostly made up of flat, low-lying desert.
Republic Day (Niger)
Republic Day, a national holiday in the Republic of Niger is commemorated on 18 December 1958.
UN Arabic Language Day (United Nations)
UN Arabic Language Day is observed annually on December 18. The event was established by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010 seeking "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization". December 18 was chosen as the date for the Arabic language as it is "the day in 1973 when the General Assembly approved Arabic as an official UN language".
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the world's largest and most familiar international organization. The UN is headquartered on international territory in New York City, and has other main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague.