EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST 28/12

[edit]

• 418 – Pope Boniface I is elected.
• 457 – Majorian is acclaimed emperor of the Western Roman Empire and recognized by Emperor Leo I the Thracian.
• 484 – Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the Visigoths. He establishes his capital at Aire-sur-l'Adour (Southern Gaul).
• 893 – An earthquake destroys the city of Dvin, Armenia.
• 1065 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated.
• 1308 – The reign of Emperor Hanazono of Japan begins.
• 1768 – King Taksin's coronation achieved through conquest as a king of Thailand and established Thonburi as a capital.
• 1795 – Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto).
• 1832 – John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.
• 1835 – Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army.
• 1836 – South Australia and Adelaide are founded.
• 1836 – Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico with the signing of the Santa María–Calatrava Treaty.
• 1846 – Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
• 1867 – United States claims Midway Atoll, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.
• 1879 – Tay Bridge disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75.
• 1885 – Indian National Congress, a political party of India is founded in Bombay Presidency, British India.
• 1895 – The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines.
• 1895 – Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.
• 1902 – The Syracuse Athletic Club defeated the New York Philadelphians, 5–0, in the first indoor professional football game, which was held at Madison Square Garden.
• 1908 – The 7.1 M_w Messina earthquake shakes Southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 75,000 and 200,000.
• 1912 – The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco.
• 1918 – Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway prison, became the first woman to be elected MP to the British House of Commons.
• 1941 – World War II: Operation Anthropoid, the plot to assassinate high-ranking Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich, commences.
• 1943 – World War II: After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the Battle of Ortona concludes with the victory of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Divisionand the capture of the Italian town of Ortona.
• 1944 – Maurice Richard becomes the first player to score eight points in one game of NHL ice hockey.
• 1948 – The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami.
• 1956 – Chin Peng, David Marshall and Tunku Abdul Rahman meet in Baling, Malaya to try and resolve the Malayan Emergency situation.
• 1958 – "Greatest Game Ever Played": Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium.
• 1973 – The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.
• 1989 – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
• 2006 – War in Somalia: The militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops capture Mogadishu unopposed.
• 2009 – Forty-three people die in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims are observing the Day of Ashura.
• 2014 – Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashes into the Karimata Strait en route from Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard.
• 2014 – Nine people die and another 19 are reported missing, when the MS Norman Atlantic catches fire in the Strait of Otranto, in the Adriatic Sea, in Italian waters.

Births[edit]

• 1164 – Emperor Rokujō of Japan (d. 1176)
• 1461 – Louise of Savoy, French nun (d. 1503)
• 1510 – Nicholas Bacon, English politician (d. 1579)
• 1522 – Margaret of Parma (d. 1583)
• 1535 – Martin Eisengrein, German theologian (d. 1578)
• 1619 – Antoine Furetière, French author and scholar (d. 1688)
• 1635 – Elizabeth Stuart, second daughter of King Charles I of England (d. 1650)
• 1651 – Johann Krieger, German organist and composer (d. 1735)
• 1655 – Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk (d. 1698)
• 1665 – George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire (d. 1716)
• 1722 – Eliza Lucas, Caribbean-American agriculturalist (d. 1793)
• 1763 – John Molson, English-Canadian brewer, founded the Molson Brewery (d. 1836)
• 1775 – Jean-Gabriel Eynard, Swiss banker and photographer (d. 1863)
• 1798 – Thomas Henderson, Scottish astronomer and mathematician (d. 1844)
• 1813 – John Baker, English-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of South Australia (d. 1872)
• 1818 – Carl Remigius Fresenius, German chemist and academic (d. 1897)
• 1819 – Arthur Hunter Palmer, Northern Irish-Australian politician, 5th Premier of Queensland (d. 1898)
• 1842 – Calixa Lavallée, Canadian-American lieutenant and composer (d. 1891)
• 1851 – Robert Philp, Scottish-Australian businessman and politician, 15th Premier of Queensland (d. 1922)
• 1856 – Woodrow Wilson, American historian and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
• 1865 – Félix Vallotton, Swiss/French painter (d. 1925)
• 1870 – Charles Bennett, English runner (d. 1949)
• 1882 – Arthur Eddington, English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (d. 1944)
• 1882 – Lili Elbe, Danish model and painter (d. 1931)
• 1884 – Robert Cosgrove, Australian politician, 30th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1969)
• 1887 – Werner Kolhörster, German physicist and academic (d. 1946)
• 1888 – F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1931)
• 1890 – Quincy Wright, American political scientist, historian, and academic (d. 1970)
• 1895 – Carol Ryrie Brink, American author and playwright (d. 1981)
• 1898 – Carl-Gustaf Rossby, Swedish-American meteorologist and academic (d. 1957)
• 1898 – Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral (d. 1947)
• 1902 – Mortimer J. Adler, American philosopher and author (d. 2001)
• 1902 – Shen Congwen, Chinese author and educator (d. 1988)
• 1903 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1983)
• 1903 – John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (d. 1957)
• 1907 – Ze'ev Ben-Haim, Ukrainian-Israeli linguist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1908 – Lew Ayres, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1910 – Billy Williams, American singer (d. 1972)
• 1911 – Wil van Beveren, Dutch sprinter and journalist (d. 2003)
• 1913 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian-American actor (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Bidia Dandaron, Russian author and educator (d. 1974)
• 1914 – Pops Staples, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2000)
• 1919 – Emily Cheney Neville, American author (d. 1997)
• 1920 – Tufty Mann, South African cricketer (d. 1952)
• 1920 – Bruce McCarty, American architect, designed the Knoxville City-County Building (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Steve Van Buren, Honduran-American football player (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Al Wistert, American football player and coach (d. 2016)
• 1921 – Johnny Otis, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Stan Lee, American publisher, producer, and actor
• 1924 – Girma Wolde-Giorgis, Ethiopian politician; President of Ethiopia
• 1925 – Hildegard Knef, German actress and singer (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Milton Obote, Ugandan engineer and politician, 2nd President of Uganda (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Donald Carr, German-English cricketer and referee (d. 2016)
• 1928 – Moe Koffman, Canadian flute player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 2001)
• 1929 – Brian Redhead, English journalist and author (d. 1994)
• 1929 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 1970)
• 1930 – Mariam A. Aleem, Egyptian illustrator and academic (d. 2010)
• 1931 – Guy Debord, French theorist and author (d. 1994)
• 1931 – Martin Milner, American actor (d. 2015)
• 1932 – Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman, founded Reliance Industries (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Dorsey Burnette, American singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
• 1932 – Roy Hattersley, English journalist and politician, Shadow Home Secretary
• 1932 – Harry Howell, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1932 – Nichelle Nichols, American actress
• 1932 – Manuel Puig, Argentinian author and playwright (d. 1990)
• 1933 – John Y. Brown Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 55th Governor of Kentucky
• 1934 – Rudi Faßnacht, German footballer and manager (d. 2000)
• 1934 – Maggie Smith, English actress
• 1934 – Chieko Aioi, Japanese actress and voice actress (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Alan Coleman, English-Australian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Lawrence Schiller, American journalist, director, and producer
• 1937 – Ratan Tata, Indian businessman and philanthropist
• 1938 – Dick Sudhalter, American trumpet player, scholar, and critic (d. 2008)
• 1939 – Philip Anschutz, American businessman, founded Anschutz Entertainment Group
• 1939 – Frank McLintock, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1939 – Michelle Urry, American journalist and illustrator (d. 2006)
• 1940 – A. K. Antony, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Defence
• 1940 – Don Francisco, Chilean-American journalist and talk show host
• 1941 – Intikhab Alam, Indian-Pakistani cricketer and coach
• 1942 – Roger Swerts, Belgian cyclist
• 1943 – Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Peruvian cardinal
• 1943 – David Peterson, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Ontario
• 1943 – Joan Ruddock, Welsh politician
• 1944 – Sandra Faber, American astronomer and academic
• 1944 – Johnny Isakson, American sergeant and politician
• 1944 – Kary Mullis, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1944 – Gordon Taylor, English footballer
• 1945 – Max Hastings, English journalist, historian, and author
• 1945 – Birendra of Nepal (d. 2001)
• 1946 – Mike Beebe, American lawyer and politician, 45th Governor of Arkansas
• 1946 – Pierre Falardeau, Canadian director, screenwriter, and activist (d. 2009)
• 1946 – Hubert Green, American golfer
• 1946 – Tim Johnson, American lawyer and politician
• 1946 – Barbara, Lady Judge, American-English lawyer and businesswoman
• 1946 – Bill Lee, American baseball player and author
• 1946 – Laffit Pincay Jr., Panamanian jockey
• 1946 – Edgar Winter, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
• 1947 – Dick Diamonde, Dutch-Australian rock bass player
• 1947 – Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2000)
• 1948 – Ziggy Modeliste, American drummer
• 1950 – Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
• 1950 – Clifford Cocks, English mathematician and cryptographer
• 1950 – Rainer Maria Latzke, German-American painter and academic
• 1952 – Arun Jaitley, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Indian Minister of Law and Justice
• 1952 – Bridget Prentice, Scottish educator and politician
• 1953 – Richard Clayderman, French pianist
• 1953 – Tatsumi Fujinami, Japanese wrestler and promoter, founded Dradition wrestling promotion
• 1953 – Charlie Pierce, American journalist and author
• 1953 – Martha Wash, American singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Gayle King, American television journalist
• 1954 – Denzel Washington, American actor, director, and producer
• 1955 – Stephen Frost, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
• 1955 – Liu Xiaobo, Chinese author, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
• 1956 – Nigel Kennedy, English violinist
• 1958 – Terry Butcher, English footballer and manager
• 1958 – Curt Byrum, American golfer
• 1958 – Zoran Gajić, Serbian volleyball trainer
• 1959 – Hansjörg Kunze, German runner and sportscaster
• 1959 – Daniel Léo Simpson, American composer
• 1959 – Ana Torroja, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1960 – Ray Bourque, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1960 – John Fitzgerald, Australian tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1960 – Melvin Turpin, American basketball player (d. 2010)
• 1961 – Kent Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager
• 1964 – Tex Perkins, Australian singer-songwriter
• 1964 – Maite Zúñiga, Spanish runner
• 1965 – Allar Levandi, Estonian skier
• 1967 – Chris Ware, American illustrator
• 1968 – Akihiko Hoshide, Japanese engineer and astronaut
• 1969 – Linus Torvalds, Finnish-American computer programmer, developed Linux kernel
• 1970 – Elaine Hendrix, American actress
• 1970 – James Jett, American sprinter and football player
• 1970 – Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, Dutch tennis player
• 1971 – Benny Agbayani, American baseball player
• 1971 – Sergi Barjuán, Spanish footballer and manager
• 1971 – Anita Doth, Dutch singer-songwriter
• 1971 – William Gates, American basketball player
• 1972 – Roberto Palacios, Peruvian footballer
• 1972 – Patrick Rafter, Australian-Bermudian tennis player and model
• 1972 – Adam Vinatieri, American football player
• 1973 – Holger Blume, German sprinter
• 1973 – Marc Blume, German sprinter
• 1973 – Seth Meyers, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and talk show host
• 1973 – Ids Postma, Dutch speed skater
• 1974 – Rob Niedermayer, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1974 – Markus Weinzierl, German footballer and manager
• 1975 – B. J. Ryan, American baseball player
• 1976 – Ben Tune, Australian rugby player
• 1976 – Igor Žiković, Croatian footballer
• 1976 – Trond Nymark, Norwegian race walker
• 1977 – Derrick Brew, American sprinter
• 1977 – Shane Elford, Australian rugby league player
• 1977 – Seun Ogunkoya, Nigerian sprinter
• 1978 – Chris Coyne, Australian footballer and manager
• 1978 – John Legend, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
• 1979 – James Blake, American tennis player
• 1979 – Senna Guemmour, German singer-songwriter
• 1979 – Bill Hall, American baseball player
• 1979 – Noomi Rapace, Swedish actress
• 1980 – Lomana LuaLua, Congolese footballer
• 1980 – Ryta Turava, Belarusian race walker
• 1981 – Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
• 1981 – Elizabeth Jordan Carr, American journalist
• 1981 – Sienna Miller, American-British actress and fashion designer
• 1981 – Narsha, South Korean singer and dancer
• 1981 – Frank Turner, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1981 – Mika Väyrynen, Finnish footballer
• 1982 – Cedric Benson, American football player
• 1982 – François Gourmet, Belgian decathlete
• 1982 – Ferry Rotinsulu, Indonesian footballer
• 1982 – Curtis Glencross, Canadian hockey player
• 1984 – Martin Kaymer, German golfer
• 1984 – Leroy Lita, English footballer
• 1984 – Alex Lloyd, English race car driver
• 1984 – Duane Solomon, American runner
• 1985 – Kamani Hill, American soccer player
• 1986 – Tom Huddlestone, English footballer
• 1987 – Matthias Schwarz, German footballer
• 1989 – Salvador Sobral, Portuguese singer and Eurovision winner
• 1990 – Ayele Abshero, Ethiopian runner
• 1990 – Bastiaan Lijesen, Dutch swimmer
• 1990 – David Archuleta, American singer-songwriter
• 1994 – Adam Peaty, English swimmer

Deaths[edit]

• 925 – Wang Zongbi, general of the Chinese state of Former Shu
• 1218 – Robert II, Count of Dreux (b. 1154)
• 1297 – Hugh Aycelin, French cardinal (b. 1230)
• 1326 – Sir David II Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl, Constable of Scotland, and Chief Warden of Northumberland
• 1367 – Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (b. 1330)
• 1394 – Maria Angelina Doukaina Palaiologina, queen of Epirus (b. 1350)
• 1446 – Antipope Clement VIII (b. 1369)
• 1491 – Bertoldo di Giovanni, Italian sculptor (b. c. 1435)
• 1503 – Piero the Unfortunate, Italian ruler (b. 1471)
• 1547 – Konrad Peutinger, German humanist and antiquarian (b. 1465)
• 1558 – Hermann Finck, German organist and composer (b. 1527)
• 1622 – Francis de Sales, French bishop and saint (b. 1567)
• 1663 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (b. 1618)
• 1671 – Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German scholar and critic (b. 1611)
• 1694 – Mary II of England (b. 1662)
• 1703 – Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1664)
• 1706 – Pierre Bayle, French philosopher and author (b. 1647)
• 1708 – Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, French botanist and mycologist (b. 1656)
• 1715 – William Carstares, Scottish minister and academic (b. 1649)
• 1734 – Rob Roy MacGregor, Scottish outlaw (b. 1671)
• 1736 – Antonio Caldara, Italian composer (b. 1670)
• 1785 – Peter Ernst Wilde, Polish-Estonian physician and journalist (b. 1732)
• 1795 – Eugenio Espejo, Ecuadorian physician and lawyer (b. 1747)
• 1859 – Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, English historian and politician, Secretary at War (b. 1800)
• 1872 – James Van Ness, American lawyer and politician, 7th Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1808)
• 1890 – Dennis Miller Bunker, American painter (b. 1861)
• 1897 – William Corby, American priest and academic (b. 1833)
• 1900 – Alexandre de Serpa Pinto, Portuguese soldier and explorer (b. 1846)
• 1913 – Ahmet Mithat Efendi, Turkish journalist and translator (b. 1844)
• 1916 – Eduard Strauss, Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1835)
• 1917 – Alfred Edwin McKay, Canadian captain and pilot (b. 1892)
• 1918 – Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet and journalist (b. 1865)
• 1919 – Johannes Rydberg, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1854)
• 1924 – Léon Bakst, Russian painter and costume designer (b. 1866)
• 1932 – Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)
• 1935 – Clarence Day, American author and illustrator (b. 1874)
• 1937 – Maurice Ravel, French pianist and composer (b. 1875)
• 1938 – Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (b. 1886)
• 1942 – Alfred Flatow, German gymnast (b. 1869)
• 1943 – Steve Evans, American baseball player (b. 1885)
• 1945 – Theodore Dreiser, American novelist and journalist (b. 1871)
• 1946 – Elie Nadelman, Polish-American sculptor (b. 1882)
• 1947 – Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (b. 1869)
• 1949 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand runner and soldier (b. 1910)
• 1959 – Ante Pavelić, Croatian war criminal, Holocaust/Porajmos perpetrator; Prime Minister of the Independent State of Croatia (b. 1889)
• 1960 – Philippe Panneton, Canadian physician, academic, and diplomat (b. 1895)
• 1963 – Paul Hindemith, German violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1895)
• 1967 – Katharine McCormick, American biologist and philanthropist (b. 1875)
• 1968 – David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier (b. 1893)
• 1971 – Max Steiner, Austrian-American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1888)
• 1976 – Katharine Byron, American politician (b. 1903)
• 1981 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
• 1983 – William Demarest, American actor (b. 1892)
• 1983 – Dennis Wilson, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (b. 1944)
• 1984 – Sam Peckinpah, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
• 1984 – Mary Stewart, Baroness Stewart of Alvechurch, British politician and educator (b. 1903)
• 1986 – John D. MacDonald, American colonel and author (b. 1916)
• 1986 – Jan Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (b. 1922)
• 1989 – Hermann Oberth, Romanian-German physicist and engineer (b. 1894)
• 1990 – Warren Skaaren, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1946)
• 1992 – Sal Maglie, American baseball player and coach (b. 1917)
• 1993 – William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (b. 1904)
• 1994 – Jean-Louis Lévesque, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1911)
• 1999 – Clayton Moore, American actor (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Samuel Abraham Goldblith, American lieutenant, biologist, and engineer (b. 1919)
• 2001 – William X. Kienzle, American priest and author (b. 1928)
• 2003 – Benjamin Thurman Hacker, American admiral (b. 1935)
• 2004 – Jerry Orbach, American actor and singer (b. 1935)
• 2004 – Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, critic, and playwright (b. 1933)
• 2006 – Jamal Karimi-Rad, Iranian politician, Iranian Minister of Justice (b. 1956)
• 2008 – Irene Lieblich, Polish-American painter and illustrator (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Jimmy Sullivan, American musician, composer and songwriter. Known by his stage name The Rev (b. 1981)
• 2010 – Billy Taylor, American pianist and composer (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Nicholas Ambraseys, Greek-English seismologist and engineer (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Mark Crispin, American computer scientist and academic, designed the IMAP (b. 1956)
• 2012 – Václav Drobný, Czech footballer (b. 1980)
• 2012 – Frankie Walsh, Irish hurler and manager (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Halton Arp, American-German astronomer and critic (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Esther Borja, Cuban soprano and actress (b. 1913)
• 2013 – Harry C. Goode Jr., American soldier and politician, 51st Mayor of Melbourne, Florida (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Andrew Jacobs, Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Joseph Ruskin, American actor and producer (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Ilya Tsymbalar, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (b. 1969)
• 2014 – Vahan Hovhannisyan, Armenian politician (b. 1956)
• 2014 – Frankie Randall, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2014 – Leelah Alcorn, American transgender teenager (b. 1997)
• 2015 – John Bradbury, English drummer and songwriter (b. 1953)
• 2015 – Eloy Inos, Mariana Islander businessman and politician, 8th Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands (b. 1949)
• 2015 – Lemmy, English musician, singer, and songwriter (b. 1945)
• 2016 – Debbie Reynolds, American actress, singer and dancer (b. 1932)
• 2016 – Jean-Christophe Victor, French political scientist (b. 1947)