December 25

Christmas Day

 

Birthdays:

 

1978 ~ Jeremy Strong, American actor.  He is best known for his role as Kendall Roy on the television drama Succession. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

1976 ~ Sheila Heti, Canadian writer.  She was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

 

1973 ~ Alexandre Trudeau (né Alexandre Emmanuel Trudeau), Canadian journalist and brother of Canadian Prime Minister of Justin Trudeau.  He is the son of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Trudeau.  He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

 

1971 ~ Justin Trudeau (né Justin Pierre James Trudeau), Canadian Prime Minister and son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Trudeau.  He assumed the Office of Prime Minister in November 2015.  He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

 

1959 ~ Michael P. Anderson (né Michael Phillip Anderson; d. Feb. 1, 2003), African-American astronaut who perished in the Columbia shuttle explosion.  He was born in Plattsburgh, New York.  He was 43 at the time of his death.

 

1954 ~ Annie Lennox (née Ann Lennox), Scottish singer.  She was born in Aberdeen, Scotland.

 

1950 ~ Karl Rove (né Karl Christian Rove), American presidential advisor to President George W. Bush.  He was born in Denver, Colorado.

 

1949 ~ Sissy Spacek (née Mary Elizabeth Spacek), American actress.  She was born in Quitman, Texas.

 

1947 ~ Bruce Wasserstein (né Bruce Jay Wasserstein; d. Oct. 14, 2009), American investment banker whose deals made for high drama.  He was born and died in New York, New York.  He died at age 61.

 

1946 ~ Jimmy Buffett (né James William Buffett), American singer and songwriter.  He was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

 

1945 ~ Ken Stabler (né Kenneth Michael Stabler, d. July 8, 2015), American football and one of the National Football League’s most successful quarterback.  He partied as hard as he threw.  Following his career as a football player, he became a sportscaster.  He was born in Foley, Alabama and died in Gulfport, Mississippi.  He died of colon cancer at age 69.

 

1936 ~ Ismail Merchant (d. May 25, 2005), Indian-born film producer who helped create stylish period dramas.  He was born in Mumbai, India.  He died following surgery at age 68 in London, England.

 

1936 ~ Princess Alexandra of Kent.  After her marriage to Angus Ogilvy, she became known as the Honorable Lady Ogilvy.  She is of the House of Windsor.  She is the daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.  She is a first cousin to Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain and a first cousin once removed to Prince Philip.

 

1935 ~ Michael McKinnell (né Noel Michael McKinnell; d. Mar. 27, 2020), British-born American architect.  He co-designed Boston City Hall, which helped spur the City’s urban revival in the late 1960s.  He was born in Salford, England.  He died of Covid-19 at age 84 in Beverly, Massachusetts.

 

1935 ~ Anne Roiphe, American author, and feminist.  She is best known for her novel Up the Sandbox.  She was born in New York, New York.

 

1928 ~ Barbara Costikyan (née Barbara Virginia Fatt; d. June 18, 2020), American food critic for New York magazine.  She wrote about the city’s low-budget, high-quality restaurants and offered advice on how to troubleshoot kitchen problems, such as if your oven breaks on the day of a party.  She was born and died in New York, New York.  She died of Covid-19 at age 91.

 

1924 ~ Rod Serling (né Rodman Edward Serling, d. June 28, 1975), American television producer and author.  He is best known for hosting The Twilight Zone.  He was born in Syracuse, New York.  He died at age 50 following heart surgery in Rochester, New York.

 

1918 ~ Anwar el-Sadat (né Mohamed Anwar el-Sadat; d. Oct. 6, 1981), President of Egypt from 1970 until his assassination.  He was the recipient of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.  He was assassinated at age 62 by Islamic extremist in Cairo, Egypt.

 

1911 ~ Louise Bourgeois (née Louise Joséphine Bourgeois; d. May 31, 2010), French artist, sculptor and painter.  She was born in Paris, France.  She died at age 98 in New York, New York.

 

1908 ~ Quentin Crisp (né Denis Charles Pratt; d. Nov. 21, 1999), English author.  He died about a month before his 91^stbirthday in Manchester, England.

 

1907 ~ Cab Calloway (né Cabell Calloway, III; d. Nov. 18, 1994), African-American Jazz singer and bandleader.  He was born in Rochester, New York.  He died about a month after his 86^th birthday in Hockessin, Delaware.

 

1906 ~ Ernst Ruska (né Ernst August Friedrich Ruska; d. May 27, 1988), German physicist and recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in electron optics.  He died at age 81 in West Berlin, Germany.

 

1906 ~ Clark Clifford (né Clark McAdams Clifford; d. Oct. 10, 1998), 9^th United States Secretary of Defense.  He served in the Lyndon Johnson administration from February 1968 until January 1969.  He had previously served as White House Counsel during the Truman administration from February 1946 until January 1950.  He was born in Fort Scott, Kansas.  He died at age 91 in Bethesda, Maryland.

 

1904 ~ Gerhard Herzberg (né Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg; d. Mar. 3, 1999), German-born Canadian physicist and chemist.  He was the recipient of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the knowledge of electron structure and geometry of molecules, especially free radicals.  He died at age 94 in Ottawa, Ontario Canada.

 

1901 ~ Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (née Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott; d. Oct. 29, 2004), British wife of Prince Henry, third son of George V, King of the United Kingdom and Mary, Queen consort.  She was an aunt by marriage to Queen Elizabeth II.  She was of the House of Montagu Douglas Scott.  She was the daughter of John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7^th Duke of Buccleuch and Lady Margaret Bridgeman.  She was born and died in London, England.  She died at age 102.

 

1899 ~ Humphrey Bogart (né Humphrey DeForest Bogart; d. Jan. 14, 1957), American actor.  His fourth wife was actress Lauren Bacall.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of esophageal cancer 20 days after his 57^th birthday in Los Angeles, California.

 

1890 ~ Robert Ripley (né LeRoy Robert Ripley; d. May 27, 1949) American cartoonist and collector of odd facts.  He founded the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! newspaper.  He was born in Santa Rosa, California.  He died of a heart attack at age 58 in New York, New York.

 

1889 ~ Lila Bell Wallace (née Lila Bell Acheson; d. May 8, 1984), Canadian-born American magazine publisher.  She co-founded Reader’s Digest with her husband, DeWitt Wallace.  She was born in Virden, Manitoba, Canada.  She died at age 94 of heart failure in Mount Kisco, New York.

 

1887 ~ Conrad Hilton, Sr. (né Conrad Nicholson Hilton; d. Jan. 3, 1979), American hotelier and founder of the Hilton Hotels.  He was born in San Antonio, New Mexico Territory.  He died 9 days after his 91^st birthday in Santa Monica, California.

 

1884 ~ Evelyn Nesbit (née Florence Evelyn Nesbit; d. Jan. 17, 1967), American actress.  She is best known for her relationship with the much older architect, Stanford White.  In 1906, her jealous husband, Harry Kendall Thaw, murdered White.  She was born in Natrona, Pennsylvania.  She died in Santa Monica, California 23 days after her 82^nd birthday.

 

1878 ~ Louis Chevrolet (né Louis-Joseph Chevrolet; b. June 6, 1941), Swiss-born American racecar driver and co-founder of the Chevrolet Car Company.  He was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.  He died at age 62 as a result of complications from leg surgery in Detroit, Michigan.

 

1876 ~ Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus (d. June 9, 1959), German chemist and recipient of the 1928 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on sterols and their relation to vitamins.  He was born in Berlin, Germany.  He died at age 82 in Göttingen, Germany.

 

1870 ~ Helena Rubinstein (née Chaja Rubinstein; d. Apr. 1, 1965), Polish-American businesswoman and cosmetics manufacturer.  She founded the Helena Rubinstein Cosmetics, Inc.  She was born in Kraków, Poland.  She died at age 94 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1821 ~ Clara Barton (née Clarissa Harlowe Barton; d. Apr. 12, 1912), American nurse and founder of the American Red Cross.   She was known as the “Angel of the Battlefield”.  She was born in North Oxford, Massachusetts.  She died at age 90 in Glen Echo, Maryland.

 

1757 ~ Benjamin Pierce (d. Apr. 1, 1839), 11^th Governor of New Hampshire.  He was Governor for 1 year, from June 1827 through June 1828.  He was the father of President Franklin Pierce.  He was born in Chelmsford, Massachusetts Bay Province.  He died at age 81 in Hillsborough, New Hampshire.

 

1717 ~ Pope Pius VI (né Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi; d. Aug. 29, 1799).  He reigned as Pope from February 15, 1775 until his death on this date 24 years later.  He succeeded Pope Clement XIV and was followed by Pope Pius VII.  He was 81 years old at the time of his death.

 

1584 ~ Margaret of Austria (d. Oct. 3, 1611), Queen consort of Spain and wife of Philip III, King of Spain.  They married in 1599.  She was of the House of Habsburg.  She was the daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria.  She died in childbirth at age 26.  Her husband never remarried.

 

1461 ~ Christina of Saxony (d. Dec. 8, 1521), Queen consort of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and wife of John, King of Denmark.  She was of the House of Witten.  She was the daughter of Ernst, Elector of Saxony and Elisabeth of Bavaria. She died 17 days before her 60^th birthday.

 

1424 ~ Margaret Stewart (d. Aug. 16, 1445), Dauphine of France and first wife of Louis, Dauphin of France.  They married when she was 11 years old.  He later became Louis XI, King of France, but Margaret died before he became king, thus was never the queen consort.  She was of the House of Stewart.  She was the daughter of James I, King of Scotland and Joan Beaufort.  She died at age 20 of an apparent fever.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2020 ~ A bomb exploded in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.  A lone individual detonated a bomb in his vehicle, killing himself and injuring several others.  He was the only fatality.

 

1991 ~ The Soviet Union was dissolved after Mikhail Gorbachev (1931 ~ 2022) resigned as President of the Soviet Union.  The Ukraine’s referendum was finalized, and the Ukraine officially left the Soviet Union.

 

1989 ~ Former Romanian President Nicolae Ceauşescu (1918 ~ 1989) and his wife, Elena (1916 ~ 1989), the former First-Deputy Prime Minister, were executed after a summary trial for crimes against humanity.

 

1977 ~ Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Began (1913 ~ 1992) met with Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat (1918 ~ 1981), in Egypt to discuss peace negotiations.

 

1962 ~ The movie To Kill a Mockingbird opened in theaters.

 

1941 ~ Admiral Chester Nimitz (1885 ~ 1966) took command of the United States Pacific Fleet after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

1932 ~ A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Gansu, China, killing 275 people.

 

1926 ~ Prince Hirohito (1901 ~ 1989) succeeded his father, Taishō (1879 ~ 1926), as emperor of Japan.

 

1914 ~ A series of unofficial truces began on the Western Front during World War I so the soldiers on both sides celebrated Christmas together.

 

1868 ~ President Andrew Johnson (1808 ~ 1875) granted unconditional pardons to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.

 

1809 ~ Dr. Ephraim McDowell (1777 ~ 1820) performed the first known successful ovariotomy when he removed a 22-pound tumor from his patient.  He is considered the Father of Abdominal Surgery.

 

1776 ~ George Washington (1732 ~ 1799) and his men crossed the Delaware River to Trenton, New Jersey in the American Revolutionary War to attack the Hessian mercenaries.

 

1643 ~ William Mynors, captain of the East India Company ship, the Royal Mary, found and named Christmas Island.  A few years later, in 1777, James Cook would visit the island on Christmas Eve.

 

1130 ~ Count Roger II of Sicily (1095 ~ 1154) was crowned the first king of Sicily.

 

1066 ~ William the Conqueror (1028 ~ 1087) was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey in London.

 

1046 ~ Pope Clement II (d. 1047) crowned Henry III (1016 ~ 1056) as the Holy Roman Emperor.

 

1000 ~ Stephen I, King of Hungary (975 ~ 1038) established Hungary as a Christian kingdom.

 

800 ~ Charlemagne (c. 742 ~ 814) was crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor.

 

508 ~ Clovis I (466 ~ 511), King of the Franks, was baptized as a Catholic at Rheims.

 

336 ~ The first documented evidence of a Christmas celebration in Rome, Italy.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2020 ~ Klara Kasparova (née Klara Shagenovna Kasparova; b. Mar. 19, 1937), Soviet engineer who gave up her successful career to become a full-time mentor and de facto manager to her chess prodigy son, Garry Kasparov.  She was born in Baku, Azerbaijan.  She died in Moscow, Russia at age 83 of complications of Covid-19.

 

2020 ~ K.C. Jones (n. May 25, 1932), African-American professional basketball player and coach.  He had a long career coaching the Boston Celtics.  He was born in Taylor, Texas.  He died at age 88 in Connecticut’

 

2016 ~ George Michael (né Georgio Kyraicos Panayiotou; b. June 25, 1963), British singer-songwriter.  He died at age 53.

 

2016 ~ Vera Rubin (née Vera Florence Cooper; b. July 23, 1928), American astronomer.  She was a pioneer in galaxy rotation.  She died at age 88.

 

2014 ~ Mary F. Lyon (née Mary Frances Lyon; b. May 15, 1925), British geneticist best known for her discovery of X-chromosome inactivation.  She died at age 89.

 

2009 ~ Knut Haugland (né Knut Magne Haugland; b. Sept. 23, 1917), Norwegian commando and resistance fighter during World War II who sailed on Kon-Tiki.  He was born in Rjukan, Norway.  He died at age 92 in Oslo, Norway.

 

2008 ~ Eartha Kitt (née Eartha Mae Keith; b. Jan. 17, 1927), American singer and actress.  She was born in South Carolina.  She died 23 days before her 82^nd birthday in Westport, Connecticut.

 

2006 ~ James Brown (né James Joseph Brown; b. May 3, 1933), American singer-songwriter.  He was known as the Godfather of Soul.  He died of congestive heart failure at age 73.

 

1996 ~ JonBenét Ramsey (b. Aug. 6, 1990), American child beauty queen and murder victim.  She was born in Atlanta, Georgia.  She died in Boulder, Colorado.  She was 6 years old.

 

1995 ~ Dean Martin (né Dino Paul Crocetti; b. June 7, 1917), American singer and actor.  He was 78 years old.

 

1995 ~ Emmanuel Levinas (b. Jan. 12, 1906), French philosopher.  He was born in Kovno, Russian Empire (currently Kaunas, Lithuania).  He died 19 days after his 89^th birthday in Paris France.

 

1989 ~ Billy Martin (né Alfred Manuel Pesano, Jr.; b. May 16, 1928), American baseball player and manager of the New York Yankees.  He was killed on Christmas day in a single car accident.  He was 61 years old.

 

1989 ~ Nicolae Ceauşescu (b. Jan. 26, 1918), 11^th Romanian president and husband of Elena Ceauşescu.  He was executed for crimes against humanity after a brief summary trial.  He was executed a month before his 72^nd birthday.

 

1989 ~ Elena Ceauşescu (née Lenuţa Petrescu; b. Jan. 7, 1916), Romanian politician and wife of former Romanian president, Nicolae Ceauşescu, who was executed for her crimes against humanity.  She died 13 days before her 74^thbirthday.

 

1983 ~ Joan Miró (b. Apr. 20, 1893), Spanish painter.  He died at age 90.

 

1977 ~ Sir Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin (b. Apr. 16, 1889), English film star.  He died at age 88.

 

1975 ~ Gunnar Kangro (b. Nov. 21, 1913), Estonian mathematician.  He died just over a month after his 62^nd birthday.

 

1966 ~ St. Elmo Brady (b. Dec. 22, 1884), African-American chemist.  He was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry.  He was born in Louisville, Kentucky.  He died 3 days after his 82^nd birthday in Washington, D.C.

 

1961 ~ Reinhold Rudenberg (b. Feb. 4, 1883), German inventor and pioneer of electron microscopy.  He was born in Hanover, Germany.  He died at age 78 in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

1961 ~ Otto Loewi (b. June 3, 1873), German pharmacologist and recipient of the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of how acetylcholine helped enhance medical therapy.  He was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but immigrated to the United States.  He died at age 88.

 

1961 ~ Owen Brewster (né Ralph Owen Brewster; b. Feb. 22, 1888), 54^th Governor of Maine.  He served as governor from 1925 to 1929.  He died of cancer at age 73.

 

1954 ~ Liberty Hyde Bailey (b. Mar. 15, 1858), American botanist and horticulturist.  He was the co-founder of the American Society for Horticultural Science.  He is also credited as being instrumental in the formation of the 4-H club for children.  He was born in South Haven, Michigan.  He died in Ithaca, New York at age 96.

 

1946 ~ W.C. Fields (né William Claude Dunkenfield; b. Jan. 29, 1880), American comedian, actor and writer, best known for his comic persona as a misanthropic egotist.  He died just over a month before his 67^th birthday.

 

1938 ~ Karel Čapek (b. Jan. 9, 1890), Czech author best known for coining the term Robot.  He died of pneumonia 15 days before his 49^th birthday in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

 

1926 ~ Emperor Taishō (b. Aug. 31, 1870), Emperor of Japan.  He died of a heart attack at age 47.

 

1868 ~ Linus Yale, Jr. (b. Apr. 4, 1821), American mechanical engineer and inventor, best known for his invention of the cylinder locks.  He was the founder of the Yale Lock Company.  He died of a heart attack at age 47.

 

1635 ~ Samuel de Champlain (b. 1567), French explorer.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but baptismal records show he was baptized on August 13, 1574.  He died at age 61.

 

1553 ~ Pedro de Valdiva (b. Apr. 17, 1497), Spanish-Chilean explorer and 1^st Royal Governor of Chile.  He was captured and killed in a campaign against the Araucanian Indians.  The city of Valdivia, Chile is named in his honor.  He was 56 at the time of his death.

 

1406 ~ Henry III, King of Castile and León (b. Oct. 4, 1379).  He reigned from October 9, 1390 until his death at age 27 in 1406.  He was known as Henry the Mourner and Henry the Sufferer due to his history of ill health.  He was married to Catherine of Lancaster.  He was of the House of Trastámara.  He was the son of John I, King of Castile and Eleanor of Aragon.  He died at age 27.

 

795 ~ Pope Adrian I (b. 700).  He was Pope from February 772 until his death on this date 23 years later.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been 95 at the time of his death.

December 24

Christmas Eve

 

Birthdays:

 

1971 ~ Ricky Martin (né Enrique Martin Morales), Puerto Rican singer.  He is considered the King of Latin Pop.  He holds both American and Spanish citizenship.  He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

1962 ~ Kate Spade (née Katherine Noel Frances Brosnahan; d. June 5, 2018), American fashion designer who built a handbag empire.  She was best known for her designer handbags.  She was born in Kansas City, Missouri.  She died at age 55 of an apparent suicide in New York, New York.

 

1958 ~ Michael Flynn (né Michael Thomas Flynn), American retired lieutenant general in the United States Army.  He served as the 24^th United States National Security Advisor for 22 days, from January 22 until February 13, 2017 during the Trump administration.  He was forced to resign his position amid a growing Russia scandal.  In December 2016, prior to Trump’s inauguration, he made several phone calls to the Russian ambassador indicating that Trump would reverse the sanctions placed on Russia by the Obama administration.  Flynn later denied making the phone calls.

 

1957 ~ Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan.  He served as President from December 2001 until September 2014.  He was born in Karz, Afghanistan.

 

1955 ~ Scott Fischer (né Scott Eugene Fischer; d. May 11, 1996), American mountaineer and guide.  He was best known for his ascents of the world’s highest mountains.  In 1996, he was leading a group of hikers up Mt. Everest when a sudden blizzard arose.  He did not survive the storm.  He was the subject of the book, Into Thin Air: Death on Everest.  He was born in Muskegon, Michigan.  He was 40 at the time of his death.

 

1946 ~ Jeff Sessions (né Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III), American politician and 84^th United States Attorney General.  He assumed that Office in February 2017 and served during the Trump administration until he was forced to resign in November 2018.  Prior to becoming Attorney General, he served as a United States Senator from Alabama.  He also served as a United States Senator from January 1997 until February 2017.  In 1986, the Senate Judiciary Committee blocked Sessions from becoming a United States attorney on the grounds that he was too racist to become a federal judge.  He was born in Selma, Alabama.

 

1945 ~ Lemmy Kilmister (né Ian Fraser Kilmister; d. Dec. 28, 2015), English musician.  He was the founder and lead singer of the rockband Motörhead.  He died 4 days after his 70^th birthday of prostate cancer and congestive heart failure.

 

1940 ~ Anthony Fauci (né Anthony Stephen Fauci), American physician immunologist.  He is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  He was the face of reason in the United States during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1930 ~ Robert Joffrey (né Abdullah Jaffa Bey Khan, d. Mar. 25, 1988), American choreographer and founder of the Joffrey Ballet.  He was born in Seattle, Washington.  He died of AIDS at age 57 in New York, New York.

 

1929 ~ Frank Tyger (d. May 2, 2011), American cartoonist.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died of Parkinson’s Disease at age 81.

 

1928 ~ Manfred Rommel (d. Nov. 7, 2013), German politician and Wehrmacht general’s son who made amends.  His father was Field Marshall Erwin Rommel.  He was born and died in Stuttgart, Germany.  He died at age 84.

 

1927 ~ Mary Higgins Clark (née Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins; d. Jan. 31, 2020), American suspense writer who pumped out best sellers.  She began writing after her husband died in 1964 and she had to support her young family.  She was born in the Bronx, New York.  She died about a month after her 92^nd birthday in Naples, Florida.

 

1925 ~ Yafa Yakoni (d. Jan. 1, 2012), Israeli singer.  She died in Tel Aviv, Israel 8 days after her 86^th birthday.

 

1923 ~ General George Patton, IV (né George Smith Patton, IV; d. June 27, 2004), American general.  He served in Korea and Vietnam.  He was the son of World War II General George S. Patton, Jr.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in South Hamilton, Massachusetts.  He died at age 80.

 

1922 ~ Ava Gardner (née Ava Lavinia Gardner; d. Jan. 25, 1990), American actress.  She was married to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra.  She was born in Grabtown, North Carolina.  She died of pneumonia a month after her 67^thbirthday in London, England.

 

1921 ~ Bill Dudley (né William McGarvey Dudley; d. Feb. 4, 2010), American NFL halfback who was known as “Bullet Bill.”  He was born in Bluefield, Virginia.  He died at age 88 in Lynchburg, Virginia.

 

1910 ~ Max Mideinger (d. Mar. 8, 1980), Swiss typeface designer best known for creating the Helvetica typeface in 1957.  He was born and died in Zurich, Switzerland.  He died at age 69.

 

1907 ~ I.F. Stone, (né Isidor Feinstein Stone; d. June 18, 1989), American investigative journalist and writer.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died of myocardial infarction at age 81 in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

1905 ~ Howard Hughes (né Howard Robard Hughes, Jr.; d. Apr. 5, 1976), American hermit and aviator.  He was born in Humble, Texas.  He died in Houston, Texas of kidney failure at age 70.

 

1903 ~ Ava Pauling (né Ava Helen Miller; d. Dec. 7, 1981), American humanitarian and social activist.  She was also the wife of scientist Linus Pauling.  She was born in Beavercreek, Oregon.  She died 17 days before her 78^th birthday in Portola Valley, California following a long battle with stomach cancer.

 

1880 ~ Johnny Gruelle (né John Barton Gruelle; d. Jan. 9, 1938), American cartoonist, children’s author and creator of the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls.  He was born in Arcola, Illinois.  He died 15 days after his 57^th birthday of a heart attack in Miami Springs, Florida.

 

1879 ~ Alexandrine, of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. Dec. 28, 1952), Queen consort of Denmark and Iceland and wife of King Christian X.  She was of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.  She was the daughter of Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Meckleburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia.  She died 4 days after her 73^rdbirthday.

 

1868 ~ Emanuel Lasker (d. Jan. 11, 1941), German mathematician.  He was the World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 until 1921.  He died of a kidney infection 17 days after his 72^nd birthday in New York, New York.

 

1845 ~ George I, King of Greece (d. Mar. 18, 1913).  He was King of Greece from March 1963 until his assassination 50 years later.  He was married to Olga Constantinovna of Russia.  He was of the House of Glücksburg.  He was the son of Christian IX, King of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel.  He was killed at age 67.

 

1837 ~ Elizabeth of Austria (d. Sept. 10, 1898), Empress consort and wife of Franz Joseph I of Austria.  Before she married, she was known as Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria.  She was of the House of Wittelsbach.  She was the daughter of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria.  She was assassinated at age 60 in Geneva, Switzerland.  Her life story is told in the historical novel, Sisi: Empress on Her Own, by Allison Pataki.

 

1822 ~ Matthew Arnold (d. Apr. 15, 1888), British poet and social and religious critic.  He died at age 65.

 

1822 ~ Charles Hermite (d. Jan. 14, 1901), French mathematician who studied number theory.  He was born in Dieuze, France.  He died 3 weeks after his 78^th birthday in Paris, France.

 

1818 ~ James Joule (né James Prescott Joule; d. Oct. 11, 1889), British physicist, mathematician, and brewer.  He is best known for studying law of conservation of energy and the first law of thermodynamics.  He died at age 70.

 

1809 ~ Kit Carson (né Christopher Houston Carson; d. May 23, 1868), American general, frontiersman, scout, and Indian agent.  He was born in Richmond, Kentucky.  He died at age 58 in Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory.

 

1804 ~ Charles M. Conrad (né Charles Magill Conrad; d. Feb. 11, 1878), politician and United States Senator from Louisiana.  He was a senator from April 1842 until 1843.  He served as the 22^nd United States Secretary of War under Presidents Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce from August 1850 until March 1853.  After Louisiana seceded from the Union, he served a member of the Confederate Congress.  He was born in Winchester, Virginia.  He died in New Orleans, Louisiana at age 73.

 

1747 ~ William Paterson (d. Sept. 9, 1806), Irish-born American Associate Justice of the United State.  He was nominated to the Supreme Court by President George Washington.  He served on the High Court from March 1793 until his death at age 60 on this date 13 years later.  He replaced Thomas Johnson on the Court and was succeeded by Henry Livingston.  Prior to serving on the Supreme Court, he served as the 2^nd Governor of New Jersey, from October 1790 until March 1793.  The town of Paterson, New Jersey is named in his honor.  He died in Albany, New York.

 

1634 ~ Mariana of Austria (d. May 16, 1696), Queen consort of Spain and second wife of Philip IV, King of Spain.  She was of the House of Habsburg.  She was the daughter of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Anna of Spain.  She died at age 61.

 

1597 ~ Honoré II, Prince of Monaco (d. Jan. 10, 1662).  He was the first to be called the Prince of Monaco.  He was married to Ippolita Trivulzio.  He was of the House of Grimaldi.  He was the son of Hercule, Lord of Monaco and Marina Landi.  He died 16 days after his 64^th birthday.  He was succeeded by his grandson, Louis I, Prince of Monaco.

 

1588 ~ Constance of Austria (d. July 10, 1631), Queen consort of Poland and second wife of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland.  She was of the House of Habsburg.  She was the daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria.  She died at age 42.

 

1166 ~ John I, King of England (d. Oct. 19, 1216).  He was also known as John Lackland.  He was the youngest of five sons of Henry II, King of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.  He was never expected to become king, however, his brothers all died, so he ascended to the throne.  He is best known for his association with the Magna Carta.  He was married to Isabella, Countess of Gloucester, but their marriage was annulled before he ascended to the throne.  He then married Isabella, Countess of Angoulême.  He was of the House of Plantagenet/Angevin.  He was the son of Henry II, King of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.  He was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Henry, who would become King Henry III.  John died at age 49.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2016 ~ Chanakah began at sunset.

 

1979 ~ The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

 

1973 ~ The residents of Washington, D.C., were finally granted the legal authority to elect their own local government, following the passage of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act.

 

1968 ~ Apollo 8 became the first manned crew to orbit the Moon.  The crew was comprised of Frank Borman (b. 1928), James Lovell (b. 1928), and William Anders (b. 1933).

 

1955 ~ The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) began the annual tradition of tracking Santa Claus.

 

1951 ~ Libya gained its independence from Italy.  Idris I (1889 ~ 1983) was named King.  He reigned until 1969, when Colonel Mu’ammar Muhammad al-Qadhafi (1942 ~ 2011) led a revolution.  Qadhafi became the head of the Libyan government until he was ousted and killed in 2011.

 

1945 ~ A fire destroyed the home of George Sodder in Fayetteville, West Virginia.  George, his wife and four of their children escaped the fire.  The other five children who were in the house at the time of the fire disappeared and their bodies have never been found.

 

1943 ~ General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 ~ 1969) became the Supreme Allied Commander during World War II.

 

1923 ~ President Calvin Coolidge (1872 ~ 1933) lit the first National Christmas tree.

 

1914 ~ The World War I Christmas truce began.  It was a series of unofficial ceasefires that occurred along the Western Front.  British and German soldiers began to exchange Christmas greetings on occasionally entered into the “no-man’s land” to mingle, to exchange food and tokes and sing Christmas songs.

 

1906 ~ Reginald Fessenden (1866 ~ 1932), a radio pioneer, transmitted the first radio broadcast.  It consisted of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.

 

1871 ~ Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Aida, was first performed.  The premiere of the opera took place in Cairo, Egypt.

 

1865 ~ The Ku Klux Klan was formed.

 

1851 ~ The United States Library of Congress burned.  Nearly two-thirds of the volumes stored in the library were destroyed, including most of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library that had been sold to the Library in 1815

 

1826 ~ Cadets at the United States Military Academy became involved in the Eggnog Riot.  A few days prior to the incident, a large quantity of whiskey had been smuggled into the academy to make eggnog for the Christmas party. Things got out of hand, and the drunken cadets began a riot.  Following an investigation, several of the cadets were court-martialed.

 

1818 ~ The first performance of Silent Night was held at St. Nikolaus Church in Oberndorf, Austria.

 

1814 ~ The Treaty of Ghent was signed by the United States and the United Kingdom, thereby ending the War of 1812.

 

1777 ~ James Cook (1728 ~ 1779) visited Kiritimati, also known as Christmas Island.  A few years earlier, William Mynors discovered the island on Christmas Day, hence its name.

 

1294 ~ Pope Boniface VIII (1230 ~ 1303) was elected Pope, replacing Pope Celestine V (1215 ~ 1296), who had resigned after serving only a few months.  He was succeeded by Pope Benedict XI (1240 ~ 1304).

 

640 ~ Pope John IV (d. 642) was elected Pope after a 4-month vacancy.  He was head of the Catholic Church for just under 2 years.  He succeeded Pope Severinus (d. 640) and was followed by Pope Theodore I (d. 649).

 

Good-byes:

 

2016 ~ Richard Adams (né Richard George Adams; b. May 9, 1920), British author best known for his novel Watership Down.  He died at age 96.

 

2012 ~ Charles Durning (né Charles Edward Durning; b. Feb. 28, 1923), American actor.  He died at age 89.

 

2012 ~ Jack Klugman (né Jacob Joachim Klugman; b. Apr. 27, 1922), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Oscar Madison on the television sit-com, The Odd Couple.  He died at age 90.

 

2008 ~ Harold Pinter (b. Oct. 10, 1930), British playwright and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 78.

 

2008 ~ Samuel P. Huntington (né Samuel Phillips Huntington; b. Apr. 18, 1927), American scholar who predicted a class of cultures.  He was best known for arguing that religion and culture, particularly Christianity and Islam, would fuel the conflicts of the 21^st century.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died in Martha’s Vineyard at age 81.

 

1999 ~ Bill Bowerman (né William Jay Bowerman; b. Feb. 19, 1911), American sports coach and businessman.  He was a co-founder of Nike, Inc.  He died at age 88.

 

1993 ~ Norman Vincent Peale (b. May 31, 1898), American clergyman and author.  He is best known for his book, The Power of Positive Thinking.  He died at age 95.

 

1984 ~ Peter Lawford (né Peter Sydney Ernest Alyen; b. Sept. 7, 1923), English-American actor.  He was the former brother-in-law to President John F. Kennedy during his marriage to the President’s sister, Patricia.  He had married several times, but Patricia Kennety was his first wife.  He was born in London, England.  He died in Los Angeles, California at age 61 of cardiac arrest, complicated by renal and liver failure.

 

1982 ~ Louis Aragon (b. Oct. 3, 1897), French poet and leader in the French surrealist movement in France.  He died at age 85.

 

1977 ~ Juan Velasco Alvarado (b. June 16, 1910), Peruvian general, dictator and President of Peru.  He ruled Peru as the President of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces of Peru from October 1968 through August 30, 1975.  He died at age 67.

 

1972 ~ Charles Atlas (né Angelo Siciliano; b. Oct. 30, 1893), Italian-born bodybuilder.  He died at age 80.

 

1967 ~ Burt Baskin (b. Dec. 17, 1913), American entrepreneur and co-founder of the Basking and Robbins ice cream franchise.  He was born in Streator, Illinois.  He died of a heart attack 7 days after his 54^th birthday in Los Angeles, California.

 

1962 ~ Wilhelm Ackermann (né Wilhelm Friedrich Ackermann; b. Mar. 29, 1896), German mathematician.  He died at age 66.

 

1914 ~ John Muir (b. Apr. 21, 1838), Scottish-American environmentalist.  He was the founder of the Sierra Club.  He died of pneumonia at age 76.

 

1889 ~ Charles Mackay (b. Mar. 27, 1814), Scottish poet and author.  He was born in Perth, Scotland.  He died at age 85 in London, England.

 

1873 ~ Johns Hopkins (b. May 19, 1795), American businessman, abolitionist and philanthropist.  Ironically, he and his family actually owned slaves.  Johns Hopkins University was one of the beneficiaries of his will.  He died at age 78.

 

1872 ~ William John Macquorn Rankine (b. July 5, 1820), Scottish mathematician and engineer.  He died at age 52.

 

1869 ~ Edwin Stanton (né Edward McMasters Stanton; b. Dec. 19, 1814), 25^th United States Attorney General.  He served in this position under President James Buchanan.  He subsequently served as the 27^th Secretary of the Navy under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.  He was born in Steubenville, Ohio.  He died in Washington, D.C., 5 days after his 55^th birthday.

 

1863 ~ William Makepeace Thackerary (b. July 18, 1811), British author.  He is best known for his satirical novel Vanity Fair.  He died at age 52.

 

1850 ~ Frédéric Bastiat (né Claude-Frédéric Bastiat; b. June 30, 1801), French economist and diplomat.  He was born in Bayonne, France.  He died at age 49 in Rome, Italy.

 

1660 ~ Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. Nov. 4, 1631), Princess consort of Orange.  She was the wife of William II, Prince of Orange.  They married in 1660.  She was of the House of Stuart.  She was the daughter of Charles I, King of England and Henrietta Maria of France.  She was born and died in London, England.  She was Protestant.  She died of smallpox at age 29.

 

1524 ~ Vasco da Gama, 1^st Count of Vidigueira (b. 1469), Portuguese explorer.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

 

36 ~ Gongsun Shu, Chinese emperor of Chengjia.  He ruled for 12 years before dying from injuries sustained in a battle. The date of his birth is not known.