today.nukz.net: December 22

Barbara Billingsley 1915-2010

Events

69 – Emperor Vitellius is captured and murdered at the Gemonian stairs in Rome.
1573 – The Battle of Mikatagahara in Japan ends.
1769 – Sino-Burmese War (1765–1769) ends with an uneasy truce.
1790 – The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies.
1807 – The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.
1808 – Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself) and Choral Fantasy (with Beethoven at the piano).
1809 – The Non-Intercourse Act, lifting the Embargo Act except for the United Kingdom and France, is passed by the U.S. Congress.
1851 – The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.
1864 – Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman, concluding his "March to the Sea".
1885 – Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.
1890 – Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kingsport and Kentville, Nova Scotia.
1894 – The Dreyfus affair begins in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason.
1920 – The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.
1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
1939 – Indian Muslims observe a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II with Britain.
1940 – World War II: Himarë is captured by the Greek army.
1942 – World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge – German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"
1944 – World War II: The People's Army of Vietnam is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China, now Vietnam.
1947 – The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves the Constitution of Italy.
1951 – The Selangor Labour Party is founded in Selangor, Malaya.
1956 – Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity.
1963 – The cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles (290 km) north of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.
1964 – First flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird).
1965 – In the United Kingdom, a 70 mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.
1974 – Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.
1974 – The house of former British Prime Minister Ted Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
1978 – The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.
1984 – Bernhard Hugo Goetz shoots four African-American would-be muggers on an express train in Manhattan, New York City.
1988 – Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, is assassinated.
1989 – After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceausescu's Communist dictatorship.
1989 – Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
1990 – Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.
1990 – The Parliament of Croatia adopts the current Constitution of Croatia.
1992 – The Archives of Terror are discovered.
1997 – Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
1997 – Hussein Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.
1999 – Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, a Boeing 747-200F crashes shortly after take-off from London Stansted Airport due to pilot error. All 4 crew members are killed.
2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
2001 – Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
2008 – An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m³) of coal fly ash slurry.
2010 – The repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning on homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Births

244 – Diocletian, Roman Emperor (d. 311)
1095 – Roger II of Sicily, King of Sicily (d. 1154)
1178 – Emperor Antoku of Japan (d. 1185)
1546 – Kuroda Yoshitaka, Japanese Daimyo (d. 1604)
1550 – Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher (d. 1631)
1639 – Jean Racine, French dramatist (d. 1699)
1666 – Guru Gobind Singh, Sikh guru (d. 1708)
1690 – Meidingnu Pamheiba, King of Manipur (d. 1751)
1694 – Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and writer (d. 1768)
1696 – James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (d. 1785)
1723 – Carl Friedrich Abel, German composer (d. 1787)
1765 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician (d. 1825)
1805 – John Obadiah Westwood, British entomologist (d. 1893)
1807 – Johann Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet (d. 1873)
1819 – Franz Wilhelm Abt, German composer (d. 1870)
1819 – Pierre Ossian Bonnet, French mathematician (d. 1892)
1853 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan pianist (d. 1917)
1853 – Yevgraf Fyodorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1919)
1856 – Frank B. Kellogg, 45th U.S. Secretary of State, Nobel laureate (d. 1937)
1858 – Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (d. 1924)
1860 – Austin Norman Palmer, American penmanship innovator (d. 1927)
1862 – Connie Mack, American baseball executive (d. 1956)
1869 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet (d. 1935)
1869 – Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1931)
1872 – Camille Guérin, French veterinarian and bacteriologist (d. 1961)
1874 – Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (d. 1939)
1876 – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian poet and editor (d. 1944)
1883 – Edgard Varèse French-born composer (d. 1965)
1885 – Deems Taylor American conductor and music critic (d. 1966)
1885 – Abe Manley, Negro League Baseball owner (d. 1952)
1887 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (d. 1920)
1888 – Gladys Cooper, American actor d. 1971
1888 – J. Arthur Rank, British film producer (d. 1972)
1889 – Minor Watson, American actor d.1965
1892 – Herman Potocnik Noordung, Slovenian rocket engineer (d. 1929)
1898 – Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock, Russian physicist (d. 1974)
1899 – Gustav Gründgens, German actor (d. 1963)
1900 – Marc Allégret, French film director and screenwriter (d. 1973)
1901 – André Kostelanetz, American popular music orchestra leader and arranger (d. 1980)
1903 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1983)
1905 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (d. 1982)
1905 – Pierre Brasseur, French actor (d. 1972)
1907 – Dame Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (d. 1991)
1909 – Patricia Hayes, English actress (d. 1998)
1912 – Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States (d. 2007)
1912 – Elias Degiannis, Greek navy officer and Resistance fighter (d. 1943)
1914 – Swami Satchidananda, Yogi and Spiritual teacher (d. 2002)
1915 – Barbara Billingsley, American actress (d. 2010)
1917 – Gene Rayburn, American game show host (d. 1999)
1921 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American country singer (d. 1963)
1922 – Jack Brooks, American politician
1922 – Ruth Roman, American actress (d. 1999)
1924 – Frank Corsaro, American stage director
1925 – Lewis Glucksman, American financier (d. 2006)
1934 – David Pearson, American racecar driver
1936 – James Burke, British writer
1936 – Hector Elizondo, American actor
1936 – Wojciech Frykowski, Polish actor (d. 1969)
1937 – Eduard Uspensky, Russian writer
1938 – Matty Alou, Dominican baseball player
1938 – Lucien Bouchard, Quebec politician
1939 – James Gurley, American musician (d. 2009)
1940 – Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian politician (d. 2009)
1942 – Dick Parry, English musician (Pink Floyd)
1943 – Stefan Janos, Slovak-Swiss physicist
1943 – Paul Wolfowitz, American politician
1944 – Steve Carlton, American baseball player
1944 – Guido De Angelis, Italian musician
1945 – Diane Sawyer, American journalist
1946 – Rick Nielsen, American musician (Cheap Trick)
1947 – Brian Daley, American science-fiction writer (d. 1996)
1948 – Noel Edmonds, English game show host
1948 – Steve Garvey, American baseball player
1948 – Flip Mark, American actor
1948 – Chris Old, English cricketer
1948 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress (d. 2003)
1949 – Maurice Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees) (d. 2003)
1949 – Robin Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees)
1951 – Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster
1951 – Dan Martin, American voice actor
1953 – Bern Nadette Stanis, actress
1953 – Ian Turnbull, Canadian ice hockey player
1954 – Hideshi Matsuda, Japanese racing driver
1955 – Lonnie Smith, American baseball player
1957 – Carole James, Canadian politician
1958 – Frank Gambale, Australian musician
1958 – David Heavener, American actor and musician
1959 – Bernd Schuster, German footballer
1960 – Wakin Chau, Chinese singer
1960 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (d. 1988)
1960 – Mark Brydon, British musician (Moloko)
1960 – Luther Campbell (Luke), American rap artist (2 Live Crew)
1960 – Patrick Fitzgerald, American attorney
1961 – Andrew Fastow, American businessman
1962 – Ralph Fiennes, English actor
1963 – Giuseppe Bergomi, Italian footballer
1963 – Luna H. Mitani, Japanese American surrealism painter
1963 – Brian McMillan, South African cricketer
1966 – Dmitry Bilozerchev, Soviet gymnast
1966 – Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer, German singer and bassplayer (Destruction)
1967 – Dan Petrescu, Romanian footballer
1967 – Richey James Edwards, Welsh musician (Manic Street Preachers) (disappeared in 1995)
1967 – Stéphane Gendron, Quebec politician
1967 – Paul Morris, Australian racing driver
1968 – Dina Meyer, American actress
1968 – Lauralee Bell, American actress
1969 – Myriam Bédard, Canadian athlete
1969 – Greg Biffle, American racecar driver
1970 – Gary Anderson, Scottish darts player
1971 – Pat Mastroianni, Canadian actor
1972 – Big Tigger, television host
1972 – Vanessa Paradis, French singer
1974 – Heather Donahue, American actress
1975 – Chris Adler, American actor
1975 – Dmitri Khokhlov, Russian footballer
1975 – Stanislav Neckár, Czech ice hockey player
1975 – Sergei Aschwanden, Swiss judoka
1976 – Katleen De Caluwé, Belgian athlete
1976 – Jason Lane, American baseball player
1977 – Steve Kariya, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Emmanuel Olisadebe, Nigerian/Polish footballer
1979 – Jamie Langfield, Scottish football player
1980 – Chris Carmack, American actor
1982 – Brooke Nevin, Canadian actress
1983 – Drew Hankinson, American professional wrestler
1983 – Jennifer Hawkins, Australian beauty pageant contestant
1984 – Basshunter, Swedish singer
1986 – Dennis Armfield, Australian footballer
1986 – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Nigerian terrorist suspect
1988 – Leigh Halfpenny, Welsh rugby player
1989 – Logan Huffman, American actor
1989 – Jordin Sparks, American singer
1989 – Jharal Yow Yeh, professional rugby league player
1990 – Jean-Baptiste Maunier, French actor and singer
1993 – Ali Lohan, American singer
1995 – Remy Thorne, American actor and writer
1996 – Makisig Morales, Filipino child actor
1998 – G. Hannelius, American child actress

Deaths

69 – Vitellius (b. 15)
1100 – Duke Bretislaus II of Bohemia
1550 – Richard Plantagenet, British bricklayer and claimant to the House of Plantagenet
1603 – Mehmed III of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1566)
1646 – Peter Mogila, Moldavian religious figure (b. 1596)
1660 – André Tacquet, Flemish mathematician (b. 1612)
1681 – Richard Alleine, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1611)
1708 – Hedwig Sophia, duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish writer (b. 1681)
1738 – Constantia Jones, British prostitute (b. c. 1708)
1767 – John Newbery, English publisher (b. 1713)
1788 – Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (b. 1714)
1806 – William Vernon, American merchant (b. 1719)
1828 – William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (b. 1766)
1867 – Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mathematician (b. 1788)
1870 – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet and writer (b. 1836)
1880 – George Eliot, English writer (b. 1819)
1899 – Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (b. 1837)
1902 – Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German psychiatrist (b. 1840)
1917 – Saint Francesca Xavier Cabrini, American Catholic saint (b. 1850)
1939 – Ma Rainey, American singer (b. 1886)
1940 – Nathanael West, American writer (b. 1903)
1942 – Franz Boas, German anthropologist (b. 1858)
1943 – Beatrix Potter, English writer (b. 1866)
1944 – Harry Langdon, American film actor (b. 1884)
1944 – Eleni Papadaki, Greek actress (b. 1903)
1959 – Gilda Gray, Polish-born American dancer and actress (b. 1901)
1960 – Ninian Comper, Scottish architect (b. 1864)
1965 – Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and broadcaster (b. 1913)
1968 – Raymond Gram Swing, American journalist and broadcaster (b. 1887)
1971 – Godfried Bomans, Dutch author and television personality (b. 1913)
1974 – Sterling North, American author (b. 1906)
1979 – Darryl F. Zanuck, American producer (b. 1902)
1985 – D. Boon, American singer and guitarist (The Minutemen) (b. 1958)
1986 – Ida Cook (aka Mary Burchell), British heroin and novelist (b. 1904)
1987 – Luca Prodan, Italian-Scottish singer (Sumo) (b. 1953)
1988 – Chico Mendes, Brazilian rubber tapper and environmental activist (b. 1944)
1989 – Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
1992 – Frederick Franz, Watchtower president (b. 1893)
1992 – Harry Bluestone, Film music Composer (b. 1907)
1995 – Butterfly McQueen, American actress (b. 1911)
1995 – James Meade, English economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1907)
2001 – Ovidiu Iacov, Romanian footballer (b. 1981)
2002 – Desmond Hoyte, Guyanan politician (b. 1929)
2002 – Joe Strummer, English musician (The Clash) (b. 1952)
2003 – Dave Dudley, American singer (b. 1928)
2004 – Doug Ault, American baseball player (b. 1950)
2006 – Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (b. 1960)
2006 – Galina Ustvolskaya, Russian composer (b. 1919)
2006 – Dennis Linde, American songwriter (b. 1943)
2007 – Adrian Cristobal, Filipino writer (b. 1932)
2009 – Albert Scanlon, English footballer (b. 1935)
2009 – Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian politician (b. 1940)
2009 – Christos Lambrakis, Greek businessman, owner of the Lambrakis Press Group (b. 1934)
2010 – Fred Foy, American radio and television announcer (b. 1921)