today.nukz.net: Almanac December 19

Édith Piaf (19 December 1915 – 11 October 1963), born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer who became widely regarded as France's national popular singer, as well as being one of France's greatest international stars. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads. Among her songs are "La Vie en rose" (1946), "Non, je ne regrette rien" (1960), "Hymne à l'amour" (1949), "Milord" (1959), "La Foule" (1957), "l'Accordéoniste" (1955), and "Padam... Padam..." (1951).

Events

211 – Publius Septimius Geta, co-emperor of Rome, is lured to come without his bodyguards to meet his brother Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla), to discuss a possible reconciliation. When he arrives the Praetorian Guard murders him and he dies in the arms of his mother Julia Domna.
324 – Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor.
1154 – Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.
1490 – Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.
1606 – The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who found, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
1776 – Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis".
1777 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.
1828 – Nullification Crisis: Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun pens the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.
1843 – Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol goes on sale.
1900 – Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government and is forced to resign.
1907 – 239 coal miners die in a mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
1912 – William Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over 1,000 people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after three-and-a-half-years in Sing Sing prison.
1916 – World War I: Battle of Verdun – On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position.
1920 – King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander of Greece and a plebiscite.
1924 – The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England, United Kingdom.
1927 – Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan are executed by the British government.
1932 – BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service
1941 – World War II: Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-chief of the German Army.
1941 – World War II: Limpet mines placed by Italian divers sink the HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth in Alexandria harbour.
1946 – Start of the First Indochina War.
1956 – Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.
1961 – India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.
1963 – Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.
1964 – The South Vietnamese military junta of Nguyen Khanh dissolve the High National Council and arrest some of the members.
1967 – Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt is officially presumed dead.
1972 – Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
1975 – John Paul Stevens is appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
1981 – Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
1983 – The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1984 – The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997 is signed in Beijing, China by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.
1986 – Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from exile in Gorky.
1995 – The United States Government restores federal recognition to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indian tribe.
1997 – SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives forwards articles I and III of impeachment against President Bill Clinton to the Senate.
2000 – The Leninist Guerrilla Units wing of the Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist attack a Nationalist Movement Party office in Istanbul, Turkey, killing one person and injuring three.
2001 – A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl, Mongolia.
2001 – Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots – Riots erupt in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Births

1554 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (d. 1618)
1587 – Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1645)
1683 – Philip V of Spain (d. 1746)
1699 – William Bowyer, English printer (d. 1777)
1714 – John Winthrop, American astronomer (d. 1779)
1778 – Marie Thérèse of France, daughter of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI of France (d. 1851)
1784 – Marcus Morton, 16th and 18th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1864)
1796 – Manuel Bretón de los Herreros, Spanish playwright (d. 1873)
1817 – James J. Archer, Confederate general (d. 1864)
1820 – Mary Livermore, American journalist and women's rights advocate (d. 1905)
1825 – George Frederick Bristow, American composer (d. 1898)
1831 – Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian philanthropist (d. 1884)
1849 – Henry Clay Frick, American industrialist and financier (d. 1919)
1850 – Friedrich Lüthi, Swiss sports shooter (death date unknown)
1852 – Albert Abraham Michelson, Prussian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1931)
1853 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician, lieutenant-governor of Quebec (d. 1942)
1861 – Italo Svevo, Italian author (d. 1928)
1863 – Wallace Bryant, American archer (d. 1953)
1865 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress (d. 1932)
1873 – Alphonse Kirchhoffer, French fencer (d. 1913)
1875 – Carter Woodson, American historian and author, founder of Black History Month (d. 1950)
1881 – John Fraser, Canadian football player (d. 1959)
1888 – Fritz Reiner, Hungarian-born American conductor (d. 1963)
1894 – Ford Frick, American baseball commissioner (d. 1978)
1895 – Werner Dankwort, German diplomat (d. 1986)
1895 – Ingeborg Refling Hagen, Norwegian author and teacher (d. 1989)
1899 – Martin Luther King, Sr., American Baptist minister and father of Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 1984)
1901 – Rudolf Hell, German inventor (d. 2002)
1901 – Fritz Mauruschat, German footballer (d. 1974)
1902 – Sir Ralph Richardson, English actor (d. 1983)
1903 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 1996)
1905 – Irving Kahn, American financial analyst and investor
1906 – Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1982)
1907 – Jimmy McLarnin, former Welterweight Champion (d. 2004)
1909 – W. A. Criswell, American (Baptist) preacher (d. 2002)
1910 – Jean Genet, French writer (d. 1986)
1915 – Édith Piaf, French singer and actress (d. 1963)
1916 – Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, German political scientist (d. 2010)
1916 – Roy Ward Baker, English film director (d. 2010)
1918 – Professor Longhair, American blues musician (d. 1980)
1920 – Little Jimmy Dickens, American country singer
1920 – David Susskind, American TV talk show host (d. 1987)
1922 – Eamonn Andrews, Irish-born television presenter (d. 1987)
1923 – Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor (d. 1990)
1924 – Carlo Chiti, Italian race car engineer (d. 1994)
1924 – Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1989)
1924 – Gary Morton, American comic; widower of Lucille Ball (d. 1999)
1924 – Edmund Purdom, English actor (d. 2009)
1925 – Tankred Dorst, German dramatist
1925 – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter (d. 2012)
1925 – William Schutz, American psychologist (d. 2002)
1926 – Bobby Layne, American football player (d. 1986)
1926 – Herb Stempel, American game show contestant
1927 – James Booth, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
1928 – Eve Bunting, Irish children's author
1928 – Nathan Oliveira, American artist (d. 2010)
1929 – Bob Brookmeyer, American jazz musician (d. 2011)
1929 – Howard Sackler, American screenwriter (d. 1982)
1932 – Salvador Elizondo, Mexican writer (d. 2006)
1933 – Kevan Gosper, Australian athlete
1933 – Cicely Tyson, American actress
1934 – Rudi Carrell, Dutch entertainer (d. 2006)
1934 – Al Kaline, American baseball player
1934 – Casper R. Taylor, Jr., American politician
1934 – Pratibha Patil, 12th President of the Republic of India and first woman to hold the office
1935 – Barbara Bostock, American actress
1935 – Bobby Timmons, American jazz pianist (d. 1974)
1935 – Joanne Weaver, American baseball player (d. 2000)
1936 – Marian McKnight, American beauty pageant contestant (Miss America 1957)
1940 – Phil Ochs, American folk singer (d. 1976)
1941 – Maurice White, American singer and songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire)
1941 – Lee Myung-bak, South Korean politician
1942 – Rufus, French actor
1942 – Cornell Dupree, American session guitarist
1942 – Dennis E. Fitch, American pilot (d. 2012)
1943 – Ross M. Lence, American political scientist (d. 2006)
1943 – James L. Jones, American military figure
1944 – William Christie, American-born French musician (Les Arts Florissants)
1944 – Mitchell Feigenbaum, American mathematical physicist
1944 – Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist, conservationist and politician
1944 – Alvin Lee, English singer and musician (Ten Years After)
1944 – Tim Reid, American actor
1944 – Zal Yanovsky, Canadian guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful) (d. 2002)
1945 – Elaine Joyce, American actress
1945 – John McEuen, American musician (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
1946 – Rosemary Conley, English businesswoman, author and broadcaster
1946 – Robert Urich, American actor (d. 2002)
1947 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish musician
1947 – Charlie Van Dyke, American actor and radio disc jockey
1948 – Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player
1949 – Nancy Kyes, American actress
1949 – Sebastian, Danish musician
1950 – Eleanor J. Hill, American Inspector General for the United States Department of Defense
1951 – Alan Rouse, British mountaineer (d. 1986)
1952 – Walter Murphy, American composer, pianist and arranger
1955 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer (d. 2012)
1955 – Rob Portman, American politician, senator from Ohio
1956 – Tom Lawless, American baseball player
1956 – Phil Harris, American fisherman (Deadliest Catch) (d. 2010)
1957 – Cyril Collard, French film director (d. 1993)
1957 – John Gulager, American film director
1957 – Kevin McHale, American basketball player
1958 – Limahl, English singer (Kajagoogoo)
1958 – Steven Isserlis, English cellist
1959 – Ivan Vallejo, Ecuadorian mountaineer
1960 – Mike Lookinland, American actor
1960 – Michelangelo Signorile, American writer
1960 – Derrick Jensen, American author and activist
1961 – Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist, Nobel laureate
1961 – Matthew Waterhouse, English actor
1961 – Reggie White, American football player (d. 2004)
1962 – Gary Fleder, American film director
1962 – Jill Talley, American actress
1963 – Jennifer Beals, American actress
1963 – Til Schweiger, German actor
1964 – Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
1964 – Béatrice Dalle, French actress
1965 – Chito Martínez, Belizean baseball player
1965 – Jessica Steen, American actress
1966 – Chuckii Booker, American singer, musician and producer
1966 – Robert MacNaughton, American stage and screen actor
1966 – Alberto Tomba, Italian alpine skier
1966 – Eric Weinrich, American ice hockey player
1967 – Criss Angel, American illusionist
1967 – Frankie Lam, Hong Kong actor
1968 – Ken Marino, American actor and comedian
1969 – Richard Hammond, English television presenter
1969 – Tom Gugliotta, American basketball player
1969 – Kristy Swanson, American actress
1969 – Villaño IV, Mexican professional wrestler
1970 – Tyson Beckford, American model
1971 – Liz Cho, American television reporter
1971 – Amy Locane, American actress
1972 – Alyssa Milano, American actress
1972 – Rosa Blasi, American actress
1972 – Warren Sapp, American football player
1973 – Michalis Grigoriou, Greek footballer and coach
1973 – Takashi Sorimachi, Japanese actor
1973 – Zulfiya Zabirova, Russian cyclist
1974 – Mikko Paananen, Finnish bassist (HIM)
1974 – Joe Jurevicius, American football player
1974 – Felipe Lopez, Dominican basketball player
1974 – Jake Plummer, American football player
1974 – Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketer
1975 – Makis Belevonis, Greek footballer
1975 – Russell Branyan, American baseball player
1975 – Michiel van den Bos, Dutch composer
1975 – Jon Smith, British writer
1975 – Olivier Tébily, Ivorian footballer
1977 – Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball player
1978 – Patrick Casey, American screenwriter and actor
1979 – Kevin Devine, American musician
1979 – Paola Rey, Colombian actress
1980 – Iman Ali, Pakistani model and actress
1980 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor
1980 – Chris Haslam, Canadian skateboarder and bassist (Kobra Triangle)
1980 – Marla Sokoloff, American actress
1982 – Mo Williams, American basketball player
1982 – Tero Pitkämäki, Finnish javelin thrower
1983 – Nektarios Alexandrou, Greek-Cypriot footballer
1983 – Casey Crescenzo, American Rock Artist
1983 – Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Ian Kennedy, American baseball player
1985 – Gary Cahill, English footballer
1985 – Neil Kilkenny, English-born Australian soccer player
1985 – Lady Sovereign, English musician
1986 – Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer
1986 – Miguel Lopes, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Greek footballer
1987 – Karim Benzema, French footballer
1987 – Cédric Baseya, DR Congolese footballer
1988 – Peter Winn, English footballer
1988 – Paulina Gretzky, American singer and model
1988 – Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
1989 – Valdimar Bergstað, Icelandic horse rider
1989 – Hamza Riazuddin, English cricketer
1990 – Greg Bretz, American snowboarder
1991 – Declan Galbraith, English singer
1992 – Iker Muniain, Spanish/Basque footballer
1994 – M'Baye Niang, French footballer

Deaths

211 – Publius Septimius Geta, Roman Emperor (b. 189)
401 – Pope Anastasius I
1111 – Al-Ghazali, Islamic philosopher (b. 1058)
1075 – Edith of Wessex, wife of Edward the Confessor
1327 – Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy
1370 – Pope Urban V (b. 1310)
1737 – James Louis Sobieski, son of John III Sobieski, and pretender to the throne of Poland (b. 1667)
1741 – Vitus Bering, Danish-born explorer (b. 1681)
1745 – Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (b. 1684)
1749 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (b. 1672)
1751 – Louise of Great Britain, wife of Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1724)
1807 – Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German writer (b. 1723)
1813 – James McGill, Scottish-born Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1744)
1814 – Joseph Bramah, British inventor and locksmith (b. 1748)
1819 – Sir Thomas Fremantle, British naval officer and politician (b. 1765)
1848 – Emily Brontë, English author (b. 1818)
1878 – Bayard Taylor, American author and poet (b. 1825)
1915 – Alois Alzheimer, German neuroscientist (b. 1864)
1916 – Thibaw Min, King of Burma (b. 1859)
1927 – Ashfaqulla Khan, Indian Revolutionary (b. 1900)
1927 – Roshan Singh, Indian Revolutionary (b. 1892)
1932 – Yoon Bong-Gil, Korean activist (b. 1908)
1933 – George Jackson Churchward, British locomotive engineer (b. 1857)
1938 – Stephen Warfield Gambrill, American politician (b. 1873)
1939 – Hans Langsdorff, German naval officer (b. 1894)
1944 – Abbas II of Egypt (b. 1874)
1944 – Rudolph Karstadt, German entrepreneur (b. 1856)
1946 – Paul Langevin, French physicist (b. 1872)
1953 – Robert Millikan, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1868)
1962 – Warren Brittingham, American soccer player (b. 1886)
1968 – Norman Thomas, American socialist (b. 1884)
1982 – Dwight Macdonald, American social critic (b. 1906)
1984 – Joy Ridderhof, American missionary (b. 1903)
1986 – V. C. Andrews, American author (b. 1923)
1988 – Robert Bernstein, American comic book writer (b. 1919)
1989 – Stella Gibbons, English author (b. 1902)
1991 – Joe Cole, American rock music roadie (b. 1961)
1993 – Michael Clarke, American drummer (The Byrds) (b. 1946)
1996 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (b. 1924)
1997 – Masaru Ibuka, Japanese industrialist (Sony) (b. 1908)
1997 – Jimmy Rogers, American blues guitarist (b. 1924)
1998 – Mel Fisher, American treasure hunter (b. 1922)
1998 – Antonio Ordóñez, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1932)
1999 – Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (b. 1914)
2000 – Rob Buck, American guitarist (10,000 Maniacs) (b. 1958)
2000 – Milt Hinton, American jazz double bassist (b. 1910)
2000 – John Lindsay, American politician (b. 1921)
2000 – Pops Staples, American singer (The Staple Singers) (b. 1915)
2000 – David Dewayne Johnson, American convicted murderer (b. 1963)
2001 – Arkie Whiteley, Australian actress (b. 1964)
2002 – Arthur Rowley, English footballer (b. 1926)
2003 – Peter Carter-Ruck, English lawyer (b. 1914)
2003 – Hope Lange, American actress (b. 1933)
2003 – Les Tremayne, English-born American actor (b. 1913)
2004 – Herbert C. Brown, English-born American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1912)
2004 – Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (b. 1922)
2005 – Keith Duckworth, English mechanical engineer (Cosworth) (b. 1933)
2005 – Vincent Gigante, American mafioso (b. 1927)
2008 – James Bevel, American civil rights activist (b. 1936)
2008 – Kenny Cox, American jazz musician (b. 1940)
2008 – Dock Ellis, American baseball pitcher (b. 1945)
2008 – Carol Chomsky, American linguist (b. 1930)
2008 – Michael Connell, American political consultant (b. 1963)
2009 – Giridharilal Kedia, Indian entrepreneur (b. 1936)
2009 – Hussein-Ali Montazeri, Iranian dissident cleric (b. 1922)
2009 – Kim Peek, American savant (b. 1951)
2010 – Trudy Pitts, American jazz organist, pianist, and vocalist (b. 1932)
2010 – Anthony Howard, English journalist (b. 1934)
2012 – Robert Bork, American legal scholar (b. 1927)