today.nukz.net: Almanac December 24

Max Miedinger (December 24, 1910 in Zurich, Switzerland – March 8, 1980, Zürich, Switzerland) was a Swiss typeface designer. He was famous for creating Neue Haas Grotesk typeface in 1957 which was renamed Helvetica in 1960. Marketed as a symbol of cutting-edge Swiss technology, Helvetica went global at once.

Events

563 – The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes.
1144 – The capital of the crusader County of Edessa falls to Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo.
1294 – Pope Boniface VIII is elected Pope, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned.
1777 – Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.
1814 – The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.
1818 – The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
1826 – The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.
1851 – Library of Congress burns.
1865 – The Ku Klux Klan is formed.
1871 – Aida opens in Cairo, Egypt.
1906 – Radio: Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
1911 – Lackawanna Cut-Off railway line opens in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
1913 – The Italian Hall disaster ("1913 Massacre") in Calumet, Michigan, results in the death of 73 Christmas party goers held by striking mine workers, including 59 children.
1914 – World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins.
1924 – Albania becomes a republic.
1929 – Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen.
1939 – World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.
1941 – World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces.
1942 – World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers, Algeria.
1943 – World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the Supreme Allied Commander.
1951 – Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.
1953 – Tangiwai disaster: On New Zealand's North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge is damaged by a lahar and collapses beneath a passenger train, killing 151 people.
1955 – NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition.
1964 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, South Vietnam to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital.
1966 – A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 129.
1968 – Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.
1972 – Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay, India.
1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.
1974 – Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.
1979 – The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
1980 – Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell".
1994 – Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked on the ground, over the course of 3 days 3 passengers are killed, as are all 4 terrorists.
1997 – The Sid El-Antri massacre (or Sidi Lamri) in Algeria kills 50-100 people.
2000 – The Texas Seven hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is murdered during the robbery.
2003 – The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.
2005 – Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.
2008 – Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400.

Births

3 BC – Galba, Roman emperor (d. 69)
1166 – John, King of England (d. 1216)
1389 – John VI, Duke of Brittany (d. 1442)
1475 – Thomas Murner, German poet (d. 1537)
1508 – Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (d. 1567)
1588 – Constance of Austria (d. 1631)
1609 – Philip Warwick, English politician (d. 1683)
1625 – Johann Rudolph Ahle, German composer, organist, and theorist (d. 1673)
1635 – Mariana of Austria (d. 1696)
1679 – Domenico Sarro, Italian composer (d. 1744)
1698 – William Warburton, English bishop (d. 1779)
1724 – Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician (d. 1811)
1726 – Johann Hartmann, Danish composer (d. 1793)
1745 – Benjamin Rush, American physician, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (d. 1813)
1754 – George Crabbe, English poet, surgeon, and clergyman (d. 1832)
1761 – Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer (d. 1831)
1784 – Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1803)
1798 – Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet (d. 1855)
1809 – Kit Carson, American soldier (d. 1868)
1810 – Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter (d. 1873)
1812 – Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal, German jurist (d. 1894)
1818 – James Prescott Joule, English physicist and brewer, (d. 1889)
1822 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (d. 1888)
1837 – Empress Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1898)
1843 – Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (d. 1886)
1845 – George I of Greece (d. 1913)
1867 – Suzuki Kantaro, Japanese politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
1868 – Emanuel Lasker, German chess player (d. 1941)
1872 – Adam Gunn, American decathlete (d. 1935)
1872 – Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (d. 1927)
1875 – Émile Wegelin, French rower (d. 1962)
1877 – Sigrid Schauman, Finnish painter (d. 1979)
1879 – Otto Fickeisen, German rower (d. 1963)
1879 – Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1952)
1879 – Émile Nelligan, Canadian poet (d. 1941)
1880 – Johnny Gruelle, American author and illustrator (d. 1939)
1881 – Charles Wakefield Cadman, American composer (d. 1946)
1881 – Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
1886 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American director (d. 1962)
1887 – Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (d. 1951)
1893 – Ruth Chatterton, American actress (d. 1961)
1893 – Harry Warren, American composer and songwriter (d. 1981)
1894 – Georges Guynemer, French pilot (d. 1917)
1894 – Jack Thayer, American survivor of the Sinking of the RMS Titanic (d. 1945)
1895 – E. Roland Harriman, American financier (d. 1978)
1895 – Noel Streatfeild, English author (d. 1986)
1896 – Jens Oliver Lisberg, Faroese designer of the Flag of the Faroe Islands (d. 1920)
1898 – Baby Dodds, American drummer (d. 1959)
1898 – Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1967)
1900 – Joey Smallwood, Canadian politician, 1st Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991)
1903 – Ava Helen Pauling, American activist (d. 1981)
1904 – Joseph M. Juran, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2008)
1905 – Howard Hughes, American engineer and director (d. 1976)
1906 – Franz Waxman, German composer (d. 1967)
1907 – I. F. Stone, American journalist and author (d. 1989)
1910 – Fritz Leiber, American author (d. 1992)
1910 – Max Miedinger, Swiss typeface designer, created Helvetica (d. 1980)
1914 – Ralph Marterie, Italian-American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 1978)
1914 – Herbert Reinecker, German writer (d. 2007)
1919 – Qateel Shifai, Pakistani poet (d. 2001)
1920 – Franco Lucentini, Italian author and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1920 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Russian navigator (d. 1944)
1922 – Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)
1923 – Michael DiBiase, American wrestler (d. 1969)
1923 – George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
1924 – Lee Dorsey, American singer (d. 1986)
1924 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian actor and singer (d. 1980)
1924 – Norman Rossington, English actor (d. 1999)
1926 – Paul Buissonneau, French-Canadian director
1927 – Mary Higgins Clark, American author
1930 – Robert Joffrey, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1988)
1931 – Ray Bryant, American pianist and composer (d. 2011)
1931 – Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer (d. 2008)
1934 – Stjepan Mesic, Croatian politician, 2nd President of Croatia
1937 – Félix Miélli Venerando, Brazilian footballer (d. 2012)
1938 – Bobby Henrich, American baseball player
1938 – Valentim Loureiro, Portuguese army officer and politician
1940 – Janet Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
1941 – John Levene, English actor
1942 – Jonathan Borofsky, American sculptor
1942 – Doan Viet Hoat, Vietnamese journalist
1943 – Tarja Halonen, Finnish lawyer and politician, 11th President of Finland
1944 – Barry Chuckle, English comedian and actor
1944 – Mike Curb, American composer and politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California
1944 – Oswald Gracias, Indian archbishop
1944 – Daniel Johnson, Jr., Canadian politician, 25th Premier of Quebec
1945 – Lemmy, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor (Motörhead, Hawkwind, The Head Cat, and The Rockin' Vickers)
1945 – Nicholas Meyer, American author
1945 – Steve Smith, Canadian comedian and actor
1946 – Jan Akkerman, Dutch guitarist (Focus and Brainbox)
1946 – Brenda Howard, American activist (d. 2005)
1946 – Jeff Sessions, American politician
1947 – Kevin Sheedy, Australian footballer and coach
1948 – Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player
1949 – Warwick Brown, Australian race car driver
1949 – Randy Neugebauer, American politician
1950 – Dana Gioia, American poet
1951 – John D'Acquisto, American baseball player
1952 – Christopher Buckley, American author
1953 – Timothy Carhart, American actor
1953 – François Loos, French politician
1954 – José María Figueres, Costa Rican politician, President of Costa Rica
1955 – Grand L. Bush, American actor
1955 – Scott Fischer, American mountaineer (d. 1996)
1955 – Clarence Gilyard, American actor
1957 – Hamid Karzai, Afghan politician, 12th President of Afghanistan
1957 – Diane Tell, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1958 – Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer and producer (Loudness, Sly, and Lazy) (d. 2008)
1958 – Paul Pressey, American basketball player
1958 – Gene Sperling, American economist and lawyer
1959 – Keith Deller, English darts player
1959 – Anil Kapoor, Indian actor
1960 – Glenn McQueen, Canadian-American animator (d. 2002)
1960 – Carol Vorderman, English television host
1961 – Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijani politician, 4th President of Azerbaijan
1961 – Jay Wright, American basketball player and coach
1963 – Caroline Aherne, English comedian and actress
1963 – Jay Bilas, American basketball player and sportscaster
1963 – Mary Ramsey, American singer-songwriter and violinist (10,000 Maniacs and John & Mary)
1964 – Mark Valley, American actor
1965 – Millard Powers, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (Counting Crows, The Semantics, and Majosha)
1966 – Diedrich Bader, American actor
1967 – Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker
1967 – Pernilla Wahlgren, Swedish singer and actress
1968 – Doyle Bramhall II, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Arc Angels)
1968 – Choi Jin-sil, South Korean actress (d. 2008)
1968 – Marleen Renders, Belgian runner
1969 – Brad Anderson, American wrestler
1969 – Sean Michael, South African actor and singer
1969 – Ed Miliband, English politician
1969 – Mark Millar, Scottish author
1970 – Amaury Nolasco, Puerto Rican-American actor
1970 – Will Oldham, American singer-songwriter and actor
1971 – Oro, Mexican wrestler (d. 1993)
1971 – Giorgos Alkaios, Greek singer
1971 – Christopher Daniels, American wrestler
1971 – Sascha Fischer, German rugby player
1971 – Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and actor
1972 – Álvaro Mesén, Costa Rican footballer
1972 – Klaus Schnellenkamp, German-Chilean author
1973 – Stephenie Meyer, American author and film producer
1973 – Eddie Pope, American soccer player
1973 – Ali Salem Tamek, Moroccan activist
1974 – Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor
1974 – Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer
1974 – Ryan Seacrest, American radio and television host
1976 – Yuri, South Korean singer (Girl Friends)
1978 – Yildiray Bastürk, Turkish footballer
1978 – Warren Tredrea, Australian footballer
1979 – Chris Hero, American wrestler
1980 – Stephen Appiah, Ghanaian footballer
1980 – Tomas Kalnoky, Czech-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Streetlight Manifesto, Catch 22, and Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution)
1981 – Dima Bilan, Russian singer-songwriter and actor
1981 – Shane Tuck, Australian footballer
1982 – Masaki Aiba, Japanese singer and actor (Arashi)
1982 – Robert Coppola Schwartzman, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (Rooney)
1985 – Alexey Dmitriev, German ice hockey player
1985 – David Ragan, American race car driver
1986 – Tim Elliott, American mixed martial artist
1986 – Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukrainian basketball player
1986 – Riyo Mori, Japanese model, Miss Universe 2007
1987 – Jane Summersett, American ice dancer
1988 – Stefanos Athanasiadis, Greek footballer
1988 – Simon Zenke, Nigerian footballer
1991 – Wasim Tareen, Pakistani footballer
1992 – Melissa Suffield, English actress
1995 – Anett Kontaveit, Estonian tennis player
2000 – Ethan Bortnick, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor

Deaths

427 – Archbishop Sisinnius I of Constantinople
1257 – John I, Count of Hainaut (b. 1218)
1453 – John Dunstaple, English composer (b. 1390)
1524 – Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer (b. 1469)
1635 – Hester Jonas, German midwife (b. 1570)
1660 – Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1631)
1707 – Noël Coypel, French painter (b. 1628)
1813 – Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1740)
1863 – William Makepeace Thackeray, English author (b. 1811)
1865 – Charles Lock Eastlake, English painter (b. 1793)
1868 – Adolphe d'Archiac, French paleontologist and geologist (b. 1802)
1872 – William John Macquorn Rankine, Scottish physician and engineer (b. 1820)
1873 – Johns Hopkins, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1795)
1889 – Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch poet and clergyman (b. 1819)
1898 – Charbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk and priest (b. 1828)
1914 – John Muir, Scottish-American author (b. 1838)
1920 – Stephen Mosher Wood, American politician (b. 1832)
1926 – Wesley Coe, American shot putter (b. 1979)
1935 – Alban Berg, Austrian composer (b. 1885)
1938 – Bruno Taut, German architect (b. 1880)
1941 – Siegfried Alkan, German composer (b. 1858)
1942 – François Darlan, French navy officer and politician, 122nd Prime Minister of France (b. 1881)
1947 – Charles Gondouin, French rugby player (b. 1875)
1957 – Norma Talmadge, American actress (b. 1893)
1965 – William M. Branham, Christian minister (b. 1906)
1967 – Burt Baskin, American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (b. 1913)
1971 – Maria Koepcke, German-Peruvian ornithologist (b. 1924)
1972 – Gisela Richter, English historian (b. 1882)
1972 – Melville Ruick, American actor (b. 1898)
1973 – Fritz Gause, German historian (b. 1893)
1975 – Bernard Herrmann, American composer (b. 1911)
1976 – Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza (b. 1907)
1977 – Samael Aun Weor, Colombian author (b. 1917)
1980 – Karl Dönitz, German admiral (b. 1891)
1980 – Siggie Nordstrom, American actress and singer (Nordstrom Sisters) (b. 1893)
1982 – Louis Aragon, French author and poet (b. 1897)
1984 – Peter Lawford, British actor (b. 1923)
1985 – Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, American lawyer (b. 1904)
1985 – Camille Tourville, Canadian-American wrestler and manager (b. 1927)
1986 – Gardner Fox, American author (b. 1911)
1987 – Joop den Uyl, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1919)
1987 – Betty Noyes, American singer and actress (b. 1912)
1987 – M. G. Ramachandran, Indian actor, producer, and politician (b. 1917)
1990 – Thorbjørn Egner, Norwegian author (b. 1922)
1992 – Peyo, Belgian cartoonist (b. 1928)
1992 – Bobby LaKind, American singer-songwriter and conga player (b. 1945)
1993 – Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (b. 1898)
1994 – John Boswell, American historian (b. 1947)
1994 – Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor (b. 1916)
1997 – Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (b. 1920)
1997 – Pierre Péladeau, Canadian businessman, founded Quebecor (b. 1925)
1998 – Syl Apps, Canadian ice hockey player and pole vaulter (b. 1915)
1999 – Bill Bowerman, American sports coach and businessman, co-founded Nike, Inc. (b. 1911)
1999 – Maurice Couve de Murville, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1907)
1999 – João Figueiredo, Brazilian military leader and politician, 30th President of Brazil (b. 1918)
2000 – John Cooper, English businessman, co-founded the Cooper Car Company (b. 1923)
2000 – Nick Massi, American singer and bass player (The Four Seasons) (b. 1935)
2002 – Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author (b. 1920)
2002 – Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938)
2004 – Johnny Oates, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1946)
2005 – Michael Vale, American actor (b. 1922)
2006 – Braguinha, Brazilian singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1907)
2006 – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1961)
2006 – Frank Stanton, American businessman (b. 1908)
2007 – Nicholas Pumfrey, English judge (b. 1951)
2007 – Akbar Radi, Iranian playwright (b. 1939)
2008 – Harold Pinter, English scriptwriter, director, and actor, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930)
2009 – Marcus Bakker, Dutch politician (b. 1923)
2009 – Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan lawyer and politician, 65th President of Venezuela (b. 1916)
2009 – George Michael, American sportscaster (b. 1939)
2010 – Elisabeth Beresford, French-English author (b. 1926)
2010 – Frans de Munck, Dutch footballer (b. 1922)
2010 – Orestes Quércia, Brazilian politician, 28th Governor of São Paulo State (b. 1938)
2010 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer (b. 1930)
2011 – Johannes Heesters, Dutch actor and singer (b. 1903)
2012 – Richard Rodney Bennett, English composer (b. 1936)
2012 – Ray Collins, American singer (The Mothers of Invention) (b. 1936)
2012 – Brad Corbett, American businessman (b. 1937)
2012 – Charles Durning, American actor (b. 1923)
2012 – Jack Klugman, American actor (b. 1922)
2012 – Xavier Mabille, Belgian historian (b. 1933)
2012 – Dennis O'Driscoll, Irish poet (b. 1954)