| 1620 |
|
The Pilgrims land at or near Plymouth Rock. |
| 1708 |
|
French forces seize control of the eastern shore of Newfoundland after winning a victory at St. John’s. |
| 1790 |
|
Samuel Slater opens the first cotton mill in the United States (in Rhode Island). |
| 1862 |
|
The
U.S. Congress authorizes the Medal of Honor to be awarded to Navy
personnel who have distinguished themselves by their gallantry in
action. |
| 1866 |
|
Indians,
led by Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, kill Captain William J. Fetterman
and 79 other men who had ventured out from Fort Phil Kearny to cut wood. |
| 1910 |
|
Over 2.5 million plague victims are reported in the An-Hul province of China. |
| 1928 |
|
President Calvin Coolidge signs the Boulder Dam bill. |
| 1944 |
|
German troops surround the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne in Belgium. |
| 1945 |
|
General George S. Patton dies at the age of 60 after being injured in a car accident. |
| 1946 |
|
An earthquake and tidal wave kill hundreds in Japan. |
| 1963 |
|
The Turk minority riots in Cyprus to protest anti-Turkish revisions in the constitution. |
| 1964 |
|
Great Britain’s House of Commons votes to ban the death penalty. |
| 1965 |
|
Four pacifists are indicted in New York
for burning draft cards — Thomas C. Cornell, 31, co-secretary of the
Catholic Peace Fellowship; Roy Lisker, 27, a volunteer of the Catholic
Worker Movement; James E. Wilson, 21, a volunteer at the Catholic Worker
Movement and a member of the Fellowship for Reconciliation; and M P,
Edelman, a full-time worker for the War Resisters League. |
| 1969 |
|
American draft evaders gather for a holiday dinner in Montreal, Canada. |
| 1986 |
|
500,000 Chinese students gather in Shanghai’s People’s Square calling for democratic reforms, including freedom of the press. |
| 1988 |
|
Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York
explodes in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, an hour after departure.
All 259 passengers were killed in the explosion caused by a bomb– hidden
inside an audio cassette player — that detonated inside the cargo area
when the plane was at an altitude of 31,000 feet. A shower of airplane
parts falling from the sky also killed 11 Lockerbie residents. |
| 1994 |
|
Popocatepetl, a volcano in Mexico spews forth gases and ash after nearly a half-century of dormancy. |
| 1995 |
|
The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control. |
| 2004 |
|
A suicide bomber attacks the forward
operating base next to the US military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, killing
22 people; it is the deadliest suicide attack on US soldiers during the
Iraq War. |
| Born on December 21 |
| 1804 |
|
Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of Great Britain. |
| 1879 |
|
Joseph Stalin, Communist leader of the Soviet Union. |
| 1911 |
|
Josh Gibson, baseball player for the Negro Leagues, Home-Run King. |
| 1918 |
|
Kurt Waldheim, controversial fourth Secretary General of the United Nations. |
| 1937 |
|
Jane Fonda, actress, political activist, exercise guru; films include Klute and Coming Home. |
| 1940 |
|
Frank Zappa, bandleader, composer, guitarist, satirist, filmmaker and advocate of creative freedom. |
| 1954 |
|
Chris Evert (Chris Evert-Lloyd), No. 1
women’s pro tennis player in the world for 260 weeks in the 1970s; she
reached 34 Grand Slam singles finals, a record unmatched by any other
pro, female or male. |
| 1959 |
|
Florence Griffith Joyner, track star,
Olympic medalist. Died unexpectedly of heart failure at age thirty-eight
on September 21, 1998. |
| 1966 |
|
Kiefer Sutherland, British-born Canadian actor, producer, director; best known as Jack Bauer on the 24 TV series, a role that garnered him several awards including an Emmy and Golden Globe. |
