Daily History Blog

Category Archives: History

December 27

Happy Birthday RIP Louis Pasteur(1822–1895) Marie “Marlene” Dietrich(1901–1992) Heather O’Rourke(1975–1988) ; John Amos–75 Michael “Mike” Pinder–73 Mary “Cokie” Roberts(Boggs)–71 Gérard Depardieu–66 Wilson Echevarrí(“Cruz”)–41 Masayori “Masi” Oka(岡 政偉)–40 Emilie de Ravin–33 ; 1932 – Radio City Music Hall “Showplace of the Nation” opened in New York City.

December 26

Happy Birthday RIP Stephen “Steve” Allen(1921–2000) Irwin Kniberg(“Alan King” 1926–2004) ; Harvey “Phil” Spector–75 Osborn “Ozzie” Smith–60 David Sedaris–58 Jared Leto(Bryant)–43 Richard “Reichen” Lehmkuhl–41 Chris Daughtry–35 Christopher “Kit” Harington–28 ; 1865 – James H. Nason of Franklin, Mass., received a patent for the coffee percolator ; 1933 – FM radio is patented.

December 25

Happy Birthday RIP Sir Isaac Newton(1642–1726) Clarissa “Clara” Barton(1821–1912)  Humphrey Bogart(1899–1957) “Tony Martin”(Alvin Morris 1913–2012) Rodman “Rod” Serling(1924–1975) “Mabel King”(Donnie Washington 1932–1999) ; Gary Sandy–69 James “Jimmy” Buffett–68 Barbara Mandrell–66 Mary “Sissy” Spacek–65 Ann “Annie” Lennox–60 Florian Armstrong(“Dido”)–43 Dylan Vox–40 ; 1815 – The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance at King’s Chapel (then Stone Chapel), with a chorus of 90 men and 10 women.

December 24

Happy Birthday RIP Ava Gardner(1922–1990) ; Mary Teresa Higgins(Clark)–87 Karl Diedrich Bader–48 Enrique Martín Morales(“Ricky Martin”)–43 Jeremy Greenberg(Davidson)–43 Ryan Seacrest–40 ; 1851 – Fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.

December 23

Happy Birthday RIP Corey Haim(1971–2010) ; Japanese Emperor Akihito(昭仁)–81 Bob Kahn(TCP/IP Creator)–76 Harry Shearer–71 Susan Lucci–68 “Eddie Vedder”(Edward Severson III)–50 ; 1913 – The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve Bank.

December 22

Happy Birthday RIP Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson(1912–2007) Barbara Billingsley(Combes 1915–2010) Gene Rayburn(Rubessa 1917–1999) Maurice and Robin Gibb(1949–2003;2012) ; Hector Elizondo–78 Lila Diana Sawyer–69 Ralph Fiennes–52 Heather Donahue–40 ; 1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York, New York. #PardonMeStewardess #ISpeakJive

December 21

Happy Birthday RIP Frank Zappa(1940–1993) ; Phillip Donahue–79 Jayne Seymour Fonda–77 Samuel L. Jackson–66 Raymond Romano–57 Andrew Dick–49 Kiefer Sutherland–48 ; 1913 – Arthur Wynne’s “word-cross”, the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.

December 20

Happy Birthday RIP Charlie Callias(1927–2011) ; John Hillerman–82 George Criscuola(“Peter Criss”)–69 Uri Geller–68 Alan Parsons–66 Chris Robinson–48 David Cook–32 Jonah Hill Feldstein–31 Allan Hyde–25 ; 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.

December 19

Happy Birthday RIP Robert Urich(1946–2002) ; Cicely Tyson–81 Maurice White–73 Elaine Joyce Pinchot–71 Timothy Reid–70 Christopher Hamill(“Limahl”)–56 Michael Lookinland–54 Jennifer Beals–51 Tilman Schweiger–51 Kristen Swanson–45 Alyssa Milano–42 Rosa Blasi–42 Jacob “Jake” Gyllenhaal–34 ; 1932 – BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.

December 18

Happy Birthday RIP Elizabeth “Betty” Grable(1916–1973) ; Keith Richards–71 Steven Spielberg–68 Leonard Maltin–64 Raymond “Ray” Liotta–60 William Bradley Pitt–51 Casper Van Dien Jr–46 Kate Holmes–36 Christina Aguilera–34 ; 1957 – the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went online as engineers synchronized the plant with the distribution grid of Duquesne Light Company.