History Blog

December 12

Happy Birthday RIP “Buck Jones”(Charles Gebhart 1891–1942) Francis “Frank” Sinatra(1915–1998) Edward “Ed” Koch(1924–2013) Brandon Teena(1972–1993) http://bit.ly/5GJXp2 ; Robert “Bob” Barker–91 “Connie Francis”(Concetta Franconero)–77 “Dionne Warwick”(Marie Warrick)–74 William “Bill” Nighy–64 Cathleen “Cathy” Rigby–62 Sheila “E” Escovedo–57 Jennifer Connelly–44 Shelton Hank Williams–42 Mayim Bialik–39 ; 1911 – Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.

December 11

Happy Birthday RIP “Ron Carey”(Ronald Cicenia 1935–2007) ; “Rita Moreno”(Rosita Alverio)–83 Donna Mills(Miller)–72 John Kerry–71 Lynda Day George–70 Terry “Teri” Garr–66 Robert “Ben” Browder–52 Monica “Monique” Imes–47 Jason “Rusty” Joiner–42 ; 1946 – UNICEF (the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) was established.

December 10

Happy Birthday RIP “Dorothy Lamour”(Mary Slaton 1914–1996) Harold Gould(Goldstein 1923–2010) Michael Clarke Duncan(1957–2012) ; Fionnghuala Flanagan–73 Susan Dey(Smith)–62 Paul Hardcastle–57 Kenneth Branagh–54 Virenia “Nia” Peeples–53 Raven-Symoné Pearman–29 ; 1868 – The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.

December 9

Happy Birthday RIP Emmett Kelly(1898–1979) Margaret Hamilton(1902–1985) Douglas Fairbanks Jr.(1909–2000) “Redd Foxx”(John Sanford 1922–1991) ; “Kirk Douglas”(Issur Danielovitch Demsky)–98 Richard “Dick” Van Patten–86 Buck Henry Zuckerman–84 Dame Judith Dench–80 Lloyd “Beau” Bridges III–73 Richard “Dick” Butkus–72 Michael Dorn–62 John Malkovich–61 Donald “Donny” Osmond–57 Mario Cantone–55 Felicity Huffman–52 Jesse Metcalfe–36 Simon Helberg–34 ; 1793 – New York City’s first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster.

December 8

Happy Birthday RIP Samuel “Sammy” Davis(1925–1990) Clerow “Flip” Wilson(1933–1998) John “David” Carradine(1936–2009) James Morrison(1943–1971) Samuel Kinison(1953–1992) ; Gregory Allman–67 Kimila “Kim” Basinger–61 Teri Hatcher–50 Sinéad O’Connor–48 Ian Somerhalder–36 “Nicki Minaj”(Onika Maraj)–32 ; 1980 – John Lennon, an English musician and peace activist, is murdered by Mark David Chapman, a mentally unstable fan, in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City.

December 7

Happy Birthday RIP Tadeusz Konopka(“Ted Knight” 19231–1986) ; “Ellen Burstyn”(Edna Gillooly)–82 Thomas Waits–65 Larry Bird–58 Priscilla Barnes–56 Christopher Thomas Howell–48 Shiri Appleby–36 Emily Browning–26 Nicholas Hoult–25 ; 1941 – Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, drawing the United States into World War II. More than 2,300 Americans were killed ; 1963 – Instant replay makes its debut during an American Army–Navy football game.

December 6

Happy Birthday RIP Alfred Eisenstaedt(1898–1995) Agnes Moorehead(1900–1974) Ryan White(1971–1990) ; James Naughton–69 Margaret JoBeth Williams–66 Craig Newmark(Founder of Craigslist)–62 Gina Hecht–62 Thomas Hulce–61 Steven Wright–59 Andrew Cuomo–57 Janine Turner(Gauntt)–52 Lindsay Price–38 Ryan Kennedy–32 ; 1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published ; 1877 – The first edition of The Washington Post is published.

December 5

Happy Birthday RIP Walter Elias Disney(1901–1966) ; Little Richard Penniman–82 Joan Didion–80 “Morgan Brittany”(Suzanne Cupito)–63 Amanda (Armand) Lepore–47 Margaret Moran Cho–46 Amy Acker–38 Nicolas “Nick” Stahl–35 Francisco “Frankie” Muñiz IV–29 ; 1933 – Prohibition in the United States ends ; 1955 – E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott ; 1969 – The four node ARPANET network is established.

December 4

Happy Birthday Winston “Wink” Martindale–80 Max Baer, Jr.–77 Jeffrey Bridges–65 Patricia Wettig–63 Marisa Tomei–50 Tyra Banks–41 Brooke Adams–30 ; 1881 – The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published. ; 1945 – By a vote of 65 to 7, the US Senate approved United States of America as active participant in the United Nations.

December 3

Happy Birthday RIP Howard “Andy” Williams(1927–2012) ; Mary “Jaye P.” Morgan–83 John “Ozzy” Osbourne–66 Del Shores–57 “Julianne Moore”(Julie Smith)–54 Daryl Hannah–54 Brendan Fraser–46 Bruno Campos–41 Anna Chlumsky–34 Brian Bonsall–32 Michael Angarano–27 ; 1910 – Modern neon lighting is first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.