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Historical Events

12 Dec 1904
CMS McClellans Leah Kleschna premieres in NYC
12 Dec 1906
Oscar Straus 1st Jewish US government member appointed Secretary of Commerce
12 Dec 1908
4th Australasian Championships Fred Alexander beats Alfred Dunlop (3-6 3-6 6-0 6-2 6-3)
12 Dec 1911
Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
12 Dec 1912
Rudolf Friml and Otto Harbachs musical Firefly premieres in New York City
12 Dec 1913
Hebrew language officially used to teach in Palestinian schools
12 Dec 1914
The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average down 24.39%
12 Dec 1915
1st all-metal aircraft (Junkers J-1) test flown at Dessau Germany
12 Dec 1917
French troop train derails in French Alps killing 543
12 Dec 1917
Rev Edward Flanagan forms Boys Town outside Omaha Nebraska
12 Dec 1920
Maurice Ravels ballet La Valse premieres in Paris
12 Dec 1925
Arthur Heinman coins term motel opens Motel Inn San Luis Obispo
12 Dec 1925
Last Qajar Shah of Iran deposed Rez Shh Pahlavi takes over
12 Dec 1408
Order of the Dragon The Order of the Dragon was first created on December 12 by Emperor Sigismund then King of Hungary and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje following the battle for possession of Bosnia.
12 Dec 1474
Isabella crowns herself queen of Castile & Aragon
12 Dec 1479
Jews are expelled from Schlettstadt Alsace by Emperor Frederick III
12 Dec 1524
Pope Clement VII approves Organization of Jewish Community of Rome
12 Dec 1527
Composer Adrian Willaert moves from Milan to Venice
12 Dec 1700
Utrecht Overijssel Buren Leerdam and Ijsselstein adopt Gregorian calendar
12 Dec 1715
Russian and Prussian troops occupy Stralsund [NS1223]
12 Dec 1769
Pope Clement XIV proclaims a universal jubilee
12 Dec 1791
Bank of North America opens at Carpenters Hall Philadelphia
12 Dec 1800
Washington D.C. established as the capital of the United States of America
12 Dec 1822
Mexico officially recognized as an independent nation by US
12 Dec 1858
1st Canadian coins circulated (1 cent 5 cent 10 cent & 20 cent)
12 Dec 1862
Naval Engagement at Yazoo River MS (USS CAIRO torpedoed)
12 Dec 1870
Joseph Rainey (South Carolina) becomes 1st African American to serve in US House of Representatives
12 Dec 1871
Jules Janssen discovers dark lines in solar corona spectrum
12 Dec 1878
Joseph Pulitzer begins publishing St Louis Dispatch
12 Dec 1897
Anti-Jewish violence breaks out in Bucharest Romania
12 Dec 1897
Rudolph Dirks 1st Katzenjammer cartoon strip in NY Journal
12 Dec 1897
Belo Horizonte the first planned city of Brazil founded
12 Dec 1898
1st first-class cricket game between Australian states NSW and Tasmania
12 Dec 1899
George F Bryant of Boston patents the wooden golf tee
12 Dec 1900
National Negro Anthem Lift Every Voice & Sing composed
12 Dec 1903
Roger Casement completes report about abuses in Belgian Congo
12 Dec 1928
Robert Nichols and Maurice Brownes play Wings over Europe premieres in New York City
12 Dec 1930
Baseball Rules Committee greatly revises the rule book ball bouncing into stands not a HR now a double
12 Dec 1930
Start of the 1st Australia v West Indies Test (at Adelaide)
12 Dec 1936
1937 NFL Draft Sam Francis from University of Nebraska first pick by Philadelphia Eagles
12 Dec 1937
NBC & RCA sends 1st mobile-TV vans onto the streets of NY
12 Dec 1937
Japanese aircraft shell & sink US gunboat Panay on Yangtze River in China. (Japan apologized & eventually paid US 2.2M in reparations)
12 Dec 1937
1938 NFL Draft Corbett Davis from University of Indiana first pick by Cleveland Rams
12 Dec 1939
Russ Indigirka capsizes in blizzard off Japanese coast 750 die
12 Dec 1941
German occupying army do a house search in Paris looking for Jews
12 Dec 1942
A fire in a hostel in St. Johns Newfoundland kills 100 people
12 Dec 1945
Special Court of justice convicts Dutch Nazi leader Mussert to death
12 Dec 1946
Ice plant collapses shearing a tenement building & burying 38
12 Dec 1948
Malayan Emergency Batang Kali Massacre - 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
12 Dec 1949
AL votes 7-1 rejecting legalizing the spitball
12 Dec 1950
16th Heisman Trophy Award Vic Janowicz Ohio State (HB)
12 Dec 1950
Baseball owners vote to drop 4-year old bonus & high school rule
12 Dec 1952
Dallas Texans (former Boston Yanks) play last game last original team
12 Dec 1953
Chuck Yeager reaches Mach 2.43 in Bell X-1A rocket plane
12 Dec 1955
1st prototype of hovercraft patented by British engineer Christoper Cockerell
12 Dec 1956
Commencement of the Irish Republican Armys Border Campaign.
12 Dec 1957
Maj Adrian Drew flies 1943 kph in F-101 Voodoo
12 Dec 1957
US announces manufacture of Borazon (harder than diamond)
12 Dec 1957
Willem J Kolff and his team at Ohios Cleveland Clinic removed the heart from a dog and replaced it with a pneumatic pump which kept the dog alive for 90 minutes proving the viability of the artificial heart
12 Dec 1958
Dutch social democratic party-ministerspremier Drees dismissed
12 Dec 1958
Fergie Gupte takes 9-102 with leggies v W Indies at Kanpur
12 Dec 1959
UN Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space is established
12 Dec 1959
Jack Brabham becomes first Australian to win World Championship of Drivers finishes 4th in season-ending US Grand Prix at Sebring to win title by 4 points from British driver Tony Brooks
12 Dec 1961
Amateur radio satellite Oscar 1 launched with military Discoverer 36
12 Dec 1963
Frank Sinatra Jr returned after being kidnapped
12 Dec 1963
Kenya (formerly British East Africa) declares independence from UK
12 Dec 1964
Cleveland Browns Frank Ryan sets club record of 5 TD passes
12 Dec 1965
The Beatles last concert in Great Britain (Capitol Theatre in Cardiff Wales)
12 Dec 1965
Doug Walters makes maiden Test ton in 1st Test goes on to 155
12 Dec 1965
Vivian Beaumont Theater opens at 65th St & Amsterdam Ave NYC
12 Dec 1966
US Supreme Courts votes 4-3 allowing Braves to move to Atlanta
12 Dec 1968
Rolling Stones film TV show Rock n Roll Circus-never aired
12 Dec 1968
Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence ONeill receives overwhelming support from Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs) at Stormont
12 Dec 1969
Decathlon Bill Toomey achieves world record-score of 8417 points
12 Dec 1969
Strategia della tensione Piazza Fontana bombing - The offices of Banca Nazionale dellAgricoltura in Piazza Fontana Milan are bombed.
12 Dec 1970
Small Astronomy Satellite Explorer 42 launched to study X-rays
12 Dec 1971
Romanian tennis star Ilie Nstase finishes ATP Masters Grand Prix with a perfect 6-0 record to win the rich season ending event at the Coubertin Stadium Paris
12 Dec 1973
Canada begins selling Olympic coins (5 & 10 silver coins)
12 Dec 1973
San Diego files anti-trust against NL (stopping Padres move to DC)
12 Dec 1975
Gas stove explodes & starts fire killing 138 in Mecca Saudi Arabia
12 Dec 1976
Spaniard Manuel Orantes beats Wojtek Fibak of Poland 57 62 06 76 61 to win his first and only season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis title in Houston Texas
12 Dec 1979
President of Pakistan Zia-ul-Haq confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
12 Dec 1980
USs copyright law amended to include computer programs
12 Dec 1980
Apple makes its initial public offering on the US stock market - 28 years later it would become the first US company valued at over 1 trillion
12 Dec 1981
1st closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 37 performances
12 Dec 1981
Gambia & Senegal sign agreement to be known as Senegambia in Feb 1982
12 Dec 1982
Herman Van Veen All of Him closes at Ambassador NYC after 6 performances
12 Dec 1982
9800000 in cash stolen from money transport car in NYC
12 Dec 1982
Joanne Carner and John Mahaffey wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
12 Dec 1982
The Snowplow Game when a snowstorm holds a New England vs Miami game scoreless Mark Henderson a convict on work release on Patriots coach Ron Meyer order clears the path for John Smiths attempt which wins the game for the Patriots 3-0
12 Dec 1983
5th ACE Cable Awards The VII International Tchaikovsky Competition by Robert Dalrymple and Ken Locker
12 Dec 1985
248 US soldiers & 8 crew members die in Arrow Air charter crash
12 Dec 1985
DC-8 crashes near Gander Newfoundland 258 die
12 Dec 1986
Australian cricketer David Boons fourth Test century 103 v England at Adelaide
12 Dec 1986
James Bone Crusher Smith TKOs WBA champ Tim Witherspoon in Madison Square Garden
12 Dec 1986
Russian Tupolev-134 crashes in East Berlin 70 killed
12 Dec 1986
South African journalist and activist Zwelakhe Sisulu arrested at John Vorster Square
12 Dec 1987
Mookie Blaylock sets NBA record of 13 steals in a game
12 Dec 1987
Oklas sets NCAA record of 33 steals vs Centenary
12 Dec 1987
Rollermania at Madison Square Garden Eastern Express beats Midwest Pioneers
12 Dec 1988
PLO leader Yasi Arafat accepts Israels right to exist
12 Dec 1990
US accuses Iraq of dragging its feet on dates for talks
12 Dec 1990
US ambassador to Kuwait Nathaniel Howell leaves Kuwait
12 Dec 1991
NJ Nets set NBA record of 22 blocks beating Nuggets 121-81
12 Dec 1991
Orion Pictures filed Chapter 11 for bankruptcy protection
12 Dec 1991
Tampa Bay Bucaneer Dexter Manley retires after failing drug test
12 Dec 1991
Abuja replaces Lagos as the capital city of Nigeria
12 Dec 1992
58th Heisman Trophy Award Gino Torretta Miami-Fla (QB)
12 Dec 1992
6.8-7.5 earthquake strikes Flores Island (tsunami kills 3000)
12 Dec 1992
Japanese crown prince Naruhito announces engagement to Masaka Owada
12 Dec 1992
Julia Kurotchkina 18 of Russia crowned 42nd Miss World
12 Dec 1993
Any Given Day closes at Longacre Theater NYC after 32 performances
12 Dec 1993
Kentucky Cycle closes at Royale Theater NYC after 34 performances
12 Dec 1993
WAQX 104.3 (Q-104) rock format replaces WNCN classic format in NYC
12 Dec 1995
CBC announces Radio Canada International service to end on March 31
12 Dec 1995
Amendment to make it illegal to physically desecrate the flag turned down by senate 63-36 (need 23 vote)
12 Dec 1996
Assassination attempt on Uday (Iraqis heir to Sadam Hussain)
12 Dec 1997
Carlos the Jackal professional revolutionary goes on trial in Paris
12 Dec 1997
Florida releases Alex Arias the last original Marlin
12 Dec 1997
Japanese train builders (Maglev) claim world speed record at 332 MPH
12 Dec 1997
Red Sox sign Pedro Martinez to record 6 year 69 million contract
12 Dec 1997
SWAT team shoots John E Armstrong in Fla freeing 2 young hostages
12 Dec 2000
United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore
12 Dec 2004
On This Day launches MusicOrb.com and TodayinSport.com separate sites for music and sports history now our music and sport channels
12 Dec 2006
Peugeot produces its last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.
12 Dec 2008
Andrei Klepach a deputy economics minister of Russia states that Russia has entered the recession with two quarters of contraction expected meaning Russia will fall short of reaching the 6.8% growth forecast for
12 Dec 2011
77th Heisman Trophy Award Robert Griffin III Baylor (QB)
12 Dec 2013
The United States announces sanctions on the two dozen companies who assisted Iran with their nuclear program
12 Dec 2014
UN climate change talks in Peru continue past scheduled time as negotiations continue to stall
12 Dec 2014
Over 200 pro-democracy activists arrested in Hong Kong
12 Dec 2015
COP21 climate change summit in Paris reaches a deal between 195 countries to limit the rise in the global average temperature to less than 2C above pre-industrial levels
12 Dec 2015
First women ever elected in Saudi Arabia in municipal council elections
12 Dec 2016
Paolo Gentiloni is sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy succeeding Matteo Renzi
12 Dec 2016
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte boasts he killed susected criminals personally when mayor of Davao City
12 Dec 2017
Australian shopping mall firm Westfield is bought by French property company Unibail-Rodamco for 15.7 billion
12 Dec 1908
Australasian Championships Mens Tennis Sydney American Fred Alexander beats Alfred Dunlop of Australia 3-6 3-6 6-0 6-2 6-3
12 Dec 1937
National Football League Championship Wrigley Field Chicago Washington Redskins beat Chicago Bears 28-21
12 Dec 1959
Jack Brabham finishes 4th in season-ending US Grand Prix at Sebring to become first Australian F1 World Drivers Championship winner takes title by 4 points from Briton Tony Brooks
12 Dec 1961
Ballon dOr Juventus Argentine forward Omar Svori wins award for best football player in Europe ahead of Spanish midfielder Luis Surez and English forward Johnny Haynes
12 Dec 1969
Offices of Banca Nazionale dellAgricoltura in Piazza Fontana Milan are bombed killing 14
12 Dec 1997
SWAT team shoots John E Armstrong in Florida freeing 2 young hostages
12 Dec 1980
Apple makes its initial public offering on the US stock market - 38 years later it would become the first US company valued at over 1 trillion
12 Dec 1991
Tampa Bay Buccaneer Dexter Manley retires after failing drug test
12 Dec 1992
58th Heisman Trophy Award Gino Torretta U of Miami (QB)
12 Dec 2010
Mosconi Cup nine-ball pool London England Europe regains title with an 11-8 win over US MVP Darren Appleton (England)
12 Dec 1897
Rudolph Dirks 1st The Katzenjammer Kids cartoon strip appears in NY Journal
12 Dec 1963
Frank Sinatra Jr returned by kidnappersafter his father paid the 240000 ransom demanded
12 Dec 1279
Discovery of a sarcophagus supposedly containing the body of Mary Magdalene in the crypt of the church of Saint-Maximin southeastern France
12 Dec 1946
Abandoned ice plant in Manahttan New York City collapses during a fire shearing a tenement building next door killing 38
12 Dec 1958
Indian leg spin bowler Subhash Fergie Gupte takes 9-102 v W Indies at Kanpur
12 Dec 1965
The Beatles last concert in Great Britain at Capitol Theatre in Cardiff Wales
12 Dec 1968
Rolling Stones film TV show Rock n Roll Circus- never aired
12 Dec 2008
Andrei Klepach Deputy Economic Minister of Russia states that Russia has entered a recession with two quarters of contraction expected meaning Russia will fall short of reaching the 6.8% growth forecast for
12 Dec 1925
Arthur Heinman coins term motel from motor hotel opens Motel Inn San Luis Obispo
12 Dec 1957
Willem J. Kolff and his team at Ohios Cleveland Clinic removed the heart from a dog and replaced it with a pneumatic pump which kept the dog alive for 90 minutes proving the viability of the artificial heart
12 Dec 1996
Assassination attempt on Uday Hussein heir to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain
12 Dec 1408
Order of the Dragon is first created by Emperor Sigismund then King of Hungary and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje following the battle for possession of Bosnia
12 Dec 1930
Baseball Rules Committee greatly revises the rule book a ball bouncing into the stands is not a home run now a double
12 Dec 1958
Dutch Social Democratic Party ministers including Prime Minister Willem Drees dismissed
12 Dec 1963
Kenya (formerly British East Africa) declares independence from the United Kingdom
12 Dec 1980
Apple makes its initial public offering on the US stock market - 38 years later it would become the 1st US company valued at over 1 trillion 1st over 2 trillion two years after that and 1st over 3 trillion three years after that
12 Dec 1980
US copyright law amended to include computer programs
12 Dec 2017
Democrat Doug Jones defeats Republican Roy Moore for Alabama Senate seat in upset win marked by allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore
12 Dec 2018
China built 88 out of worlds 143 skyscrapers in more than any country ever (buildings over 200 meters656 ft)
12 Dec 2018
Michael Cohen former lawyer for US President Donald Trump sentenced to three years in prison for campaign-finance violations and tax fraud
12 Dec 2018
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev compete complex spacewalk to fix hole in Soyuz spacecraft
12 Dec 2018
Seven mass graves in former Islamic State area discovered containing hundreds of bodies some tortured near Albu Kamal eastern Syria
12 Dec 1279
Discovery of a sarcophagus supposedly containing the body of Mary Magdalene in the crypt of the Church of Saint-Maximin in southeastern France
12 Dec 1527
Flemish composer Adrian Willaert moves from Milan to Venice to begin is engagement as maestro di cappella of St. Marks Basilica
12 Dec 1864
Stonemans Raid Expedition by Union troops into southwestern Virginia
12 Dec 1897
Rudolph Dirks first The Katzenjammer Kids cartoon strip appears in the New York Journal
12 Dec 1917
Boys Town an orphanage for boys is founded by Father Edward Flanagan in Omaha Nebraska
12 Dec 1925
Arthur Heinman coins the term motel from motor hotel and opens the Motel Inn in San Luis Obispo
12 Dec 1930
Baseball Rules Committee greatly revises the rule book a ball bouncing into the stands is now a ground-rule double not a home run
12 Dec 1933
Eddie Shore hits Toronto Maple Leaf star Ace Bailey from behind fracturing his skull and ending his career
12 Dec 1937
NBC and RCA send the first mobile TV vans onto the streets of New York
12 Dec 1939
First commercial manufacture of nylon yarn in Seaford Delaware
12 Dec 1955
The first prototype of the hovercraft is patented by British engineer Christoper Cockerell
12 Dec 1957
UA Air Force Major Adrian Drew flies 1943 kmh in a modified McDonnell F-101A-5-MC Voodoo over Edwards Air Force Base California
12 Dec 1957
US announces manufacture of Borazon a material harder than diamond
12 Dec 1957
Willem J. Kolff and his team at Ohios Cleveland Clinic remove the heart from a dog and replace it with a pneumatic pump which keeps the dog alive for 90 minutes proving the feasibility of the artificial heart
12 Dec 1965
Chicago halfback Gale Sayers ties the NFL record for most touchdowns in a game with six in a 6120 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Wrigley Field
12 Dec 1968
Rolling Stones film TV show Rock and Roll Circus- guest performers include The Who Jethro Tull Taj Mahal Marianne Faithfull and John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Show is withheld by the Rolling Stones and not aired until October 1996.
12 Dec 1976
Quarterback Joe Namath plays his last game with the NY Jets
12 Dec 1980
Apple makes its initial public offering on the US stock market 38 years later it becomes the first US company valued at over 1 trillion first over 2 trillion two years after that and first over 3 trillion three years after that
12 Dec 1988
Sandra Miller of Queens sues Mike Tyson for sexual harassment
12 Dec 1997
Japanese train builders (Maglev) claim a world speed record of 332 mph (534.3 kmh)
12 Dec 1997
Red Sox sign Pedro Martinez to a record six-year 69 million contract
12 Dec 1997
SWAT team shoots John E. Armstrong in Florida freeing two young hostages
12 Dec 2001
Winona Ryder is arrested on shoplifting charges in Beverly Hills California
12 Dec 2004
On This Day launches MusicOrb.com and TodayinSport.com separate sites for music and sports history now its music and sport channels
12 Dec 2006
Peugeot produces its last car at the Ryton Plant signaling the end of mass car production in Coventry formerly a major center of the British motor industry
12 Dec 2016
Ballon dOr Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo claims award for the 4th time record winning margin of 429 from Lionel Messi
12 Dec 2019
The deepest point on land on Earth is identified under Denman Glacier East Antarctica at 3.5 km (11500 ft) below sea level
12 Dec 2019
Three Scottish brothers Ewan (27) Jamie (26) and Lachlan (21) MacLean depart in a rowboat from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to cross the Atlantic Ocean headed for the Caribbean Islands
12 Dec 2021
British PM Boris Johnson announces a emergency COVID-19 booster program to protect the NHS and stem a possible incoming tidal wave of Omicron [1]
12 Dec 2022
Calculated and targeted execution leaves three people shot and killed including two police officers with the three killers also killed in a six hour gun fight near Wieambilla west of Brisbane Australia [1]
12 Dec 2022
Emma Tucker appointed editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal first woman to lead the paper [1]
12 Dec 2022
The city of Richmond Virginia capital of the Confederacy during the US Civil War removes its last Confederate statue of Ambrose P. Hill [1]
12 Dec 2023
U.N. General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza amid reports 18000 Palestinians have been killed 70% children and women with over 80% now homeless [1]
12 Dec 2024
A suspected Chinese spy with links to Prince Andrew is banned from the UK by a government tribunal [1]