This Day in History
21 Dec 1163
Hurricane hits villages in HollandFriesland causing floods
21 Dec 1561
Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle Archbishop of Mechelen made Cardinal
21 Dec 1582
Flanders adopts Gregorian calendar tomorrow is Jan 1 1583
21 Dec 1598
Battle of Curalaba the Mapuche people led by Pelentaru revolt and inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile
More History
The Graduate opens in New York; makes Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider famous
On this day in 1967 the film The Graduate opens at two theaters in New York the Coronet on Third Avenue and the Lincoln Art Theater on Broadway....
Harry Chapin earns a #1 hit with Cat’s In The Cradle
Harry Chapin earned a reputation as a politically conscious singer-songwriter who dedicated himself in the years before his untimely death to various noble ca...
De Gaulle elected
Three months after a new French constitution was approved Charles de Gaulle is elected the first president of the Fifth Republic by a sweeping majority of Fren...
Carlos the Jackal attacks OPEC headquarters
In Vienna Austria Carlos the Jackal leads a raid on a meeting of oil ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). German and Arab ...
Apollo 8 departs for moon’s orbit
Apollo 8 the first manned mission to the moon is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Florida with astronauts Frank Borman James Lovell Jr. and Will...
Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Scotland
On this day in 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes in midair over Lockerbie Scotland killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members aboar...
Old Blood and Guts dies
On this day General George S. Patton commander of the U.S. 3rd Army dies from injuries suffered not in battle but in a freak car accident. He was 60 years ol...
Sir William Robertson is appointed chief of the Imperial General Staff
Shortly after Sir Douglas Haig is installed as the new commander-in-chief of the British forces his steadfast supporter Sir William Robertson is appointed th...
Thailand announces plans to withdraw troops
Thailand announces plans to withdraw its 12000-man contingent from South Vietnam. Thai forces went to Vietnam as part of the Free World Military Forces an eff...
Defense Department reports eight B-52s lost during Linebacker II
The Defense Department announces that eight B-52 bombers and several fighter-bombers were lost since the commencement of Operation Linebacker II on December 18....
Hobey Baker killed in plane crash
On this day in 1918 the 26-year-old collegiate and amateur ice hockey star Hobey Baker is killed in a plane crash in Toul France just after the end of World ...
Nixon meets Elvis Presley
On this day in 1970 rock star Elvis Presley is greeted at the White House by President Richard M. Nixon. Presleys visit was not just a social call He ...
Indians massacre Fetterman and eighty soldiers
Determined to challenge the growing American military presence in their territory Indians in northern Wyoming lure Lieutenant Colonel William Fetterman and his...
William Wordsworth moves into Dove Cottage
On this day in 1799 William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy move into Dove Cottage in Westmoreland England not far from the home of Samuel Taylor Coleridge...
Russell Crowe stars in A Beautiful Mind
On this day in 2001 A Beautiful Mind starring the actor Russell Crowe as John Forbes Nash a Nobel Prize-winning economist and mathematician who develops schi...
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