December, 21th in History

[Spiritus Temporis]

Events

Friday 21, 2012:
The Long Count of the Maya calendar recycles according to the most popular correlation. A minority argues that it does so on December 23, 2012.

Saturday 21, 2002:
Vancouver, British Columbia city council declares "D.O.A. Day" in observance of the Canadian punk band D.O.A.'s decades of influence and accomplishments.

Friday 21, 2001:
Japanese television performer Masashi Tashiro got No. 1 temporarily in the Internet vote of Time's Person of the Year.

Tuesday 21, 1999:
The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives intended by ETA to blow down Torre Picasso.

Wednesday 21, 1988:
A terrorist bomb explodes and crashes Pan Am flight 103 a Boeing 747, over Lockerbie, Scotland killing 270, including 11 on the ground

Monday 21, 1987:
The passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1.

Friday 21, 1979:
The Lancaster House Agreement was signed, effectively ending the white rule in Rhodesia under Ian Smith.

Saturday 21, 1968:
Apollo 8 launched

Friday 21, 1962:
Rondane National Park, the first national park in Norway, was established.

Sunday 21, 1958:
Charles de Gaulle is elected as the first President and establishes the Fifth Republic

Saturday 21, 1935:
First screening of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first feature-length animated movie.

Thursday 21, 1933:
Newfoundland becomes a crown colony

Friday 21, 1923:
Nepal changes from British protectorate to independent state

Sunday 21, 1919:
Municipal elections held in Senegal (First round, second round is held December 28). The multiracial lists of the Independent Socialist Republican Party (PRSI) wins in all four municipalities.

Monday 21, 1914:
First feature-length silent film comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance, starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charles Chaplin, is released

Sunday 21, 1913:
First crossword puzzle published

Wednesday 21, 1898:
Marie and Pierre Curie discover radium

Monday 21, 1891:
First basketball game played

Tuesday 21, 1880:
Isle of Man becomes first political entity that allows women to vote

Saturday 21, 1872:
HMS Challenger sails from Portsmouth on the 4 year scientific expedition that would lay the foundation for the science of oceanography

Saturday 21, 1861:
Lord Lyons, the British minister to the United States, meets with United States Secretary of State William Seward concerning Confederate envoys arrested by the United States Navy in order to prevent war between the United States and the United Kingdom.

Thursday 21, 1780:
Great Britain declares war on The Netherlands in response to the Dutch joining the League of Armed Neutrality and for assisting French and American forces during the American Revolution.

Monday 21, 1620:
The Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock

Saturday 21, 69:
Vespasian becomes the fourth Roman Emperor in the Year of the four emperors.

Source: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/21-december/on-this-day.html


People born on December 21

1984:
Darren Potter, Irish footballer (b: December 21, 1984) (Biography of Darren Potter)

1978:
Mike Vitar, American actor (b: December 21, 1978) (Biography of Mike Vitar)

1974:
Karrie Webb, Australian golfer (b: December 21, 1974) (Biography of Karrie Webb)

1973:
Karmen Stavec, Slovenian singer (b: December 21, 1973) (Biography of Karmen Stavec)

1969:
Julie Delpy, French actress (b: December 21, 1969) (Biography of Julie Delpy)

1967:
Mikhail Saakashvili, President of Georgia (b: December 21, 1967) (Biography of Mikhail Saakashvili)

1966:
Kiefer Sutherland, Canadian actor (b: December 21, 1966) (Biography of Kiefer Sutherland)

1965:
Andy Dick, American actor and comedian (b: December 21, 1965) (Biography of Andy Dick)
Anke Engelke, German comedienne (b: December 21, 1965) (Biography of Anke Engelke)

1961:
Francis Ng, Hong Kong actor (b: December 21, 1961) (Biography of Francis Ng)

1959:
Florence Griffith Joyner, American runner (b: December 21, 1959 ; d: September 21, 1998) (Biography of Florence Griffith Joyner)

1957:
Tom Henke, baseball player (b: December 21, 1957) (Biography of Tom Henke)
Ray Romano, American comedian and actor (b: December 21, 1957) (Biography of Ray Romano)

1955:
Jane Kaczmarek, American actress (b: December 21, 1955) (Biography of Jane Kaczmarek)

1954:
Chris Evert, American tennis player (b: December 21, 1954) (Biography of Chris Evert)

1950:
Jeffrey Katzenberg, American producer (b: December 21, 1950) (Biography of Jeffrey Katzenberg)

1948:
Samuel L. Jackson, American actor (b: December 21, 1948) (Biography of Samuel L. Jackson)
Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician and cabaret artist (b: December 21, 1948) (Biography of Willi Resetarits)

1947:
Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist (b: December 21, 1947) (Biography of Paco de Lucía)

1946:
Carl Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (b: December 21, 1946 ; d: February 6, 1998) (Biography of Carl Wilson)

1944:
Michael Tilson Thomas, American conductor (b: December 21, 1944) (Biography of Michael Tilson Thomas)

1942:
Reinhard Mey, German singer (b: December 21, 1942) (Biography of Reinhard Mey)
Carla Thomas, American singer (b: December 21, 1942) (Biography of Carla Thomas)
Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China (b: December 21, 1942) (Biography of Hu Jintao)

1940:
Frank Zappa, American musician (b: December 21, 1940 ; d: December 4, 1993) (Biography of Frank Zappa)

1935:
John G. Avildsen, American film director and editor (b: December 21, 1935) (Biography of John G. Avildsen)
Phil Donahue, American talk show host (b: December 21, 1935) (Biography of Phil Donahue)
Jane Fonda, American actress and activist (b: December 21, 1935) (Biography of Jane Fonda)

1926:
Joe Paterno, American football coach (b: December 21, 1926) (Biography of Joe Paterno)

1922:
Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist (b: December 21, 1922 ; d: June 24, 2005) (Biography of Paul Winchell)

1921:
Vampira, Finnish actress (b: December 21, 1921) (Biography of Vampira)

1918:
Donald Regan, Chief of Staff and U.S. Treasury Secretary (b: December 21, 1918 ; d: June 10, 2003) (Biography of Donald Regan)
Kurt Waldheim, United Nations Secretary-General (b: December 21, 1918) (Biography of Kurt Waldheim)

1917:
Heinrich Böll, German author, Nobel Prize laureate (b: December 21, 1917 ; d: July 16, 1985) (Biography of Heinrich Böll)

1914:
Ivan Generalić, Croatian painter (b: December 21, 1914) (Biography of Ivan Generalić)

1896:
Leroy Robertson, American composer (b: December 21, 1896 ; d: July 25, 1971) (Biography of Leroy Robertson)

1892:
Rebecca West, American writer (b: December 21, 1892 ; d: March 15, 1983) (Biography of Rebecca West)
Walter Hagen, American golfer (b: December 21, 1892 ; d: October 5, 1969) (Biography of Walter Hagen)

1889:
Sewall Wright, American biologist (b: December 21, 1889 ; d: March 3, 1988) (Biography of Sewall Wright)

1878:
Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish philosopher and mathematician (b: December 21, 1878) (Biography of Jan Łukasiewicz)

1876:
Jack Lang, Australian politician (b: December 21, 1876 ; d: September 27, 1975) (Biography of Jack Lang (Australia))

1872:
Albert Payson Terhune, American author (b: December 21, 1872 ; d: February 18, 1942) (Biography of Albert Payson Terhune)

1859:
Gustave Kahn, French poet (b: December 21, 1859) (Biography of Gustave Kahn)

1850:
Zden?k Fibich, Czech composer (b: December 21, 1850 ; d: October 15, 1900) (Biography of Zden?k Fibich)

1843:
Thomas Bracken, New Zealand writer (b: December 21, 1843 ; d: February 16, 1898) (Biography of Thomas Bracken)

1815:
Thomas Couture French painter and teacher (b: December 21, 1815 ; d: March 30, 1879) (Biography of Thomas Couture)

1811:
Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (b: December 21, 1811 ; d: December 3, 1882) (Biography of Archibald Campbell Tait)

1804:
Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b: December 21, 1804 ; d: April 19, 1881) (Biography of Benjamin Disraeli)

1603:
Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist (b: December 21, 1603 ; d: April 1, 1684) (Biography of Roger Williams (theologian))

1596:
Peter Mogila, Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia (b: December 21, 1596 ; d: December 22, 1646) (Biography of Peter Mogila)

1401:
Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (b: December 21, 1401) (Biography of Tommaso Masaccio)

1118:
Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury (b: December 21, 1118 ; d: December 29, 1170) (Biography of Thomas Becket)

Source: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/21-december/births.html

[Spiritus Temporis]

They left us on December 21

2004:
Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist (b: September 24, 1925 ; d: December 21, 2004) (Biography of Autar Singh Paintal)

2001:
Dick Schaap, American sports reporter (b: September 27, 1934 ; d: December 21, 2001) (Biography of Dick Schaap)

1992:
Albert King (d: December 21, 1992) (Biography of Albert King)
Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (b: December 31, 1903 ; d: December 21, 1992) (Biography of Nathan Milstein)

1958:
Lion Feuchtwanger, German dramatist and narrator (b: July 7, 1884 ; d: December 21, 1958) (Biography of Lion Feuchtwanger)

1957:
Eric Coates, English composer (b: August 27, 1886 ; d: December 21, 1957) (Biography of Eric Coates)

1956:
Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b: December 10, 1872 ; d: December 21, 1956) (Biography of Don Lorenzo Perosi)

1945:
George S. Patton (d: December 21, 1945) (Biography of George S. Patton)

1940:
F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist (b: September 24, 1896 ; d: December 21, 1940) (Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald)

1937:
Frank B. Kellogg, U.S. Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b: December 22, 1856 ; d: December 21, 1937) (Biography of Frank B. Kellogg)

1935:
Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist, writer, satirist, and social critic (b: January 9, 1890 ; d: December 21, 1935) (Biography of Kurt Tucholsky)

1873:
Francis Garnier, French explorer (b: July 25, 1839 ; d: December 21, 1873) (Biography of Francis Garnier)

1807:
John Newton English cleric and hymnist (b: July 24, 1725 ; d: December 21, 1807) (Biography of John Newton)

1597:
Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (b: May 8, 1521 ; d: December 21, 1597) (Biography of Petrus Canisius)

1579:
Vicente Masip (d: December 21, 1579) (Biography of Vicente Masip)

1549:
Marguerite of Navarre (d: December 21, 1549) (Biography of Marguerite of Navarre)

1504:
Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild (d: December 21, 1504) (Biography of Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild)

1375:
Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian writer (b: June 16, 1313 ; d: December 21, 1375) (Biography of Giovanni Boccaccio)

1295:
Marguerite Berenger of Provence (d: December 21, 1295) (Biography of Marguerite Berenger of Provence)

Source: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/21-december/deaths.html