Today’s Important Historical Events
1620 Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts [NS: Dec 21]
1792 France’s King Louis XVI goes on trial, accused of high treason and crimes against the state
1913 “Mona Lisa” recovered two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum
1931 Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland (Free State), and Newfoundland (not then part of Canada)
1946 United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established by resolution 57(I) of the UN General Assembly
1997 Delegates from 150 industrial nations attending a UN climate conference in Kyoto, Japan, reach agreement to control heat-trapping greenhouse gases
Today’s Historical Events
359 Honoratus, first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office, after the Emperor Constantius creates a new senate for the East
384 St Damasus I dies and ends his reign as Catholic Pope. Began reign 366
1282 Llywelyn ab Gruffydd/Llywelyn the Last, last native Prince of Wales is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales. Reigned from 1259.
1395 John “Eleanor” Rykener, a male cross-dressing prostitute, is brought to court in London for “committing that detestable unmentionable and ignominious vice” in late medieval England’s only recorded case on same-sex intercourse (verdict unknown)
1419 Heretic Nicolaas Serrurier exiled from Florence
1477 Duchess Maria of Burgundy ends the ‘Great Privilege’ in states of The Netherlands
1572 Spanish troops begin siege of Haarlem
1602 Surprise attack by forces of the Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain repelled by citizens of Geneva. Commemorated since as Fête de l’Escalade.
Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV
1882 Victorien Sardous play “Fedora” with Sarah Bernhardt premieres in Paris
1909 Colored moving pictures demonstrated at Madison Square Garden, NYC
1948 WHEN (now WTVH) TV channel 5 in Syracuse, NY (CBS) begins broadcasting
1948 WMC TV channel 5 in Memphis, Tennessee (NBC) begins broadcasting
1949 WOAI (now KMOL) TV channel 4 in San Antonio, TX (NBC) 1st broadcast
1953 KTVA TV channel 11 in Anchorage (CBS) becomes Alaska’s 1st TV station
1960 Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh’s musical “Wildcat” with Lucille Ball premieres in New York City
1967 “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn, premieres in NYC (Hepburn – Academy Award for Best Actress 1968)
Today’s Historical Events in Music
1882 Boston’s Bijou Theatre, 1st American playhouse lit exclusively by electricity, 1st performance, Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Iolanthe”
1946 Hank Williams begins to record on Sterling label
1947 Bob Hilliard and Sigman’s musical “Angel in the Wings” opens at Coronet Theater NYC for 308 performances
1950 Paul Hindemith‘s Concerto for Clarinet premieres with Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, and Benny Goodman as soloist, at the Academy of Music
1951 “The Wild Side of Life” single recorded by Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys (Billboard Song of the Year, 1952)
1961 Elvis Presley‘s “Blue Hawaii” album goes #1 & stays #1 for 20 wks
1965 “Anya” closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 16 performances
1965 Michael Leonard and Herbert Martin’s musical “The Yearling” closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 3 performances
Today’s Historical Events in Sports
1866 1st yacht race across Atlantic Ocean; schooners Fleetwing, Vesta and the Henrietta, with NY playboy Gordon Bennett on board, leave Sandy Hook for the Scilly Isles (the Henrietta wins)
1926 Leo O’Connor is unbeaten on 143 as Queensland wins their first Sheffield Shield match by 5 wickets vs NSW at the Sydney Cricket Ground
1934 1st Toronto Maple Leaf penalty shot, Conacher unsuccessful vs Rangers
1934 Ford C. Frick becomes president of baseball’s National League
1934 NL votes to permit night baseball (up to 7 games per home team)
1937 25th CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts claim their 4th Championship; beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 4-3
1938 National Football League Championship, Polo Grounds, NYC: New York Giants beat Green Bay Packers, 23-17; record title game attendance 48,120
1941 Australian state cricket associations, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales decide at meetings with new Prime Minister John Curtin to abandon all interstate first class matches for the duration of WWII
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