What Happened in December 1824

Historical Events

Presidential Election Deadlock

Dec 1 US House of Representatives begins to decide outcome of election deadlock between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (Adams wins)

  • Dec 9 Battle of Ayacucho (Candorcangui), Peru defeats Spain
  • Dec 16 Great North Holland Canal opens

Famous Birthdays

  • Dec 5 Titian James Coffey, Atty Gen (Union), (d. 1867)
  • Dec 10 George MacDonald, Scottish poet and sci-fi author (Princess & Curdie), born in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (d. 1905)
  • Dec 14 Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter, born in Lyon, Rhône, France (d. 1898)
  • Dec 17 John Kerr, Scottish physicist and pioneer in the field of electro-optics (electro-visually Kerr-effect), born in Ardrossan, Scotland (d. 1907)
  • Dec 17 Manning Ferguson Force, American lawyer, judge and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1899)
  • Dec 17 Thomas Starr King, American Unitarian clergyman (Christianity & Humanity), born in New York City (d. 1864)
  • Dec 19 Hercules Robinson, British colonial administrator (Ceylon, Fiji, New Zealand, South Africa), born in County Westmeath Ireland (d. 1897)
  • Dec 24 Peter Cornelius, German composer (The Barber of Baghdad), and educator, born in Mainz, Grand Duchy of Hesse (d. 1874)
  • Dec 26 Augustus Louis Chetlain, American Major General (Union Army), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1914)

Famous Deaths

  • Dec 21 James Parkinson, English physician (First description of Parkinson's disease) and political activist, dies at 69
  • Dec 25 Barbara Juliane, baroness von Krüdener, Baltic German religious mystic, author, and Pietist Lutheran theologian, dies at 60