Historical Events
George Hamilton-Gordon Prime Minister
Dec 18 George Hamilton-Gordon (Peelite party) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after the downfall of the Conservative government of Edward Smith-Stanley
Famous Birthdays
Henri Becquerel (1852-1908)
Dec 15 French physicist who discovered radioactivity (Nobel 1903), born in Paris, France
- Dec 15 Muḥammad Tawfīq Pasha, Khedive of Egypt (1879-92), born in Cairo, Egypt (d. 1892)
- Dec 17 Herbert Beerbohm Tree, British actor and theatre manager (King John, Trilby), born in Kensington, London (d. 1917)
- Dec 18 Gaetano Coronaro, Italian conductor, pedagogue, and composer (La Creola), born in Vicenza, Austrian Empire (now Italy) (d. 1908)
- Dec 19 Albert A. Michelson, American physicist (Nobel Prize 1907), born in Strelno Prussia (d. 1931)
Famous Weddings
Rutherford B. Hayes
Dec 30 Future US President Rutherford B. Hayes (30) weds teetotaler and abolitionist Lucy Webb (21)
Famous Deaths
- Dec 12 Tsjalling Hiddes Halbertsma, Dutch Frisian merchant, poet, and story teller (Rhymes & Tales), dies at 60
- Dec 16 Andries Hendrik Potgieter, South African Transvaal explorer and leader (led Voortrekkers group to settle Transvaal), dies at 59
- Dec 16 Henri-Jean Rigel, French composer, music director, and "pianiste de la musique particulière de l’Empereur et Roi" to Napoleon, dies at 80
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
80-89
Over 90