What Happened in December 1853

Historical Events

  • Dec 24 William Henry Fry's "Santa Claus: Christmas Symphony" premiere performance by conductor Louis Antoine Jullien's orchestra at Metropolitan Hall, NYC [1]
  • Dec 30 Dinner party held inside life-sized model of an Iguanodon (ornithopod dinosaur), created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in South London

Famous Birthdays

  • Dec 6 Hara Prasad Shastri, Indian academic, Sanskrit scholar, archivist and historian of Bengali literature, born in Khulna, Bengal Presidency (d. 1931)
  • Dec 9 Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn, American HOF pitcher, 1880-91 (won MLB record 60 games & Triple Crown 1884; no-hitter 1883; Providence Grays, Boston Beaneaters, and 3 other teams), born in Rochester, New York (d. 1897)
  • Dec 12 Johan Petter Johansson, Swedish inventor and industrialist (modern adjustable spanner), born in Vårgårda, Sweden (d. 1943)
  • Dec 13 Joseph Sickman Corsen, Curacao musician, composer and poet, born in Curacao (d. 1911)
  • Dec 14 Henry Wood, English cricket wicket-keeper (4 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 134no; Kent CCC, Surrey CCC), born in Dartford, England (d. 1919)
  • Dec 14 Salvador Díaz Mirón, Mexican poet (Los Cien Mejores Poemas), born in Veracruz, Mexico (d. 1928)
  • Dec 15 Jean Baptiste August Kessler, Dutch entrepreneur and director of oil on Dutch Indies, born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (d. 1900)

Émile Roux (1853-1933)

Dec 17 French physician, bacteriologist, immunologist who developed the 1st diphtheria vaccine and co-founded the Pasteur Institute, born in Confolens, France

  • Dec 19 Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician who was the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec and 5th Chief Justice of Canada, born in Quebec City, Canada (d. 1942)
  • Dec 21 Isolde Kurz, German poet and short-story writer (Meine Mutter), born in Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1944)
  • Dec 22 Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan classical pianist, soprano, composer, and conductor, born in Caracas, Venezuela (d. 1917)
  • Dec 22 Yevgraf Fyodorov, Russian mathematician, born in Orensburg, Russia (d. 1919)
  • Dec 26 René Bazin, French novelist (d. 1932)
  • Dec 30 André Charles Prosper Messager, French organist, composer and conductor (Les Deux Pigeons, Véronique), born in Montluçon, France (d. 1929)
Born in 1853

Famous Deaths

  • Dec 5 Johann Peter Heuschkel, German oboist and composer, dies at 80