Historical Events
Stanley Reaches Fort Bodo
Dec 19 Henry Morton Stanley's expedition reaches Fort Bodo, East-Africa
Sullivan vs. Kilrain
Dec 22 Heavyweight boxing champ John L. Sullivan challenges Jake Kilrain
Van Gogh Cuts Off Ear
Dec 23 Vincent van Gogh cuts off his left ear with a razor, after argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin, and sends to a female courtesan for safe keeping
- Dec 25 First indoor baseball game played at fairgrounds in Philadelphia; 2,000 watch the Uptowners beat the Downtowners, 6-1
Order of the African Star
Dec 30 Belgium's King Leopold II establishes Order of the African Star - for service to the Congo and to promote 'African civilisation'
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 3 Algernon Kingscote, English tennis player (Australasian C'ship 1919), born in Bangalore, India (d. 1964)
- Dec 3 Ion Nonna Otescu, Romanian composer and educator (Bucharest Conservatory, 1913-40), born in Bucharest, Romania (d. 1940)
- Dec 5 Áskell Snorrason, Icelandic composer, born in Öndolfsstaðir, Iceland (d. 1970)
- Dec 6 Emiliana de Zubeldía, Spanish-Mexican concert pianist, composer - chiefly for guitar (Landscape Basko), and educator (Academy of Music at the University of Sonora, 1947-87), born in Salinas de Oro, Spain (d. 1987)
- Dec 6 Will Hay [William Thomson Hay], British comedian, actor and amateur astronomer, born in County Durham, England (d. 1949)
- Dec 7 Hamilton Fish III, American politician (U.S. Representative from New York, 1920-45), born in Garrison, New York (d. 1991)
- Dec 7 Heywood Broun, American journalist (1st President of American Newspaper Guild), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1939)
- Dec 7 Joyce Cary, Anglo-Irish writer (House of Children), born in Londonderry, Ireland (d. 1957)
- Dec 8 Fiske Kimball, American architect and art historian, born in Newton, Massachusetts (d. 1955)
- Dec 8 Paul Cavanagh, British actor (The Woman in Green, Tarzan & his Mate), born in Chislehurst, England (d. 1964)
- Dec 9 Mabel Stark, American tiger trainer "crazy Mabel", born in Tennessee or Kentucky (d. 1968)
- Dec 15 Artturi Leinonen, Finnish journalist and writer (Kati), born in Ylihärmä, Finland (d. 1963)
Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959)
Dec 15 American dramatist (Winter Set, High Tor), born in Atlantic, Pennsylvania
- Dec 16 Alexander I, King of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (1921–29) and of Yugoslavia (1929–34), born in Cetinje, Montenegro (d. 1934)
- Dec 16 Alphonse Juin, French general and Marshal, born in Bône, French Algeria (d. 1967)
- Dec 18 Gladys Cooper, British actress (My Fair Lady), born in Lewisham, England (d. 1971)
- Dec 18 Robert Moses, American Parks official (oversaw rebuilding of Long Island & NYC parks & roads), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1981)
- Dec 19 (Frederick) "Fritz" Reiner, Hungarian-American conductor (Cincinnati Symphony, 1922-31; Pittsburgh Symphony, 1938-48; Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1953-63), and educator (Curtis Institute), born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (d. 1963) [1]
- Dec 20 Fred Merkle, American baseball figure, born in Watertown, Wisconsin (d. 1958)
- Dec 22 J. Arthur Rank, English industrialist, born in Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom (d. 1972)
- Dec 23 Friedrich Wolf, German writer and diplomat, born in Neuwied, Germany (d. 1953)
- Dec 27 (Raffaele Attilio) "Tito" Schipa, Italian tenor and composer (La Rondine), born in Lecce, Italy (d. 1965)
- Dec 27 Thea von Harbou, German author and actress (Metropolis), born in Tauperlitz, Döhlau, Bavaria, Germany (d. 1954)
- Dec 28 Gabriel von Wayditch, Hungarian-American composer, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1969)
- Dec 29 Joseph Beran, Czech Roman Catholic prelate, born in Pilsen, Czech Republic (d. 1969)
Famous Deaths
- Dec 2 Franz Xaver Witt, German church musician, composer, and priest, dies at 54
- Dec 2 Namık Kemal, Turkish writer, journalist and political activist (Young Ottomans), dies at 47
- Dec 3 Carl Zeiss, German scientific instrument and lens maker (Carl Zeiss AG), dies at 72
- Dec 10 Marià Obiols, Catalan composer, dies at 79
- Dec 11 John Rylands, English cloth merchant and philanthropist (Rylands & Sons, Manchester's 1st multi-millionaire), dies at 87
- Dec 31 Samson Raphael Hirsch, German Orthodox rabbi and intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism, dies at 80
