Historical Events
Oliver Wendell Holmes Associate Justice
Dec 8 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr became Associate Justice on US Supreme Court
- Dec 9 AL announces purchase of grounds for a stadium in NY
Fischer Awarded Chemistry Nobel
Dec 10 German organic chemist Emil Fischer is award the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on sugar and purine syntheses
Aswan Low Dam Opens
Dec 10 Opening of the Aswan Low Dam at the first cataract - first dam across the Nile, then the largest masonry dam in the world
- Dec 10 Women are given the right to vote in Tasmania
- Dec 11 The US signs a treaty with Cuba allowing for a 20 percent reduction of tariff rates on imported Cuban products
Mommsen Literature Nobel
Dec 12 German historian Theodor Mommsen is awarded the Nobel prize for Literature for his historical writing and especially his monumental work, "A History of Rome"
Venezuelan Forts Bombarded
Dec 13 British and German ships bombard Venezuelan forts after President Castro refuses to comply with ultimatum demanding damages caused during his takeover of the government in 1899; Castro asks US President Theodore Roosevelt to arbitrate
- Dec 15 German agricultural tariffs are increased
Der Erdgeist
Dec 17 Frank Wedekind's play "Der Erdgeist" premieres in Berlin
UK Education Act
Dec 18 British parliament passes the Education Act, which will come to be regarded as the most important legislation of Arthur Balfour's government
"The Girl with the Green Eyes"
Dec 25 Clyde Fitch' play "The Girl with the Green Eyes" premieres in NYC
"The Entertainer"
Dec 29 Scot Joplin copyrights "The Entertainer" and several other piano rag compositions through the US Copyright Office
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 1 Red Badgro, American Pro Football Hall of Fame end and coach (NY Giants) and baseball outfielder (St. Louis Browns), born in Orillia, Washington (d. 1998)
- Dec 2 Horace Hildreth, American politician (Gov-Maine, 1945-49) and U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (1953-57), born in Gardiner, Maine (d. 1988)
- Dec 2 Miroslav Ponc, Czech composer, born in Vysoké Mýto (d. 1976)
Strom Thurmond (1902-2003)
Dec 5 U.S. Senator (Sen-D/R-SC), born in Edgefield, South Carolina
- Dec 6 Virgilio Mortari, Italian composer, born in Passirana, Italy (d. 1993)
- Dec 7 Janardan Navle, Indian cricket wicketkeeper (2 Tests, 1 dismissal; first Indian wicket-keeper; Hindus CC), born in Pulgaon, India (d. 1979)
- Dec 8 Wifredo Lam, Cuban artist (The Jungle), born in Sagua La Grande, Cuba (d. 1982)
Margaret Hamilton (1902-1985)
Dec 9 American character actress (The Wizard of Oz), born in Cleveland, Ohio
- Dec 9 Rab Butler, British politician who favoured appeasement, born in Attock Serai, British India (d. 1982)
- Dec 12 Howard Koch, American playwright and screenwriter, born in New York City (d. 1995)
- Dec 12 Koloman Sokol, Slovak painter, born in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia (d. 2003)
- Dec 13 Jack Gardner, American actor (The Secret Code; Three Russian Girls), born in San Antoni, Texas (d. 1977)
- Dec 13 Paul Kurzbach, German composer, born in Hohndorf, Germany (d. 1997)
- Dec 13 Talcott Parsons, American sociologist, born in Colorado Springs, Colorado (d. 1979)
- Dec 14 Billy Burke, American golfer (US Open 1931), born in Naugatuck, Connecticut (d. 1972)
- Dec 14 Frances Bavier, American Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actress (The Andy Griffith Show & Mayberry, RFD - "Aunt Bee"), born in New York City (d. 1989)
- Dec 14 Viola Wells [Evans], American jazz, blues, and gospel singer, born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1984)
- Dec 15 Nudie Cohn, Ukrainian-American tailor (created the rhinestone 'nudie suits' worn by musicians), born in Kiev, Russian Empire (d. 1984) [1]
- Dec 15 Robert F. Bradford, American politician (57th Governor of Massachusetts), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1983)
- Dec 17 Albert Drach, Austrian-Jewish writer, born in Vienna (d. 1995)
- Dec 19 Dusolina Giannini, Italian-American dramatic soprano (New York Metropolitan Opera, 1935-42), and teacher, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1986)
- Dec 19 Leonard Hirsch, Irish violinist and orchestra leader (RAF Symphony Orchestra), born in Dublin (d. 1995) [1]
Ralph Richardson (1902-1983)
Dec 19 English actor (Anna Karenina, Doctor Zhivago), born in Cheltenham, England
- Dec 19 Sol Hoʻopiʻi [Kaʻaiʻai], Native Hawaiian acoustic and electric lap steel guitar virtuoso, born in Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii (d. 1953)
- Dec 20 George Edward Alexander Windsor, British nobleman (Duke of Kent), and RAF officer, born in York Cottage, United Kingdom (d. 1942)
- Dec 20 Max Lerner, American journalist (NY Post) and educator, born in Minsk, Russia (d. 1992)
- Dec 20 Sidney Hook, American philosopher (The Paradoxes of Freedom), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1989)
- Dec 21 Peetie Wheatstraw [William Bunch], American blues singer, songwriter, and piano player, born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas (d. 1941)
- Dec 22 Joe Adonis, Italian American crime-syndicate boss in NY & NJ, born in Montemarano, Italy (d. 1971)
- Dec 22 Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, French general and WWII hero known as the "Liberator of Paris", born in Belloy-Saint-Léonard, France (d. 1947)
- Dec 23 Charan Singh, Indian politician, 5th Prime Minister of India (1979-80), born in Noorpur District, British India (d. 1987)
- Dec 23 Norman Maclean, American author (A River Runs Through It and Other Stories), born in Clarinda, Iowa, (d. 1990)
- Dec 25 Barton Maclane, American actor (The Quarterback, I Dream of Jeannie), born in Columbia, South Carolina (d. 1969)
- Dec 26 Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian painter (d. 1980)
- Dec 27 Ferenc Szabó, Hungarian composer (Lúdas Matyi, Légy jó mindhalálig), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1969)
- Dec 28 Mortimer J. Adler, American philosopher and author (Encyclopedia Brittanica), born in New York City (d. 2001)
- Dec 28 Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (Long River), born in Zhen'gan, Hunan Province (d. 1988)
- Dec 29 Nels Stewart, Canadian Hockey HOF center (Stanley Cup 1925 Montreal Maroons; Hart Memorial Trophy 1926, 30), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1957)
- Dec 31 Lionel Daunais, Quebec singer and composer, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1982)
Famous Deaths
Thomas Nast (1840-1902)
Dec 7 German-American caricaturist and political cartoonist of late 1800s America, dies of yellow fever at 62
- Dec 11 Matthias Hohner, German manufacturer (harmonica), dies at 68
- Dec 14 Julia Dent Grant, American First Lady (1869-77), wife of US President Ulysses S. Grant, dies at 76
- Dec 22 Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Austro–German psychiatrist and author (Psychopathia Sexualis), dies at 62
- Dec 23 Frederick Temple, 95th Archbishop of Canterbury, dies at 81
