Historical Events
- Dec 1 Ernesto Zedillo innaugrated as president of Mexico
Jim Bakker
Dec 1 Jim Bakker, American televangelist and convicted fraud is released from jail
Schumann's Manuscript Sells
Dec 1 Manuscript by Robert Schumann of his 2nd Symphony sells for $2.3M, a record for any 19th century work, at auction in London, England
Tupac Shakur
Dec 1 Rapper Tupac Shakur convicted on sexual assault charge, and later sentenced to up to 4 1/2 years in prison
Cobb
Dec 2 "Cobb" a film about baseball player Ty Cobb, starring Tommy Lee Jones premieres
- Dec 2 Andrew Lloyd Webber admitted to hospital for ulcer treatment
- Dec 2 Cruise liner Achille Lauro (Willem Ruys) sinks off the coast of Somalia
- Dec 2 Jury finds Heidi Fleiss guilty of running a call girl ring
- Dec 3 3rd SEC Championship Game: #6 Florida beats #3 Alabama, 24-23
- Dec 4 83rd Davis Cup: Sweden beats Russia in Moscow (4-1)
Kennedy Center Honors
Dec 4 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony held for actor Kirk Douglas, singer Aretha Franklin, composer Morton Gould, theater producer-director Harold Prince, and folk singer-songwriter Pete Seeger, in Washington D.C.
- Dec 4 Tony Kushner's drama "Angels in America: Millennium Approach" closes at Walter Kerr Theater, NYC, after 367 performances, and 4 Tony Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize
- Dec 4 Tony Kushner's drama "Angels in America: Perestroika" closes at Walter Kerr Theater, NYC, after 216 performances, and 3 Tony Awards
- Dec 6 Maltese Falcon auctioned for $398,590
- Dec 6 Orange County California files for bankruptcy
- Dec 6 Warner Brothers announces a 5th TV network to begin on Jan 11, 1995
Ace of Base, Carey Win
Dec 7 5th Billboard Music Awards: Ace of Base & Mariah Carey win
Howard Stern Averts a Suicide
Dec 7 Radio personality Howard Stern talks a man out of attempting suicide
Darryl Strawberry Indicted
Dec 8 Darryl Strawberry indicted on tax evasion charges
- Dec 8 Fire in cinema in Karamay China, 310 killed
- Dec 8 Revival of Donald Margulies' stage dramedy "What's Wrong With This Picture?" opens at Brooks Atkinson Theatre, NYC; runs for 12 performances
- Dec 9 5m meteor 1994 XM1 passes within 100,000 km of Earth
- Dec 9 US Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders resigns after comments about masturbation
- Dec 10 60th Heisman Trophy Award: Rashaan Salaam, Colorado (RB)
- Dec 10 European Campaign against Racism "All different, All equal" begins
Nobel for Middle East Peace Efforts
Dec 10 Nobel Peace Prize presented to Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat
- Dec 11 Russian Federation forces attack city of Grozny, beginning the First Chechen War, in which the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria gains its independence from Russia
- Dec 11 Russian troops enter Chechnya
The Hits
Dec 13 "The Hits" 2nd compilation album by Garth Brooks is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1995)
- Dec 13 American Eagle commuter plane crashes in NC, killing 15
- Dec 14 Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam, China
- Dec 15 Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard's stage drama "A Tuna Christmas" opens at Booth Theater, NYC; runs for 20 performances
- Dec 15 John Bruton becomes Ireland's premier
- Dec 15 Liberia militia kills 48 inhabitants of Monrovia
- Dec 15 Palau becomes a member of the UN
Monkee DWI Charge
Dec 16 Davy Jones (The Monkees), charged with DWI
- Dec 17 KLM's last DC-10 goes out of service
- Dec 18 Darryl Strawberry pleads not guilty on tax evasion charges
- Dec 18 Revival of Donald Margulies' stage dramedy "What's Wrong With This Picture?" closes at Brooks Atkinson Theatre, NYC, after 12 performances
- Dec 18 Socialist Party (ex-communist) wins Bulgaria parliamentary election
- Dec 18 Stand-up comedy revue "Comedy Tonight" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater, NYC; runs for 9 performances
- Dec 19 Rolls-Royce announces its future cars will feature V12 engine which will be produced by BMW
Ballon d'Or
Dec 20 Ballon d'Or: FC Barcelona's Bulgarian forward Hristo Stoichkov is named Europe's best football player ahead of Juventus striker Roberto Baggio and Milan defender Paolo Maldini
Berlusconi Government Resigns
Dec 22 Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi resigns
- Dec 23 Baseball owners impose salary cap, fiercely opposed by players
Bulger Flees and Hides
Dec 23 Fearing arrest by the FBI, organized crime boss Whitey Bulger flees Boston, and successfully hides from law enforcement for the next 16 years
"The Madness of King George"
Dec 28 "The Madness of King George" film based on the play by Alan Bennett, directed by Nicholas Hytner, starring Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren premieres in the US
Tammy Wynette Hospitalized
Dec 28 American country singer Tammy Wynette admitted to the hospital with bile duct infection
Boon Makes It 20
Dec 28 David Boon completes his 20th Test Cricket century (131 v England, MCG)
Warne's Famous Hat-trick
Dec 29 Australian cricket's spin king Shane Warne dismisses England's Phil DeFreitas, Darren Gough and Devon Malcolm for a famous hat-trick in 2nd Test win in Melbourne
- Dec 29 B737-400 flies into a mountain at Edremit East Turkey, 54 killed
- Dec 29 Bangladesh government of Zia resigns
- Dec 29 Last Dutch electro-magnetic telephone exchange shuts down
- Dec 31 1st snowless December in Baltimore Maryland
- Dec 31 Anti Apartheid Group of Netherlands (AABN) disbands
- Dec 31 This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC-11 to UTC+13 and UTC-10 to UTC+14, respectively.
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 3 Jake T. Austin, American actor (Wizards of Waverley Place), born in New York City
Lil Baby (29 years old)
Dec 3 American rapper and singer-songwriter ("My Turn", "The Voice of the Heroes"), born in Atlanta, Georgia
- Dec 5 Emily Marie Estefan, American music artist and daughter of Gloria & Emilio Estefan, born in Miami, Florida
Giannis Antetokounmpo (29 years old)
Dec 6 Greek basketball forward (NBA C'ship, Finals MVP 2021 Milwaukee Bucks), born in Athens, Greece
Yuzuru Hanyu (29 years old)
Dec 7 Japanese figure skater (Olympic gold men's singles 2014, 18; World C'ship gold 2014, 17), born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Raheem Sterling (29 years old)
Dec 8 British-Jamaican football player (Manchester City, English national team), born in Kingston, Jamaica
- Dec 12 Otto Warmbier, American student detained in North Korea after stealing poster, born in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Dec 16 Stephen Sutton, English cancer blogger (Stephen's Story), born in Burntwood (d. 2014)
- Dec 17 Nat Wolff, American actor, and singer-songwriter (The Naked Brothers Band), born in Los Angeles, California
- Dec 19 Manny Franco, Puerto Rican jockey (Belmont Stakes 2020 Tiz the Law; Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf 2019), born in Carolina, Puerto Rico
Adam Peaty (29 years old)
Dec 28 English swimmer (Olympic gold 100m breaststroke 2016, 21; World C'ship gold x 8), born in Uttoxeter, England
- Dec 28 Jonna Sundling, Swedish cross-country skier (Olympic gold women's individual sprint 2022; World C'ship gold individual/team sprint 2021), born in Umeå, Sweden
- Dec 29 Princess Kako of Akishino of Japan, born in Tokyo, Japan
Famous Weddings
- Dec 10 Former Senate Majority Leader Mitchell (61) weds sports marketing executive Heather MacLachlan (35) at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York City
Richie Sambora
Dec 17 American "Dynasty" actress Heather Locklear (33) weds American "Bon Jovi" lead guitarist Richie Sambora (35) at The American Cathedral in Paris, France; divorce in 2007
Celine Dion
Dec 17 Queen of Pop Céline Dion (26) weds her manager Rene Angelil (52) at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, Canada
Famous Divorces
Richard Gere & Cindy Crawford
Dec 1 Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere announce they are separating
Famous Deaths
- Dec 1 Bogumil Witalis Andrzejewski, Polish-British professor of Cushtic Languages, dies at 72
- Dec 2 Donald John Urquhart, English librarian, dies at 85
- Dec 2 Norman Anderson, English lawyer, missionary and Arabist dies at 86
- Dec 3 Elizabeth Glaser, American AIDS activist, wife of director Paul Michael Glaser, dies of AIDS at 47
- Dec 3 Giorgi Chanturia, President of Georgia, assassinated
- Dec 3 Said Mekbel, Algerian editor in chief (Le Matin), murdered at 57
- Dec 4 Geoffery Rudolph Elton, historiographer, dies at 73
- Dec 4 Jacob Kaplan, French Grand Rabbi (1955-81), dies at 99
- Dec 4 Julio Ramon Ribeyro, Peruvian playwright, dies at 66
- Dec 4 Robert Jesse Charleston, museum curator, dies at 78
- Dec 4 Thomas Roy Garrett, museum curator, dies at 63
- Dec 5 Günter Meisner, German actor (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Between Wars, Adolf Hitler, Quiller Memorandum), dies at 68
- Dec 5 Harry Horner, Austro-Hungarian-born American stage and film designer (The Heiress), dies at 84
- Dec 5 Richard Brian Waring Barton-Chapple, writer, dies at 69
- Dec 5 Ronald Ridout, English school textbook author (English Today), dies at 78
- Dec 6 AJ Bronkhorst, vicar/theologist (Reform The Netherlands), dies at 80
- Dec 6 Alun Owen, Welsh screenwriter and playwright (Hard Day's Night, The Rose Affair), dies at 69
- Dec 6 Gian Maria Volontè, Italian actor (Fistful of Dollars), dies at 61
- Dec 7 Edward Rell Madigan, American politician (US Secretary of Agriculture 91-93, Rep-R-IL, 1973-91), dies of cancer at 58
- Dec 7 Elga Andersen, German/French model/actress (Global Affair), dies at 58
- Dec 7 J.C. Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey defenseman (Stanley Cup x 5 Montreal Canadiens; 7 x NHL All Star), dies of kidney cancer at 55
- Dec 8 Antônio Carlos Jobim [Tom Jobim], Brazilian singer-songwriter and composer (Getz/Gilberto), dies from pulmonary embolism at 67
- Dec 8 Israel Aaron Maisels, South African lawyer and communal leader, dies at 89
- Dec 9 Alex Wilson, Canadian athlete (Olympic silver 800m, 2 x bronze 400m, 4x400m relay 1932), dies at 87
- Dec 9 Garnett Silk [Garnet Smith], Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter (Hey Mama Africa; Greenline), dies in a house fire while trying to save his mother at 28
- Dec 9 Maureen Starkey [Mary Cox], English ex-wife of Beatle Ringo Starr, dies of leukemia at 48
- Dec 9 Max Bill, Swiss painter, sculptor, and politician, dies at 85
- Dec 10 Alexander Wilson, Canadian athlete (b. 1905)
- Dec 10 George van Renesse, Dutch concert pianist and music director, dies at 85
- Dec 10 Keith Joseph, British Conservative politician and minister under four PMs who helped create the ideology of Thatcherism, dies at 76
- Dec 10 Robert Blum, Swiss composer, dies at 94
- Dec 10 Ruth Evelyn Mansfield, English anaesthetist, dies at 92
- Dec 11 Carl Marzani, Italian-born American left wing political activist, publisher and documentarian, dies at 81
- Dec 11 Philip Phillips, American archaeologist (Mississippian culture), dies at 94
- Dec 11 Stanislav Maczek, Polish general, tank commander and war hero (WWII Battle of Falaise, Normandy invasion), dies at 102
- Dec 11 Yao Yilin, Vice Prime Minister of China (1979-88), dies at 77
- Dec 12 Donna J. Stone, American poet, dies of heart failure at 61
- Dec 12 Herman Felderhof, Dutch radio-announcer (NRU/NOS Radio), dies at 83
- Dec 12 John Edward Colwell Hearne, Jamaican writer and educator, dies at 68
- Dec 12 Stuart Allen Roosa, American naval officer and astronaut (Apollo 14), dies of pancreatitis at 46
- Dec 13 Antoine Pinay, French politician (Prime Minister of France 1952, Minister of Foreign Affairs), dies at 102
- Dec 13 Glenn M. Anderson, American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1969-93), dies at 81
- Dec 13 Herman W. "Fritz" Liebert, American rare books scholar and librarian (Yale University), dies at 83
- Dec 13 Norman Beaton, Guyanese actor (Eureka, Black Joy, Mighty Quinn), dies at 60
- Dec 14 Catherine Filene Shouse, American philanthropist (Wolf Trap Institute), dies at 98
- Dec 14 Mary Ann McCall, American singer, dies at 75
- Dec 14 Orval Faubus, American politician (Governor of Arkansas, 1955–67), dies at 84
- Dec 15 Hans de Jong, Dutch conductor (De Damrakkertjes; Amsterdams Vrouwenkoor), dies at 86
- Dec 15 Harry Tobias, American songwriter, dies at 99
- Dec 15 Henry Phelps Brown, British historian and economist, dies at 88
- Dec 15 Mollie Phillips, British figure skater and judge (first woman to referee a world championship), dies at 87
- Dec 16 Mary Durack, Australian author and historian (Kings in Grass Castles and Keep Him My Country), dies at 81
- Dec 16 Samuel Lipman, American pianist and music critic, dies of leukemia at 60
- Dec 17 Jan Wiegel, director and producer (Uninhabitable Country), dies at 64
- Dec 18 Heinz Bernhard [Löwenstein], German-born British actor and director (Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof), dies at 71
- Dec 18 Lilia Skala, Austrian/American actress (Ship of Fools, Caprice), dies at 98
- Dec 18 Peter Hebblethwaite, English editor-in-chief (The Month), dies at 64
- Dec 18 Roger Apéry, Greek-French mathematician (b. 1916)
- Dec 19 Noel Pointer, American jazz violinist and record producer, dies of a stoke at 39
- Dec 20 Dean Rusk, US Secretary of State (1961-69), dies at 85
- Dec 20 J C "Jody" Bateman, fiddler, dies at 75
- Dec 21 Shauna McDonald Brown, British TV producer, dies at 37
- Dec 23 Charles Shirley, American big band jazz arranger (Stan Kenton; Les Elgart), and alcoholism counselor, dies of a heart attack at 74
- Dec 23 Didier Rocher, son of French cosmetic maker Yves Rocher, dies at 41
- Dec 23 Nora Dunfee, American actress (Forrest Gump, Lorenzo's Oil), dies at 78
- Dec 23 Sebastian Shaw, British actor, director, playwright and poet (High Season, Ace of Spades, Caste), dies of natural causes at 89
- Dec 24 Buddy Ace, [Jimmie Lee Land] American Texas blues singer, dies of a heart attack while performing at 57
- Dec 24 John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and writer (Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality), dies of AIDS at 47
- Dec 24 John Keith Wright, English Asst Sect of State (1971-84), dies at 66
- Dec 24 John Osborne, English playwright (Entertainer, Look Back in Anger, Luther, dies at 65
- Dec 24 Julie Haydon [Donella Donaldson], American actress (Scoundrel), dies at 84
- Dec 24 Nathan I. Daniel, American inventor (Danelectric and Silvertone guitars), dies of a heart attack at 82
- Dec 24 Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor (Final Justice, South Pacific, The Barefoot Contessa), dies of a neural virus at 78
- Dec 25 Pierre Dreyfus, French director of Renault (1955-75), dies at 87
- Dec 25 Zail Singh, Indian politician, (7th President of India 1982-87), dies of injuries from a motor accident at 78
Allie Reynolds (1919-1994)
Dec 26 American baseball pitcher who won 6 World Series NY Yankees; 6 x MLB All-Star, dies from complications of lymphoma and diabetes at 77
- Dec 26 Asta Elstak, Surinamese-Dutch welfare worker, dies at 74
- Dec 26 Joop Klant, Dutch economist and author, dies at 79
- Dec 26 Karl Schiller, German economist and politician (Minister of Economics), dies at 83
- Dec 26 Robert Emhardt, American actor (Another World, Underworld USA, Mooncussers), dies at 80
- Dec 26 Sylvia Koscina, Croatian/Italian actress (Hercules), dies at 61
- Dec 27 Fanny Cradock, English TV chef and food critic, dies at 85
- Dec 27 Hans Berghuis, Dutch author and poet (Kleitabletten), dies at 70
- Dec 27 J. B. L. Reyes, Filipino jurist (b. 1902)
- Dec 27 Marjorie Stewart Joyner, American hair and beauty entrepreneur (invented permanent wave machine) and activist, dies at 98 [1]
- Dec 27 Peter May, English cricket batsman (66 Tests, 4,537 @ 46.77, 13 x 100, 22 x 50; HS 285no; Surrey CCC), dies from a brain tumour at 64
- Dec 27 Sadi de Gorter, Dutch author/diplomat (Abscess), dies at 82
- Dec 28 Julian Rochfort Belfrage, English theatre agent, dies at 60
- Dec 29 Eugene Tanner Jr, singer, dies at 58
- Dec 29 Frank Thring, Australian actor (El Cid, Ben-Hur), dies at 68
- Dec 30 Lloyd James Austin, Australian linguist and literary scholar, dies at 79
- Dec 31 BAM "Bob" Schreiner, airline owner (S Aviation Group), dies at 79
- Dec 31 Harri Webb, Welsh poet and nationalist, dies at 74
- Dec 31 Leigh Bowery, Australian performance artist and designer, dies of AIDS at 33
- Dec 31 Leo Fuchs, Polish-born Jewish American actor (The Six Million Dollar Man, Avalon), dies at 83
Woody Strode (1914-1994)
Dec 31 American football end (LA Rams, Calgary Stampeders) and actor (Posse, Cotton Club, Vigilante, Scream), dies of lung cancer at 80
