What Happened in December 2011

Historical Events

Sports History

Dec 10 Kawhi Leonard signs a multi-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs following the conclusion of the NBA lockout

Trebek Suffers Heart Attack

Dec 11 Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek suffers a minor heart attack in his home and is admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Dec 11 Mosconi Cup nine-ball pool, Las Vegas, Nevada: Team Europe retains trophy with an 11-7 win over US; MVP: Niels Feijen (Netherlands)
Dec 12 77th Heisman Trophy Award: Robert Griffin III, Baylor (QB)

Barry Bonds Sentenced

Dec 15 Barry Bonds is sentenced to 30 days of house arrest, two years of probation and 250 hours of community service, for an obstruction of justice conviction stemming from a grand jury appearance in 2003

Dec 15 ESPN and the NCAA extend their TV rights deal through 2023-24, giving the network worldwide multi-media rights to 24 NCAA championships for various sports; deal worth $500m

Jacques Chirac Convicted

Dec 15 Former French President Jacques Chirac is convicted of diverting public funds, receives a two-year suspended prison sentence

Dec 18 The last US troops withdraw from Iraq, formally ending the Iraq War

2011 History

Famous Weddings

Dec 5 American game show host and executive producer Jeff Probst (50) weds actress/model Lisa Ann Russell (40) at a private house in Los Angeles

Sinead O'Connor

Dec 9 "Nothing Compares 2 U" singer Sinéad O'Connor (45) weds Irish therapist Barry Herridge (38) at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas

Dec 17 "The Descendants" actress Judy Greer (36) weds "Real Time with Bill Mahe"r co-executive producer Dean Johnsen at the Los Angeles Athletic Club
Dec 17 Backstreet Boys member A. J. McLean (34) weds model Rochelle Karidis (30) in an outdoor wedding at Beverly Hills, California
Dec 22 "Big Bang Theory" Indian actor Kunal Nayyar (30) weds Miss India 2006 winner Neha Kapur (28) in New Delhi, India
Dec 28 "Stargate SG-1" actor Christopher Judge (47) weds actress and model Gianna Patton (33)

David Tennant

Dec 30 Scottish actor David Tennant (40) weds actress Georgia Moffett (27), daughter of Peter Davison, the Fifth Doctor, in London

Dec 31 "American Idol" alum and rocker James Durbin (22) weds Heidi Lowe at the edge of a redwood and oak forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California

Famous Divorces

Zooey Deschanel

Dec 27 "New Girl" actress Zooey Deschanel (31) divorces "Death Cab for Cutie" singer Ben Gibbard (35) due to irreconcilable differences

Famous Deaths

Dec 1 Arthur Beetson, Australian rugby league front rower (29 Tests; Balmain, Easts, Parramatta; RL "Immortal") and coach (2 Tests Australia, 16 games Queensland), dies of a heart attack at 66
Dec 1 Christa Wolf, German writer in East Germany (Divided Heaven), dies at 82
Dec 1 Ragnhild Hveger, Danish swimmer (Olympic silver 400m freestyle 1936; 44 world records 1938-56), dies at 90
Dec 2 Christopher Logue, British poet (Cold Calls; War Music), playwright, actor, and pacifist, dies at 85
Dec 2 Howard Tate, American soul singer and songwriter ("Ain't Nobody Home"; "Get It While You Can"), dies of complications of multiple myeloma and leukemia at 72
Dec 3 Dharam Devdutt "Dev" Anand, Indian comedian, actor, director and producer, dies at 88
Dec 3 Philip Burrell, influential Jamaican record producer, dies of a heart attack at 57
Dec 3 Sam Loxton, Australian cricket batsman (12 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 101; Victoria; National team selector 1970-81), dies at 90
Dec 4 Hubert Sumlin, American blues guitarist (Howlin' Wolf), dies at 80
Dec 4 Sócrates [Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Sousa Vieira de Oliveira], Brazilian soccer midfielder and manager (60 caps, 22 goals Brazil; Corinthians), dies of septic shock at 57
Dec 5 Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer (b. 1942)
Dec 5 Peter Gethin, British racing driver (b. 1940)
Dec 6 Dobie Gray [Lawrence Brown], American musician and singer (Drift Away), dies of cancer at 71

Harry Morgan (1915-2011)

Dec 7 American actor (December Bride; M*A*S*H, 1975-83 - "Col. Sherman Potter"; AfterMASH; Dragnet - "Bill Gannon"), dies in his sleep at 96

Dec 8 Dick Sims, American Hammond B-3 organist (Bob Seger; Eric Clapton), dies of cancer at 60
Dec 8 Minoru Miky, Japanese composer for traditional Japanese instruments, dies at 84
Dec 8 Zelman Cowen, Australian legal scholar (Governor General of Australia 1977-82), dies at 92
Dec 9 Myra Taylor (née Render), American jazz singer ("Spider and the Fly"; Wild Women of Kansas City), songwriter, and actress, dies at 94
Dec 12 John Gardner, English classical composer, dies at 94
Dec 13 Park Tae-joon, South Korean general and founder of steel giant Posco, dies at 84
Dec 13 Russell Hoban, American author (creator of 'Frances' series), dies at 86
Dec 14 Boris Chertok, Soviet & Russian rocket engineer, dies at 99
Dec 15 Andy Carey, American baseball player (third baseman for 1950s New York Yankees), dies at 80
Dec 15 Bob Brookmeyer, American jazz and studio pianist, valve trombone player, arranger, and composer (Stan Getz; Jerry Mulligan), dies of congestive heart failure at 81

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)

Dec 15 English author and journalist (Vanity Fair, New Statesman), dies of oesophageal cancer aged 62

Dec 16 Daniel "Dan" Frazer, American actor (Kojak, Take the Money and Run), dies from cardiac arrest at 90
Dec 16 Mark Kopytman, Russian-Israeli composer (Voices of Memory), musicologist, and pedagogue (Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, 1974-94). dies at 82
Dec 16 Nicol Williamson, Scottish actor (Excalibur), dies of esophageal cancer at 75
Dec 16 Robert Easton [Burke], American actor referred to as "The Man of a Thousand Voices" (Someone Up There Likes Me), dies at 81
Dec 17 Cesária Évora, Cape Verdean morna singer known as "the Barefoot Diva", dies from respiratory failure at 70

Kim Jong-il (1942-2011)

Dec 17 Supreme Leader of North Korea (1994-2011), dies of a suspected heart attack at 70

Dec 18 Ralph MacDonald, American rock percussionist and songwriter ("Just the Two of Us"), dies of cancer at 67

Václav Havel (1936-2011)

Dec 18 Czech politician (President of Czechoslovakia, 1990-2, Czech Republic, 1993-2003), dies at 75

Dec 20 (Thomas) "Sean" Bonniwell, American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter (The Music Machine - "Talk, Talk"), dies of lung cancer at 71
Dec 22 Bettye Danoff, American golfer (co-founder LPGA Tour), dies at 88
Dec 22 James Ramseur, one of Bernhard Goetz's assailants in 1984, overdoses on drugs at 45
Dec 23 Denise Darcel, French actress (Dangerous When Wet), dies of complications from a ruptured aneurysm at 87
Dec 24 Cheetah [Cheeta, Cheta, Chita], chimpanzee actor (1930s Tarzan franchise), dies of kidney failure at 80
Dec 25 Israel Baker, American concert and session violinist (NBC Symphony; Paramount Studios Orchestra), dies at 92
Dec 25 Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood [Euclid James Sherwood], American rock musician (Mothers Of Invention), dies at 69
Dec 26 Sam Rivers, American jazz musician (exponent of free jazz), dies of pneumonia at 88
Dec 27 Helen Frankenthaler, American abstract expressionist artist (Arden), dies at 83
Dec 29 Bobby Purify [Robert Lee Dickey], American soul singer (I'm Your Puppet), dies at 72
Dec 30 Eva Zeisel, Hungarian-born ceramic designer, dies at 105
Dec 30 Mirko Tremaglia, fiercely nationalist Italian politician, dies at 85
Dec 30 Robert Horton, British businessman and CEO (BP), dies at 72
Dec 31 Omus Hirshbein, classical music impresario and music director, dies at 77