What Happened in December 2013

Historical Events

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Dec 2 "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", 2nd film in the Hobbit series, directed by Peter Jackson, starring Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen, premieres in Los Angeles

Film Director, Producer, and Screenwriter Peter Jackson

Dec 2 China launches its first moon rover mission
Dec 4 Mosconi Cup nine-ball pool, Las Vegas, Nevada: 4 consecutive titles for Europe after an 11-2 thrashing of US; MVP: Niels Feijen (Netherlands)
Dec 4 Xavier Bettel becomes Luxenberg's first openly gay Prime Minister
Dec 5 52 people are killed and 167 are injured in a militant attack on a defense ministry compound in Sana'a, Yemen
Dec 6 A 2-year old boy dies from Ebola in Meliandou, Guinea

New Post for Abuse Cases

Dec 6 Pope Francis gives his ascent to a proposal to create a permanent post on the Pontifical Commission on cases of sin and sexual abuse of minors

Dec 7 22nd SEC Championship Game: #3 Auburn beats #5 Missouri, 59-42
Dec 7 9th ACC Championship Game: #1 Florida State beats #20 Duke, 45-7

Ditka's Jersey Retired

Dec 9 Mike Ditka's #89 jersey is retired by the Chicago Bears

Dec 9 MLB pitcher Roy Halladay announces his retirement due to persistent back injury
Dec 10 Mary Barra of General Motors becomes the first female CEO of a major automotive company
Dec 10 Uruguay becomes the first country to legalize the growth, sale, and use of marijuana
Dec 11 20 people are killed by the bubonic plague in a small Madagascan village
Dec 11 Pope Francis is named Time magazine's person of the year
Dec 12 The United States announces sanctions on the two dozen companies who assisted Iran with their nuclear program

Beyoncé

Dec 13 "Beyoncé" 5th studio album by Beyoncé is released

Ramakrishnan Named Greatest Indian

Dec 14 Venkatraman Ramakrishnan is named as one of the 25 Greatest Global Living Indians by NDTV Channel, India

Structural Biologist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Dec 15 China successfully lands its moon rover on the moon

Michelle Bachelet Re-elected

Dec 15 Michelle Bachelet is re-elected President of Chile

Dec 16 21 people are killed and 20 are injured after a bus falls from an elevated highway in Manila, Philippines
Dec 16 79th Heisman Trophy Award: Jameis Winston, Florida State (QB)

Merkel Third Term

Dec 17 Angela Merkel is elected Chancellor of Germany for a third term

Dec 17 Australia wins the 3rd test to take win the 2013-14 Ashes test cricket series
Dec 19 81 people are injured after part of the ceiling caved in at London's Apollo Theatre

"The Wolf of Wall Street"

Dec 25 "The Wolf of Wall Street", starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, is released

Dec 27 29 people are killed after a bus plunged off the Huay Tong Bridge, Thailand
Dec 28 Chris Weidman defeats Anderson Silva to retain the UFC Middleweight Championship
Dec 28 Early signs of Ebola epidemic: 2-year-old child in Guinea dies of an unidentified hemorrhagic fever; mother, sister and grandmother soon follow
Dec 29 16 people are killed and 40 are wounded by a suicide bomb attack at Volgograd-1 railway station, Russia

Schumacher's Ski Accident

Dec 29 7-time world F1 motor racing champion Michael Schumacher suffers a serious head injury in a ski accident in the French Alps; his condition still remains unclear

Dec 29 Chaparrastique volcano erupts in El Salvador
Dec 29 Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says barrel bombs on Aleppo have killed 517 people since 15th December
Dec 30 15 people are killed in a trolley-bus bomb attack in Voglograd, Russia

Redskins Fire Shanahan

Dec 30 NFL head coach Mike Shanahan is fired by the Washington Redskins

Events in 2013

Famous Weddings

Dec 10 American "So You Think You Can Dance" dancer Stephen "tWitch" Boss (31) weds fellow SYTYCD alum Allison Holker (25) at SYTYCD creator Nigel Lythgoe's Villa San Juliette Vineyard and Winery in Paso Robles, California, until his death in 2022
Dec 21 Actress and model Teresa Palmer (27) weds actor/director Mark Webber (33) in Mexico
Dec 22 Actress Lacey Chabert (31) weds longtime boyfriend David Nehdar in Los Angeles, California

Casey Neistat

Dec 29 YouTube star Casey Neistat (32) weds Candice Pool in Cape Town, South Africa

Kaley Cuoco

Dec 31 "The Big Bang Theory" actress Kaley Cuoco (28) weds professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting (26) at Hummingbird Nest Ranch in Santa Susana, California

Lily Tomlin

Dec 31 Actress-comedian Lily Tomlin (74) weds screenwriter Jane Wagner (78) in Los Angeles, California

Famous Deaths

Dec 1 Martin Sharp, Australian cartoonist, album cover artist songwriter (Cream), and filmmaker, dies of emphysema at 71
Dec 1 Richard Coughlan, British progressive rock drummer and percussionist (Caravan - "In the Land of Grey and Pink"), dies of pneumonia at 66
Dec 2 Jean-Claude Beton, Algerian-born French businessman, entrepreneur and soft-drink manufacturer (Orangina), dies at 88
Dec 2 Pedro Rocha, Uruguayan soccer midfielder and manager (52 caps; Peñarol, São Paulo F.C.), dies from mesencephalic atrophy at 70
Dec 2 Vernon Shaw, President of Dominica (1998-2003), dies at 83
Dec 3 Khalid Hasan, Pakistani cricket leg-spin bowler (1 Test; 16 years, 352 days, then youngest Test player), dies at 76
Dec 4 McDonald Bailey, British-Trinidadian athlete (Olympic bronze 100m 1952; 100m WR 10.2s 1951-56), dies at 92
Dec 5 Colin Wilson, English writer (Afterlife, Book of Great Mysteries), dies at 82

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Dec 5 South African anti-apartheid activist, political prisoner (1962-90) and President of South Africa (1994-99), dies of a lung infection at 95

Dec 6 Stan Tracey, British jazz pianist, dies at 86
Dec 7 Édouard Molinaro, French film actor, director and screenwriter (La Cage aux Folles), dies a respiratory insufficiency at 85
Dec 7 Jacob Matlala, South African boxer (WBO, WBU, IBA flyweight champion; shortest world champion ever at 1.47m [4-foot-10]), dies from pneumonia at 51
Dec 8 Don Mitchell, American actor, dies at 70
Dec 8 John Cornforth, Australian-British chemist (Nobel Prize 1975), dies at 96
Dec 8 Sándor Szokolay, Hungarian composer and pedagogue, dies at 82
Dec 9 Eleanor Parker, American actress (Caged, Detective Story, Hans Brinker), dies from pneumonia at 91
Dec 10 Jim Hall, American jazz guitarist and composer, dies at 83
Dec 10 Rossana Podestà, Italian actress, dies at 79
Dec 11 Barbara Branden, Canadian writer, dies from a lung infection at 84
Dec 11 Nadir Afonso, Portuguese geometric abstractionist painter, dies at 93
Dec 12 Audrey Totter, American actress (Carpetbaggers, Set-Up, The Unsuspected), dies from a stroke at 95
Dec 12 Tom Laughlin, American actor and director (Billy Jack), dies of complications from pneumonia at 82
Dec 12 Zbigniew Karkowski, Polish composer and experimental musician (Sensorband), dies of pancreatic cancer at 55
Dec 14 Janet Dailey, American Romance author, dies at 69

Peter O'Toole (1932-2013)

Dec 14 Irish actor (Lord Jim, Beckett, Lawrence of Arabia), dies at 81

Dec 15 Harold Camping, American evangelist and founder of Family Radio, dies at 92

Joan Fontaine (1917-2013)

Dec 15 British-American actress (Gunga Din; Ivanhoe; Rebecca), dies of natural causes at 96

Dec 16 Madhusudan Rege, Indian cricket batsman (1 Test; Maharashtra), dies at 89
Dec 16 Ray Price, American country music singer-songwriter, and guitarist ("For the Good Times"; "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me"), dies from pancreatic cancer at 87
Dec 17 Leland Smith, American composer, bassoonist and computer coder who led music publishing into the digital age (SCORE), dies at 88
Dec 18 Ronnie Biggs, English criminal (Great Train Robbery of 1963), dies at 84 [1]
Dec 21 Bronzell Miller, American WLAF linebacker (Amsterdam Admirals), dies at 42
Dec 21 David Coleman, British sports commentator (BBC 1954-2000), dies at 87
Dec 21 Eli Beeding, American Air Force Captain and rocket test pilot, dies at 85
Dec 21 Lars Edlund, Swedish composer, dies at 91
Dec 22 Ed Herrmann, American baseball catcher (MLB All Star 1974 Chicago White Sox; caught Larry Dierker no-hitter 1975 Houston Astros), dies from prostate cancer at 67

Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919-2013)

Dec 23 Russian general and inventor of the AK-47, dies at 94

Dec 23 Ricky Lawson, American musician, dies at 59
Dec 23 Vito Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian alleged mafia boss, also known as "Montreal's Teflon Don", dies at 67
Dec 23 Yusef Lateef, American jazz saxophonist and flautist, dies at 93
Dec 24 Edgar Bronfman, Sr, Canadian-American businessman (CEO of Seagrams, 1971-94; president of World Jewish Conference, 1981-2007), and philanthropist, dies at 84
Dec 24 Frédéric Back, German-born Canadian short film director and screenwriter (The Man Who Planted Trees), dies at 89
Dec 24 Michael Butler, British diplomat, administrator (Royal College of Art, 1991-96), and collector of 17th century Chinese porcelain, dies at 86
Dec 25 Mike Hegan, American baseball utility (MLB All Star 1969 NY Yankees; World Series 1972 Oakland A's), dies from heart failure at 71
Dec 26 Paul Blair, American baseball outfielder (MLB All-Star 1969, 73; World Series 1966, 70, 77-78; Gold Glove Award 1967, 69–75; Baltimore Orioles), dies from a heart attack at 69
Dec 28 Andrew Jacobs Jr., American politician (Rep-D-IN, 1965-73, 75-97), dies at 81
Dec 29 Andy Granatelli, American motorsports entrepreneur (CEO STP automotive products; innovative Lotus four-wheel drive car 1969 Indy 500 winner), dies from congestive heart failure at 90
Dec 29 Leonard "Red" Balaban, American jazz tuba and sousaphone player, dies at 84
Dec 29 Wojciech Kilar, Polish classical (Missa Pro Pace), and film score composer (Bram Stoker's Dracula; The Pianist), dies from cancer at 81
Dec 31 Al Porcino, American big band jazz and session trumpeter (Woody Herman, Stan Kenton), dies after a fall at 88
Dec 31 James Avery, American actor, dies from complications from surgery at 68
Dec 31 John Fortune [John C. Wood], English satirist and comedian (Bremner, Bird and Fortune), dies at 74