December 10
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Events on This Day
1810 - The first interracial, title boxing bout was staged at Copthall Common in England. An American, Tom Molineaux, lost to Englishman Tom Cribb on a fluke punch. The fight went 40 rounds!1817 - Mississippi, the state with the same name as the mighty river that borders it, and the 20th state, entered the USA this day. Although the Indian word, Mississippi, translates to ‘father of waters’, Mississippi’s nickname is the Magnolia State. Not so coincidentally, the state flower is the magnolia. The mockingbirds sitting on the branches of the magnolia trees are the state birds. Jackson, one of the largest cities in the state is also the state capital. Now, class, how were we taught to remember how to spell this state? All together now: M-i-s, s-i-s, s-i-p-p-i; or M-i-s-s, i-s-s, i-p-p-i; or M-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i, crooked letter-crooked letter-i, humpback-humpback-i.
1896 - Intercollegiate basketball was played for the first time as Wesleyan University defeated Yale, 4-3, in New Haven, Connecticut.
1896 - Each year on the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the prizes bearing his name are awarded “to those persons who shall have contributed most materially to the benefit of mankind during the year immediately preceding.” Alfred Bernhard Nobel died on this day and the first of the Nobel Prizes was presented in 1901 according to instructions in his will. Nobel chose this method to ease his conscience after inventing the deadly explosive, dynamite. One of the richest men in the world, he also felt it would be wrong to leave his fortune to relatives. “Inherited wealth is a misfortune which merely serves to dull man’s faculties.”
1907 - Rudyard Kipling received the Nobel prize for literature.
1910 - Tenor Enrico Caruso and conductor Arturo Toscanini were featured at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for the world premiere of Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West.
1915 - The one-millionth Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line at the Ford Motor Co.
1927 - For the first time, famed radio announcer George Hay introduced the WSM Barn Dance as The Grand Ole Opry. The show’s title may have changed but it remained the home of country music.
1930 - Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded the haunting Mood Indigo on Victor Records. It became one of the Duke’s most famous standards.
1931 - Jane Addams became a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the first American woman so honored.
1941 - Japanese troops landed on northern Luzon island in the Philippines. In the days that followed, the Japanese pushed American and Filipino troops slowly southward. By January 1942, they were concentrated on Bataan Peninsula and on Corregidor Island, near the mouth of Manila Bay and General Douglas MacArthur was ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to evacuate to Australia.
1947 - The first Toys for Tots campaign was organized by Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR, and a group of U.S. Marine Corps. reservists in Los Angeles, California.
1949 - Fats Domino recorded his first sides for Imperial Records. The legend from New Orleans recorded The Fat Man, one of the earliest rock and roll records. The title also turned into Domino’s nickname and stayed with him through his years of success. For those with a burning desire to know, Fats’ real name is Antoine. The Fat Man, incidentally, is thought to have been a million-seller, but that can’t be verified.
1950 - Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first African American and the first American person of color to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. He was undersecretary of the U.N. at the time.
1953 - With an investment of $7,600, Hugh Hefner published the first Playboy magazine. There is no date printed on the first issue -- now a collector’s item. The reason, according to Hef, is that he doubted anyone would expect a second issue to be printed. Included in this first issue: A classic, nude, calendar photo of actress Marilyn Monroe.
1953 - Harry Belafonte debuted on Broadway in John Murray Anderson’s Almanac at the Imperial Theatre. Critics hailed Belafonte’s performance as “electrifyingly sincere.” Also starring in the show: Hermione Gingold, Billy DeWolfe, Polly Bergen and Orson Bean.
1955 - The Big Surprise on NBC-TV awarded the largest amount of money given away on television. Mrs. Ethel Park Richardson of Los Angeles, CA may have needed an armored truck to carry away her $100,000 in cash.
1958 - National Airlines became the first to begin jet service in the U.S. -- using leased Boeing 707s.
1963 - Zanzibar became an independent sultanate within British Commonwealth.
1964 - Rev. Martin Luther King became a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace. He was the youngest person to have won the award.
1966 - The Beach Boys made a one-week stop at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as Good Vibrations made it to #1. It was the third #1 hit the group scored. The others were I Get Around and Help Me, Rhonda.
1967 - Otis Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays (Otis’ backup group) were killed in the crash of a private plane near Madison, Wisconsin. Redding was 26 years old. His signature song, (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay was recorded three days before his death. It was #1 for four weeks beginning February 10, 1968. Redding was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. The Bar-Kays biggest hit was in July, 1967: Soul Finger. James Alexander, bass player for the group, was not on the plane. Ben Cauley, trumpet player, survived the crash. The group played for a time with various new members.
1971 - William H. Rehnquist was confirmed by the Senate, 68-26, as U.S. Supreme Court Justice. He replaced Justice John Harlan who resigned in September 1971. Rehnquist joined the Court on January 7, 1972, the same day as Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.
1974 - Helios 1 was launched by the U.S. and Germany. The satellite later made the closest flyby of the Sun.
1977 - In only his second year of riding, Steve Cauthen became the first jockey to win $6-million in a single season. Cauthen was dubbed ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’, and ‘Stevie Wonder’ by his admirers and was named 1977 Sportsman of the Year by "Sports Illustrated", the Associated Press, "ABC’s Wide World of Sports" and "The Sporting News".
1978 - In Oslo, Menachem Begin & Anwar Sadat accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
1982 - Heavyweight Michael Dokes knocked out Mike Weaver at 1:03 of the first round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1983 - Danuta Walesa, wife of Polish labor leader Lech Walesa, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway on behalf of her husband.
1986 - Exxon announced the sale of its Manhattan landmark, the 53-story Exxon Building, to a Japanese real estate developer. The price tag was $610 million.
1988 - Chicago’s Look Away was the #1 single in the U.S. It was one of three top-ten hits from the Chicago 19 album (the others were I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love and You’re Not Alone).
1990 - Industrialist Armand Hammer died at the age of 92.
1991 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s Son of Sam Law that forced criminals’ profits for selling their stories to be seized and given to their victims. The High Court held that the New York law was inconsistent with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
1991 - Alan Freed, the disc jockey credited with giving ‘Rock and Roll’ its name, was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Freed died Jan 20, 1965.)
1991 - Physicist Paul Kunz wrote and posted the first American Web page this day. As an aside to his work smashing and studying subatomic particles, he set up the first Web server outside Western Europe as a way of providing easier access to a database of scientific paper abstracts. Kunz didn't invent the Web. That credit goes to Tim Berners-Lee, an English researcher at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland (later the head of the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C] standards body). But with his powerful, practical demonstration of the Web’s potential, Kunz arguably set off a chain of events that turned the Web into a staple: first of academic research, and ultimately of everyday life.
1993 - South African President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela accepted their Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
1994 - Kenny G’s Miracles: The Holiday Album was number one in the U.S. It became the best selling Christmas album in history, selling over 8 million albums as of 2000. The tracks: Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Silent Night, Greensleeves, Miracles, Little Drummer Boy, The Chanukah Song, Silver Bells, Away in a Manger and Brahms Lullaby.
1995 - The first group of U.S. Marines arrived in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo to join NATO soldiers sent to enforce peace in the former Yugoslavia.
1995 - Kweisi Mfume, a U.S. Congressional Representative from Maryland, was elected to lead the NAACP.
1996 - Roman Catholic Bishop Filipe Ximenes Belo and exiled activist José Ramos-Horta, opponents of Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
1998 - U.S. astronaut Robert Cabana and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov opened the hatch to the U.S.-built Unity connecting module and floated into the new International Space Station together. The four remaining U.S. astronauts in the crew (Frederick W. Sturckow, Jerry L. Ross, Nancy J. Currie and James H. Newman) followed and began turning on lights and unstowing gear in the roomy hub of the 250-mile-high outpost.
1999 - These flicks opened in the U.S.: The Cider House Rules, starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron and Michael Caine, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (John Irving won the Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published); Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (“He charges $10 but he’s willing to negotiate.”), with Rob Schneider, William Forsythe and Eddie Griffin; The End of the Affair (“The end was just the beginning.”), starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea; and The Green Mile (“Walk a mile you'll never forget.”), starring Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt and Michael Clarke Duncan (this one was nominated for a bunch of Oscars.
2000 - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak submitted his resignation, starting the countdown toward a special election.
2000 - Jack S. Kilby received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the microchip (1958); Zhores Alferov of Russia and Herbert Kroemer of UC Santa Barbara shared the prize for their work on heterostructure semiconductors; and Kim Dae Jung, president of South Korea, received the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign to unify the country.
2001 - Secretary-General Kofi Annan accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of himself and the United Nations.
2002 - U.S. President George Bush (II) named 71-year-old William Donaldson, co-founder of Wall Street brokerage firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
2003 - Big Fish premiered in the U.S. The drama stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange and Alison Lohman.
2004 - Ocean’s Twelve debuted in U.S. theatres. The crime thriller stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Vincent Cassel, Elliott Gould, Eddie Jemison and Carl Reiner.
2004 - United Flight 869 landed in Vietnam. It was the first U.S. passenger jet to do so since the end of the Vietnam War.
2005 - 109 of the 110 people on board were killed when Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 (inbound from the Nigerian capital of Abuja) crash-landed at Port Harcourt International Airport, Nigeria.
2005 - The International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, received the Nobel Peace Prize at Oslo City Hall, Norway.
2006 - 3,000 firefighters battled some of Australia’s worst wildfires in 70 years. Throughout December 2006, large bushfires raged through national parks and other remote areas of Victoria’s Barry Mountains.
2006 - Boston opened its new $41-million Institute of Contemporary Art, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro architects. Three dozen works by 27 internationally high-profile artists were shown in Super Vision, the inagural showcase exhibition at the ICA.
2006 - Spring Awakening debuted at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on Broadway. The rock musical starred Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele, Skylar Astin and John Gallagher Jr. and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Direction, Book, Score and Featured Actor. Spring Awakening was performed 859 times, closing Jan 18, 2009.
2007 - Led Zeppelin performed their first full concert in nearly three decades -- in London. Three surviving members, singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones, were joined by the late John Bonham’s son Jason on drums.
2008 - Taha Abdul-Rahman of Sydney was jailed for 3½ years in Australia for buying seven rocket launchers stolen from the military between 2001 and 2003.
2009 - A consortium including Google and KDDI Corp signed a deal to build and operate a $400-million, 17Tbps international undersea cable system. Globe Telecom, part owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, and units of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications were also part of the consortium.
2009 - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that nearly 10,000 people had died from H1N1 influenza through Nov 14, 2009. Over 200,000 people were reported to have been hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic 7 months earlier. The CDC estimated 50 million Americans had contacted the disease.
2010 - Movies debuting in U.S. theatres: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, with Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Will Poulter and Bill Nighy; The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Thomas Kee, Craig Mathers, Gary Galone and Tommy Lee Jones; The Fighter, with Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo and Dendrie Taylor; The Garden of Eden, with Jack Huston, Mena Suvari, Richard E. Grant, Caterina Murino and Carmen Maura; The Tempest, starring Helen Mirren, Chris Cooper, Alfred Molina, Alan Cumming and Djimon Hounsou; and The Tourist, staring Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Rufus Sewell, Clément Sibony and Timothy Dalton.
2010 - The U.S. Navy completed a test of its electromagnetic rail gun at the naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, VA. The gun generated a record 33 megajoules of force out of the barrel and sent a 20-pound slug of aluminum at 7 times the speed of sound. The electric railgun could reach an enemy 100 miles away. And with GPS guidance systems, it could do so with pinpoint accuracy. The Navy hoped to eventually extend the range beyond 200 miles.
2011 - Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays bank, described in a published interview how he had introduced a ‘no jerks rule’ to weed out bankers he considered to be too greedy or ostentatious. Diamond said he had kicked out 30 staffers for breaking his ethics rule and warned, “no one should ever not be nice.”
2011 - Boston police swept through Dewey Square tearing down tents of the Occupy Boston encampment and arresting dozens of protesters.
2012 - Australian radio announcers Mel Greig and Michael Christian broke ended three days of silence and spoke of their distress at the apparent suicide of nurse Jacintha Saldanha in London. Greig and Christian tricked King Edward VII hospital into releasing private medical information on Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, by mimicking the Queen of Australia and the Prince of Wales. Saldanha (46) had been found dead in staff quarters near the hospital on Dec 7. She had put through the hoax call from the radio pair to a hospital colleague who then unwittingly disclosed details of pregnant Kate Middleton’s morning sickness.
2013 - General Motors named Mary Barra to succeed Dan Akerson as CEO. Barra was the first woman CEO in the global automotive industry.
2014 - POTUS Barack Obama announced $1 billion in private-public spending on programs for young learners.
2014 - Israeli ecologists estimated that it could take years to clean up a massive oil spill that flooded the Evrona desert reserve. Some five million liters of crude oil spilled and and threatened to spread to the Red Sea shore and neighboring Jordan.
2015 - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that Fiat Chrysler would pay a $70-million fine to the U.S. government for the auto company’s mishandling of 23 recalls involving 11 million vehicles. The automaker admitted in September 2015 that it had failed to provide data, including reports of deaths and injuries, warranty claims, consumer complaints and field reports of safety issues.
2016 - At least five people were killed and 29 injured when a cargo train derailed and exploded in the northeastern Bulgarian village of Hitrino, demolishing dozens of houses and public buildings.
2016 - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was given the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest honor, with his French counterpart calling him “the most French of American officials.”
2017 - California’s largest wildfire, the Thomas Fire, advanced on coastal towns near Santa Barbara. Stoked by the gusty winds and dry conditions that fueled destructive blazes across southern California, the blaze had blackened 155,000 acres (62,726 hectares) and consumed hundreds of structures.
2017 - Thousands of protesters rallied in Rabat, Morocco as demonstrations against POTUS Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital spread. Morocco’s King Mohammed VI had expressed his “deep concern” over Trump’s move, but was hailed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.
2018 - Kaiser Permanente California therapists began a 5-day statewide strike to protest long wait times for patients seeking appointments for mental health conditions. Strikers said they were protesting because they want better care for their patients. The union says the staffing problem had forced patients to wait a month or more for therapy appointments. Therapists also wanted to spend more time with patients but Kaiser wanted them to cut the amount of time they spend with patients.
2018 - French President Emmanuel Macron announced measures to help low-income families, hoping to end the ‘yellow vest’ protests. Among the measures he announced was an increase in the minimum wage and a cut in taxes for hard-up pensioners. Economists estimated that the cost of the sweeteners could reach 11 billion euros ($12.5 billion) -- a blowout for a country already struggling to meet EU budget rules.
2019 - House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against POTUS Donald Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The articles moved toward historic votes over charges he threatened the integrity of the U.S. election system and endangered national security in his efforts to impugn Joe Biden and son in Ukraine.
2020 - The Federal Communications Commission started the process of revoking China Telecom’s authorization to operate in the United States. This, as the FCC continued to crack down on China’s role in U.S. telecommunications. FCC Chairman Chairman Ajit Pai said several U.S. government agencies had recommended the revocation citing national security concerns. Pai said there were “significant concerns” that China Telecom would be forced to comply with Chinese government’s requests for information, including communications intercepts.
2020 - TIME magazine named its 2020 person — in this case, people — of the year: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
2020 - Mastercard and Visa prohibited the use of their cards on the adult website Pornhub, after reports surfaced that the platform included videos of child abuse and rape.
2020 - An FDA advisory panel voted in favor of the vaccine by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, completing one of the final steps before the agency authorized the drug -- which it did the following day.
2021 - Movies released in the U.S. (theatres and virtual) this day included: National Champions, starring Alexander Ludwig, Timothy Olyphant, J.K. Simmons and Kristin Chenoweth; West Side Story, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler; American Sicario, with Danny Trejo, Maya Stojan and Maurice Compte; the animateed Back to the Outback, featuring characters voiced by Jacki Weaver, Guy Pearce, Isla Fisher, Eric Bana and Wayne Knight; Being the Ricardos, starring Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman, Jake Lacy and J.K. Simmons; France, with Léa Seydoux, Blanche Gardin and Benjamin Biolay; The Last Son, starring Sam Worthington, Machine Gun Kelly, Thomas Jane, Heather Graham and Kim DeLonghi; and the animated Mosley, with voice acting by Lucy Lawless, Temuera Morrison, John Rhys-Davies, Rhys Darby, Aidee Walker and Lara Macgregor.
2021 - A devastating swarm of tornadoes ripped through six states, killing more than 90 people and leaving a trail of destroyed homes and businesses along a path that stretched more than 200 miles. At least 64 people, including six children, lost their lives in Kentucky. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said it received 36 reports of tornadoes touching down in Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas, and Mississippi.
2021 - Six workers were killed when an Amazon.com Inc warehouse was destroyed by a tornado in Edwardsville, Illinois. Walls on both sides of the building collapsed inward and the roof collapsed. Officials said the concrete walls were 40 feet tall and about the length of a football field.
2021 - Police in Greece arrested 11 members of a vigilante group who handcuffed a high school principal ahead of a daily COVID-19 entry check of students. The group had taken the principal to a nearby police station and asked police to charge him, but were themselves detained.
2022 - Winner of the 88th Heisman Trophy Award was Caleb Williams, quarterback from Univ of Southern California. The 6-foot-1 Williams, who transferred to USC as a sophomore, threw for 4,075 yards on 296-of-448 passing (66.1%) with a national co-leading 37 touchdown passes -- against just four interceptions. His passing yards total was fourth-most nationally, his quarterback rating (167.94) was fifth-best, and his passing yards per game stat (313.5) was sixth-best. Williams joined USC’s previous Heisman winners: Matt Leinart (2004), Carson Palmer (2002), Marcus Allen (1981), Charles White (1979), O.J., Simpson (1968) and Mike Garrett (1965).
2022 - Tens of thousands of people protested in Dhaka, Bangladesh. They were mad at the government and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina -- and new elections. Anti-government protests had erupted across the country in recent months -- triggered by power cuts and fuel price hikes. (The prime minister rejected calls to stand down...)
2022 - Ukraine continued to fight back against invading Russian forces, with the military launching a missile attack on the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine. German chancellor Olaf Scholz said Vladimir Putin was determined to conquer parts of Ukraine and had showed no restraint in his brutality. “Whenever I speak with Putin, he says very clearly that for him it is about conquering something,” Scholz said. “He simply wants to conquer part of Ukrainian territory with violence.” Meanwhile, Yan Rachinsky, a co-laureate accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of his organization, the Russian civil rights group Memorial, lambasted Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. Rachinksy said Russia’s war continued to “sow death and destruction on Ukrainian soil,” adding that the invasion was an “insane and criminal war of aggression against Ukraine.” Though Rachinksy was reportedly warned by Russian authorities not to accept the award, he said that he wanted to do so in solidarity with those who had been killed.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day December 10
1787 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
educator: founded first public school for deaf children [now the American School for the Deaf]; died Sep 10, 18511830 - Emily Dickinson
poet: This is My letter to the World, If You Were Coming in the Fall, Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church, Because I Could Not Stop for Death; died May 15, 18861851 - Melvil Dewey
librarian: inventor of the Dewey Decimal System; died Dec 26, 19311903 - Una Merkel
Tony Award-winning actress: The Ponder Heart [1956]; The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker, Take Me Along; films: Abraham Lincoln, 42nd Street, Destry Rides Again, Summer and Smoke; died Jan 2, 19861903 - Mary Norton
author: children’s books: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Borrowers; died Aug 29, 19921906 - Harold Adamson
lyricist: Time on My Hands, Daybreak; died Aug 17, 19801911 - Chet Huntley
Emmy Award-winning newscaster: co-anchor [w/David Brinkley]: The Huntley-Brinkley Report [1958-1959, 1959-1960, 1960-1961, 1961-1962, 1962-1963, 1963-1964]; died Mar 20, 19741913 - Morton Gould
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer: Stringmusic [1995]; Fall River Legend, Billion Dollar Baby; film score: Delightfully Dangerous; died Feb 21, 19961914 - Dorothy Lamour (Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton)
actress: Road to Singapore and other ‘Road’ movies with Bob Hope; The Love Goddesses, Pajama Party, Donovan’s Reef, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Hurricane; Miss New Orleans [1931]; died Sep 22, 19961918 - Anne Gwynne
actress: Adam at Six A.M., Phantom of the Jungle, The Enchanted Valley, The Glass Alibi, Moon Over Las Vegas, Men of Texas, The Blazing Sun; died Mar 31, 20031919 - John Hammond
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer: talent scout: discovered Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan; died July 10, 19871923 - Harold Gould
actor: Romero, Dream Chasers, Seems Like Old Times, Kenny Rogers as the Gambler, The Sting, Rhoda, Under One Roof, The Golden Girls, Spencer, Singer & Sons, He & She, The Feather and Father Gang; died Sep 11, 20101924 - Ken Albers
bass singer: group: The Four Freshmen: LPs: And Five Trumpets, And Five Saxes, In Person, Voices in Love, And Five Guitars; died Apr 19, 20071927 - Joe Olivier
musician: guitar: group: Bill Haley and His Comets [1957, 1958]; solo as Cappy Bianco; died Dec 25, 20011928 - Dan Blocker
actor: Bonanza, Cimarron City, Come Blow Your Horn, Lady in Cement, Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County; died May 13, 19721933 - Mako (Makoto Iwamatsu)
actor: Red Sun Rising, Sidekicks, Taking Care of Business, Pacific Heights, Kung Fu: The Movie, Conan the Destroyer, Sand Pebbles, Hawaiian Heat; died July 21, 20061941 - Fionnula Flanagan
Emmy Award-winning actress: Rich Man, Poor Man [2/2/76], Money for Nothing, Youngblood, Picture of Dorian Gray, How the West was Won, Hard Copy1941 - Tommy Kirk
actor: Blood of Ghastly Horror, Village of the Giants, Pajama Party, Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Swiss Family Robinson, The Shaggy Dog, Old Yeller, Bikini Beach; died Sep 28, 20211941 - Tommy Rettig
actor: Lassie, The Cobweb, River of No Return, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T; died Feb 15, 19961943 - Chad Stuart
musician: guitar, lyricist, singer: duo: Chad & Jeremy: Yesterday’s Gone, A Summer Song, Willow Weep for Me, If I Loved You, Before and After, I Don’t Wanna Lose You Baby, Distant Shores; emcee for The Smothers Brothers Show1944 - Steve (Steven) Renko
baseball: pitcher: Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, KC Royals1944 - Tisha (Patricia) Sterling
actress: Killer Inside Me, Betrayal, Snatched, Powder Keg, Defiant, Coogan’s Bluff1946 - Christopher ‘Ace’ Kefford
musician: bass: group: The Move: Night of Fear, I Can Hear the Grass Grow, Flowers in the Rain, Fire Brigade, Blackberry Way1946 - Gloria Loring
singer: Friends and Lovers, I Get a Kick Out of You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love for You, From Here to There, Here, There and Everywhere; actress: Renegade, Days of Our Lives, Mike Hammer, Fantasy Island1946 - Walter ‘Clyde’ Orange
musician: drums, singer: group: The Commodores: Machine Gun, Just to Be Close to You, Sweet Love, Easy, Sail On, Three Times a Lady, Still, Nightshift1947 - Bob Birdsell
hockey: WHL: Salt Lake Golden Eagles; CHL: Kansas City Blues, Amarillo Wranglers; AHL: Hershey Bears1948 - Jessica Cleaves
singer: group: Friends of Distinction: Grazing in the Grass; died May 2, 20141950 - Lloyd Neal
basketball: Portland Trailblazers1951 - Johnny Rodriguez
singer: Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico1952 - Susan Dey
actress: The Partridge Family, L.A. Law, Love and War, Emerald Point N.A.S., Blue River, Sunset Limousine, Comeback Kid, First Love1954 - Jack Hues
musician: guitar, keyboards; singer: group: Wang Chung: Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Dance Hall Days1957 - Michael Clarke Duncan
actor: The Green Mile, Armageddon, The Whole Nine Yards, The Scorpion King and Daredevil; voice actor: Brother Bear, Kung Fu Panda; died Sep 3, 20121958 - Cornelia Funke
author of children’s fiction: Inkheart trilogy [2004–2008], The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, When Santa Fell to Earth, Igraine the Brave, Saving Mississippi, Ghost Knight1959 - Mark Aguirre
basketball: NBA Dallas Mavericks: led NBA in field goals [925 in 1983-84], Detroit Pistons: NBA Championship teams [1989, 1990]1960 - Kenneth Branagh
director, actor: Wallander, Henry V, Another Country, Othello, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Much Ado About Nothing, Look Back in Anger, A Haunting in Venice; autobiography: Beginning; cofounder: Renaissance Theater Company in England1961 - Nia Peeples
actress: Fame, Walker, Texas Ranger, The Young and the Restless, Pretty Little Liars, Barbershop, Highlander: The Series, Firedog, The Chang Family Saves the World1963 - Doug Henry
baseball [pitcher]: Arizona State Univ; Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals1964 - Bobby Flay
celebrity chef, restaurateur, reality TV personality [Food Network]; owner and executive chef of a dozen restaurants1964 - George Newbern
actor: Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride Part II, Friends, Saw VI; voice actor: series: Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts1968 - Rob Davis
football [defensive tackle]: NFL: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers1969 - Rob Blake
hockey: NHL: Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche [2001 Stanley Cup], San Jose Sharks; played for Team Canada in three consecutive Winter Olympics [1998, 2002, 2006]1973 - Rusty LaRue
basketball [guard]: Wake Forest Univ; NBA: Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors1973 - Arden Myrin
comedian, actress: MADtv, That’s So Hollywood, Suburgatory, Christmas with the Kranks, Bubble Boy, The Informant!, Wrong1974 - Meg White
musician: drums: duo: The White Stripes: Blue Orchid, Jolene Live Under Blackpool Lights, Hardest Button to Button, Hotel Yorba, Fell in Love With a Girl, Seven Nation Army1975 - Joe Mays
baseball [pitcher]: Minnesota Twins1977 - Emmanuelle Chriqui
actress: Entourage, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, Girl Walks into a Bar, Saint John of Las Vegas, After Sex, The Mentalist, Phineas and Ferb1978 - Summer Phoenix
actress: The Faculty, Can’t Hardly Wait, Russkies, Suzie Gold1982 - Nick Martin
musician: guitar; singer: groups: Sleeping with Sirens, Underminded, Cinematic Sunrise, D.R.U.G.S.1983 - Patrick Flueger
actor: The 4400, The Princess Diaries, The World’s Fastest Indian, Scoundrels, You Are Here, Paradise, Twelve Mile Road, The Job1983 - Xavier Samuel
actor: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, September, Further We Search, Newcastle, The Loved Ones, A Few Best Men1985 - Matt Forté
football [running back]: Tulane Univ [ran for 2,127 yards during his senior season]; NFL: Chicago Bears [2008–2015]; New York Jets [2016–2017]1985 - Raven-Symoné
actress: The Cheetah Girls series, Dr. Dolittle series, The Little Rascals, The Muppets at Walt Disney World1992 - Melissa Roxburgh
actress: Manifest, Arrow, Supernatural, Legends of Tomorrow, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days1996 - Joe Burrow
football [quarterback]: LSU Tigers [won 2019 Heisman trophy]: 2019/2020 national champs; NFL: Cincinnati Bengals [2020- ]
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day December 10
1945It’s Been a Long, Long Time (facts) - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal Kitty Kallen)
That’s for Me (facts) - Dick Haymes
1954
1963
1972
1981
1990
1999
2008
2017
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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