December 19
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Events on This Day
1776 - Thomas Paine published his first American Crisis essay, Common Sense, in which he wrote, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” The impassioned pamphlet helped ignite the American Revolution.1777 - U.S. General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.
1863 - London’s Frederick Walton patented linoleum. What the heck is linoleum, you ask? Well, linoleum is a floor covering made from linseed oil, tall oil, rosin, cork, woodflour, chalk, clay, and pigments, pressed into sheets with a jute backing. Oxidation of the oil is accelerated by heating, so that the oil mixture solidifies into a tough, resilient material. Linoleum tiles have a backing made of polyester and glass. Now, I have a headache and must go lie down for a while...
1903 - The Williamsburg Bridge was opened in New York City. This was America’s first major suspension bridge (1600 feet). It cost $24,000,000 to build -- in 1903 dollars. The Verrazano Narrows suspension bridge in New York, completed in 1964, is the longest suspension bridge in the U.S. (4,260 ft.) For you West Coast fans, the Golden Gate is sixty feet shorter than the Verrazano. Now we’ll end your suspense and tell you which suspension bridge is the longest in the world. It is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan, which cost about $3.8 billion. Opened on April 5, 1998, it links Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands, with the biggest island of Honshu. The mid-section length, between the bridge's two massive support towers, measures 6,529 feet (about 1,990 meters), making it over 1,900 feet longer than the previous record holder, the Humber Estuary Bridge in the United Kingdom. That span is 4,626 feet or 1,410 meters. By definition, a suspension bridge is one with a deck suspended from cables anchored at their extremities and usually raised on towers.
1917 - The first games of the new National Hockey League were played on this day. Five teams made up the league: Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers.
1918 - Robert Ripley began his Believe It or Not column in The New York Globe.
1941 - Adolf Hitler assumed the position of Commander in Chief of the German Army, after accepting the resignation of Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch. Hitler called von Brauchitsch a “vain, cowardly wretch.”
1945 - The Congress confirmed former first-lady Eleanor Roosevelt as U.S. delegate to the U.N.
1946 - Troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French in Indochina (Vietnam).
1950 - U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
1957 - Meredith Willson’s The Music Man opened at the Majestic Theatre in New York City. The Broadway show starred Robert Preston and had a run of 1,375 shows. It also had 76 trombones and 110 cornets in the band ... and a librarian named Marian, remember?
1958 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower made the first radio broadcast from outer space. Ike’s recorded voice sent a Christmas greeting to the world from an orbiting satellite. The satellite was named SCORE, an acronym for Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment. Eisenhower’s message said, “This is the President of the United States speaking. Through the marvels of scientific advance, my voice is coming to you from a satellite circling in outer space. My message is a simple one. Through this unique means I convey to you and to all mankind, America’s wish for peace on Earth and good will to men everywhere.”
1959 - Penn State’s Nittany Lions beat Alabama, 7-0, in the first Liberty Bowl. The football game was played at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, PA. (Since 1965, the Liberty Bowl has been played in Memphis, TN.)
1960 - Neil Sedaka’s Calendar Girl was released on RCA Victor Records. The song became Sedaka’s fourth record to make the charts. Other hits from the guy who made money off of a love song for Carole King (Oh, Carol) include The Diary, Stairway to Heaven, Bad Girl, Next Door to an Angel, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Laughter in the Rain and Breaking Up is Hard to Do.
1960 - Frank Sinatra recorded his first session with his very own record company. Frank did Ring-A-Ding-Ding and Let’s Fall in Love for Reprise Records.
1961 - Judgment at Nuremberg opened in New York City with a star-studded cast including Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, and Maximillian Schell (he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance). The film received an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay plus nine other nominations.
1965 - Charles de Gaulle was elected to a second seven-year term (1966-1973) as president of France. de Gaulle defeated Francois Mitterrand in the election.
1972 - Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, concluding the Apollo program of manned landings on the moon.
1973 - Johnny Carson pulled a good one before a nationwide late-night audience on NBC. Carson started a fake toilet-paper scare. In his Tonight Show monologue, he told his huge audience that a Wisconsin congressman had warned that toilet paper was disappearing from supermarket shelves. Toilet paper soon became a scarce commodity in many areas of the United States after the gag.
1974 - Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States after a House vote. President Gerald R. Ford nominated Rockefeller to fill the vacant vice presidency following the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in August 1974.
1975 - John Paul Stevens became a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Stevens had been nominated by President Gerald R. Ford.
1976 - A Piper Cherokee crashed into the upper stands at Baltimore Memorial Stadium. The crash happened just ten minutes after the Colts lost (40-14) to the Pittsburgh Steelers. No one was seriously hurt (in the crash or the game).
1984 - Wayne Gretsky, 23, of the Edmonton Oilers led his hockey team to a 7-3 victory over Los Angeles. He got two goals and four assists and became only the 18th player in the National Hockey League to score more than 1,000 points.
1984 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang signed an accord returning the British colony of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.
1985 - Jan Stenerud announced his retirement from the NFL. The football kicker holds the record for the most career field goals with 373. He made those field goals while kicking for the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings beginning in 1967.
1985 - ABC Sports announced that it was severing ties with Howard Cosell and released ‘The Mouth’ from all TV commitments. ‘Humble’ Howard continued on ABC radio for another five years.
1986 - The Soviet Union announced that it had freed dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile, and pardoned his wife, Yelena Bonner.
1993 - Michael ‘Mike’ Clarke, 49, the original drummer for The Byrds, died of liver failure at his Treasure Island (St. Petersburg FL) home. Clarke, the youngest of the Byrds, joined the group at its inception in 1964, and stayed with the band through the end of 1967. He had sparked a lawsuit from other original band members in 1989 when he started performing under the Byrds’ name.
1996 - Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni died in Paris. Mastroianni, 72, had appeared in over 100 films and had just finished shooting Journey to the Beginning of the World.
1997 - A big day for new movies in the U.S.: Titanic, starring Leonardo Dicaprio Kate Winslet Billy Zane and Kathy Bates, the biggest grossing movie of all time (has topped the $600-million mark); Mouse Hunt, with Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Christopher Walken and Vicki Lewis; and Tomorrow Never Dies, starring Pierce Brosnan as Bond... James Bond, Judi Dench as M, Desmond Llewelyn as Q, Samantha Bond as Moneypenny.
1998 - Bullfighter Antonio Ordóñez died in Spain of liver cancer at 66 years of age.
1999 - Actor Desmond Llewelyn, who starred as the eccentric gadget expert Q in a string of James Bond films, was killed in a car crash in East Sussex, England. He was 85 years old.
2000 - A volcano outside Mexico City spewed a fiery fountain of ash and rock in its most spectacular eruption in more than a millennium. It left towns around the mountain’s base deserted as frightened residents fled. The eruption of the 17,886-foot mountain was its biggest show in 1,200 years, as the mountain, known locally as ‘Popo’, filled nearby valleys with lava.
2001 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring opened in the U.S. The fantasy adventure stars Elijah Wood, Ian Mckellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo sWeaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm and Andy Serkis.
2001 - The fires that had burned beneath the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York City were declared extinguished. The fires that began with the September 11 terror attacks had been strong enough that firetrucks had to spray a nearly constant jet of water on them for the previous three months.
2002 - A judge in New York threw out the convictions of five young men in a 1989 attack on a Central Park jogger who had been raped and left for dead. The five men had served years in prison for the 1989 rape and beating of the woman jogger.
2003 - Films debuting in the U.S.: Calendar Girls, starring Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, John Alderton, Linda Bassett, Annette Crosbie, Philip Glenister, Ciaran Hinds, Celia Imrie, Geraldine James, Penelope Wilton; the documentary The Fog of War, with Robert McNamara; and Mona Lisa Smile, starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dominic West, Juliet Stevenson, John Slattery, Topher Grace, Marcia Gay Harden, Marian Seldes, Ginnifer Goodwin.
2003 - Actress Hope Lange, 70, died in Santa Monica, CA. Lange made her screen debut in Bus Stop (1956), getting critical and audience attention despite her omnipresent co-star Marilyn Monroe. Signed to a 20th Century Fox contract, Lange was Oscar nominated for her performance in Peyton Place (1957) and was equally impressive in such films as The Young Lions (1957) and The Best of Everything (1959).
2003 - Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, after secret negotiations with the U.S. and the U.K., agreed to halt its program to develop nuclear and chemical weapons and the missiles to deliver them. Libya also admitted to a history of cooperation with North Korea to develop extended-range Scud missiles.
2003 - It was announced that the signature New York City skyscraper at the World Trade Center site would be a 1,776-foot glass tower that twists into the sky, topped by energy-generating windmills and a spire that evokes the Statue of Liberty. The plan was produced after months of negotiations between Daniel Libeskind, who designed the five-building site plan, and David Childs, the lead architect for the Freedom Tower.
2004 - Canada’s Prime Minister Paul Martin met with Moammar Gadhafi. Martin was one of a string of world leaders to visit Tripoli following the Libyan strongman’s repudiation of terrorism.
2005 - Chalk’s Ocean Airways Flight 101 flying from Miami, Florida to Bimini, Bahamas, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 18 passengers and two crew members.
2006 - Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino company, accepted a $27.8 billion offer from Apollo Management LP and Texas Pacific Group.
2007 - Flakes opened in U.S. movie theatres. The comedy stars Zooey Deschanel, Aaron Stanford and Izabella Miko.
2008 - New movies in the U.S.: Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Michael Ealy, Robinne Lee; and the animated The Tale of Despereaux, featuring the voices of Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, Tracey Ullman, Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Stanley Tucci, Ciaran Hinds, Robbie Coltrane, Tony Hale, Frances Conroy, Frank Langella, Richard Jenkins, Christopher Lloyd and Sigourney Weaver.
2008 - The George Bush (II) administration approved an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry, offering $17.4 billion in rescue loans in exchange for concessions from carmakers and their workers.
2008 - France announced a €7.5-billion ($10.5-billion) package of financial aid for the Baltic state of Latvia from the European Union and other international lenders.
2008 - IRS agents arrested Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, vice president of Fry’s Electronics in San Jose, CA, for gambling with millions in stolen money. Since 2005 he had embezzled over $65 million through a kickback scheme engineered from his office.
2009 - Four passenger trains broke down in the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, stranding some 2,000 passengers for hours, without heating, light or water. Fatigued passengers arrived in London 10 hours late after along night trapped on trains. The problem began because of the abrupt temperature change when trains traveled through extremely cold air in France and then entered the warm ‘Chunnel’.
2010 - A massive oil pipeline explosion lay waste to parts of San Martin Texmelucan, Mexico. The conflagration incinerated people, cars, houses and trees as gushing crude turned streets into flaming rivers. 30 people were killed, 14 of them children. Authorities blamed oil thieves after investigators found a hole in the pipeline and equipment for extracting crude.
2011 - Fierce winds and snow closed highways in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas and Utah. The storm was blamed for at least six deaths.
2011 - Sweden’s Saab Automobile filed for bankruptcy, giving up a desperate struggle to stay in business after previous owner General Motors Co. blocked takeover attempts by Chinese company Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile.
2012 - Movies opening in the U.S.: The Guilt Trip, starring Yvonne Strahovski, Colin Hanks, Seth Rogen, Adam Scott, Barbra Streisand, Brett Cullen, Danny Pudi and Casey Wilson; Zero Dark Thirty, with Jessica Chastain, Scott Adkins, Joel Edgerton, Taylor Kinney, Mark Strong, Chris Pratt and Jason Clarke; and Amour, with Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Alexandre Tharaud and William Shimell.
2012 - Switzerland’s UBS AG agreed to pay some $1.5 billion in fines to international regulators following a probe into the rigging of a key global interest rate.
2012 - Three U.S. State Department officials resigned under pressure, less than a day after a damning report blamed management failures for a lack of security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. The report said the lack of security made possible the Sep 11, 2012 attack where militants killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The report described confusion, lack of transparency and inadequate leadership at senior levels, and strongly criticised the use of a Libyan armed militia as security for the Benghazi consulate.
2013 - The California Public Utilities Commission fined Pacific Gas & Electric Company more than $14 million for the utility’s “delay and obfuscation” in revealing that its records of a natural gas pipeline in San Carlos failed to show potentially risky welds. The company had admitted that its lax record keeping and faulty gas pipelines caused the deadly explosion in Sep, 2010 in San Bruno, California.
2013 - Former basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea to help train its national team and renew his friendship with the North’s young leader, Kim Jong Un.
2014 - New movies in the U.S. included: Annie, starring Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhané Wallis, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale and Cameron Diaz; Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, with Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Rebel Wilson and Owen Wilson; The Gambler, with Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Lange and Brie Larson; and the animated, Song of the Sea, featuring the voices of Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, Pat Shortt, David Rawle, Jon Kenny and Lisa Hannigan.
2014 - POTUS Barack Obama signed the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act. It increased the value of emergency U.S. weaponry kept in Israel by $200 million, to a total of $1.8 billion.
2014 - The U.S. FBI formally accused North Korea of hacking Sony Pictures computers and servers. And Sony said said it had decided to scrap the Christmas Day theatrical release of The Interview after the cyber attack. The screwball comedy film stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as journalists who set up an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and are recruited by the CIA to assassinate him.
2014 - Wrapping up a 28 year tradition that started in 1986, Darlene Love sang Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) on The Late Show with David Letterman for the last time. The 73-year-old Love retired the song from TV after Letterman retired.
2015 - 47-year-old Dennis Oland, son of prominent Canadian businessman Richard Oland, was found guilty of murdering his father in his office July 7, 2011. “According to what I’ve read online today, I think most people were expecting that he would be found not guilty,” said Saint John resident Stacy Doucey. “Although some people know that he’s guilty, or think they know he’s guilty, they still thought he would not be charged.” Greg Marquis of the University of New Brunswick, author of a book about the Oland trial, said the evidence presented at the trial was largely circumstantial. “There was not a lot of direct evidence. There was no murder weapon or witnesses,” he said.
2016 - President Obama pardoned 78 people and shortened the sentences of 153 others convicted of federal crimes. It was the greatest number of clemencies issued by any president in a single day.
2016 - China and Norway resumed diplomatic relations during a surprise visit to Beijing by Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende. The agreement came six years after Beijing had frozen ties with Oslo over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese dissident.
2017 - The Chinese government criticized POTUS Donald Trump’s characterization of China as a strategic rival. Beijing called on Washington to “abandon a Cold War mentality” and accept China’s rise among world powers. Trump had said, “This strategy recognises that, whether we like it or not, we are engaged in a new era of competition. We face rival powers, Russia and China, that seek to challenge American influence, values and wealth.”
2017 - The CEO of Japanese automaker Subaru said he and all other executives would return part of their pay until the following March following an inspection scandal at the company. (Subaru later admitted it faked fuel economy and emissions data on vehicles in Japan for at least five years.)
2018 - An annual report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the number of journalists killed worldwide in retaliation for their work had nearly doubled in 2018 -- to 53.
2018 - German weekly Der Spiegel said Claas Relotius, one of its star reporters, had left the publication after committing journalistic fraud “on a grand scale” over a number of years. He resigned after admitting to inventing interviews.
2019 - Pakistan’s foreign minister said that he had written to the United Nations, warning of what he says are actions by India to position missile launchers in the Indian-controlled Kashmir.
2019 - The sixth debate by Democrats seeking to challenge POTUS Trump in the November 2020 election was held in Los Angeles. Opinion polls showed the race up for grabs, with Mayor Buttigieg of Indiana taking the lead in Iowa and former VP Joe Biden, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren fighting for the top elsewhere.
2020 - A quarter million people in Sydney’s northern beach suburbs were ordered into a strict lockdown until Christmas Eve to help contain a coronavirus cluster with authorities fearing it may spread across Australia’s most populous city.
2020 -Apple Inc said it has temporarily closed all of its 53 stores in California because of a coronavirus outbreak. Apple also closed 16 stores in the United Kingdom following restrictions introduced by the government in London.
2020 - The Army general in charge of getting COVID-19 vaccines distributed across the United States apologized after many governors said they had been shorted on anticipated shipments. General Gustave Perna said he made mistakes when citing numbers of doses that he believed would be ready for delivery.
2020 - Global coronavirus infections surpassed the 75 million mark, as several nations began vaccinating against the COVID-19 virus.
2021 - Spider-Man: No Way Home racked up some $253 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales. It was the third-biggest domestic debut in Hollywood history. The film went on to gross $1.916 billion worldwide, surpassing its predecessor, "Spider-Man: Far From Home", as the highest-grossing film released by Sony Pictures.
2021 - Thousands of people dressed as Santa Claus took part in a charity run through Madrid, Spain to raise money for people affected by a three-month volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma.
2022 - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized for his country’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, making the Netherlands one of few European countries to formally acknowledge its slaveholding past. “For centuries under Dutch state authority, human dignity was violated in the most horrific way possible,” Rutte said during a speech in The Hague. He added that slavery “is a crime against humanity.”
2022 - The House of Representatives Jan. 6 committee voted to refer criminal charges to the Justice Department for Donald Trump. This, because of his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and encourage a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol. The committee’s historic referral said there was sufficient evidence to refer Trump for four crimes: obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the government, making knowingly and willfully materially false statements to the federal government, and inciting or assisting an insurrection. The panel also named five Trump allies — former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and four of Trump’s lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani — as co-conspirators, and referred House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other Trump allies to the House Ethics Committee for refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
2022 - President Biden denounced the rise in antisemitic attacks and rhetoric in the United States, saying he was committed to “the safety of the Jewish people and the vibrancy of Jewish life.” The president made his remarks during a Hanukkah reception at the White House. “There is no place in the U.S. for hate or violence,” Biden said, adding, “Silence is complicity.” As part of the annual Hanukkah celebration, Joe and first lady Jill added the first menorah to the White House collection. The menorah was made by the White House carpentry shop, and it was the first Jewish artifact to enter the White House archives. (In previous years, the White House borrowed menorahs for special events.)
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Birthdays on This Day December 19
1790 - Sir William Edward Parry
explorer: Arctic & Northwest Passage expeditions; died Jul 8, 18551865 - Minnie Fiske (Marie Augusta Davey)
actress: first appeared on stage at age of three; died Feb 15, 19321888 - Fritz Reiner
musician, conductor: The Mysterious Mountain; died Nov 15, 19631894 - Ford Frick
Baseball Hall of Famer: Commissioner of Baseball; died April 8, 19781902 - Sir Ralph Richardson
actor: Invitation to the Wedding, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Time Bandits, Charlie Muffin, Jesus of Nazareth, The Man in the Iron Mask; died Oct 10, 19831906 - Leonid Brezhnev
Russian leader of the Communist Party; died Nov 10, 19821915 - Édith Piaf (Édith Giovanna Gassion)
French cabaret singer, actress; died Oct 10, 19631920 - ‘Little’ Jimmy Dickens
Country Music Hall of Famer: Country Boy, My Heart’s Bouquet, May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose; died Jan 2, 20151920 - David Susskind
Emmy Award-winning producer: The Ages of Man [1966], Death of a Salesman [w/Daniel Melnick, 1967], executive producer: Eleanor and Franklin-ABC Theatre [1976], Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years-ABC Theatre [1977]; Kraft Television Theatre, Good Company; TV host: Open End, The David Susskind Show; died Feb 22, 19871924 - Doug Harvey
hockey: NHL: Montreal Canadiens [Norris Trophy: 1955-58, 1960-61], NY Rangers [Norris Trophy: 1962], St. Paul Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, SL Blues; died Dec 26, 19891924 - Cicely Tyson
Emmy Award-winning actress: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman [1973-74], Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All [1993-94]; Roots, Fried Green Tomatoes, Heat Wave, Sounder; died Jan 28, 20211925 - Robert Bernard Sherman
songwriter [w/brother Richard Morton Sherman]: It’s a Small World [After All]; songs in films: Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Slipper and the Rose; died Mar 5, 20121926 - Bobby Layne
Pro Football Hall of Famer [quarterback, field goal kicker]: NFL: Chicago Bears, New York Bulldogs, Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers; career: 1,814 completions for 26,768 yds, 372 points scored, 196 touchdowns and 2,451 rushing yards; died Dec 1, 19861929 - Howard Sackler
Pulitzer Prize-winning author: The Great White Hope [1969]; Fear and Desire, Jaws 2; died Oct 12, 19821934 - Al (Albert William) Kaline
Baseball Hall of Famer: Detroit Tigers [World Series: 1968]; died Apr 6, 20201935 - Tony (Antonio Nemesio Sanchez) Taylor
baseball: Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies [all-star: 1960], Detroit Tigers; died Jul 16, 20201937 - Albert Moses
actor: East Is East, Anna Lee: Headcase, Queenie, The Little Drummer Girl, Octopussy, The Jewel in the Crown, An American Werewolf in London; died Sep 15, 20171940 - Phil Ochs
folk singer, songwriter: There But for Fortune, Doesn’t Lenny Live Here Anymore?, Here’s to the State of Richard Nixon; died Apr 9, 19761941 - Maurice White
singer, musician: drummer; founder of group: Earth, Wind & Fire: Shining Star, Sing a Song, Got to Get You into My Life, After the Love Has Gone, Best of My Love; died Feb 3, 20161942 - Bob Windsor
football: Univ. of Kentucky, New England Patriots1944 - Richard Leakey
anthropologist, author: Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human1944 - Alvin Lee
musician: group: Ten Years After: A Space in Time; died Mar 6, 20131944 - Tim Reid
actor: WKRP in Cincinnati, Frank’s Place1944 - Zal Yanovsky
musician: guitar, singer: group: The Lovin’ Spoonful: Do You Believe in Magic, You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice, Daydream, Did You ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?, Summer in the City, Rain on the Roof, Nashville Cats; died Dec 13, 20021945 - John McEuen
musician: guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, steel guitar, fiddle, 5-string banjo: group: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Sunny Side of the Mountain, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Fishin’ in the Dark, American Dream, Will the Circle Be Unbroken; producer: The Dillards: A Night in the Ozarks; solo LPs: Acoustic Traveller, Vanguard Visionaries1946 - Robert Urich
actor: Spenser: for Hire, Final Descent, Boatworks, The Lazarus Man, Danielle Steel’s A Perfect Stranger, Vegas, Magnum Force; died Apr 16, 20021947 - Larry Ely
football: Univ. of Iowa [all-star 1969], Cincinnati Bengals1947 - Janie Fricke
singer: CMA Female Vocalist of the Year [1982 and 1983]; It Ain’t Easy1949 - Claudia Kolb
U.S. Olympic Gold medal swimmer: 200-meter Individual Relay and 400-meter Individual Relay [1968]1952 - Jeff Davis
musician: bass: group: Amazing Rhythm Aces: Third Rate Romance1957 - Kevin McHale
Basketball Hall of Famer: Boston Celtics forward: sixth man award [1984, 1985]; NBA all-defensive team [1986, 1987, 1988]; played in 3 NBA championships [1981, 1984, 1986]; his number retired by the Celtics1961 - Scott Cohen
actor: Necessary Roughness, Jacob’s Ladder, The 10th Kingdom, Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, Gilmore Girls, Gia, The Other Woman1961 - Reggie White
football: Green Bay Packers DE [Pro Bowl: 1986-1993, 1995-1997]; died Dec 26, 20041962 - Josh Phillips
musician: drums: group: Procol Harum: A Whiter Shade of Pale, She Wandered Through the Garden Fence, Something Following Me, Mabel, Cerdes [Outside the Gates Of], Conquistador1963 - Jennifer Beals
actress: Four Rooms, Devil in a Blue Dress, Day of Atonement, Indecency, Vampire’s Kiss, The Bride, Cinderella, Flashdance, 2000 Malibu Road1963 - Til Schweiger
actor: Blaze, Barfuss, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Les Dalton, King Arthur, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door1964 - Béatrice Dalle
actress: Truands, L’Intrus, Vendetta, Trouble Every Day, Al limite, Clubbed to Death (Lola), Night on Earth, La Visione del Sabba, 37°2 le matin1964 - Mike Fetters
baseball [pitcher]: Pepperdine Univ; California/Anaheim Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, L.A. Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins1964 - Randall McDaniel
Pro Football Hall of Famer [offensive guard]: Arizona State Univ; NFL: Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; started in 12 consecutive Pro Bowls [1989–2000]1965 - Jessica Steen
actress: Homefront, Earth 2, Seinfeld, Trial and Error, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, ER, Touched by an Angel, Murder One, The Outer Limits, Flip Phone, Society’s Child, The Pact, Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice, On Hostile Ground, Question of Privilege1966 - Robert MacNaughton
actor: I am the Cheese, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial1966 - Eric Weinrich
hockey [defense]: NHL: New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues1967 - Criss Angel (Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos)
magician, musician, mentalist, hypnotist, escapologist, stunt performer, actor, A&E TV host: Criss Angel Mindfreak1969 - Tom Gugliotta
basketball [forward]: North Carolina State Univ; NBA: Washington Wizards, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks1969 - Scott Pearson
hockey [left wing]: Toronto Maple Leafs, Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders1969 - Kristy Swanson
actress: Dude, Where’s My Car?, Pretty in Pink, Knots Landing, Nightingales, Hot Shots!, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Marshal Law, Bad to the Bone, Early Edition1970 - Robert Lang
hockey [center]: LA Kings, Boston Bruins, Pittsbugh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings1971 - Amy Locane
actress: Airheads, Spencer, Melrose Place, End of Summer, The Heist1972 - Rosa Blasi
actress: The Bold and the Beautiful, Hot in Cleveland, Teenage Bank Heist, Make It or Break It, Eight Days a Week, Strong Medicine1972 - Alyssa Milano
actress: Fear, Deadly Sins, Conflict of Interest, Commando, Old Enough, Who’s the Boss?, Melrose Place, Charmed, My Name Is Earl, Mistresses, Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later, Insatiable1972 - Warren Sapp
Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle: University of Miami; NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders1973 - José Silva
baseball [pitcher]: Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds1974 - Jake Plummer
football [quarterback]: Arizona State Univ; NFL: Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos1979 - Nicki Hunter
actress [2003-2012]: X-rated films: There‘s Something About Milfs, Stephanie Swift Is in the Pink, Saturday Night Fever XXX: An Exquisite Films Parody, It’s the Highway or It’s the Bi-Way1979 - Kristanna Loken
actress: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, BloodRayne, Painkiller Jane, Naked Before the World, The Legend of Awesomest Maximus, Burn Notice, The L Word, Ties That Bind1980 - Jake Gyllenhaal
actor: Nightcrawler, Brothers, Jarhead, The Day After Tomorrow, Bubble Boy, October Sky, City Slickers, Rendition, Proof, Brokeback Mountain1980 - Marla Sokoloff
actress: Dude, Where’s My Car?, Home Improvement, Party of Five, 3rd Rock from the Sun, 7th Heaven, Baby-Sitters Club, True Crime, Whatever It Takes, The Practice, Desperate Housewives1982 - Mo Williams
basketball [point guard]: NBA: Utah Jazz [2003–2004] Milwaukee Bucks [2004–2008]; Cleveland Cavaliers [2008–2011]; Los Angeles Clippers [2011–2012]; Utah Jazz [2012–2013]; Portland Trail Blazers [2013–2014]; Minnesota Timberwolves [2014–2015]; Charlotte Hornets [2015]; Cleveland Cavaliers [2015–2016]: 2016 NBA champs1988 - Paulina Gretzky
singer, model, actress: In God We Trust, Fame, Pretty Wild, Guns and Girls
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Hit Music on This Day December 19
1945It Might as Well Be Spring (facts) - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Billy Williams)
White Christmas (facts) - Bing Crosby
1954
1963
1972
1981
1990
1999
2008
2017
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Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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