December 22
It’s National Date Nut Bread Day
ON THIS DAY…
1783 Washington resigns his military commission as US Army’s Commander-in-Chief
1808 Ludwig van Beethoven premieres his Fifth Symphony as well as his Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy
1849 Fyodor Dostoyevsky faces a firing squad for subversive activities. At the last moment, he is issued a pardon.
1882 The first string of Christmas tree lights are created by Thomas Edison
1937 The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in NYC
1948 KPIX TV channel 5 in San Francisco begins broadcasting
1964 Comedian Lenny Bruce is convicted of obscenity
BORN:
1744 Abigail Adams, the second First Lady (1797-1801)
1819 George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), author (Middlemarch, Adam Bede)
1888 J. Arthur Rank, British film producer
1899 Hoagy Carmichael, pianist/composer/Flintstones guest-star
1912 Claudia A “Lady Bird” Taylor Johnson, First Lady (1963-1969)
1917 Gene Rayburn, TV game show host (Match Game)
1922 Barbara Billingsley, actress (Leave it to Beaver, Airplane!)
1936 James Burke, author/science historian/TV producer (Connections, The Day the Universe Changed)
1947 Brian C Daley, author (Han Solo at Stars’ End, Jinx on a Terran Inheritance)
1948 Noel Edmonds, TV presenter (Deal or No Deal, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop)
1948 Lynne Thigpen, actress (Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiago?, Godspell)
1951 Charles de Lint, author (Promises to Keep, Yarrow )
1956 Colo, first gorilla bred in captivity
1962 Ralph Fiennes, actor (Harry Potter, Oscar and Lucinda)
DIED:
1440 Giles de Laval, “Bluebeard,” is strangled to death for the death of numerous children (the remains of 126 victims were found)
1767 John Newbery, English publisher, dies at 54
1880 George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), author (Middlemarch, Adam Bede), dies on 61st birthday
1943 Beatrix Potter, author/illustrator/botanist/conservationist (The Tale of Peter Rabbit), dies at 77
1944 Harry Langdon, actor/director/cartoonist (The Strong Man, Zenobia), dies at 60
1969 Josef von Sternberg, director (The Devil is a Woman, Blonde Venus), dies at 75
1979 Darryl F. Zanuck, film producer (20th Century Fox), dies at 77
1989 Samuel Beckett, author/dramatist/poet/Nobel Laureate (Waiting for Godot, Molloy), dies at 83
1995 Butterfly McQueen, actress (Gone With the Wind), dies at 84
2002 Joe Strummer, musician (The Clash, The Mescaleros), dies at 50