History of 21st December

1163 - Hurricane hits villages in Holland/Friesland, causing floods
1561 - Archbishop Granvelle installed
1582 - Flanders adopts Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is Jan 1 1583
1598 - Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile; all Spanish cities south of the Biobio river are eventually taken by the Mapuches, and all conquest of Mapuche territories by Europeans practically ceases, until the 1870s "Pacification of Araucania".
1620 - 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock [OS=Dec 11]
1650 - Johan de Witt installed as Dutch pension advisor of Dordrecht
1688 - Pro-James II-earl of Devonshire occupies Nottingham
1762 - James Cook marries Elizabeth Batts
1784 - John Jay becomes 1st US secretary of state (foreign affairs)
1788 - Hue Tay Son becomes emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam
1829 - 1st stone arch railroad bridge in US dedicated, Baltimore
1835 - HMS Beagle sails into Bay of Islands (New Zealand)
1844 - The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
1849 - 1st US skating club formed (Phila)
1864 - Gen Sherman conquers Savannah
1866 - Cheyennes, Arapho's, Sioux, Fetterman Massacre
1890 - Pim Mulier 1st & only trip to "Alvesteddetocht"
1891 - 18 students play 1st basketball game (Springfield College)
1898 - Scientists Pierre & Marie Curie discovers radium
1900 - Gerhart Hauptmann's "Michael Kramer," premieres in Berlin
1907 - Dutch govt of De Master falls due to war budget
1909 - 1st junior high school established (Berkeley Calif)
1909 - Clyde Fitch' "City," premieres in NYC
1909 - U of Coopenhagen rejects Cook's claim that he was 1st to North Pole
1910 - Explosion in coal mine in Hulton England, 344 mine workers dies
1912 - Denmark, Norway & Sweden declare neutrality in Comende war
1913 - 1st crossword puzzle (with 32 clues) printed in NY World
1914 - "Tillie's Punctured Romance," 1st six-reel feature comedy debuts
1914 - 1st feature-length silent film comedy, "Tillie's Punctured Romance" released. (Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand & Charles Chaplin)
1915 - 10.17" (25.83 cm) of rainfall, Glenora, Oregon (state record)
1918 - Red Sox trade Dutch Leonard, Ernie Shore & Duffy Lewis to Yankees for Ray Caldwell & Slim Love, Frank Gilhooey, Al Walters & $15,000
1919 - J Edgar Hoover deports anarchists/feminist Emma Goldman to Russia
1920 - Jerome Kern/BG DeSylva's musical "Sally," premieres in NYC
1921 - Supreme Court rules labor injunctions & picketing unconstitutional
1923 - Nepal changes from British protectorate to independent nation
1925 - Eisenstein's movie Potemkin premieres in Moscow
1925 - Stork Hendry scores 325 for Victoria against NZ
1926 - Soccer team DOS Struggle forms
1929 - 1st group hospital insurance plan offered (Dallas Tx)
1932 - Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, 1st joint movie (Flying Down to Rio)
1932 - Giants sign former outfielder Billy Southworth as a coach
1933 - Dried human blood serum 1st prepared, Univ of Pennsylvania
1933 - Fox signs Shirley Temple, 5, to a studio contract
1933 - Newfoundland reverts to being a crown colony
1936 - Bradman's 2nd consecutive Test Cricket duck! Australia all out 80
1937 - 1st feature-length color & sound cartoon premieres (Snow White)
1937 - O'Reilly completes 14-98 for cricket match, NSW v South Aust
1939 - Hitler named Adolf Eichmann leader of "Referat IV B"
1941 - Chicago Bears Ray McLean makes last NFL drop kick for an extra point
1941 - Chicago bears win the NFL championship
1941 - David Diamond's 1st Symphony, premieres
1941 - German submarine U-567 sinks
1941 - Last NFL drop kick for an extra point (Ray McLean, Chicago Bears)
1942 - US Supreme court declares Nevada separation legal
1944 - Cards' Marty Marion wins NL MVP
1945 - "Billion Dollar Baby" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 219 performances
1945 - Gould/Comden/Green's "Billion Dollar Baby," premieres in NYC
1946 - "If the Shoe Fits" closes at Century Theater NYC after 20 performances
1946 - Earthquake in South Japan, kills 1,086
1946 - Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," premieres
1946 - Morton Gould's "Minstrel Show," premieres in Indianapolis
1948 - O'Neil Place in the Bronx erronously renamed O'Neill Place
1948 - State of Eire (formerly Irish Free State) declares its independence
1949 - Dutch 1st Chamber accept soeveregnty of Indonesia
1950 - "Out of This World" opens at New Century Theater NYC for 157 perfs
1950 - Cole Porter's musical "Out of this World," premieres in NYC
1951 - Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement
1952 - Broadway Tunnel opens in SF
1952 - WSBT TV channel 22 in South Bend, IN (CBS) begins broadcasting
1953 - KOMU TV channel 8 in Columbia, MO (NBC/PBS) begins broadcasting
1954 - Dr Sam Sheppard's wife Marilyn is murdered (he is accused of crime)
1957 - Indonesia proclaims end to state of war
1958 - Charles De Gaulle wins 7 year term as 1st pres of 5th Rep of France
1959 - 10th largest snowfall in NYC history (13.7")
1959 - Citizens of Deerfield Ill block building of interracial housing
1959 - Shah of Persia marries Farah Diba
1959 - Tom Landry accepts coaching job with Dallas Cowboys (stays until 1988)
1961 - Beatles record "Sweet Georgia Brown" & "Ready Teddy"
1961 - JFK & British PM MacMillan meet in Bermuda
1962 - Angolin leaves Comecon
1962 - US & Cuba accord, releases bay of pigs captive
1966 - USSR launches Luna 13; soft-landed in Oceanus Procellarum
1968 - Apollo 8 (Borman, Lovell & Anders) 1st manned Moon voyage
1968 - David Crosby, Stephen Stills & Graham Nash premiere together in Calif
1969 - Diana Ross final TV appearance as a Supreme (Ed Sullivan Show)
1969 - Vince Lombardi (Redskins) coaches his last football game, losing
1970 - WUTV TV channel 29 in Buffalo, NY (IND) begins broadcasting
1971 - UN Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim as 4th secretary General
1972 - Soviet Union signs a separate peace with East Germany
1973 - Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, US & USSR meet in Geneva
1973 - The Geneva Conference on the Arab-Israeli conflict opens.
1975 - "Hello, Dolly" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 51 performances
1975 - "Very Good Eddie" opens at Booth Theater NYC for 307 performances
1975 - 1st NY Jet to gain 1,000 yards rushing (John Riggins)
1975 - 64th Davis Cup: Sweden beats Czechoslovakia in Stockholm (3-2)
1975 - Madagascar adopts constitution
1975 - Buffalo Sabres set NHL record of 40 points beating Caps 14-2 scoring 5 goals vs Washington Caps in 4:57
1976 - 20th Islander shut-out opponent-Billy Smith 3-0 vs Bruins
1976 - Patricia R Harris named secretary of HUD
1976 - UN General Assembly passes a resolution declaring 1979-Year of Child

1976 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1978 - "Broadway Musical" opens/closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC
1978 - Police in Des Plaines Ill, arrest John Wayne Gacy Jr for murder
1979 - Gary Unger plays in record 914th consecutive NHL game
1979 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1979 - Zimbabwe adopts constitution
1980 - Harold Carmichael ends NFL streak of 127 consecutive game receptions
1981 - Cincinnati beats Bradley 75-73 in 7 OTs (NCAA record)
1983 - "Tap Dance Kid" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 669 performances
1983 - Loretta Swit weds Dennis Holahan
1983 - Musical "Tap Dance Kid" with H Battle premieres in NYC
1983 - NBA Indiana Pacers end a 28 game road losing streak
1983 - NCAA rules rescinded last 2-minute men's basketball free throw rule
1984 - Islander Kelly Hrudy's 1st shut-out win-Whalers 1-0
1984 - USSR launches Vega 2 for fly-by of Halley's Come
1985 - ARCO Anchorage runs aground near Port Angeles, WA
1985 - Alice Miller/Don January wins LPGA Mazda Golf Championship
1985 - Heart's "Heart," album goes #1
1986 - 75th Davis Cup: Australia beats Sweden in Melbourne (3-2)
1986 - Amy Alcott/Bob Charles wins LPGA Mazda Golf Championship
1987 - 3 white NY teens convicted of manslaughter in death of a black man
1987 - Soyuz TM-4 launches 3 cosmonauts to space station Mir
1987 - Vladimir Titov & Musa Manarov launched
1988 - Drexel agrees guilt to security felonies, pays a $650 million fine
1988 - NY bound Pan Am jumbo jet explodes over Scotland all 258 aboard die
1988 - Vladimir Titov & Musa Manarov return to earth (a year) with Chretien
1989 - Romania's dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's final speech (executed 12/25)
1989 - VP Quayle sends out 30,000 Xmas cards with word beacon spelled beakon
1990 - Steve & Mark Waugh complete 464* partnership for NSW v WA
1991 - 95 share in Madrid Spain $1.3 billion lottery (#47996)
1991 - El Sayid Nosair acquitted of killing Meir Kahane
1991 - US actress Jane Fonda marries CNN-director Ted Turner
1991 - Soviet Union formally dissolves 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States
1992 - Dutch DC-10 in fire at landing on Faro Portugal, 56 die
1994 - Bomb goes off on #4 train on Fulton Street NYC
1995 - Martina Ertl of Germany wins her 3rd giant slalom world cup
1995 - SF Giants announce plans to build a new stadium to open in 2000
1995 - The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
1996 - Pakistan all out 67 to lose to Tasmania by an inning
1997 - Detroit Lions Barry Sanders is 3rd to run for 2,000 yards in a season
1997 - Detroit Lions linebacker Reggie Brown, knocked unconscious in game
1997 - Lexus Senior Golf Challenge
1997 - Wendy's Three-Tour Senior Golf Challenges
1997 - Wendy's Three-Tour LPGA Challenge
1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid.
2006 - Puzzle Play aired to network Ten, replacing In the Box
2007 - The Schengen Agreement area increases to include 9 European Union member states; Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia on land and sea borders.