TODAY in December

 *mmddyyyy Birthdays

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B12021906 Peter Carl Goldmark, developed color TV & LP records.

B12031729 Antonio Soler, famed late 18th century Spanish composer.

B12051782 Martin Van Buren, 8th President (1837-1841)

B12051839 General George A. Custer

B12051901 Walter Elias Disney, father of Mickey Mouse.

B12061822 John Eberhard, built 1st large scale pencil factory in US.

B12061870 William S. Hart, star of silent Western movies

B12081861 William Durant, founded General Motors Corp.

B12081865 Jean Sibelius, major Scandinavian composer.

B12081894 James Thurber

B12091848 Joel Chandler Harris, created the Uncle Remus stories

B12091886 Clarence Birdseye, became the frozen vegatable king.

B12101830 Emily Dickinson, poet

B12101851 Melvil Dewey, created the Dewey Decimal System for libraries

B12111918 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

B12121805 Henry Wells, founded American Express Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.

B12121821 Gustave Flaubert, novelist, 'Madame Bovary'.

B12121915 Old Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra.

B12141546 Tycho Brahe, astronomer

B12151832 Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, built a tower in Paris.

B12151861 Charles Edgar Duryea, with his brother, invented 1st auto to be

B12151861Cbuilt and operated in US.

B12161770 Ludwig von Beethoven

B12161863 George Santayana, philosopher, poet, humanist.

B12161899 Sir Noel Coward, playwright

B12161917 Arthur C. Clarke, science fiction author ('2001').

B12171778 Sir Humphry Davy, discovered several chemical elements

B1217     Arthur Fiedler

B12181886 Ty Cobb

B12181890 Edwin Armstrong, radio pioneer (invented FM).

B12191849 Henry Clay Frick, industrialist; worked for Carnegie.

B12201805 Thomas Graham, the father of colloid chemistry

B12201819 John Geary, 1st Postmaster, 1st Mayor (May 1, 1850).

B12201868 Harvey Firestone

B12211911 Josh Gibson, in professional baseball, the "Negro Babe Ruth"

B12221858 Giacomo Puccini, composer

B12231790 Jean-Francois Champollion, deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics

B12241809 Kit Carson, Western scout.

B12241905 Howard Hughes, reclusive billionaire.

B12251899 Humphrey Bogart.  Here's looking at you, kid.

B12251918 Anwar Sadat

B12271571 Johannes Kepler, discovered planets travel in eliptical orbits.

B12281856 Woodrow Wilson, 28th President (1912-1921)

B12291800 Charles Goodyear, invented vulcanization process for rubber

B12291808 Andrew Johnson, 17th President (1865-1869)

B12291809 William Ewart Gladstone, British statesman

B12291876 Pablo Casals, cellist

*mmddyyyy Events

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S12011913 1st drive-up gasoline station opens, in Pittsburgh.

S12011922 1st skywriting over the US - "Hello U.S.A." - by Capt Turner, RAF

S12011951 Golden Gate Bridge closed because of high winds.

S12021816 1st savings bank in US opens as the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society

S12021823 President James Monroe declares his doctrine.

S12021942 1st controlled nuclear reaction at University of Chicago.

S12021981 Moscone Convention Center opens at 11:30 AM.

S12021982 1st permanent artificial heart successfully implanted.

S12031621 Galileo invents the telescope.

S12031866 Paid Fire Department takes over from volunteer companies.

S12031952 1st television broadcast in Hawaii.

S12031954 Joseph McCarthy goes too far in his attacks and is condemned

S12031954Cby the U.S. Senate.

S12031967 1st human heart transplant performed, in Capetown, South Africa

S12041783 Gen. Washington bids his officers farewell at Fraunce's Tavern, NYC

S12041915 Panama Pacific International Exposition opens.

S12051776 Phi Beta Kappa, 1st American scholastic fraternity, founded.

S12061876 City of Anaheim incorporated for a second time.

S12061917 Finland gains it's independence.

S1206     Independence Day, celebrated in Finland

S12071787 Delaware is the first state to ratify the Constitution.

S12071941 Pearl Harbor was attacked.

S12071972 Apollo 17, last of the Apollo moon series, launched.

S12081913 Construction starts on Palace of Fine Arts.

S12081941 San Francisco has 1st blackout, at 6:15PM.

S12091793 Noah Webster establishes New York's 1st daily newspaper.

S12091907 1st Christmas Seals sold, in the Wilmington Post Office.

S12091941 300 Montgomery opens as new Bank of America headquarters.

S12101901 1st distribution of Nobel Peace Prizes

S12101962 Hunters Point jitney ends service after 50 years.

S1210     Human Rights Day, a United Nations observance.

S12111914 Stockton Street Tunnel completed.

S12111932 Snow falls in San Francisco.

S12111975 First Class Mail now costs 13 cents (had been 10 cents).

S12121901 Marconi receives 1st trans-Atlantic radio signal from England to US.

S12121963 Kenya gains it's independence.

S1212     Independence Day, celebrated in Kenya

S1212     National Ding-a-ling Day

S12131903 Wright brothers first airplane flight at Kittyhawk.

S12131918 Wilson becomes 1st to make a foreign visit while President.

S12131968 Playland at the Beach reopens.

S12131976 Golden Gate Bridge District starts ferry service to Larkspur.

S12131978 Susan B. Anthony dollar, 1st US coin to honor a woman, issued.

S12141819 Alabama admitted to the Union.

S12141911 South Pole 1st reached by Amundsen.

S12141971 Golden Gate Bridge lights out all night from power failure.

S12151791 Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gave its approval.

S12151877 Patent granted to Mr. Edison for the phonograph.

S12151965 1st rendevous in space: Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 link up.

S12151969 SF Fire Dept. replaces leather helmets with plastic ones.

S1215     Bill of Rights Day

S12161773 Big Tea Party in Boston Harbor.  Indians welcome.

S12161905 "Variety", covering all phases of show business, 1st published.

S12161907 Great White Fleet sails from Hampton Downs on it's World Cruise

S12171791 New York City traffic regulation creates the 1st one-way street

S12171852 first Hawaiian cavalry organized.

S12171860 Anaheim Township created in Los Angeles County.

S12171903 at 10:35AM, for 12 seconds, 1st sustained motorized aircraft

S12171903Cflight by Wright Brothers.

S12171933 1st professional football game: Chicago Bears vs. NY Giants.

S12171944 M-OceanView streetcar resumes service & is extended to Market St.

S12181974 San Francisco Visitors Center at City Hall opens.

S12191732 Benjamin Frankin begins publication of "Poor Richard's Almanack"

S12191777 Washington settles his troops at Valley Forge for the winter.

S12191859 Grading started for Market Street Railroad.

S12191889 Bishop Museum founded in Hawaii.

S12191962 Street signs in Golden Gate Park approved by Park Commission.

S1219     Underdog Day

S12201803 Louisiana Purchase officially transferred.

S12201850 Hawaiian post office established.

S12201929 Mt. Davidson dedicated as city park.

S12211620 the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock

S12211913 1st crossword puzzle (with 32 clues), printed in New York World

S12211937 1st feature-length cartoon with color and sound premieres...

S12211937C"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

S12211952 Broadway Tunnel opens.

S1221     the Winter Solstice (at 2:21 PM PDT), shortest day of the year.

S12221850 Hawaiian Post Office established.

S12231947 transistor invented by Bardeen, Brattain & Shockley in Bell Labs

S12241814 Treaty of Ghent signed, ending War of 1812 (this news did not

S12241814Carrive until after the Battle of New Orleans).

S12241906 1st known radio program in US is broadcast.

S12241910 Luisa Tetrazzini sings to 250,000 people at Lotta's Fountain.

S1224     Christmas Eve

S12251776 Washington crosses the Delaware and surprises the Hessians.

S1225     Christmas Day. Peace on Earth, good will towards men.

S1225     Constitution Day, celebrated in Republic of China (Taiwan).

S12261865 James Mason invents the 1st American coffee percolator.

S12261925 1st East-West football game at Ewing Park before 25,000 fans.

S1226    EBoxing Day, celebrated in Canada, United Kingdom (except Scotland)

S12271831 Darwin begins his voyage onboard the HMS Beagle.

S12271850 Hawaiian Fire Department established.

S12271903 "Sweet Adaline", a barbershop quartet favorite, is 1st sung.

S12271932 Radio City Music Hall in New York City opens.

S1227    2Boxing Day, celebrated in Canada, United Kingdom (except Scotland)

S12281669 a patent for chewing gum is granted to William Semple.

S12281902 Trans-Pacific cable links Hawaii to US.

S12281912 San Francisco Municipal Railway starts operation at Geary St.

S12281912C(MUNI was the 1st municpally-owned transit system)

S12281915 City Hall dedicated by Mayor James Rolph.

S1228    3Boxing Day, celebrated in Canada, United Kingdom (except Scotland)

S12291864 Fire Dept celebrates 1st annual ball.

S12291911 San Francisco Symphony formed.

S12291937 Pan Am starts San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand service.

S12301817 first coffee planted in Hawaii.

S12301853 Gadsden Purchase signed.

S12311879 Cornerstone laid for Iolani Palace (only royal palace in US).

S12311879 Edison gives public demonstration of his incandescent lamp.

S12311921 Last San Francisco firehorses retired.