Today in History

On this Day - 24th December
HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

1924 - Lee Dorsey = US singer, who had a 1966 US & UK No.8 single with 'Working In The Coalmine'.

1944 - Tab Martin = English bass guitarist Tab Martin. Member of the Tornados, (their 1962 instrumental ‘Telstar’, was the first British rock song to be a No.1 single in the United States), The Peddlers and also founded the Joe Meek instrumental band the Saints. Martin was known for his technique of playing his bass in an upright fashion
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1945 - Lemmy = English musician, singer, and songwriter who founded and fronted the rock band Motorhead. Lemmy played in several rock groups in the 1960s, including the Rockin' Vickers and worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and the Nice, before joining the space rock band Hawkwind in 1971, singing lead on their hit 'Silver Machine'. He died on 28 December 2015 following a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer.

1946 - Jan Akkerman = Guitarist with Dutch rock band Focus who had the 1973 UK No.4 single 'Sylvia', and the 1973 US No. 9 single 'Hocus Pocus'.

 

On this Day - 24th December

• 1832 1st US Negro hospital founded by whites chartered, Savannah, Georgia

• 

Georgia Infirmary (1832- ) • (blackpast.org)

 

On this Day - 24th December
TESTWATCH:

• 1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
• 1967 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
• 1981 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

 

1166 The birth of King John, youngest son of Henry II, who was forced by the barons to sign the Magna Carta. When he tried to revoke his authorization, civil war broke out. He was jokingly nicknamed 'Lackland' as it seemed unlikely that John would ever inherit substantial lands.


1650 Edinburgh Castle surrendered to troops commanded by Oliver Cromwell.


1814 The war of 1812 between the US and Britain was brought to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.


1828 William Burke who, with his partner William Hare, dug up the dead and murdered to sell the corpses for dissection, went on trial in Edinburgh. The other bodysnatcher, William Hare, had turned King’s evidence and was not, therefore, brought to trial.


1904 The London Coliseum opened with the first revolving stage in Britain.


1914 A German monoplane dropped a single bomb on Dover, the first ever to be dropped on British soil. It landed on a rectory garden lawn and blew out the house windows.


1922 The BBC broadcast 'The Truth About Father Christmas' by Phillis M Twigg, the first play written for radio in Britain.


1932 Colin Cowdrey, MCC President, and former England test captain, was born. His career lasted from 1950 to 1976. He was the first cricketer to play in 100 Test matches and he toured Australia a record six times, between 1954-55 and 1974-75.


1965 A meteorite weighing about 100 lb (45kg) was the largest to fall on Britain and landed in the village of Barwell, Leicestershire.


1974 Former UK minister John Stonehouse was found in Australia after apparently faking his own death.


1979 The first European Ariane rocket was launched. It had been officially agreed upon at the end of 1973 after delicate discussions between France, Germany, and Britain. The project was Western Europe's second attempt to develop its own launcher, following the unsuccessful Europa project.


1988 Three North Sea oil fields were shut down after a giant floating storage vessel, the Medora, broke free of its moorings in gale-force winds.


2013 Alan Turing, the World War Two codebreaker at Bletchley Park was granted a Royal pardon over his homosexuality conviction. The work done at Bletchley Park, particularly the codebreaking feats of Alan Turing, were credited with shortening the Second World War by several years. In August 2014 a film 'The Imitation Game' was released, based on the biography 'Alan Turing: The Enigma'.


2013 Several thousand passengers were stranded at Gatwick Airport following stormy weather. The airport said electricity sub-stations on the airfield had flooded with water from the River Mole.


2018 Christmas Eve - Because of ongoing major conservation work on Parliament's Elizabeth Tower, the bell of Rochdale Town Hall replaced the usual chimes of Big Ben on BBC Radio 4 news bulletins. The Rochdale bell was selected, in part, because it uses the same 'Westminster chime' as Big Ben.


2020 At approximately 2:45 pm and after four and a half years of legal and political wrangling, the UK and the EU reached a post-Brexit trade deal.

 

On this Day - 25th December:
"Christ mass"

• 1 = 1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus
• 337 = Earliest possible date that Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
• 352 = 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
• 1223 = St Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene (Greccio, Italy)
• 1621 = Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony (now in Massachusetts) forbids game playing on Christmas
• 1643 = Christmas Island founded and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company vessel, the Royal Mary
• 1818 = 1st known Christmas carol ("Silent Night, Holy Night" - "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht) sung (Austria)
• 1831 = Louisiana & Arkansas are first states to observe Christmas as holiday
• 1902 Pope Leo XIII, at his annual Christmas reception, endorses the Christian Democratic movement now emerging in Europe as an attempt to offer an alternative to more radical movements
• 1914 Legendary "Christmas Truce" takes place on the battlefields of WWI between British and German troops. Instead of fighting, soldiers exchange gifts and play football
• 1932 During King George V's Christmas dinner speech his chair collapses
• 1939 Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th red-nosed reindeer
• 1968 Frank Borman's Christmas reading while orbiting the Moon
• 1983 1st live telecast of Christmas Parade at the EPCOT Centre, Disney World Florida

 

On this Day - 25th December
"Crowns, Kings,and Leaders"

• 800 = Pope Leo III crowns Charles the Great (Charlemagne), Roman Emperor
• 875 = Charles the Bald crowned emperor of Rome
• 967 = John XIII crowned Otto II the Red German compassionate emperor
• 969 = Johannes I Tzimisces crowned emperor of Byzantium
• 1000 = Monarch Istvan crowned king of Hungary
• 1046 = Pope Clemens VI crowns Henry III as Holy Roman Emperor
• 1066 = William the Conqueror is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey, completing the Norman conquest of England1
• 1100 = Boudouin I of Boulogne crowned King of Jerusalem
• 1130 = Anti-pope Anacletus II crowns Roger II the Norman king of Sicily1194 Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI crowned King of Sicily in Palermo Cathedral
• 1926 = Crown Prince Hirohito of Japan assumes the throne upon his father, Emperor Yoshihito's, death
• 1976 = Takeo Fukuda becomes Japanese premier

 

On this Day - 25th December

1954 - Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby's ‘White Christmas’ entered the Billboard Pop chart for the eleventh time. Bing's rendition has sold over 100 million copies around the world, with at least 50 million sales as singles.
It was the largest selling single in music history until it was surpassed by Elton John's ‘Candle in the Wind 1997’.


1982 - David Bowie
David Bowie had a No.3 UK hit with a duet with Bing Crosby, 'Peace On Earth - Little Drummer Boy.' The single became one of Bowie's best selling in his career, with total estimated sales over 400,000 in the UK alone.
The Christmas song was written in 1941, while the 'Peace on Earth' tune and lyrics, written by Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman, and Alan Kohan, were added to the song specially for Bowie and Crosby's recording.

 

On this Day - 25th December

2016 - George Michael (1/2)



George Michael died at his home aged 53. Thames Valley Police said South Central Ambulance Service attended a property in Goring in Oxfordshire at 13:42 GMT. The singer who launched his career with Wham in the 1980s and later continued his success as a solo performer, was said to have "passed away peacefully at home". Up to the time of his death, Michael sold more than 115 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

2019 - George Michael (2/2)



George Michael's sister Melanie Panayiotou died suddenly age 59 on the third anniversary of the singer's death. George had left the bulk of his estate to her and her sister Yioda when he died aged 53 from heart and fatty liver disease.

 

On this Day - 25th December

• BORN:

1937 - O'Kelly Isley = from American group The Isley Brothers who first came to prominence in 1959 with their fourth single, 'Shout', and then the 1962 hit 'Twist and Shout.
The Isley Brothers also scored the hits 'This Old Heart Of Mine', 'Summer Breeze' and 'Harvest for the World'. Sixteen of their albums charted in the Top 40. O'Kelly Isley died on 31st March 1986.
1944 - Kenny Everett = UK radio and TV presenter, (1983 UK No.9 single 'Snot Rap'). Died 4th April 1995.
1945 - Noel Redding = bassist with The Jimi Hendrix Experience who had the 1967 UK No.3 single 'Purple Haze', and the 1970 UK No.1 single 'Voodoo Chile'. Redding was the first person to join the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and the first to leave, his final concert with them was in June 1969. Redding died on 11th May 2003 aged 57.
1948 - Barbara Mandrell = Country singer, named Country Music Association entertainer of the year in 1979, 1980 & 1981, (1977 US No.1 Country single 'Sleeping Single In A Double Bed').
1954 - Annie Lennox, Singer, with The Tourists, (1979 UK No.4 single 'I Only Want To Be With You'). Eurythmics, (1983 US No.1 single 'Sweet Dreams', 1985 UK No.1 single 'There Must Be An Angel'). Solo, (1995 UK No.2 single 'No More I Love You's'
1957 - Shane MacGowan = Singer from Irish-British Celtic punk band The Pogues who scored the 1987 UK No.8 single 'The Irish Rover' and the 1987 UK No.2 single with Kirsty MaCcoll, 'Fairytale Of New York'.
1958 - Alannah Myles = Canadian singer, 1990 US No.1 and UK No.2 single 'Black Velvet.'
1971 - Dido = Singer, songwriter, (2001 UK No.1 & US No.4 album 'No Angel', 2001 UK No.4 single 'Here With Me').

 

On this Day - 25th December

• DIED:

1954 - Johnny Ace
Johnny Ace shot himself dead backstage at the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas. The R&B singer was playing with a revolver during a break between sets, someone in the room said "Be careful with that thing’’ and he said ‘It’s OK the gun’s not loaded, see’’ and pointed it at himself with a smile on his face.

1998 - Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean, guitarist with Love, died of a heart attack aged 62 while having Christmas dinner with a young fan who was researching a book about the band. Love had the 1966 US No.33 single '7 And 7 Is', and the 1968 album Forever Changes.

2006 - James Brown
James Brown the ‘Godfather of Soul’, died at the age of 73 after being diagnosed with severe pneumonia. Brown went to his dentist in Atlanta the previous day who told him something was wrong, and sent him to a doctor immediately. His hits included ‘Papa's Got a Brand New Bag’, ‘I Got You (I Feel Good)’, and ‘Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine, Pt. 1’.
Brown was married four times, at the age of 16, was arrested for theft and served 3 years in prison. In 1988, Brown was arrested following a high-speed car chase along the Georgia-South Carolina state border.

2008 - Eartha Kitt
American actress, singer, and cabaret star Eartha Kitt died from colon cancer at her Weston, Connecticut home at the age of 81. Best known for her 1953 Christmas song ‘Santa Baby.’


2009 - Tony Bellamy
Tony Bellamy guitarist, pianist and vocalist for the Native American rock band Redbone died of liver failure. Redbone had the 1971 UK No.2 & US No.21 single 'The Witch Queen Of New Orleans' and the 1974 US No. 4 hit single, 'Come and Get Your Love.'
Redbone are accredited in the NY Smithsonian as the first Native American rock/Cajun group to have a No.1 single in the United States and internationally. Bellamy had performed with Dobie Gray, and was a member of Peter and the Wolves (a band from San Francisco that evolved into the psychedelic band Moby Grape).

 

On this Day - 25th December

1492 Christopher Columbus' flagship the Santa María


On the night of December 24-25, 1492, Christopher Columbus' flagship, the Santa María, ran aground off the northern coast of the island of Hispaniola and had to be abandoned.
It sank after hitting reefs off the Haitian coast , months after arriving from Spain.
It is believed that Columbus ordered some of the ship's timbers stripped from the wreck in order to build a fort on land near the shore
With no room for the stranded sailors, Columbus was forced to found the La Navidad (“Christmas”), first European settlement in the New World. When he returned the following year, he found that the colonists had been massacred by natives.

What Was the First European Town in the Americas?

 

On this Day - 25th December

2013 China -- Hong Kong Tunnel Found

. . .
Chinese authorities found a tunnel leading under the border into Hong Kong, equipped with lights, vents, steel reinforcements and rails.
An official state media report says Chinese smugglers built the concrete tunnel, which was big enough to transport goods from semi-autonomous Hong Kong to Shenzen City in Guangdong Province.
The report saids the underground path has "one end in a rented garage in Shenzhen and another in a thicket of reeds in Hong Kong, totally concealed."
"It was dug in a totally professional way,"
Chinese authorities find tunnel to Hong Kong

 

On this Day - 25th December

• 1971 Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) formed by Jesse Jackson

.

Alternate Name: National Rainbow Coalition, Rainbow PUSH Coalition,
Principal Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Duration: 1971 - present
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Founded in 1971 by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity)
, ,

Rainbow/PUSH - Wikipedia

 

On this Day - 26th December

1606
* First known performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" before the court of King James I at Whitehall, London
King Lear - Wikipedia
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1705
* Children of Guru Gobind Singh, are murdered / buried alice by Wazir Khan
How Young Children of Guru Gobind Singh Were Buried Alive by Mughal Governor (myindiamyglory.com)
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1862
* Largest mass execution in US history:
The Largest Mass Execution in US History | Death Penalty Information Center
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1991
* Jack Ruby's gun sells for $220,000 in auction
= The gun that Jack Ruby used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald
Bidding for the gun, with the police evidence tag still attached, started at $100,000 and quickly escalated.
The buyer was a New Jersey gun collector who asked to remain anonymous. The buyer did not attend the auction, sending a surrogate to bid for him.

 

On this Day - 26th December

1908
* African-American boxer Jack Johnson stops Canadian defending champion Tommy Burns

- He becomes the first black man to win world heavyweight title; Burns is favourite in 12th title defence but Johnson dominates before police stop the bout

Jack Johnson (boxer) - Wikipedia
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1971 Muhammad Ali K.O.'s Blin



Ali finishes off German Jürgen Blin with a thundering right cross for a 7th-round knockout in a non-title heavyweight boxing contest in Zurich, Switzerland

 

On this Day - 26th December

• 1977 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1982 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• 1983 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

 

On this Day - 26th December (BOXING DAY TSUNAMI)
-
2004




...

The 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and edges of the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami - Wikipedia

 

On this Day - 27th December
TESTWATCH

• • 1960 France performs nuclear test
  • 1968 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
  • 1974 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
  • 1981 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
  • 1987 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

 

On this Day - 27th December
x
2007 Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated by a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi

=
Pakistani Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto


Assassination of Benazir Bhutto - Wikipedia


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On this Day - 28th December
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1612 = First observation of Neptune - Galileo observes and records a "fixed star" without realising it is a planet
Discovery of Neptune - Wikipedia

1832 John C. Calhoun becomes 1st VP to resign (differences with President Jackson)
1832 Calhoun resigns vice presidency – Bowie News (bowienewsonline.com)