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What happened this coming weekend Dec.16th and 17th?

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December 16th

Events
1392 - Historku-cho - Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.
1431 - Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.
1598 - Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point - The final battle of the Seven Year War is fought between the Korean and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive Korean victory.
1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1689 - Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.
1761 - Seven Years' War: After four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg.
1773 - American Revolution: Boston Tea Party - Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
1811 - The first two in a series of severe earthquakes occurs, in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri.
1838 - Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius combat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
1850 - History of New Zealand: The Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton.
1864 - American Civil War: Franklin-Nashville Campaign - Battle of Nashville - Major General George H. Thomas's Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee.
1893 - Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From The New World" was given its world premiere at Carnegie Hall.
1899 - Brooklyn Children's Museum opens.
1910 - During a ground test of his Coandă-1910 plane, Henri Coandă, caught unaware by the power of the engine, finds himself briefly airborne and loses control of the machine which crashes to the ground.
1922 - President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw.
1925 - A regular broadcasting service was instituted in Ceylon.
1937 - Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from Alcatraz island. Both men entered the bay on December 16th, neither was ever seen again.
1941 - World War II: Japanese occupy Miri, Sarawak
1942 - Holocaust: Porajmos - Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination should be deported to Auschwitz.
1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - General Dwight D. Eisenhower's allied forces and Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt's German army engage in the Belgian Ardennes.
1946 - Léon Blum becomes Prime Minister of France.
1957 - Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1960 - 1960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York's Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding snowstorm over Staten Island, killing 134.
1971 - Liberation War of Bangladesh & Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army simultaneously brings an end to both conflicts.
1985 - Mafia: In New York City, Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the Gambino family.
1986 - revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist party, known as Zheltoksan, which became the first signs of ethnic strife during Gorbachev's tenure
1989 - Protest breaks out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor, László Tőkés.
1991 - United Nations General Assembly: UN General Assembly Resolution 4686 revokes UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 after Israel makes revocation of resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.
1997 - Typhoon Paka makes landfall on the island of Guam with 150 mph winds.
1997 - The Pokémon episode Electric Soldier Porygon triggers attacks of photosensitive epilepsy in hundreds of Japanese children.
1998 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox - The United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq.
2005 - The last scheduled edition of US radio program The Howard Stern Show is broadcast on terrestrial radio.

Births
1485 - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (d. 1536)
1584 - John Selden, English jurist and oriental scholar (d. 1654)
1614 - Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1674)
1714 - George Whitefield, British-born Methodist leader (d. 1770)
1716 - Louis-Jules Mancini-Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais, French diplomat and writer (d. 1798)
1717 - Elizabeth Carter, British writer (d. 1806)
1742 - Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal (d. 1819)
1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (d. 1827)
1775 - Jane Austen, British writer (d. 1817)
1775 - François-Adrien Boïeldieu, French composer (d. 1834)
1776 - Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German physicist (d. 1810)
1790 - King Léopold I of Belgium (d. 1865)
1804 - Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (d. 1889)
1834 - Léon Walras, French economist (d. 1910)
1861 - Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (d. 1917)
1863 - George Santayana, Spanish philosopher and writer (d. 1952)
1865 - Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (d. 1918)
1866 (N.S.) - Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French abstract painter (d. 1944)
1867 - Amy Carmichael - missionary in Dohnavur, India (d. 1951)
1869 - Hristo Tatarchev - Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1952)
1872 - Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (d. 1947)
1882 - Sir Jack Hobbs, English test cricketer (d. 1963)
1882 - Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (d. 1967)
1882 - Walther Meissner, German physicist (d. 1974)
1883 - Max Linder, French pioneer of silent film (d. 1925)
1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
1888 - Alphonse Juin, marshall of France (d. 1967)
1899 - Sir Noel Coward, British playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973)
1900 - V. S. Pritchett, British author and critic (d. 1997)
1901 - Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978)
1905 - Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (d. 1996)
1906 - Barbara Kent, Canadian Actress
1917 - Sir Arthur C. Clarke, British writer
1926 - James McCracken, American tenor (d. 1988)
1927 - Randall Garrett, American writer
1928 - Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982)
1929 - Nicholas Courtney, British actor
1932 - Rodion Shchedrin, Soviet-born Russian composer
1934 - Elgin Baylor, American basketball player
1938 - Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress
1941 - Lesley Stahl, American journalist
1943 - Steven Bochco, American television producer and writer
1943 - Tony Hicks, British guitarist (The Hollies)
1945 - Yukio Hattori, Japanese Iron Chef commentator
1946 - Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (ABBA)
1946 - Trevor Pinnock, British conductor and harpsichordist
1947 - Vincent Matthews, American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist
1947 - Ben Cross, British actor
1949 - Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (ZZ Top)
1950 - Roy Schuiten, Dutch cyclist (d. 2006)
1951 - Robben Ford, American guitarist
1952 - Joel Garner, West Indian test cricketer
1955 - Xander Berkeley, American actor
1961 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994)
1962 - William Perry, American football player
1963 - Benjamin Bratt, American actor
1964 - Heike Drechsler, East German-born sprinter
1964 - Billy Ripken, former American baseball player
1965 - Nancy Valen, American actress
1966 - Denis Wise, English soccer player
1967 - Donovan Bailey, Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter
1967 - Miranda Otto, Australian actress
1971 - Paul van Dyk (real name Matthias Paul), German trance DJ and producer
1971 - Michael McCary, American singer (Boyz II Men)
1972 - Željko Kalac, Australian footballer
1973 - Scott Storch- Canadian / American hip-hop producer
1975 - Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian musician (Billy Talent)
1977 - Sylvain Distin, French footballer
1977 - Éric Bélanger, National Hockey League player
1978 - Gunter Van Handenhoven, Belgian footballer
1979 - Mihai Trăistariu, Romanian singer
1979 - Jessie Ward, American former professional wrestler
1981 - Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer
1981 - Gareth Williams, Scottish footballer
1981 - Took Leng How, Malaysian convicted of murder
1983 - Kelenna Azubuike, Basketball player
1985 - Keita Tachibana, Japanese singer
1987 - Hallee Hirsh, American actress
1988 - Anna Popplewell, English actress
1989 - Chen Yaoye, professional Go player

Deaths
705 - Empress Wu of Zhou (China; b. 625)
714 - Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
999 - Saint Adelaide of Italy (b. 931)
1325 - Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (b. 1270)
1379 - John Fitzalan, Marshal of England
1470 - John II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1425)
1515 - Afonso de Albuquerque Portuguese naval general (b. 1453)
1598 - Yi Sun-sin, Korean admiral (b. 1545)
1669 - Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician
1687 - William Petty, English scientist and philosopher (b. 1623)
1751 - Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (b. 1700)
1765 - Peter Frederick Haldimand, Swiss military officer and surveyor
1774 - François Quesnay, French economist (b. 1694)
1783 - Johann A. Hasse, German composer (b. 1699)
1783 - Sir William James British naval commander (b. 1720)
1809 - Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist (b. 1755)
1859 - Wilhelm Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1786)
1898 - Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (b. 1832)
1914 - Ivan Zajc, Croatian composer (b. 1832)
1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
1921 - Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (b. 1835)
1922 - Gabriel Narutowicz, first President of Poland (b. 1865)
1928 - Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b. 1885)
1945 - Giovanni Agnelli, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1866)
1945 - Fumimaro Konoye, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1891)
1949 - Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (b. 1873)
1956 - Nina Hamnett, British artist (b. 1890)
1965 - W. Somerset Maugham, British writer (b. 1874)
1976 - Réal Caouette, French Canadian politician (Social Credit Party of Canada) (b. 1917)
1977 - Risto Jarva, Finnish filmmaker (b. 1934)
1980 - Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)
1980 - Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b. 1900)
1982 - Colin Chapman, British engineer and automobile manufacturer, founder of Lotus Cars (b. 1928)
1984 - Debs Garms, baseball player (b. 1907)
1985 - Paul Castellano, American mafioso (b. 1915)
1985 - Thomas Bilotti, American mafioso (b. 1940)
1988 - Sylvester James, American R&B singer, disco performer (b. 1948)
1989 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925)
1989 - Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895)
1989 - Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (b. 1930)
1990 - Douglas Campbell, American pilot (b. 1896)
1993 - Moses Gunn, American actor (b. 1929)
1993 - Tanaka Kakuei, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918)
1995 - Mariele Ventre, Italian choir director (b. 1939)
1996 - Quentin Bell, British art historian (b. 1910)
1997 - Nicolette Larson, American singer (b. 1952)
2001 - Stuart Adamson, British musician (b. 1958)
2003 - Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1914)
2003 - Gary Stewart, American musician, singer and songwriter (b. 1945)
2004 - Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b. 1933)
2005 - Kenneth Bulmer, British author (b.1921)
2005 - John Spencer, American actor (b. 1946)

Holidays and observances
R.C. Saints - O Sapientia ; Adelaide of Italy
Bahrain - National Day
Bangladesh - Victory Day
Kazakhstan - Independence Day
Nepal - Constitution Day (To be confirmed)
South Africa - Day of Reconciliation
Mexico - First day of Las Posadas
Philippines - First day of Misa de Gallo

External links
BBC: On This Day
The New York Times: On This Day
On This Day in Canada



December 17th

Events
283 - St Gaius becomes Pope.
384 - St Siricius becomes Pope.
546 - Gothic War (535–552): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome bribing the Byzantine garrison.
1586 - Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.
1637 - Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu.
1843 - Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is first published.
1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
1903 - The Wright Brothers make the first powered heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1919 - Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1935 - First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.
1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate - The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - Malmedy massacre - American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper.
1961 - History of Goa: Operation Vijay - India seizes Goa from Portugal.
1967 - Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria.
1969 - Project Blue Book: The USAF closes its study of UFOs, stating that sightings were generated as a result of 'A mild form of mass hysteria, Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or seek publicity, Psychopathological persons, and Misidentification of various conventional objects'.
1970 - Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing hundreds.
1978 - The Workers Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe.
1981 - Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigade in Verona, Italy.
1983 - The IRA bomb Harrods Department Store in London, killing seven people. (See Harrods bombing)
1989 - The first episode of The Simpsons airs on FOX.
1989 - Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timişoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
2002 - Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and prrresidential elections within two years.
2003 - SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes the first privately-funded manned supersonic flight.
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is released worldwide.
2005 - Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong
2006 - The Metalocalypse begins

Births
1239 - Kujo Yoritsugu, Japanese Shogun (d. 1256)
1267 - Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (d. 1324)
1619 - Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Royalist commander in the English Civil War (d. 1682)
1632 - Anthony Wood, English antiqurian (d. 1695)
1685 - Thomas Tickell, English writer (d. 1740)
1706 - Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749)
1734 - Maria I of Portugal, Portuguese queen (d. 1816)
1749 - Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (d. 1801)
1770 - (Baptism) - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (d. 1827)
1778 - Sir Humphry Davy, British chemist and physicist (d. 1829)
1796 - Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865)
1799 - Titian Peale, American artist (d. 1885)
1807 - John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and abolitionist (d. 1892)
1830 - Jules de Goncourt, French publisher (d. 1870)
1847 - Émile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916)
1853 - Émile Roux, French physician (d. 1933)
1859 - Paul César Helleu, French artist (d. 1927)
1873 - Ford Madox Ford, British writer (d. 1939)
1874 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, tenth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950)
1883 - Raimu, French actor (d. 1946)
1887 - Josef Lada, Czech painter (d. 1957)
1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
1892 - Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
1893 - Erwin Piscator, German film director (d. 1966)
1894 - Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)
1900 - Mary Cartwright, English mathematician (d. 1998)
1903 - Erskine Caldwell, American author (d. 1987)
1903 - Ray Noble, British bandleader, composer, arranger and actor (d. 1978)
1905 - Simo Häyhä, Finnish sniper (d. 2002)
1906 - Fernando Lopes-Graça, Portuguese composer and musicologist (d. 1994)
1908 - Willard Frank Libby, American chemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
1910 - Sy Oliver, American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer and bandleader (d. 1988)
1915 - André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)
1916 - Penelope Fitzgerald, British writer (d. 2000)
1920 - Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist
1922 - Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (d. 2005)
1923 - Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian
1926 - Ray Jablonski, baseball player (d. 1985)
1927 - Richard Long, American actor (d. 1974)
1929 - Jacqueline Hill, British actress (d. 1993)
1929 - William Safire, American columnist
1930 - Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher
1930 - Bob Mathias, American decathlete and congressman
1930 - Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
1934 - Ray Wilson, English footballer
1936 - Tommy Steele, British singer and actor
1937 - Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005)
1938 - Peter Snell, New Zealander runner
1938 - Carlo Little, UK influential rock and roll drummer (d. 2005)
1939 - Eddie Kendricks, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1992)
1940 - Kåre Valebrokk, Norwegian journalist
1942 - Paul Butterfield, American harmonica player (d. 1987)
1943 - Ron Geesin, British musician and composer
1944 - Jack L. Chalker, American novelist
1944 - Bernard Hill, British actor
1945 - Ernie Hudson, American actor
1945 - Jacqueline Wilson, British author
1946 - Eugene Levy, Canadian actor
1949 - Paul Rodgers, British singer (Free & Bad Company)
1950 - Laurence F. Johnson, American futurist and educator
1951 - Ken Hitchcock, Canadian ice hockey coach
1951 - Tatyana Kazankina, Soviet athlete
1953 - Bill Pullman, American actor
1955 - Brad Davis, American basketball player
1958 - Mike Mills, American bassist (R.E.M.)
1960 - Moreno Argentin, Italian cyclist
1962 - Rocco Mediate, American golfer
1962 - Paul Dobson, English footballer
1964 - Frank Musil, Czech ice hockey player and scout
1966 - Tracy Byrd Country musician
1966 - Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
1966 - Valeri Liukin, Former Soviet Union Gymnast
1967 - Vincent Damphousse, Canadian ice hockey player
1968 - Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver
1969 - Chuck Lidell, UFC Fighter
1970 - Joshua Seth, American voice actor
1971 - Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
1971 - Alan Khan, South African radio disc jockey
1972 - John Abraham, Indian actor and model
1973 - Paula Radcliffe, British runner
1974 - Giovanni Ribisi, American actor
1975 - Nick Dinsmore, American professional wrestler
1975 - Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress and model
1976 - Zsanett Égerházi, Hungarian-born porn actress and nude model
1976 - Patrick Müller, Swiss footballer
1976 - Takeo Spikes, NFL Pro Bowl linebacker
1976 - Éric Bédard, Quebec speed skater
1978 - Riteish Deshmukh, Indian Actor
1978 - Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer
1978 - Chase Utley, former baseball player
1982 - Craig Kielburger, child labour activist
1982 - Dan Richmond, All round nice guy

Deaths
942 - William Longsword
1187 - Pope Gregory VIII
1195 - Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (b. 1150)
1663 - Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (b. 1583)
1721 - Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1640)
1830 - Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan-born libertator, six nations (b. 1783)
1833 - Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
1897 - Alphonse Daudet, French writer (b. 1840)
1907 - William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist (b. 1824)
1909 - Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
1917 - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, British physician (b. 1836)
1917 - Frank Gotch, wrestler (b. 1878)
1933 - Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (b. 1876)
1940 - Alicia Boole Stott, Irish mathematician (b. 1860)
1962 - Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)
1987 - Linda Wong, Adult film actress (b. 1951)
1957 - Dorothy L. Sayers, British writer (b. 1893)
1964 - Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
1967 - Harold Holt, Australian Prime Minister (b. 1908)
1978 - Ron Ellis, American jazz trumpeter, composer and big band leader (b. 1934)
1982 - Homer S. Ferguson, United States Senator (b. 1889)
1987 - Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)
1992 - Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
1998 - Claudia Benton, Peruvian child psychologist (b. 1959)
1999 - Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (b. 1943)
1999 - Rex Allen, American actor, singer and songwriter (b. 1920)
2002 - James Hazeldine, British actor, well kown for his role on series London's Burning (b. 1947)
2003 - Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
2003 - Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)
2005 - Jack Anderson, American journalist (b. 1922)
2005 - Marc Favreau, Quebec humorist and actor (Sol) b. 1929)

Holidays and observances
Roman festivals – Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, began.
R.C. Saints – O Sapientia ; Saint Lazarus
Greek Orthodox Church-Saint Barbaras day – Feast of Daniel the Prophet
Bhutan – National Day (1907)
USA – Wright Brothers Day (by Presidential Proclamation)

External links
BBC: On This Day
The New York Times: On This Day
On This Day in Canada