December 22: 356th day of the year

Genial.Soul · Fun Addict Joined: 17 Mar 2007 Posts: 641 Gender:

December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 9 days remaining until the end of the year.

This is the most common day for winter solstice to occur in the northern hemisphere and summer solstice to occur in the southern hemisphere, heralding various cultural observances.

Events

1603 - Mehmed III Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Ahmed I.
1790 - The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies.
1807 - The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.
1808 - In a mammoth concert at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven premieres his Fifth Symphony as well as his Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy.
1809 - The Non-Intercourse Act, lifting the Embargo Act except for the United Kingdom and France, passes the U.S. Congress.
1849 - The execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky is called off at the last second.
1851 - The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.
1864 - Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman, concluding his "March to the Sea".
1885 - Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.
1894 - The Dreyfus affair begins, in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason, on antisemitic grounds.
1920 - The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.
1937 - The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
1940 - World War II: Himarë is captured by the Greek army.
1942 - World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge--German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"
1944 - World War II: Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China, now Vietnam.
1947 - The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves its constitution.
1956 - Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity.
1963 - Cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles north of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.
1964 - Comedian Lenny Bruce is convicted of obscenity.
1964 - First flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird).
1965 - In the United Kingdom, a 70mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.
1974 - Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.
1974 - Ted Heath's house is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
1978 - The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.
1984 - Subway vigilante Bernhard Hugo Goetz shoots four African-American men on an express train in The Bronx borough of New York City.
1988 - Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, is assassinated.
1989 - After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist dictatorship.
1989 - Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
1989 - Kempsey bus crash: Two tourist coaches collide on the Pacific Highway north of Kempsey, New South Wales
1990 - Paul Coffey of the Pittsburgh Penguins becomes the National Hockey League's first defenseman to score 1,000 points. He would finish his career with 1,531 points.
1997 - Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard finds near Calatayud (Zaragoza) another van loaded by ETA with 750 kg of explosives (see related event on December 21, 1999).
2001 - Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
2001 - Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
2003 - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits near San Simeon, California; see San Simeon earthquake.

Births

1095 - Roger II of Sicily, King of Sicily (d. 1154)
1178 - Emperor Antoku of Japan (d. 1185)
1546 - Kuroda Yoshitaka, Japanese Daimyo (d. 1604)
1550 - Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher (d. 1631)
1639 - Jean Racine, French dramatist (d. 1699)
1666 - Guru Gobind Singh, Sikh guru (d. 1708)
1690 - Meidingnu Pamheiba, King of Manipur (d. 1751)
1694 - Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and writer (d. 1768)
1696 - James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (d. 1785)
1723 - Karl Friedrich Abel, German composer (d. 1787)
1765 - Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician (d. 1825)
1805 - John Obadiah Westwood, British entomologist (d. 1893)
1807 - Johann Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet (d. 1873)
1819 - Franz Wilhelm Abt, German composer (d. 1870)
1819 - Pierre Ossian Bonnet, French mathematician (d. 1892)
1853 - Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan pianist (d. 1917)
1853 - Yevgraf Fyodorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1919)
1856 - Frank B. Kellogg, U.S. Secretary of State, Nobel laureate (d. 1937)
1858 - Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (d. 1924)
1860 - Austin Norman Palmer, American penmanship innovator (d. 1927)
1862 - Connie Mack, American baseball executive (d. 1956)
1869 - Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet (d. 1935)
1869 - Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1931)
1872 - Camille Guérin, French veterinarian and bacteriologist (d. 1961)
1874 - Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (d. 1939)
1876 - Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian poet and editor (d. 1944)
1883 - Edgard Varèse French-born composer (d. 1965)
1887 - Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (d. 1920)
1888 - J. Arthur Rank, British film producer (d. 1972)
1898 - Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock, Russian physicist (d. 1974)
1899 - Gustav Gründgens, German actor (d. 1963)
1900 - Marc Allégret, French film director and screenwriter (d. 1973)
1901 - André Kostelanetz, American popular music orchestra leader and arranger (d. 1980)
1903 - Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1983)
1905 - Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (d. 1982)
1905 - Pierre Brasseur, French actor (d. 1972)
1907 - Dame Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (d. 1991)
1909 - Patricia Hayes, English actress (d. 1998)
1912 - Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States (d. 2007)
1915 - Barbara Billingsley, American actress
1917 - Gene Rayburn, American game show host (d. 1999)
1921 - Hawkshaw Hawkins, American country singer (d. 1963)
1922 - Jack Brooks, American politician
1922 - Ruth Roman, American actress (d. 1999)
1924 - Frank Corsaro, American stage director
1925 - Lewis Glucksman, American financier (d. 2006)
1934 - David Pearson, American racecar driver
1936 - James Burke, British writer
1936 - Hector Elizondo, American actor
1936 - Wojciech Frykowski, Polish actor (d. 1969)
1937 - Eduard Uspensky, Russian writer
1938 - Matty Alou, Dominican baseball player
1938 - Lucien Bouchard, Quebec politician
1939 - James Gurley, American musician
1942 - Dick Parry, English musician (Pink Floyd)
1943 - Paul Wolfowitz, American politician
1944 - Steve Carlton, American baseball player
1945 - Diane Sawyer, American journalist
1946 - Rick Nielsen, American musician (Cheap Trick)
1948 - Noel Edmonds, English game show host
1948 - Steve Garvey, American baseball player
1948 - Lynne Thigpen, American actress (d. 2003)
1949 - Maurice Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees) (d. 2003)
1949 - Robin Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees)
1951 - Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster
1953 - BernNadette Stanis, actress
1953 - Ian Turnbull, Canadian ice hockey player
1954 - Hideshi Matsuda, Japanese racing driver
1955 - Lonnie Smith, American baseball player
1957 - Carole James, Canadian politician
1958 - Frank Gambale, Australian musician
1958 - Mikael Nordfors, Swedish physician and author
1959 - Bernd Schuster, German footballer
1960 - Wakin Chau, Chinese singer
1960 - Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (d. 1988)
1960 - Luther Campbell (Luke), American rap artist (2 Live Crew)
1960 - Patrick Fitzgerald, American attorney
1961 - Andrew Fastow, American businessman
1962 - Ralph Fiennes, English actor
1963 - Giuseppe Bergomi, Italian footballer
1966 - Dmitry Bilozerchev, Soviet gymnast
1967 - Dan Petrescu, Romanian footballer
1967 - Richey James Edwards, Welsh musician (Manic Street Preachers) (disappeared in 1995)
1967 - Stéphane Gendron, Quebec politician
1967 - Paul Morris, Australian racing driver
1968 - Dina Meyer, American actress
1968 - Lauralee Bell, American actress
1969 - Myriam Bédard, Canadian athlete
1972 - Big Tigger, television host
1972 - Vanessa Paradis, French singer
1974 - Heather Donahue, American actress
1975 - Crissy Moran, American erotic actress
1975 - Dmitri Khokhlov, Russian footballer
1975 - Stanislav Neckář, Czech ice hockey player
1976 - Brian A. Alexander, American screenwriter and director
1977 - Steve Kariya, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 - Lee Eun-ju, South Korean actress (d. 2005)
1980 - Chris Carmack, American actor
1983 - Jennifer Hawkins, Australian Miss Universe
1984 - Jonas Altberg, Swedish musician (Basshunter)
1989 - Jordin Sparks, American singer and American Idol winner
1990 - Jean-Baptiste Maunier, French actor

Deaths

1100 - Duke Bretislaus II of Bohemia
1550 - Richard Plantagenet (Richard of Eastwell) possibly a son of Richard III
1603 - Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (b. 1566)
1646 - Peter Mogila, Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia (b. 1596)
1660 - André Tacquet, Flemish mathematician (b. 1612)
1681 - Richard Alleine, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1611)
1708 - Hedwig Sophia, duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish writer (b. 1681)
1738 - Constantia Jones, British prostitute (executed)
1767 - John Newbery, English publisher (b. 1713)
1788 - Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (b. 1714)
1806 - William Vernon, American merchant (b. 1719)
1867 - Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mathematician (b. 1788)
1870 - Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet and writer (b. 1836)
1828 - William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (b. 1766)
1880 - George Eliot, English writer (b. 1819)
1899 - Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (b. 1837)
1902 - Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German psychiatrist (b. 1840)
1917 - Mother Cabrini, first American citizen canonized by the Catholic Church (b. 1850)
1939 - Ma Rainey, American singer (b. 1886)
1940 - Nathanael West, American writer (b. 1903)
1942 - Franz Boas, German anthropologist (b. 1858)
1943 - Beatrix Potter, English writer (b. 1866)
1944 - Harry Langdon, American silent film actor (b. 1884)
1947 - Hans Aumeier, German Nazi official and concentration camp commandant (b. 1906)
1947 - Therese Brandl, Nazi concentration camp guard (b. 1902)
1959 - Gilda Gray, Polish-born American dancer and actress (b. 1901)
1965 - Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and broadcaster (b. 1913)
1971 - Godfried Bomans, Dutch author and television personality (b. 1913)
1979 - Darryl F. Zanuck, American producer (b. 1902)
1985 - D. Boon, American singer and guitarist (The Minutemen) (b. 1958)
1988 - Chico Mendes, Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist, and environmental activist (assassinated) (b. 1944)
1989 - Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
1992 - Frederick Franz, Watchtower president (b. 1893)
1993 - Don DeFore, American actor (b. 1913)
1995 - Butterfly McQueen, American actress (b. 1911)
1995 - James Meade, English economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1907)
1998 - Michelle Thomas, American actress (b. 1969)
2002 - Desmond Hoyte, President of Guyana (b. 1929)
2002 - Joe Strummer, English musician (The Clash) (b. 1952)
2003 - Dave Dudley, American singer (b. 1928)
2004 - Doug Ault, American baseball player (b. 1950)
2006 - Galina Ustvolskaya, Russian composer (b. 1919)
2006 - Dennis Linde, American songwriter (b. 1943)

Holidays and observances

In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice, sometimes known as Yule, occurs on or very close to this date. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around this time.
Astrology: First day of sun sign Capricorn
R.C. Saints - commemoration of Frances Xavier Cabrini, O Rex, Anastasia of Sirmium
Japan - Tōji (winter solstice)
Chinese Culture- Winter Solstice where is commonly met with the eating of glutinousflour balls(Tang Yuen). Marks the middle or "Extreme" of winter. TangYuen was introduced in China as an item of propaganda back in theDynasties.
Indonesia Mother Day, as an achievement for Dewi Sartika.
Yalda Night Longest Day Of Year, From Ancient Persia.