Events on Dec 14

• 0644Osman ibn Affan appointed 3rd kalief of islam
• 0867Adrian II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
• 0872John VIII elected as Catholic Pope
• 1124Theobald Buccapecus elected Pope Coelestinus II (he refuses)
• 1287Zuider Zee seawall collapses with loss of 50,000 lives
• 1490Anna van Bretagne marries a proxy Maximilian of Austria
• 1582Zealand / Brabant Neth adopt Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is 12 / 25
• 1656Artificial pearls 1st manufactured by M Jacquin in Paris made of gypsum pellets covered with fish scales
• 1774Mass militiamen successfully attacked arsenal of Ft William and Mary
• 1782Charleston, SC evacuated by British
• 17931st state road authorized, Frankfort, Ky to Cincinnati
• 1798David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patents a nut and bolt machine
• 1819Alabama admitted to Union as 22nd state
• 1825Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins
• 18491st chamber music group in US gives their 1st concert (Boston)
• 1882Henry Morton Stanley returns to Brussels from the Congo
• 1889American Academy of Political and Social Science organized, Philadelphia
• 19011st table tennis tournament is held (London Royal Aquarium)
• 1911South Pole 1st reached, by Norwegian Roald Amundsen
• 1913Greece formally takes possession of Crete
• 1915Jack Johnson is 1st black world heavyweight boxing champion
• 1917UFA, Universal Film AG, forms in Germany
• 1920Heavyweight Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in New York City
• 1920Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
• 1924Chiang Kai-shek occupies Hankou
• 1926Danish Madsen Government forms
• 1927Iraq gains independence from Britain, but British troops remain
• 1929Alexander Zaimis elected President of Greece
• 1930New York Giants defeat Notre Dame 22-0 in a charity game
• 19311st assembly of Anton Musserts NSB in Utrecht

Born on Dec 14

• 1363John Van [Jean C] Gerson: French theologist
• 1546Tycho Brahe: Knudstrup, Denmark -- Astronomer (Golden nose)
• 1730Capel Bond: Composer
• 1738Johann Antonin Kozeluch: Composer
• 1777Juan N Gallego: Spanish poet / interpreter (El dos the mayo)
• 1779Mariano Rodriguiz de Ledesma: Composer
• 1780Karl Robert von Nesselrode: German / Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1783Johann Christoph Kienlen: Composer
• 1789Maria Agata Szymanowska: Composer
• 1812Charles J Canning: English Earl / 1st Viceroy of British-Indies
• 1829John Mercer Langston: 1st black to hold US political office
• 1830Allen Thomas: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1907
• 1832Daniel Harris Reynolds: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1902
• 1837William Wells: Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1892
• 1853Salvador Diaz Miron: Mexican poet (Los Cien Mejores Poemas)
• 1862John M Acket: Dutch literary (Grammatic Conceptions)
• 1868Richard Batka: Composer
• 1870Dirk J de Geer: Dutch Premier (1926-29, 39-40)
• 1870Karl Renner: Austrian Chancellor / President (1918-20, 45-50)
• 1873Marie-Alphonse-Nicolas-Joseph Jongen: Composer
• 1875Dobri Khristov: Composer
• 1877Lieven Duvosel: Flemish music writer / composer (Leiecyclys)
• 1883Manolis Kalomiris: Greek opera composer
• 1883Morihei Ueshiba: Founder (Aikido)
• 1884Regina Ullmann: Writer
• 1894Joaquin Zamacois Soler: Composer
• 1895George VI: King of England (1936-52)
• 1896James H Doolittle: USAF General (Raid on Tokyo 1942)
• 1897Margaret Chase Smith: (Rep / Sen-R-Maine)
• 1898Frederick Douglass Hall: Composer

Died on Dec 14

• 0872Adrian II: Italian Pope (867-72) / last married pope, dies at about 80
• 1136Harald IV: "Gylle Krist", King of Norway, murdered
• 1417John Oldcastle: Lord Cobham, English nobleman, hanged and burned
• 1542James: King of Scotland (1513-42), dies at 30
• 1591Juan de la Cruz [de Yepes]: Spanish Carmelet / Poet / saint
• 1732Johann Philipp Fortsch: Composer, dies at 80
• 1754Mahmud I: Sultan of Turkey, dies at 58
• 1760Kacic Miosic: Croatian Poet (Razgovar Ugodni Naroda Slovinskoga)
• 1788Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach: German composer, dies at 74
• 1788Carlos III: King of Naples / Spain (1759-88), dies at 72
• 1799George Washington: 1st President USA (1789-97), dies at 66
• 1823Vincenzo Cuoco: Italian Historian (Naple revolution 1799), dies at 53
• 1829Luigi Marchesi: Composer, dies at 74
• 1849Conradin Kreutzer: Composer, dies at 69
• 1861Albert: Prince consort of Engld / husband of Queen Victoria, dies at 42
• 1861George HG Earl of Aberdeen: English Minister of Foreign Affairs, dies at 76
• 1861Heinrich August Marschner: Composer, dies at 66
• 1862George Dashiell Bayard: Union Brigadier General, dies at 27
• 1873J Louis R Agassiz: Swiss geologist / paleo-biologist)
• 1886Antoni Wincenty Rutkowski: Composer, dies at 27
• 1893Karolina Pawlowa: Writer, dies at 86
• 1900Jean B A Kessler: Director of Oil on Dutch Indies, dies at 46
• 1903William Ennis: 1st cop to die in electric chair
• 1906John A C Oudemans: Dutch geographer / astronomer, dies at 78
• 1909Leopold II: King of Belgium
• 1914Giovanni Sgambati: Composer, dies at 73
• 1918Sidonio Pais: Prince of Portugal, murdered
• 1923Giuseppi Gallignani: Composer, dies at 72
• 1926Theo van Rysselberghe: Belgian Painter (pointillism), dies at 64
• 1928Theodore Roberts: Actor (Roaring Road, 10 Commandments), dies at 77

Historical events on December 15

• 0687St. Sergius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding Conon
• 1124Chancellor Haimeric selects Pope (Lamberto becomes Honorius II)
• 1488Bartholomeus Diaz returns to Portugal after sailing round Cape of Good Hope
• 1569Westmoreland flees to Scotland
• 1582Leidse university names Rembert Dodoens prof of botany / medicine
• 1582Spanish Netherlands / Denmark / Norway adopt Gregorian calendar
• 1586Laevinus Torrentius, becomes Bishop of Antwerp
• 1593State of Holland grants patent on windmill with crankshaft
• 1612Simon Marius, is 1st to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope
• 1660Philippines: Andres Malongs rebels plunders Bagnotan
• 1664English colonizing Connecticut
• 1667Brandenburg declares himself neutral in Devolutie War
• 1680Tax revolt on Terschelling due to tax on cereal
• 1745Battle at Kesseldorf: Prussia beats Saksen and Austria
• 17911st US law school established at University of Pennsylvania
• 1791Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gave its approval
• 17921st life insurance policy issued in US (Philadelphia)
• 1794Revolutionary Tribunal abolished in France
• 18101st Irish magazine in US, Shamrock, is published
• 1811Earthquake hits New Madrid, Missouri
• 1815Rossini gets assignment for Il barbiere di Siviglia
• 18201st General pharmacopoeia in US published, Boston
• 1836Patent Office burns in Washington, DC
• 18541st street-cleaning machine in US 1st used in Philadelphia
• 1859GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of Sun
• 1864Battle of Nashville, Tennessee
• 1864Raid on Stoneman: Abingdon and Glade Springs, Virginia
• 18741st reigning King to visit US (of Hawaii) received by President Grant
• 1877Thomas Edison patents phonograph
• 1891James Naismith invents basketball (Canada)

Born on December 15

• 0037Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus: 5th Emperor of Rome (54-68)
• 1534Lucas Osiander: Composer
• 1567Christoph Demantius: Composer
• 1574Samuel Besler: Composer
• 1610David Teniers II: Flemish courtpainter (Theatrum Pictorium)
• 1648Gregory King: English statistician (Natural & Political Observations)
• 1657Michel-Richard Delalande: Composer
• 1667Ludwig Ernst: Composer
• 1720J F Beck: Writer
• 1735Cesare Beccaria-Bonesana: Italian lawyer
• 1765Philippe-Jacques Pfeffinger: Composer
• 1778Godert AGP Baron van der Capellen: Dutch Governor-General (Dutch-Indies)
• 1787Charles Cowden Clarke: English editor / Shakespearean critic
• 1793Henry Charles Carey: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Economist (Principles of Poli Economy)
• 1803August Freyer: Composer
• 1812Isidor Dannstrom: Composer
• 1821Auguste Emmanuel Vaucorbeil: Composer
• 1822Edward Stephen: Composer
• 1823Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke: Composer
• 1832Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel: French engineer (Eiffel tower)
• 1836Edmond Picard: French / Belgian lawyer / writer (La forge Roussel)
• 1842Henry Gadsby: Composer
• 1848Edwin Howland Blashfield: Decorated the dome of Library of Congress
• 1852Antoine Henri Becquerel: Discovered radioactivity (Nobel 1903)
• 1852Tewfik Pasja: Khedive (viceroy) of Egypt
• 1853Jean B A Kessler: Director of Oil on Dutch Indies
• 1857Eugeniusz Pankiewicz: Composer
• 1859Ludwik L Zamenhof: Russian Poland, Physician / linguist (Esperanto)
• 1860Niels Ryberg Finsen: Denmark -- Physician / phototherapist (Nobel 1903)
• 1861Charles Edgar Duryea: Inventor (1st auto built and operated in US)

Died on December 15

• 1025Basilius II [the Bulgarendoder]: Byzantine Emperor (976-1025)
• 1230Ottokar I: King of Bohemia (1197-1230)
• 1515Alfonso de Albuquerque: Viceroy of Portuguese Indies
• 1576Joachim Hopperus [Hoppers]: Frisian lawyer / politician, dies at 53
• 1598Philip van Marnix: Flemish ruler of St Aldegonde / poet, dies at 58
• 1626Adriaen de Vries: Dutch Sculptor / painter, dies at about 70
• 1675John Vermeer: Dutch Painter (Love Letter), dies at 43
• 1688Gaspar Fagel: Lawyer / Netherlands grand pensionary (1672-88), dies at 54
• 1699Henrik A van Reede tot Drakenstein: Dutch botanist, dies at about 63
• 1712Sidney 1st Earl of Godolphine: English Minister of Finance, dies at 67
• 1715George Hickes: English linguist (Old German Philology), dies at 73
• 1779Manuel Jeronimo Romero de Avila: Composer, dies at 62
• 1792Joseph Martin Kraus: Composer, dies at 36
• 1816Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz: Composer, dies at 44
• 1817Maria Walewska [Leszczinska]: Lover of Emperor Napoleon I
• 1822Ferenc Verseghy: Composer, dies at 65
• 1826William Browser: Revolting slave, executed in New York City
• 1831Paul R Cantzlaar: Gov of Saba / Curacao / Dutch-West Indies, dies at 60
• 1839Matthijs I van Bree: Flemish court-painter, dies at 66
• 1861Gualtiero Sanelli: Composer, dies at 45
• 1880Carlo Boncompagni di Mombello: Ital Minister of Justice, dies at 76
• 1889Ferdinand II A F A: King of Portugal, dies at 73
• 1890Sitting Bull: Hunkpapa-Sioux chief (Little Big Horn), killed by US
• 1892Charles Balmer: Composer, dies at 75
• 1896John GR Acquoy: Dutch Theologist / church historian, dies at 67
• 1901Elias Alvares Lobo: Composer, dies at 67
• 1909Francisco Tarrega y Eixea: Composer, dies at 57
• 1934Maggis Lena Walker: 1st US (black) woman to head a bank, dies at 69
• 1943Thomas W "Fats" Waller: Jazz pianist, dies at 39 in Kansas City, Missouri
• 1944Glenn Miller: US band leader / jazz composer, dies at 40

Events on Dec 16

• 0882Marinus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding John VIII
• 1431King Henry VI of England crowned King of France
• 1538King Francois I orders renewed pursuit of Protestants
• 1631Mount Vesuvious, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages and kills 4,000
• 1653Oliver Cromwell sworn in as English Lord Protector
• 1659General Monck demands free parliamentary election in Scotland
• 1689English Parliament adopts Bill of Rights after Glorious Revolution
• 1740Prussian Libya falls to Silezie
• 1761Russian army occupies Kolberg
• 1767Van Ritter von Glucks opera "Alceste" premiers
• 1773Big tea party in Boston harbor-indians welcome (Boston Tea Party)
• 1809Napoleon Bonaparte divorces Empress Josephine by French Senate
• 18118.0 earthquake shakes New Madrid, Missouri
• 1817Leaders of Molukkas uprising hanged in Ambon
• 1824Great North Holland Canal opens
• 1835Fire consumes over 600 buildings in New York City
• 1838Boers beat Zulu chieftain Dingaan in South Africa
• 1857Earthquake in Naples, Italy
• 1858Dutch government decides to vacate Schokland Island
• 1862Kingdom of Nepal accepts its constitution
• 1864Battle of Nashville ends after 4400 casualities
• 1880Republic of South-Africa forms
• 1886Rift at Dutch Reformed Church over "Doleantie"
• 1890Negro Methodist Episcopal Church founded in Jackson, Tennessee
• 18971st submarine with an internal combustion engine demonstrated
• 1900Boer army under General Kritzinger take Cape colony
• 1901Boer general Kritzinger captured
• 1903Majestic Theater, NYC, becomes 1st in US to employ women ushers
• 1905"Variety, " covering all phases of show business, 1st published
• 1907Eugene H Farrar is 1st to sing on radio (Brooklyn Navy Yard NY)

Born on Dec 16

• 1485Catherine of Aragon: Spanish Princess / 1st Wife of Henry VIII
• 1622Kurt S Adeler: Danish Admiral / ship builder
• 1652Giovanni Maria Casini: Composer
• 1734Georg Peter Weimar: Composer
• 1748Ferdinand-Philippe-Joseph Staes: Composer
• 1775Francois-Adrien Boieldieu: Composer
• 1775Jane Austin: England, United Kingdom -- Novelist (Pride & Prejudice)
• 1777Janos Fusz: Composer
• 1809Peter P van Bosse: Dutch attorney / liberal Minister of Finance
• 1812William Grose: Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1900
• 1819Robert Selden Garnett: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1861
• 1822Charles Edward Horsley: Composer
• 1825Henry Heth: Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1899
• 1825Robert Prescott Stewart: Composer
• 1827John A C Oudemans: Dutch geographer / astronomer
• 1828John Beatty: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1914
• 1830John Frederick Hartranft: Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1889
• 1847Augusta Mary Anne Holmes: Composer
• 1851Theodoor H de Meester: Dutch Premier (1905-08)
• 1863George Santayana: Spain -- Philosopher / poet / humanist (Last Puritan)
• 1863Ralph Adams Cram: United States -- Gothic architect (Cathedral of St Joan NYC)
• 1865Victor Rousseau: Belgian sculptor
• 1869Albert F Pollard: British historian (Dict of natural biography)
• 1879William Duncan: Scotland, United Kingdom -- Actor (Thunder Trail)
• 1882Walther Meissner: German physicist (Meissner effect)
• 1883Max Linder: Caverne, France -- Actor / comic / director (Max Prend un Bain)
• 1888Alphonse Juin: French marshal
• 1890Harlan Sanders: Founder / CEO (Kentucky Fried Chicken)
• 1893Vladimir Golschmann: Paris, France -- Conductor with Immortal Downbeat
• 1895Lidj Jasu: Emperor of Ethiopia

Died on Dec 16

• 0875Ado of Vienne: French Archbishop of Vienne, dies at about 75
• 0882John VIII: Italian Pope (872-82)
• 0999Adelheid the Saint: German empress of Otto I / saint, dies at about 68
• 1404Albrecht of Bavaria: Duke of Bavaria, dies at about 74
• 1670Dorothy: 1st English Marquis of Halifax
• 1672John II Casimir Vasa: Cardinal / King of Poland (1648-68), dies at 63
• 1719Adrian "Aart" van Wijck: Dutch Theologist (anti-jansenism), dies at 78
• 1774Francois Quesnay: French personal Physician of Louis XIV, dies at 80
• 1781Georg Simon Lohlein: Composer, dies at 56
• 1783Johann Adolf Hasse: Dutch operatic Composer (Sesostrate), dies at 84
• 1790Ludwig August Lebrun: Composer, dies at 38
• 1816Vincenzo Galeotti [Tomazelli]: Ital dancer / choreographer, dies at 73
• 1833Friedrich August Kanne: Composer, dies at 55
• 1852Andries H Potgieter: South African / Transvaal explorer, dies at 59
• 1852Henri-Jean Rigel: Composer, dies at 80
• 1859Wilhelm Grimm: Writer, dies at 73
• 1861Karol Joseph Lipinski: Composer, dies at 71
• 1870Stanislaw Duniecki: Composer, dies at 31
• 1871Willibald Alexis: German writer (Schloss Avalon), dies at 73
• 1874Abraham Capadose: Physician / missionary, dies at 79
• 1897Alphonse Daudet: Writer, dies at 57
• 1897L-M Alphonse Daudet: Frans writer (Tartarin sur les Alpes), dies at 57
• 1914Ivan Zajc: Composer, dies at 82
• 1916Grigori Rasputin: A powerful Russian monk, murdered
• 1920Ma [the Benovelent]: Chinese muslim rebel (holy war)
• 1921Charles Camille Saint-Saens: French composer, dies at 86
• 1922Gabriel Narutowicz: 1st President of Poland (Dec 7-16, 1922), assassinated
• 1923Pongrac Kacsoh: Composer, dies at 50
• 1927Hugh Archibald Clarke: Composer, dies at 88
• 1931Gustave J Waffelaert: Flemish Theologist / Bishop of Bruges, dies at 82