On This Day: December 21, 2024

Birthdays

1401 Masaccio, 'Florentine' painter

1804 Benjamin Disraeli, British politician

1879 Joseph Stalin, Russian revolutionary leader

1935 Geoff Lewis, Former jockey turned trainer

1937 Jane Fonda, Actress; daughter of Henry Fonda & sister of Peter Fonda

1946 Carl Wilson, Of the Pop group 'The Beach Boys'

1954 Chris Evert, Wimbledon tennis champion of 1974 and 1981

1978 Greville Starkey (1939), English jockey and 'Derby' winner

Events

1620 The 'Pilgrim Fathers' historic landing took place at Plymouth, in Massachusetts, in the vessel Mayflower

1879 Ibsens classic play, 'The Dolls House', was first performed at the Royal Theatre, in Copenhagen

1913 The first ever crossword was published, in the weekend supplement of the 'New York World'

1937 Walt Disney's animation 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs' premiered in Los Angeles

1945 The US General George Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, as the result of a road accident

1958 Charles de Gaulle was elected, as President of France

1986 Over 50,000 students demonstrated in Shanghai's Peoples Square, for democracy and freedom in China

1988 After a record 365 days in space, two Russian and one French cosmonaut returned to Earth

1999 Nigeria Labour Congress President, Adams Oshiomole, leads thousands of workers to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa to protest proposed fuel price hike.