Historical Events Dec 25 Return of Halley's comet 1st sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch Dec 31 British expeditionary army occupies Goree (Dakar) Senegal Famous Birthdays Dec 3 Joseph Gelinek, Czech composer, born in Beroun, Czech Republic (d. 1825) Dec 11 Carl Friedrich Zelter, German composer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1832) Dec 20 Othon Joseph Vandenbroek, composer (d. 1832) Dec 23 Nathan Wilson U.S. Representative from New York Famous Deaths Dec 5 Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer, dies at 70 Dec 25 James Hervey, English clergyman (b. 1714) Share On Facebook Share On Twitter 1757 History by Year 1759