Events in History Dec 2 Britain sells Suriname to the Netherlands Birthdays in History Dec 2 Melancthon Smith Wade, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1868) Dec 15 Janos Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician (non-Euclidean geometry), born in Kolozsvár, Hungary (d. 1860) Dec 27 Thomas Fearnley, Norwegian landscape painter Deaths in History Dec 31 Francis Lewis, Welsh/American merchant/signer (Declaration of Independence), dies at 89 1801 On This Day in History 1803