Events in History
Nobel Prize
Dec 10 August Krogh is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the regulation mechanisms of capillaries in skeletal muscle
- Dec 13 Francis G. Pease's interferometer at Mount Wilson Observatory is the first to measure the diameter of a star - the Betelgeuse
- Dec 13 Hans Riegel founds sweet company HARIBO ((HAns RIegel BOnn) in Bonn, Germany [1]
- Dec 13 League of Nations establishes the International Court of Justice in The Hague
- Dec 13 Netherland breaks contact with Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia and Slavia
- Dec 16 8.5 earthquake rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000
- Dec 17 British Empire receives League of Nations mandate over Nauru
- Dec 17 Japan receives League of Nations mandate over Pacific islands
- Dec 17 South Africa receives League of Nations mandate over SW Africa
- Dec 18 1st US postage stamps printed without the words United States or US
Event of Interest
Dec 19 King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite.
Birthdays in History
- Dec 4 Jeanne Manford, American gay rights activist, born in Flushing, New York (d. 2013)
- Dec 4 Nadir Afonso, Portuguese geometric abstractionist painter, born in Chaves, Portugal (d. 2013)
- Dec 4 Ray Robinson, American magazine editor and biographer (Lou Gehrig), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2017)
- Dec 6 George Porter, British chemist (Nobel 1967), born in Stainforth, South Yorkshire, England (d. 2002)
- Dec 7 Tatamkhulu Afrika, South African poet and writer, born in As Sallum, Egypt (d. 2002)
- Dec 8 Ronald Gulliford, English educationalist (Dean of the Faculty of Education, Birmingham University 1979-81), born in Manchester (d. 1997)
- Dec 9 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Italian President (1999-2006) and Prime Minister (1993-94), born in Livorno (d. 2016)
- Dec 10 Clarice Lispector, Ukrainian-Brazilian writer (Laços de Família), born in Chechelnyk, Ukrainian People's Republic (d. 1977)
- Dec 10 Stanko Todorov, Bulgarian communist politician, Prime Minister of Bulgaria (1971-81), born in Klenovik (d. 1996)
- Dec 12 Fred Kida, Japanese-American comics artist, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2014)
George P. Shultz (1920-2021)
Dec 13 American economist, and statesman (Secretary of State, 1982-89; Secretary of the Treasury, 1972-74), born in New York City [1]
- Dec 13 Kaysone Phomvihane, President of Laos (Pathet Lao) (1991-92), born in Na Seng village, Khanthabouli district (d. 1992)
- Dec 14 Albertus Louis Meintser, Dutch office clerk and resistance fighter, born in Amsterdam (d. 1944)
- Dec 15 Kurt Schaffenberger, American comics artist (Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane), born in Thuringian Forest, Germany (d. 2002)
- Dec 17 Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist (d. 2004)
- Dec 21 Bob Bindig, American cartoonist (d. 2006)
- Dec 24 Evgeniya Rudneva, Russian World War II heroine, born in Berdyansk, Ukraine (d. 1944)
- Dec 24 Stormé DeLarverie, American gay rights leader (Stonewall protests), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2014) date disputed
- Dec 25 Henry Charnock, oceanographer
- Dec 28 Bruce McCarty, South Bend, Indiana, architect (1982 World Fair), (d. 2013)
- Dec 29 Syd Dernley, British hangman (1949-54), born in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire (d. 1994)
- Dec 30 Aad de Haas, Dutch religious painter, graphic artist and cartoonist, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1972)
- Dec 30 Michael Allinson, London England (George Washington)
Deaths in History
- Dec 10 Horace Elgin Dodge, American automobile manufacturing pioneer (co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company), dies at 52
- Dec 12 Olive Schreiner, South African writer (Healing Imagination), dies at 75
- Dec 16 Ma Yuanzhang, Chinese Muslim rebel and Sufi master, crushed to death during the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake at an unknown age
- Dec 31 Albert Roelofs, Dutch painter/etcher, dies at 43
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists