December 1936 in History

Events in History

Historic Event

Dec 10 Britain replaces King Edward VIII stamp series with King George VI

King Abdicates for Love of Wallis Simpson

Dec 10 Edward VIII signs Instrument of Abdication, giving up the British throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson

Caught off-guard: the Windsors hear a sad dog tale. Photographer: Richard Avedon. National Portrait Gallery, London

Nobel Prize

Dec 10 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Carlos Saavedra Lamas for mediating end to Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, 1st Latin American to win

Dec 10 Stockholm: physicist PBJ Debije receives Nobel prize for chemistry

Radio History

Dec 11 Edward VIII announces in a radio broadcast that he is abdicating the British throne to marry Wallis Simpson

Declaration of War

Dec 12 Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek declares war on Japan

Dec 15 KVL-AM in Seattle Washington changes call letters to KEEN (now KING)
Dec 18 Su-Lin, 1st giant panda to come to US from China, arrives in San Francisco
Dec 22 1st common carrier license issued by ICC, Scranton, Pa
Dec 23 Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty
Dec 24 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered in Berkeley, California
Dec 25 Belgian bishops condemn fascism & communism
Dec 25 Ron Hamence scores 104 for SA v Queensland before 4,865
Dec 30 United Auto Workers stage 1st sit-down strike, at Fisher Body Plant

Birthdays in History

Dec 5 James Lee Burke, American writer (Dave Robicheaux series), born in Houston, Texas
Dec 6 Kenneth Copeland, American televangelist (Kenneth Copeland Ministries), born in Lubbock, Texas
Dec 7 Martha Layne Collins, American businesswoman and politician (56th Governor of Kentucky), born in Bagdad, Kentucky
Dec 8 Brad Jurjens, Estonian director (The Bank Job), born in Viljandi, Estonia
Dec 11 Hans van den Broek, Dutch politician (Minister of Foreign Affairs), born in Paris
Dec 11 Taku Yamasaki, Japanese politician (Minister of Construction), born in Dalian, Kwantung Leased Territory, China
Dec 12 Samuel Weems, American lawyer (disbarred), Armenian genocide denier, and writer, born in Hazen, Arkansas (d. 2003)
Dec 13 Karim Aga Khan, Imam of Nizari-Ismaili Shia Islam, born in Geneva, Switzerland
Dec 14 Robert Alan Ridley Parker, American PhD/astronaut (STS-9, STS-35), born in NYC, New York
Dec 16 Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center
Dec 17 Frank Martinus Arion [F Efraim M], Antilles, writer (Double Play)

Pope Francis (86 years old)

Dec 17 Catholic Pope (2013-) 1st Jesuit pope, 1st from the Americas and 1st non-European pope since Syrian Gregory III in 741, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Dec 25 Princess Alexandra [Christabel], The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, British royal family member (cousin of Queen Elizabeth II), born in Belgravia, London, England
Dec 26 Kitty Dukakis, substance abuser/wife of Michael (Gov-Mass)
Dec 28 Jacques Mesrine, French criminal (d. 1979)
Dec 28 Lawrence Schiller, American journalist

Weddings in History

Wedding of Interest

Dec 24 Paleoanthropologist Mary Nicol (23) weds archaeologist Louis Leakey (33) in England

Dec 28 British best-selling romantic author Barbara Cartland (35) marries 2nd husband Hugh McCorquodale

Deaths in History

Dec 2 John Ringling, American circus owner (b. 1866)
Dec 10 Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer (Six Characters in Search of An Author-Nobel 1934), dies at 69
Dec 18 Andrija Mohorovičić, Austro-Hungarian-born Yugoslav seismologist (b. 1857)
Dec 20 Baron De Borchgrave, Belgian ambassador, murdered in Madrid
Dec 24 Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger, Croatian paleontologist (discovery and descriptions of the Neandertal remains from the Huŝnjakova rock shelter at Krapina in northwestern Croatia), dies at 80
Dec 27 Hans von Seeckt, German general and advisor of Chiang Kai-shek, dies at 70
Dec 31 Miguel de Unamuno Jugo, Span philosopher/poet (Cancionero), dies at 72
Dec 31 William FA Ellison, Irish clergyman/astronomer, dies at 72