Events in History
Theater Premiere
Dec 14 Elmer Rice's play "Dream Girl" premieres in NYC
- Dec 15 John J "Cardinal" O'Connor, ordained as a priest
- Dec 18 Uruguay joins the United Nations
- Dec 19 Austrian Republic re-establishes
- Dec 19 Jean Giraudoux' "La Folle de Chaillot" premieres in Paris
- Dec 20 Rationing of auto tires ends in US
- Dec 22 Utrecht: Catholic People's party (KVP) established
Event of Interest
Dec 27 International Monetary Fund formally established by 29 member countries based on ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes
- Dec 27 The World Bank was created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.
- Dec 28 Congress officially recognizes "Pledge of Allegiance"
United Nations Charter
Dec 31 Ratification of United Nations Charter completed
Birthdays in History
- Dec 4 Michael Gerzon, British mathematician and audio pioneer (Ambisonics), born in Birmingham (d. 1996)
- Dec 4 Roberta Lynn Bondar, Canadian neurologist and astronaut (STS 42), born in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario
- Dec 5 J W "Corkey" Fornof, American stunt coordinator (Octopussy), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Dec 6 Dan Harrington, American professional poker player, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Dec 8 John Banville, Irish novelist and journalist
- Dec 12 Karl Edward Wagner, American sci-fi author (Bloodstone, Night Winds), born in Knoxville, Tennessee (d. 1994)
- Dec 13 Ann Syrdal, American psychologist and computer science researcher (developed female synthetic voices at AT&T), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 2020)
Michael King (1945-2004)
Dec 15 New Zealand historian and author (Penguin History of New Zealand), born in Wellington, New Zealand
- Dec 16 Yukio Hattori, Japanese Iron Chef commentator
- Dec 17 Chris Matthews, American journalist
- Dec 17 Jacqueline Wilson, English author
- Dec 18 Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, King of Nepal (1972-2001), born in Kathmandu, Nepal (d. 2001)
- Dec 21 Millie Hughes-Fulford, American scientist & astronaut (STS 40), born in Mineral Wells, Texas
- Dec 22 Joris J. C. Voorhoeve, Dutch Defense minister (1994-, VVD), born in the Hague, Netherlands
- Dec 23 Donald A. Ritchie, American Historian Emeritus of the United States Senate, born in NYC, New York
- Dec 25 Mike Pringle, Scottish politician
- Dec 28 Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Deva, King of Nepal (1972- )
- Dec 28 Max Hastings, British editor-in-chief (Daily Telegraph)
- Dec 28 Mike Gibbons, American rocker (Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods-Billy Don't be a Hero), (d. 2016)
- Dec 29 Adje Roland, Dutch radio disc jockey, born in Rhenen, Netherlands
- Dec 30 John Kevin Moorhouse, test pilot
- Dec 31 Claude Marks, FALN member (FBI most wanted), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Divorces in History
Ernest Hemingway
Dec 21 American "For Whom The Bell Tolls" novelist Ernest Hemingway (46) and American novelist and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn (36) divorce after 5 years of marriage.
Deaths in History
- Dec 4 Thomas Hunt Morgan, American evolutionary biologist, geneticist and embryologist (Nobel Prize 1933), dies at 79
- Dec 10 Theodor Dannecker, SS officer and an associate of Adolf Eichmann, dies at 32
- Dec 11 Charles Fabry, French physicist, discoverer of ozone layer in upper atmosphere, dies at 78
- Dec 13 Elisabeth Volkenrath, supervisor at concentration camps (b. 1919)
- Dec 13 Robert van Genechten, Dutch Nazi (NSB), commits suicide
- Dec 14 Henry van Goudoever, Dutch lawyer & judge, dies on his 69th birthday
- Dec 14 Josef Kramer, German Nazi war criminal ("The Beast of Belsen"), hanged at 39
- Dec 16 Fumimaro Konu, Japanese prince and politician (Prime Minister of Japan 1937-39, 40-41), commits suicide at 54
- Dec 16 Giovanni Agnelli, Italian businessman and founder of Fiat, dies at 79
George S. Patton (1885-1945)
Dec 21 American WWII general (Sicily, Italy and Normandy) known as "Old Blood & Guts", dies of congestive heart failure at 60
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists