On This Day

December 1966 in History

Events in History

  • Dec 1 Georg Kiesinger elected West German chancellor
  • Dec 1 Radio time signal WWV moves from Greenbelt, Maryland to Boulder, Colorado
  • Dec 3 US performs underground nuclear test at Hattiesburg, Mississippi
  • Dec 4 Military Working Dog "Nemo" saves the life of his handler Airman Robert A. Throneburg during the Vietnam War, surviving a gunshot wound to the nose
  • Dec 7 A fire at an army barracks in Erzurum, Turkey kills 68 people.
  • Dec 8 US and USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space
  • Dec 10 Israeli Shmuel Yosef Agnon wins Nobel Prize for literature
  • Dec 10 Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to Robert S. Mulliken
  • Dec 13 1st battle for Bijlmer flats, Amsterdam
  • Dec 13 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
  • Dec 15 Audouin Dollfus discovers 10th satellite of Saturn, Janus
  • Dec 15 John W. Mecom Jr becomes 1st owner of New Orlean Saints
  • Dec 18 Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.
  • Dec 18 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
  • Dec 20 Nuclear Planning Group forms in Brussels
  • Dec 20 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
  • Dec 21 USSR launches Luna 13; soft-landed in Oceanus Procellarum
  • Dec 24 Soviet spacecraft Luna 13 lands on Moon
  • Dec 24 USAF C144 military charter aircraft crashes near Binh Thai, Vietnam, killing 129
  • Dec 26 Maulana Karenga establishes Kwanzaa (1st fruits of harvest) holiday
  • Dec 28 13 die in a train crash in Everett, Massachusetts
  • Dec 28 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
  • Dec 29 Pirate Radio Phoenix, 1st transmission (Worcester, Massachusetts)
  • Dec 31 Pirate Radio 390 (Radio Invicata) off England, resumes transmitting
  • Dec 31 Toboggan Chutes begin operation in Cleveland Metroparks

Birthdays in History

  • Dec 4 Suzanne Malveaux, American television news journalist, born in Lansing, Michigan
  • Dec 9 Kirsten Gillibrand, American attorney and politician (Senator (D) NY 2009-), born in Albany, New York
  • Dec 12 Royce Gracie, Brazilian martial artist, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Dec 13 Gavin Andresen, American computer programmer and cryptocurrency entrepreneur who founded the Bitcoin Foundation, born in the United States [1]
  • Dec 13 Ross Burden, New Zealand celebrity chef, born in Napier, New Zealand (d. 2014)
  • Dec 17 Christopher A. Wray, American lawyer, F.B.I. Director (2017-), born in NYC, New York
  • Dec 17 Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
  • Dec 20 Ed de Goey, Dutch soccer goalie (Feyenoord), born in Gouda, South Holland
  • Dec 21 William Ruto, Kenyan politician (President of Kenya 2022-, Deputy President 2013-2022), born in Kamagut, Kenya
  • Dec 27 Fabian Núñez, American politician
  • Dec 27 Wendy Coakley-Thompson, American writer

Deaths in History

  • Dec 2 Bertus Brouwers, Dutch mathematician and philosopher (founder of modern topology), dies at 85
  • Dec 8 Ward Morehouse, American theater critic and newspaper columnist (b. 1899)
  • Dec 19 Ehm Welk [Thomas Trimm], German writer, dies at 82

Lucy BurnsLucy Burns (1879-1966)

Dec 22 American suffragist (National Woman's Party) and women's rights advocate, dies at 87

Lucy Burns
  • Dec 23 Heimito von Doderer, Austrian writer, dies at 70
  • Dec 26 Klaziena "Ina" Boudier-Bakker, Dutch playwright and author (Poverty), dies at 91
  • Dec 30 Christian Herter, American Republican politician, 59th Governor of Massachusetts (1953-57) and US Secretary of State (1959-61), dies at 71
  • Dec 31 Pieter Geyl, Dutch historian (History of the Dutch Race), dies at 79

Historical Figures

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