On this day thread

[Muteswan]

9th. December.
1608. The birthday of John Milton, English poet, in Cheapside, London.
1854. Alfred Tennyson's poem "Charge of the Light Brigade" is published in "The Examiner".
1868.The first traffic lights are installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they used semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
1934. Dame Judi Dench, actress, was born.
1946. Born on this day in Swansea, Mervyn Davies, former Wales captain and Lions international, who was instantly recognisable by his thick white headband and moustache. Davies was educated at Penlan Boys School and Swansea College of Education, after which he secured a teaching post in Guildford and began playing for London Welsh. Davies was a sensation, quickly earning the nickname ‘Merv the Swerve’ due to his deceptive running and was given his international debut within 3 months. He went on to win two grand slams with Wales and was a crucial member of the Lions series winning teams in New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa in 1974. Davies suffered an injury which caused bleeding in the brain and ended his career in 1976. In a poll of Welsh fans in 2001 he was voted the greatest ever Wales No 8 and captain. Died 15th. March 2012.
1960. The first episode of Coronation Street was screened on ITV. It is the world's longest-running television soap opera.
1966. Supergroup Cream released their debut studio album Fresh Cream in the UK.
1973. Talks on Northern Ireland ended in an historic agreement to set up a Council of Ireland.
1980. Born on this day in Tonyrefail, Matthew Rees, former Wales rugby captain and Lions international.
1988. Born on this day in Bridgend, Rhys Webb, Wales and Lions rugby international.
1992. The separation was announced of the Prince and Princess of Wales (Prince Charles and Princess Diana).They married in 1981
1997. "Tomorrow Never Dies", 18th James Bond film premieres in London.
2002 "Star Trek: Nemesis" film premieres.
2003. Ozzy Osbourne was admitted to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Berkshire after being injured in a quad bike accident at his UK home.
2012. 13 people are killed and 10 are injured after a bus rolls of a cliff and falls 100 meters in Taiwan.
2012. 6 people are killed and 41 are injured after a bus plunges 30 metres down a gorge in Guatemala.
2012. The death of the British astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore, aged 89. He was the presenter of the BBC's Sky At Night for over 50 years, from its first airing on 24th April 1957, making him the longest-running host ever of the same television show.
2014. A notebook which showed the early work of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, was bought by Swansea University for £104,500.

 

[Muteswan]

13th. December.
1577. Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England on a circumnavigation of the world.
1642. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland.
1847. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (under the pseudonym Ellis Bell) was published, as was Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë (under the pseudonym Acton Bell).
1904. The first electric train came into service on London's Metropolitan Railway.
1925. Dick Van Dyke, American actor, born in West Plains, Missouri.
1929. Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor, born in Toronto, Ontario.
1948. Ted Nugent, guitarist, born today.
1950. James Dean begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial.
1961. The Beatles sign a formal agreement to be managed by Brian Epstein.
1962. Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Return To Sender'.
1967. Jamie Foxx, American actor, comedian and musician, born in Terrell, Texas.
1971. Born on this day in Llwynypia Hospital near Tonypandy and brought up in the nearby village of Penygraig,Leanne Wood, former leader of Plaid Cymru. She is both the first female and Welsh language learner to have become leader of the party.
1972. More than 300 British victims of the Thalidomide drug were offered a compensation deal said to be worth £11.85m. A year later the 11 year battle over Thalidomide compensation ended with a £20 million court settlement.
1973. The British Government ordered a 3 day working week following an Arab oil embargo and industrial action by the country's miners.
1990. South African President F. W. de Klerk meets with Nelson Mandela to talk of end of apartheid.
1997. Children's TV characters The Teletubbies went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Teletubbies Say-eh-oh'.
2000. It was announced that after 74 years the UK rock weekly Melody Maker was to close down. The Christmas edition would be the last one then it would merge with the NME creating a more sizeable broad-based magazine.
2003. Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit, during Operation Red Dawn by US forces.
2017. Prime Minister Theresa May's UK Conservative government loses key vote in Parliament for an amendment to allow MPs to vote on Brexit.

 

[Muteswan]

14th. December.
1476. Vlad III the Impaler, Wallachian prince, killed in battle at 45.
1503. Nostradamus [Michel de Nostre-Dam], French astrologist and prophet (Les Propheties), born in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France (d. 1566).
1542. Princess Mary Stuart succeeds her father James V and becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland at 6 days old.
1799. George Washington, American Founding Father, military leader who commanded Continental Army during War for Independence, first President of the United States (1789-97), dies at 66.
1861. Albert, English prince consort & husband of Queen Victoria, dies at 42.
1911. Norwegian Roald Amundsen's expedition is the 1st to reach the South Pole.
1949. Cliff Williams, English rock bassist (AC/DC), born in Romford, Essex, England.
1959. The album "Time Out" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet is released, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and becomes the first jazz album to sell a million copies.
1968. Marvin Gaye scored his first US No.1 single when 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' started a five-week run at the top of the charts.
1971. Led Zeppelin IV was riding high in the Top 10 of the US album charts.
1984. Miners' leader Arthur Scargill was found guilty of obstruction during a picket at a Yorkshire coal works earlier in the year. He was fined £250 and ordered to pay £750 in costs.
1991. John Arlott, British cricket commentator & writer (BBC), dies of emphysema at 77.
2013. Peter O'Toole, Irish actor (Lord Jim, Beckett, Lawrence of Arabia), dies at 81.
2016. Amazon announces its 1st delivery by drone 2 km from their warehouse in the UK.

 

[Muteswan]

15th. December.
37. Nero, 5th Emperor of Rome (54-68), born in Antium, Italy (d. 68).
1791. US Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gives its approval, becomes amendments 1-10 of the US constitution.
1832. Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect who designed and built the Eiffel tower, born in Dijon, France (d. 1923).
1840. Napoleon Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death.
1890. Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa-Sioux chief who helped lead his people to victory in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, killed by US Police aged 58 or 59.
1892. J. Paul Getty, American oil magnate and billionaire (Getty Oil), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1976).
1930. Occasional leg-spin bowler Don Bradman takes his 1st of only 2 Test cricket wickets.
1939 "Gone With the Wind", film starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, premieres in Atlanta.
1943. Fats Waller [Thomas Wright], American jazz singer and composer (Ain't Misbehavin', Hot Chocolate), dies at 39.
1944. Glenn Miller, American bandleader and jazz composer (In the Mood), dies in a suspected plane crash at 40.
1944. Hizbu'allah (Arm forces for Allah) forms.
1951. Joe Jordan, Scottish football player (Manchester United), born in Cleland, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. CHEAT.
1958. The last steam locomotive was made at Crewe. Engine number 92250 was the 7,331st locomotive built since the works opened.
1966. Walt [Walter Elias] Disney, American animator and producer (co-founder of Walt Disney Co), dies of lung cancer at 65.
1969. Swansea was awarded City status today.
1969. John Lennon played what would be his final ever gig in the UK when he appeared at The Lyceum Ballroom, London, with the Plastic Ono Band in a UNICEF 'Peace For Christmas' benefit.
1970. Frankie Dettori, Italian jockey, born in Milan, Italy.
1974. New speed limits were introduced. Speed limits on motorways would remain at 70mph , but on dual carriageways they would become 60mph and on all other roads 50mph as the government tried to curb fuel use.
1984. 'Do They Know It's Christmas' by Band Aid entered the chart at No.1 and stayed at the top for 5 weeks.
1993. The British and Irish prime ministers John Major and Albert Reynolds signed the historic Joint Declaration for Peace which they hoped would end 25 years of bombing and murder in Northern Ireland.
2009. Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner makes its maiden flight from Seattle, Washington.
2015. Forty three year old astronaut Major Tim Peake became the first Briton to serve a mission on the International Space Station.

 

[Muteswan]

17th. December.
1538. Pope Paul II excommunicates King Henry VIII of England.
1843. Henry Cole, founder of London's V&A Museum, commissions printing of the 1st Christmas card.
1900. 1st prize of 100,000 francs offered for communications with extraterrestrials. Martians excluded-considered too easy.
1903. The Wright brothers make the 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight at 10:35 AM, piloted by Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1927. Australian cricketing prodigy Don Bradman scores 118 in his 1st-class debut for NSW against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
1936. Tommy Steele [Thomas Hicks], English pop singer, 1st British Rock and Roll star, born in London.
1936. Pope Francis [Jorge Mario Bergoglio], 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.
1938. Discovery of nuclear fission using uranium by Otto Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann.
1949. Paul Rodgers, singer, guitarist, Free, Bad Company born today.
1954. The British Petroleum Company (BP) was formed.
1962. Beatles 1st British TV appearance (People & Places).
1964 "Goldfinger", 3rd James Bond film, starring Sean Connery and Honor Blackman premieres in London.
1968. The Royal mint at Llantrisant was opened today in readiness for the introduction of the decimal coinage. It now mints all of the UK's coinage, as well as those of many other countries.
1968. The Who played their Xmas party at the The Marquee Club London. Also on the bill was a new group called Yes.
1973. Slade were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Merry Xmas Everybody'. It has been released during every decade since.
1982. Karen Carpenter made her last live appearance with The Carpenters when she performed in Sherman, California.
1983. The Provisional IRA bombs Harrods department store in London, killing six people and injuring 90.
1986. Mrs Davina Thompson makes medical history by having the 1st heart, lung & liver transplant at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England.
1989. "The Simpsons" created by Matt Groening, premieres on Fox TV as a full animated series with the episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
2003. "The Return of the King" 3rd Lord of the Ring films is released.
2015. José Mourinho is sacked as manager of Premier football club Chelsea.
2018. US poacher sentenced to watch the film "Bambi" repeatedly during year in prison, for killing hundreds of deer in Missouri.
2018. On This Day, all tolls ceased on the Severn Bridges. The first bridge crossing opened in 1966 with tolls charged in both directions. The arrangements were changed in the early 1990s and the toll was collected on the English side and only for vehicles travelling westwards from England to Wales. People have had to pay to cross the Severn Estuary, with its treacherous tides, since Roman times, be it in a car, in a train or on a ferry.
2019. England's Fallon Sherrock becomes first woman to win a match at the PDC World Darts Championship,at the Alexandra Palace in London.

 

[Muteswan]

18th. December.
1878. Joseph Stalin, Dictator and General Secretary of the Soviet Union, born in Gori, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1953).
1892. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "Nutcracker Suite" premieres in Saint Petersberg, now the world's most performed ballet.
1916. Battle of Verdun, longest of World War I, officially ends in German defeat after nine months of fighting. 23 million shells had been fired and 650,000 were killed.
1917. The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, authorizing prohibition of alcohol, is approved by the US congress and sent to the states for ratification.
1934. John Bingham, Lord Lucan, British peer suspected of murdering his nanny who disappeared, born today in London .
1943. Keith Richards, English guitarist and songwriter (The Rolling Stones), born in Dartford, Kent.
1944. Deke [Roger] Leonard, Welsh rock musician (Man), born in Llanelli (d. 2017).
1946. Steven Spielberg, American director (ET, Close Encounters, Jaws), born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1956. Ballon d'Or: Blackpool & England winger Stanley Matthews wins inaugural award for best football player in Europe.
1961. Britain's EMI Records originally rejects the Beatles.
1963. "The Pink Panther" film premieres starring Peter Sellers and David Niven with theme by Henry Mancini.
1963. Brad Pitt, American actor and producer, born in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
1964. "The Pink Panther" cartoon series premieres (Pink Phink).
1969. House of Lords votes to abolish the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland (Northern Ireland 25 July 1973).
1969. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", 6th James Bond Film starring George Lazenby and Diana Rigg, premieres in London.
1976. "A Star is Born" film directed by Frank Pierson with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, premieres.
2000. Kirsty MacColl, English singer and songwriter, dies when run over by a power boat in the National Marine Park of Cozumel.
2002. "The Two Towers", 2nd of the Lord of the Rings films is released.
2011. The last US troops withdraw from Iraq, formally ending the Iraq War.
2012. Comet stores closed their doors for the last time, bringing the electrical retailer's 79 year history to an end.
2013. The death, aged 84, of the criminal Ronnie Biggs, Great Train Robber.
2013. The Bank of England announced its plans to press ahead with switching to plastic banknotes, starting with the new Sir Winston Churchill £5 note in 2016. The decision will mark the beginning of the end of 320 years of paper notes from the Bank.
2013. Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was sentenced to 35 years in jail for a string of child sex offences. Watkins, 36, from Pontypridd, Wales, had pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court last month to 13 child sex offences.

 

[Muteswan]

19th. December.
1843. "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens is published, 6,000 copies sold.
1848. Emily Brontë, English novelist (Wuthering Heights), dies of tuberculosis at 30.
1915. Édith Piaf [Édith Giovanna Gassion], French chanteuse (Little Sparrow, Le Vie En Rose), born in Paris, France (d. 1963).
1915. Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist/neurologist (Alzheimer Disease), dies at 51.
1922. Theresa Vaughn, 24, confesses in court in Sheffield, England, to being married 61 times over 5 years in 50 cities in three countries.
1924. The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was sold, in London.The Silver Ghost is considered the most valuable car in the world. In 2005 its insured value was placed at more than £22 million. By 2011 it was valued at almost £37 million.
1941. Adolf Hitler takes complete command of German Army.
1944. Alvin Lee, British rock vocalist and guitarist (10 Years After), born in Nottingham, England (d. 2013).
1964. The Beatles fourth album 'Beatles For Sale' started a seven-week run at No.1 on the UK album charts.
1971. Stanley Kubrick's X-rated film "A Clockwork Orange" based on the book by Anthony Burgess premieres.
1974. "The Man with the Golden Gun", 9th James Bond film, starring Roger Moore, premieres in London.
1979. "Kramer vs Kramer" directed by Robert Benton and starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep is released.
1980. "Raging Bull", directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro as boxer Jake LaMotta is released in the United States.
1981. Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee, Cornwall, lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
1983. The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.
1984. Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997.
1994. The Manic Street Preachers played the first of three nights at The Astoria, London, the last shows Richey Edwards made with the band before disappearing. Edwards vanished on February 1st 1995 leaving no clues to his whereabouts and has never been seen since.
2001. "The Fellowship of the Ring", 1st Lord of the Rings film is released.
2009. Former Welsh and Lions captain Gareth Thomas is the first international rugby player to reveal he is gay. I didn’t know that!
2012. The verdict of accidental death of the 96 victims who died in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium football disaster was quashed in the High Court, clearing the way for a new inquest into the deaths.
2013. Michael Adebolajo (29) and Michael Adebowale (22) were found guilty of murdering soldier Lee Rigby outside Woolwich barracks in south-east London in May. Fusilier Rigby was struck with a car before being hacked to death.
2016. US electoral college votes 304 to 227 to nominate Donald Trump for President.
2018. Drones flying over Gatwick airport, England, causes delays and cancellations for 800 flights and 110,000 people.
2018. US President Donald Trump announces victory over the Islamic State and planned withdrawal of US troops from Syria.

 

[Muteswan]

20th. December.
1606. The English colonial expedition to America, consisting of the ships Discovery, Godspeed and Susan Constant, departs Blackwall, London to found Jamestown, Virginia.
1812. "Grimm's Fairy Tales" or "Children's and Household Tales" by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm is first published.
1879. Thomas Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park.
1920. An English born comedian named Leslie Townes, who later changed his name to Bob Hope, became an American citizen on this day.
1928. Harry Ramsden started his fish and chip restaurant in a hut at White Cross - Guiseley, near Bradford in West Yorkshire.
1946. Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life" film premieres in New York.
1947. Peter Criss, drummer from American hard rock band Kiss born today.
1955. Cardiff was officially named the capital of Wales.
1957. Elvis Presley receives his draft notice to join the US Army for National Service.
1958. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison appeared as The Quarry Men at the wedding reception of George's older brother, Harry.
1967. Ian Anderson & Glenn Cornick form rock group Jethro Tull.
1968. John Steinbeck, American author (Grapes of Wrath, Nobel Prize 1940, 1962), dies at 66.
1969. The Rolling Stones went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their 10th release Let It Bleed featuring 'Midnight Rambler', and 'You Can't Always Get What You Want.'
1974. "The Godfather Part II", directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, is released.
1974. Former James Gang and Barnstorm guitarist Joe Walsh officially replaced Bernie Leadon in the Eagles.
1990. The Maerdy Colliery, employing 320 men, closed. It was the last remaining coal mine in the Rhondda Valley, an area which once produced 9 million tonnes a year, and where more than 50,000 miners had worked in 54 pits.
2007. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
2012. Mayan prophecies predicted that the world would end on Saturday morning 22nd December 2012.
2020. European countries begin closing their borders to the UK after news of a faster-spreading variant of COVID-19 across London and the south-east.

 

[Muteswan]

21st. December.
1620. The Pilgrim Fathers arrived at Plymouth Rock , Massachusetts aboard The Mayflower. Passengers & crew increased to 103 after 2 births on the voyage from Plymouth, England.
1844. At 8:00 p.m. On This Day, the Rochdale Pioneers commenced business at their co-operative, on Toad Lane, Rochdale, thus starting the Co-operative movement, often referred to simply as the Co-op.
1898. French Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium.
1929. Coco the Clown first appears for Bertram Mills Circus in Manchester, England.
1937. The first full-length animated feature film and the earliest in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.
1937. Jane Fonda, American actress born in NYC, New York.
1940. Frank Zappa, American rocker, composer, activist and filmmaker, born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1993).
1940. F. Scott Fitzgerald, American author (Great Gatsby, Zelda), dies of a heart attack at 44.
1943. Albert Lee, English guitarist, born in Lingen, Herefordshire.
1963. Under soil heating was used for the first time, at the Leeds Rugby League ground for their match against Dewsbury.
1968. Glen Campbell's album "Wichita Lineman" goes to #1 in the US.
1977. The Trades Union Congress General Council narrowly voted to reject firemen's demands for a public campaign against a 10% limit on wage increases. The union decided by 20 votes to 17 not to support the firemen who were in their sixth week of strike action.
1988. A Pan American jumbo jet bound for New York was blown out of the sky by a terrorist bomb and crashed onto the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 passengers and 11 people on the ground. It remains the deadliest aviation incident ever to take place in the United Kingdom.
2005. Civil Partnership Act comes into force in the UK, with singer Elton John and David Furnish one of the first couples to form a same-sex civil union.
2013. The death, aged 87, of former BBC sports broadcaster David Coleman.
2014. Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish formally converted their civil partnership to a marriage hosting a ceremony at their Windsor estate in Berkshire.
2019. Martin Peters, English midfielder dies from Alzheimer's disease at 76.

 

[Muteswan]

22nd. December.
1858. Giacomo Puccini, Italian opera composer (La bohème, Tosca, Madame Butterfly), born in Lucca, Italy (d. 1924).
1877. Thomas Edison's phonograph is announced by Scientific American.
1880. George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans], English novelist (Adam Bede, Middlemarch), dies on her 61st birthday.
1882. 1st string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Edison.
1932. Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers 1st joint movie "Flying Down to Rio," directed by Thornton Freeland, premieres in NYC.
1932. "The Mummy" directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff is released in the US - 1st Mummy horror film.
1943. Beatrix Potter, English children's writer and illustrator (The Tale of Peter Rabbit,) dies aged 77.
1946. Rick Nielsen, American rock vocalist/guitarist (Cheap Trick), born in Rockford, Illinois.
1949. The birth, on the Isle of Man, of the twin brothers Maurice and Robin Gibb, musicians with The Bee Gees.
1957. Buddy Holly and the The Crickets released the single 'Oh, Boy!' in the UK which became their third Top 10 hit.
1963. Official 30-day mourning period for President John F. Kennedy ends.
1965. The government introduced an 'experimental' speed limit of 70mph on motorways in England. The limit is still in force.
1965. "Doctor Zhivago", directed by David Lean and starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie premieres in NYC.
1967. Richey James Edwards, Welsh musician (Manic Street Preachers), born in Blackwood today (disappeared in 1995).
1967. "The Graduate" American comedy-drama film starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, is released.
1988. Leigh Halfpenny, born today, Wales and Lions rugby international.
2002. Joe Strummer, British lead singer of the punk band "The Clash" (Rock the Casbah), dies at age 50.
2010. The Abbey Road zebra crossing in north London, made famous after appearing on a Beatles album cover was given Grade II listed status.
2014. Joe Cocker, English rock star, died of lung cancer in Crawford, Colorado aged 70.
2016. Ebola vaccine VSV-EBOV is found to be 70-100% effective in a study published in The Lancet, becoming the world's first proven vaccine against Ebola.
2018. Paddy Ashdown, British MP, leader of Liberal Democrats (1988-1999), dies of bladder cancer at 77.

 

[Muteswan]

23rd. December.
1888. Vincent van Gogh cuts off his left ear with a razor, after argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin, and sends to a prostitute for safe keeping.
1888. The birth, in Hull, of the film magnate J. Arthur Rank. He was founder of the Rank Organisation, now known as The Rank Group Plc.
1922. BBC Radio began daily newscasts.
1939. Johnny Kidd, singer, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, born today. Killed in a car crash while on tour in Manchester, England on 7th October 1966.
1947. Transistor invented by John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain and William Shockley in Bell Labs.
1951. Anthony Phillips, English musician (founding member of Genesis), born in London, England.
1954. The first human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
1955. A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas, published this year, is a story in which Thomas recreates the nostalgic magic of a childhood Christmas as though it were a fairy tale. He suggests that modern Christmases are not as good as the ones of his youth when for example, it was always snowing.
1956. Dave Murray, English heavy metal guitarist and songwriter (Iron Maiden), born in London, England.
1959. Chuck Berry was arrested after taking 14 year old Janice Norine (who unbeknown to Berry was working as a prostitute), across a state line. He was sentenced to 5 years jail but after racist comments by the judge, Berry was freed.
1968. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders become the 1st men to orbit the Moon.
1970. The Mousetrap reached its 7511th consecutive performance to break the world record for the longest running play.
1981. Geoffrey Boycott becomes leading run-scorer in Test Cricket with 8033.
1996. Ronnie Scott, British jazz musician/club-owner, dies at 69.
2007. Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist and composer, dies of kidney failure at 82.
2016. United Nations Security Council adopts a landmark resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. Resolution 2334 was moved by New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela and passed 14-0 with a US abstention.

 

[Muteswan]

24th. December.
1777. Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.
1818. Christmas carol "Silent Night" composed by Franz Xaver Gruber is first sung at St Nicholas church in Oberndorf, Austria.
1877. Thomas Edison files a patent for the phonograph.
1893. Henry Ford completes his first useful petrol / gasoline fuelled engine.
1905. Howard Hughes, American reclusive billionaire, filmmaker and aviator (Hughes Aircraft), born in Humble, Texas (d. 1976).
1914. World War 1 - Not a shot was fired, as German & British soldiers played football & handed out drinks, cigars & souvenirs. It was possibly the most poignant moment of the 'Great War' & for several days afterwards the two sides appeared reluctant to fire on the men they had met face to face. Will we ever learn from history of the futility of war?
1922. BBC broadcasts first British radio play "The Truth about Father Christmas".
1932. Colin Cowdrey, MCC President and former England test captain, was born in Udagamandalam, India (d. 2000).
1940. Anthony Fauci, American Immunologist (White House Coronavirus COVID-19 taskforce), born in Brooklyn, New York City.
1944 Barry Chuckle [Barry Patton Elliott], British entertainer, writer and actor, born in Rotherham, England.
1945. Lemmy, English musician, singer, and songwriter who founded and fronted the rock band Motorhead, born today.
1946. Jan Akkerman, guitarist with Dutch rock band Focus born today.
1964. Shooting begins on "The Cage" the pilot for Star Trek.
1965. The Beatles had the No.1 album in the US (Rubber Soul) for the third Christmas in a row.
1968. Ballon d'Or: Manchester United's winger George Best wins award for best European football player ahead of teammate Bobby Charlton.
1969. Ed Milliband, British politician (Leader of the Labour Party, 2010–15), born in Fitzrovia, London.
1976. The Eagles sixth album, Hotel California spent the first of eight non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard chart.
1977. The Sex Pistols played their last ever UK gig, (until 1996), before splitting, at Ivanhoes in Huddersfield.
1988. American glam metal band Poison started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn.'
1994. Pearl Jam went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Vitalogy'.
2016. Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt died in hospital in Marbella, Spain aged 68.
2020. At approximately 2:45pm and after four and a half years of legal and political wrangling, the UK and the EU reached a post Brexit trade deal.

 

[Muteswan]

25th. December.
1. 1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus.
337. Earliest possible date that Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th.
352. 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th.
1066. William the Conqueror is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey, completing the Norman conquest of England.
1176. The first Eisteddfod (Festival of the Arts) took place at Cardigan Castle.
1223. St Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene (Greccio, Italy).
1642. Isaac Newton, English physicist, mathematician and astronomer, born in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, England (d. 1727).
1741. Astronomer Anders Celsius introduces Centigrade temperature scale.
1800. The first Christmas tree in Britain was erected at Queen’s Lodge, Windsor by the German-born Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. She brought the idea over from Germany where the first reports of Christmas trees go back to 1521.
1818. Handel's Messiah, premieres in the US in Boston.
1899. Humphrey Bogart, American actor (Casablanca - "Here's looking at you, kid"), born in NYC, New York (d. 1957).
1914. The Christmas truce between British and German troops continued. At 2 a.m. a German band went along the trenches playing Home Sweet Home and God Save the King.
1932. During King George V's Christmas dinner speech his chair collapses.
1944. Kenny Everett [Maurice James Christopher Cole], British DJ and TV personality, born in Seaforth, Lancashire, England (d. 1995).
1945. (David) Noel Redding, British rock bassist (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), born in Folkstone, England (d. 2003).
1946. W C Fields, writer and comedian, dies at 67.
1954. Bing Crosby's ‘White Christmas’ entered the Billboard Pop chart for the eleventh time. Bing's rendition has sold over 100 million copies around the world, with at least 50 million sales as singles.
1957. Shane MacGowan, punk rock musician (Pogues), born in Pembury, Kent.
1957. Chris Kamara, English footballer and commentator, born today.
1962. "To Kill a Mockingbird", a film adaptation of the novel by Harper Lee, is released.
1968. Frank Borman's Christmas reading while orbiting the Moon.
1977. Charlie Chaplin, British actor and comedian (Modern Times, The Kid), dies in Switzerland at 88.
1978. Born on this day in Swansea, Simon Jones, former cricketer who played first class cricket for Glamorgan, Worcestershire, and Hampshire. Jones also played 18 test matches for England and was a member of the 2005 Ashes winning team. At his peak, he was considered to be one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket and would have won more caps only for a series of serious injuries.
1984. Alastair Cook, English cricketer born today.
1990. "The Godfather Part III" directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Al Pacino, Diane Keaton and Andy Garcia premieres.
1995. Dean Martin [Dino Paul Crocetti], American singer, comedian and actor, dies of throat cancer at 78.
2006. James Brown, rhythm & blues, gospel, jazz, soul and funk singer or simply The Godfather of Soul dies of heart failure at 73.
2008. Eartha Kitt, American singer (Santa Baby), dancer, comedian, actress and activist (Catwoman-Batman), dies at 81.
2016. George Michael [Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou], English singer-songwriter and pop star dies of suspected heart failure at 53.
2019. George Michael's sister Melanie Panayiotou died suddenly age 59 on the third anniversary of the singer's death.

 

[Muteswan]

26th. December.
1606 First known performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" before the court of King James I at Whitehall, London.
1791. Charles Babbage, British inventor (calculating machine), born in London, England (d. 1871).
1860. The first ever inter-club football match took place between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at Hallam's Sandygate Road ground in Sheffield, Yorkshire.
1893. Mao Zedong, Chinese revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist Party of China (1949-76), born in Shaoshan, Hunan (d. 1976).
1932. The BBC presented the first televised pantomime, Dick Whittington.
1939. [Harvey] Phil Spector, American record producer (Wall of Sound), and convicted murderer, born in The Bronx, New York.
1951 "The African Queen", directed by John Huston and based on the 1935 novel of the same name, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, is released in LA, California.
1963. The Beatles release "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" in the US.
1964. Beatles' "I Feel Fine" single goes #1 & stays #1 for 3 weeks.
1964. Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley claim last victim.
1970. George Harrison started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'My Sweet Lord', making him the first Beatle to score a No.1 US hit.
1973. Horror film "The Exorcist" based on book and screenplay by William Peter Blatty, starring Linda Blair, rated X, premieres.
1976. The Sex Pistols recorded 'God Save The Queen' at Wessex Studios London, England.
1979. Pink Floyd’s The Wall was at No.1 on the US album chart.
1981. AC/DC started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'For Those About To Rock We Salute You'.
1983. Violet Carson, (Ena Sharples) British actress (b. 1898).
1985. The animated children's television series, Fireman Sam, which follows the adventures of Sam and the other inhabitants of the fictional town of Pontypandy, was first broadcast as Sam Tan in Welsh on S4C on 26th December 1985. It was later broadcasted in English on BBC1 in 1987.
1990. Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer, born in Caerphilly, United Kingdom.
1991. Jack Ruby's gun sells for $220,000 in auction.
2004. 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and edges of the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people.
2020. Swansea City won away at QPR and Cardiff City lost at home to Brentford.

 

[Neath_Jack]

'The Great Fire of Builth'
Almost every building in Builth was destroyed by a fire that ravaged the town on 27th December 1690. The town was largely rebuilt the following year.
The site of current day Builth was identified as being strategically important as it is situated not only at a fording point of the River Wye but also at the junction of Wales' main north-to-south route with an important south-west-east route. The Normans constructed a wooden motte and bailey castle probably at Caer Beris on the north side of the River Irfon and around which the town of Buellt (later called Builth) developed. As a result of Henry VIII's Laws in Wales Acts in 1535, Buellt became part of the new county of Brecknockshire and Builth became a hundred and thriving market town. Mineral water springs were discovered at Park Wells and Glannau Wells in the mid 18th century which subsequently led to the town's growth as a spa resort during the 19th century. The popularity of the wells led to Builth becoming known as Builth Wells.