Today In History - December 14

644 Osman ibn Affan appointed 3rd kalief of islam
867 Adrian II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
872 John VIII elected as Catholic Pope
1124 Theobald Buccapecus elected Pope Coelestinus II (he refuses)
1287 Zuider Zee seawall collapses with loss of 50,000 lives
1490 Anna van Bretagne marries a proxy Maximilian of Austria
1575 Polish Parliament selects Istvan Bathory as king of Poland
1600 Olivier van Noort sinks Sp galleon San Diego at Bay of Manila, 350 die
1656 Artificial pearls 1st manufactured by M Jacquin in Paris made of gypsum pellets covered with fish scales
1894 Day One 1st Test Cricket Aus vs. Eng Aust 5-346 (Giffen 161, Gregory 85)
1774 Mass militiamen successfully attacked arsenal of Ft. William and Mary
1782 Charleston, South Carolina evacuated by British
1793 1st state road authorized, Frankfort, Kentucky to Cincinnati
1798 David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patents a nut and bolt machine
1819 Alabama admitted to Union as 22nd state
1849 1st chamber music group in U.S. gives their 1st concert (Boston)
1863 Battle of Bean's Station-Confederacy repulses Union in Tenn
1969 Bishen Bedi takes 7-98 (career-best) vs. Australia at Calcutta
1882 Henry Morton Stanley returns to Brussels from the Congo
1889 American Academy of Political and Social Science organized, Phila
1901 1st table tennis tournament is held (London Royal Aquarium)
1913 Greece formally takes possession of Crete
1915 Jack Johnson is 1st black world heavyweight boxing champion
1917 UFA, Universal Film AG, forms in Germany
1918 Giacomo Puccini's opera "Il Trittico," premieres in New York City
1920 Heavyweight Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in New York City
1923 Gerard K "Simon" van het Reve, Dutch writer (Evenings)
1924 Chiang Kai-shek occupies Hankou
1924 Respighi's symphony "Pini di Roma," premieres in Paris
1926 Danish Madsen government, forms
1927 Iraq gains independence from Britain, but British troops remain
1929 Alexander Zaimis elected President of Greece
1928 2nd Test Cricket Australia vs. England starts with Bradman 12th man
1932 French government of Herriot falls
1920 Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1933 Josephine Baker performs in Amsterdam
1934 1st streamlined steam locomotive introduced (Albany New York)
1937 Japanese troops conquer/plunder Nanjing
1938 AL permits Cleveland and Philadelphia to play night games
1938 Major leagues agrees on standard ball
1939 Soviet Union attacks Finland-League of Nations drops Soviet Union
1941 Premier Winston Churchill travels to U.S. on board HMS Duke of York
1944 Begin(ning) Liese-Aktion: werving of labor force for Germany
1944 German occupiers forbid use of electricity in parts of Holland
1945 Elmer Rice' "Dream Girl," premieres in New York City
1946 Togo made a trusteeship territory of UN
1946 U.N. General Assembly votes to establish United Nations HQs in New York City
1930 New York Giants defeat Notre Dame 22-0 in a charity game
1953 Brooklyn Dodgers sign pitcher Sandy Koufax
1955 Dutch Reformed Church condemns woman/wife as vicar
1955 Tappan Zee Bridge in New York opens to traffic
1956 Paul-Henri Spaak appointed Secretary-General of NATO
1957 "Most Happy Fella" closes at Imperial Theater New York City
1954 WOAY TV channel 4 in Oak Hill-Beckley, WV (ABC) begins broadcasting
1959 Archbishop Makarios proclaimed president of Cyprus
1960 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forms
1960 Washington Senators joins American League
1960 Australia vs. West Indies 1st Test Cricket at the Gabba ends in a tie
1941 1st NFL division playoff, Bears beat Packers 33-14
1962 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1961 Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John" is 1st country song to get a gold record
1963 Verne Gagne beats The Crusher in Minneapolis, to become NWA champ
1964 Michael Brown meets Rene Fladen, then writes "Walk Away Rene"
1962 Mariner 2 makes 1st U.S. fly-by of another planet (Venus)
1967 DNA created in a test tube
1969 Jackson Five made their 1st appearance on "Ed Sullivan Show"
1971 Golden Gate Bridge lights out all night due to power failure
1971 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1972 Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt leave the Moon
1972 Willy Brandt re-elected West German chancellor
1977 "Saturday Night Fever,"starring John Travolta, premieres in New York City
1977 Red Sox trade Fergie Jenkins to Rangers for John Poloni and cash
1977 Test Cricket debut of Abdul Qadir, vs. England at Lahore
1976 Dutch 1st Chamber condemns Dutch Liberal/social dem abortion laws
1978 China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1978 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.
1977 Egypt and Israel reps gather in Cairo for 1st formal peace conference
1974 Islander Glenn Resch's 1st shut-out opponent-Kings 3-0
1979 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1980 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.
1984 Howard Cosell retires from Monday Night Football
1985 US Foreign Minister George Shultz arrives in West Berlin
1986 Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, took off from Edwards AFB, California on 1st non-stop, non-refueled flight around world
1980 Anders Kailur scores on 6th Islander penalty shot
1938 Major leagues disagree on increasing rosters from 23 to 25
1987 Chrysler pleads no contest to selling driven vehicles as new
1983 "Peg" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City for 5 performances
1990 Louis Jordan's revue "Five Guys Named Moe," premieres in London
1988 NBA's Miami Heat wins 1st game ever, 89-88 (Clippers), after 17 loses
1992 Lennox Lewis given WBC title, when Riddick Bowe refused to fight him
1980 At 2 PM EST there is 10 minutes of silence in memory of John Lennon
1977 War criminal Pieter Menten sentenced in Amsterdam to 15 years
1980 New Orleans Saints end 14 game losing streak, beat New York Jets 21-20
1995 "Les Miserables" opens at Cable Hall, Helsinki
1995 AIDS patient Jeff Getty recieves baboon bone marrow transplant
1997 "View From the Bridge," opens at Criterion Theater New York City
1997 Diners Club Senior Golf Match
1997 Juli Inkster and Dottie Pepper win LPGA Diners Club Matches
1981 Israel annexes Golan Heights (seized from Syria in war of 1967)
1957 "Rumple" closes at Alvin Theater New York City after 45 performances
1975 6 So Moluccan terrorists surrender, holding 23 hostages for 12 days
1993 Moslem fundamentalists murder 12 Kroates/Bosnians in Algeria
1996 12th Soap Opera Digest Awards
1952 Uprising of captives in Pongam South Korea, 82 die
1975 "Treemonisha" closes at Uris Theater New York City after 64 performances
1991 57th Heisman Trophy Award: Desmond Howard, Michigan (WR)
1952 R H Shodhan scores 110 on Test Cricket debut vs. Pakistan, Calcutta
1978 "Ballroom" opens at Majestic Theater New York City for 116 performances
1903 Reg Foster completes 287 England vs. Australia on Test Cricket debut
1987 Allan Border scores 205 vs. NZ to become Australia's top rungetter
1991 Ferry boat Salem Express sinks in Red Sea, 476 killed
1982 Marcel Dionne, LA, becomes 9th NHLer to score 500 goals
1997 Phoenix Coyote Mike Gartner is 5th NHLer to score 700 goals
1988 CBS' $1.1 B bid wins exclusive 1990-94 major-league baseball rights
1959 J B Jordan in F-104C sets world altitude record, 31,513m

Today In History - December 14

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