Historical Events
Event of Interest
Dec 1 Henry John Heinz's first company, the Heinz Noble & Company, goes bankrupt in the aftermath of the Panic of 1873
Tweed Escapes Jail
Dec 4 Influential New York politician William Magear Tweed "Boss Tweed" of Tammany Hall escapes from jail where he was being held for embezzlement (flees to Spain but later recaptured)
Volki i Ovsty
Dec 8 Aleksandr Ostrovsky's "Volki i Ovsty" premieres in St Petersburg
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 2 Frank Reicher, German-American actor (King Kong, Son of Kong), born in Munich, Germany (d. 1965)
- Dec 3 Bernhard Lichtenberg, German clergyman and theologian, born in Ohlau, Prussian Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (d. 1943)
- Dec 3 Max Meldrum, Scottish-Australian painter (founder of Australian Tonalism), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1955)
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
Dec 4 Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist (Ana, The City, Duino Elegies), born in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
Arthur Currie (1875-1933)
Dec 5 Canadian army officer (1st Canadian commander of Canadian Corps, WWI), born in Napperton, Ontario
Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953)
Dec 12 German field marshal during World War II (Commander-in-Chief in the West), born in Aschersleben, German Empire
- Dec 14 Dobri Khristov, Bulgarian composer, born in Varna, Bulgaria (d. 1941)
- Dec 15 Emilio Jacinto, Filipino poet and revolutionary, born in Tondo, Manila (d. 1899)
- Dec 15 Friedrich Niggli, Swiss composer, born in Aarburg, Switzerland (d. 1959)
- Dec 19 Carter G. Woodson, American historian (African American studies), born in New Canton, Virginia (d. 1950)
- Dec 20 T. F. Powys, British novelist and short-story writer (Captain Patch, Goat Green), born in Shirley, Derbyshire (d. 1953)
- Dec 22 Antoine Mariotte, French composer (Paysage maritime), born in Avignon (d. 1944)
- Dec 22 Johannes "Jan" Musch, Dutch actor (Dead Water), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1960)
- Dec 25 Theodor Innitzer, Austrian cardinal and archbishop Vienna, born in Neugeschrei, Bohemia (d. 1955)
- Dec 25 Walter Lees, English cricket fast bowler (5 Tests, 26 wickets), born in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire, England (d. 1924)
Famous Weddings
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi
Dec 15 French "Statue of Liberty" sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (41) weds one of his models, Jeanne-Emilie Baheux Puysieux (46) in Newport, Rhode Island, until his death in 1904
Famous Deaths
- Dec 10 Otogaki Rengetsu, zen nun/benefactress of Tessai, dies at about 84
- Dec 14 Marie-Anne Gaboury, French-Canadian settler (first white woman to settle in Western Canada), dies at 95 [1]
- Dec 20 Michail P Pogodin, Russian historian/writer (Povesti), dies at 75
- Dec 22 Nikolai Titov, Russian Major General, violinist, and composer, dies at 75
- Dec 25 Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (British Open 1868-70, 72), dies of pulmonary haemorrhage at 24
