Historical Events
American Federation of Labor Forms
Dec 8 American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 1 Jack Crawford, English cricket all-rounder (12 Tests; Surrey, South Australia, Otago), born in Cane Hill, Surrey, England (d. 1963)
- Dec 1 Pierre Kemp, Dutch poet (Fugitives & Constants), born in Maastricht, Netherlands (d. 1967)
- Dec 1 Rex Stout, American mystery writer (Nero Wolf novels), born in Noblesville, Indiana (d. 1975)
- Dec 1 Zhu De, Chinese general and politician (commander-in-chief of Eighth Route Army), born in Yilong Country, Qing Dynasty (d. 1976)
- Dec 2 Earl Cooper, American auto racer (AAA National Championship 1913, 15, 17; Indianapolis 500, 1924 runner-up), born in Broken Bow, Nebraska (d. 1965)
- Dec 3 Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (Nobel 1924-discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy), born in Örebro, Sweden (d. 1978)
- Dec 5 Pieter Oud, Dutch politician and Mayor of Rotterdam (1945-52), born in Purmerend, Netherlands (d. 1968)
Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)
Dec 6 American poet (Trees), born in New Brunswick, New Jersey
Diego Rivera (1886-1957)
Dec 8 Mexican painter (En el Arsenal) and husband of Frida Kahlo, born in Guanajuato, México
Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956)
Dec 9 American inventor and founder of the modern frozen food industry (Birdseye), born in Brooklyn, New York
Victor McLaglen (1886-1959)
Dec 10 English actor (The Informer - Academy Award 1935), born in Tunbridge Wells, England
Ty Cobb (1886-1961)
Dec 18 American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (AL MVP 1911; Triple Crown 1909; 12 × AL batting champion; Detroit Tigers) and manager (Detroit Tigers 1921-26), born in Narrows, Georgia
- Dec 20 Domingo Julio Gómez Garcia, Spanish composer, born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1973)
- Dec 20 Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1909-11, 19), born in Healdsburg, California (d. 1974)
- Dec 21 George Norman Peterkin, English composer and music publisher, born in Liverpool, England (d. 1982)
- Dec 21 Hermann A. J. Kees, German egyptologist (Problems of Egyptology), born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1964)
- Dec 23 Albert Ehrenstein, Austrian writer and poet (Message from the Madhouse), born in Ottakring, Vienna (d. 1950)
- Dec 24 Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-born American film director, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1962)
- Dec 25 Edward "Kid" Ory, American New Orleans style jazz trombonist, and band leader, born in LaPlace, Louisiana (d. 1973)
Famous Weddings
Edith Roosevelt & Theodore Roosevelt
Dec 2 26th US President Theodore Roosevelt (28) weds second wife Edith Kermit Carow (25) in London
Juliette Gordon Low
Dec 21 Founder of Girl Scouts of the USA Juliette Gordon Low (26) weds William Mackay Low in Savannah, Georgia
Famous Deaths
- Dec 5 Peter Hofstede de Groot, Dutch reformed theologist, dies at 84
- Dec 14 Antoni Wincenty Rutkowski, Polish-Russian composer, dies at 27
- Dec 30 William Wing "Old Blizzards" Loring, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 68
- Dec 31 Charles Pierre Schimpf, Dutch general (Governor of Suriname 1855-59), dies at 74
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
80-89
Over 90