What Happened in December 1949

Historical Events

Chiang Kai-shek Flees

Dec 7 Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek flees to Taiwan

Chinese Military and Political Leader Chiang Kai-shek

On the Town

Dec 8 "On the Town", the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen, premieres

Dec 8 Chinese Nationalist government moves from Chinese mainland to Formosa
Dec 8 Jule Styne and Leo Robin's musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", starring Carol Channing, opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; runs for 740 performances
Dec 9 House of Representatives of The Netherlands accepts Indonesian sovereignty
Dec 9 NFL merges with AAFC; Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers & Baltimore Colts join league intact, other teams in New York and Los Angeles are merged with existing units
Dec 11 Chicago Bear Johnny Lujack passes for 6 touchdowns vs Chicago Cards (52-29)
Dec 11 Cleveland Browns beat SF '49ers 21-7 in final AAFC championship game
Dec 11 WOAI (now KMOL) TV channel 4 in San Antonio, TX (NBC) 1st broadcast
Dec 12 AL votes 7-1 rejecting legalizing the spitball
Dec 13 AL votes down proposal to revive spitball
Dec 13 Knesset votes to transfer Israel's capital to Jerusalem

The Just Assassins

Dec 15 Albert Camus' play "The Just Assassins (Les Justes)" premieres in Paris

Dec 16 Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, later knows as SAAB, is founded in Sweden.
Dec 17 Burma recognizes People's Republic of China

Regina

Dec 17 Marc Blitzstein's musical drama "Regina", based on Lillian Hellman's play "The Little Foxes", closes at 46th St Theatre, NYC. after 56 performances and 2 Tony Awards

A Streetcar Named Desire

Dec 17 Tennessee Williams' stage drama "A Streetcar Named Desire", starring Jessica Tandy, Marlon Brando, and Kim Hunter, and directed by Elia Kazan closes at Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC, after 855 performances, winning a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize

Dec 18 National Football League Championship, Philadelphia Eagles beat Los Angeles Rams, 14-0; played in driving rain that caused field to become a mud pit
Dec 19 Luxury passenger ship Aquitania demolished in Gareloch, Scotland
Dec 19 WJW TV channel 8 in Cleveland, Ohio (CBS) begins broadcasting

"Beauty And The Beast"

Dec 20 Maurice Ravel and John Cranko's ballet "Beauty And The Beast" premieres

"Samson and Delilah"

Dec 21 "Samson and Delilah", directed and produced by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature, premieres in New York

Dec 21 Dutch 1st Chamber accept sovereignty of Indonesia

Event of Interest

Dec 27 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands grants independence to Indonesia

Dec 28 20th Century Fox announces it will produce TV programs
Dec 29 1st UHF television station operating regular basis Bridgeport, Connecticut
Dec 29 Hungary nationalized its industries
Dec 30 India recognizes People's Republic of China
Dec 31 18 countries recognize Republic Indonesia

Events in 1949

Famous Birthdays

Pablo Escobar (1949-1993)

Dec 1 Colombian drug lord, born in Rionegro, Colombia

Sebastián Piñera (1949-2024)

Dec 1 Chilean businessman and politician (President of Chile, 2010-14 and 2018-22), born in Santiago, Chile

Dec 2 Ron Raines, American actor (Alan Spaulding-Guiding Light), born in Texas City, Texas
Dec 3 Christopher John Seward, aid worker
Dec 3 Heather Menzies-Urich, Canadian actress (The Sound of Music; Piranha), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2017)
Dec 3 John Akii-bua, Ugandan athlete (Olympic gold 400m hurdles 1972), born in Abako, Uganda (d. 1997)
Dec 3 Mickey Thomas, American rock vocalist (Jefferson Starship - "Jane"; Starship -"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"), born in Cairo, Georgia

Jeff Bridges (74 years old)

Dec 4 American actor (Stay Hungry, Against All Odds), born in Los Angeles, California

Dec 4 Pamela Stephenson, New Zealand-born Australian actress (Superman 3, Sat Night Live), born in Takapuna, Auckland
Dec 5 Bruce E Melnick, American Cmdr USCG/astronaut (STS 41, STS 49), born in New York City
Dec 5 Enrico Pieranunzi, Italian classically trained jazz pianist, and composer, born in Rome, Italy
Dec 5 Lanny Wadkins, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1977), born in Richmond, Virginia
Dec 5 Lewis Arlt, American actor (Littlest Victims, Ken-Another World), born in Kingston, New York
Dec 5 Pamela Blair American stage actress, singer, and dancer (A Chorus Line), born in Bennington, Vermont (d. 2023)
Dec 5 Ray Comfort, New Zealand evangelist, born in Christchurch, New Zealand
Dec 6 Doug Marlette, American editorial cartoonist (Kudzu), born in Greensboro, North Carolina (d. 2007)
Dec 6 Linda Creed, American singer and songwriter ("The Greatest Love Of All"; "You Make Me Feel Brand New"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1986) [1]
Dec 6 Peter Willey, English cricketer (England batsman late 70's early 80's), born in Sedgefield, County Durham, England

Tom Waits (74 years old)

Dec 7 American singer-songwriter, pianist (Small Change; Blue Valentine; "Jersey Girl"), and actor (Ironweed; Down By Law), born in Pomona, California

Dec 8 Mary Gordon, American author (The Company of Women), born in Far Rockaway, New York
Dec 8 Ray Shulman, Scottish progressive rock bassist, songwriter (Gentle Giant), and record producer (The Sugarcubes), born in Portsmouth, England (d. 2023)
Dec 8 Robert Sternberg, Proposed the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
Dec 9 Nando Parrado, Uruguayan survivor of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 (crashed in the Andes mountains on 13 October 1972), born in Montevideo, Uruguay

Tom Kite (74 years old)

Dec 9 American golfer (US Open 1992; 19 PGA Tour titles, The Tradition 2000), born in McKinney, Texas

Dec 10 Ismail "Pops" Mohamed, South African jazz multi-instrumentalist and producer, born in Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa
Dec 11 Noel Campbell, Irish soccer midfielder (11 caps; St Patrick's Athletic FC, SC Fortuna Köln, Shamrock Rovers FC), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 2022)
Dec 12 Bill Nighy, English actor (The Men's Room, Gideon's Daughter), born in Caterham, Surrey, England
Dec 12 Ricardo Luis Carreras, American bantamweight boxer (Olympic bronze 1972), born in New York City
Dec 13 Mark Elf, American Jazz guitarist (Trickynometry), and educator, born in Queens, New York
Dec 13 Nana Alexandria, Georgian International Woman's Chess Grandmaster (1976), born in Poti, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
Dec 13 Paula Wilcox, English actress (Man About the House), born in Manchester, Lancashire, England
Dec 13 R. A. MacAvoy, American sci-fi author (Damiano's Lute, Raphael), born in Cleveland, Ohio
Dec 13 Randy Owen, American country music star (Alabama - "Mountain Music"), born in Fort Payne, Alabama
Dec 13 Robert Lindsey, English actor (My Family, Citizen Smith), born in Ilkeston, England
Dec 13 Tom Verlaine [Miller], American rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist (Television - "Marquee Moon"), born in Denville, New Jersey (d. 2023)
Dec 14 Bill Buckner, American MLB 1st baseman (1986 World Series infamous fielding error; NL batting champ 1980), born in Vallejo, California (d. 2019)
Dec 14 Cliff Williams, English rock bassist (AC/DC), born in Romford, Essex, England
Dec 15 Don Johnson, American actor (Miami Vice - "Sonny Crockett"; Nash Bridges), and pop singer ("Heartbeat"), born in Flatt Creek, Missouri
Dec 15 Ton Sijbrands, Dutch world checkers champion, born in Amsterdam
Dec 16 Billy Gibbons, American blues-rock guitarist (Moving Sidewalks; ZZ Top - "Cheap Sunglasses"; "Legs"), born in Houston, Texas
Dec 16 Sugar Blue [Jimmie Whiting], American touring and session blues harmonica player (Louisiana Red; Rolling Stones), born in Harlem, New York
Dec 17 Paul Rodgers, English-Canadian rock singer and musician (Bad Company - "Feel Like Makin' Love", "Rock and Roll Fantasy"; The Firm; + Queen), born in Middlesbrough, England
Dec 17 Sotiris Kaiafas, Cypriot footballer
Dec 18 Blaze Foley [Michael Fuller], American outlaw country singer-songwriter (Wanted More Dead Than Alive), born in Malvern, Arkansas (d. 1989)
Dec 18 Joni Flynn, Indian actress (Octopussy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail), born in Assam, India
Dec 19 Christian Dalger, French soccer forward (6 caps; SC Toulon, AS Monaco FC) and manager (SC Toulon, Grenoble, Mali), born in Nîmes, France (d. 2023)
Dec 19 Claudia Kolb, American swimmer (Olympic gold 200/400m medley 1968; silver 200m breaststroke 1964), born in Hayward, California
Dec 19 Lenny White, American jazz-fusion drummer (Return to Forever), born in Queens, New York
Dec 19 Nancy Kyes, American actress
Dec 19 Sebastian [Knud Torben Christensen], Danish musician and composer, born in Sønderborg, Denmark
Dec 20 Cecil Cooper, American baseball player, born in Brenham, Texas
Dec 20 Claudia Jennings [Mary Ellen Chestrerton], American actress and Playboy playmate (Nov 1969, Playmate of the year 1970), born in Saint Paul, Minnesota (d. 1979)
Dec 20 Soumaïla Cissé, Malian politician, born in Timbuktu, Mali
Dec 21 Nikolaos Sifounakis, Greek politician, born in Rethymno, Greece
Dec 21 Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé revolutionary and politician, President of Burkina Faso (1983-87), born in Yako, Upper Volta (d. 1987)

Maurice Gibb (1949-2003)

Dec 22 English rock-pop-disco singer-songwriter and bassist (Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever), born in Douglas, Isle of Man

Dec 22 Michael Osborne, American rock guitarist and vocalist (Axe), born in Florida (d. 1984)
Dec 22 Ray Guy, American College-Pro Football HOF punter (Southern Miss; Super Bowl 1976, 80, 84; 6 × First-team All-Pro; 7 × Pro Bowl; Oakland/LA Raiders), born in Swainsboro, Georgia (d. 2022)

Robin Gibb (1949-2012)

Dec 22 English rock-pop-disco singer-songwriter and producer (Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever), born in Douglas, Isle of Man

Dec 23 Luther Grosvenor, English rock musician (Spooky Tooth), born in Evesham, United Kingdom
Dec 23 Wally Edwards, Australian cricket batsman (3 Tests; West Australia CA), born in Perth, Australia
Dec 23 [Steven] Adrian Belew, American new wave and progressive rock singer and guitarist (Frank Zappa; David Bowie; King Crimson, 1981-2009; The Bears), born in Covington, Kentucky
Dec 24 Randy Neugebauer, American politician, born in St. Louis, Missouri
Dec 24 Ray Colcord III, American film and television composer, born in New York City (d. 2016)
Dec 24 Warwick Brown, Australian racing driver, born in Sydney, Australia
Dec 25 Joe Louis Walker, American electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, born in San Francisco, California
Dec 25 Mustafa Cengiz, Turkish businessman and sports administrator (president Galatasaray S.K. 2018-21), born in Nizip, Turkey (d. 2021)

Nawaz Sharif (74 years old)

Dec 25 Pakistani politician, Prime Minister (1990-93, 1997-99, 2013-17), born in Lahore, Pakistan

Dec 25 Serhiy Novikov, Russian judoka (Olympic gold heavyweight 1976), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 2021)
Dec 25 Simone [Bittencourt de Oliveira], Brazilian pop-samba singer, born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Sissy Spacek (74 years old)

Dec 25 American Actress (Carrie, Badlands, Coal Miner's Daughter), born in Quitman, Texas

Dec 26 Ira Newborn, American orchestra leader (The Manhattan Transfer), born in New York City
Dec 26 José Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor, Nobel laureate
Dec 27 T.S. Monk [Thelonious Sphere Monk III], American jazz drummer, composer, and bandleader, born in New York City
Dec 28 Gheorghe Berceanu, Romanian Greco-Roman wrestler (Olympic gold light-flyweight 1972, silver 1976; World C'ship gold 1969, 72), born in Cârna, Romania (d. 2022)
Dec 29 Syed Kirmani, Indian cricketer (Indian keeper after Engineer), born in Chennai, India
Dec 30 Bruce Davidson, equestrian 3-day (Olympic silver 1996)
Dec 30 Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian musician and record producer (Loverboy; Bon Jovi; Aerosmith), born in Vancouver, British Columbia (d. 1999)
Dec 30 Jim Flaherty, Canadian politician, Minister of Finance (2006-2014), born in Lachine, Quebec (d. 2014)
Dec 31 Ellen Datlow, American editor, born in New York City
Dec 31 Sara K. [Wooldridge], American musician (Gypsy Alley), born in Dallas, Texas
Dec 31 Susan Shwartz, American author, born in Youngstown, Ohio

Born in 1949

Famous Deaths

Dec 2 Albert Ammons, American jazz, blues, and boogie-woogie pianist, dies at 42
Dec 3 Elin Pelin [Dimitar Ivanov Stoyanov], Bulgarian writer (The Gerak Family; Earth), dies at 72
Dec 3 Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian stage and film actress (The Wolf Man; King's Row), and teacher (School of Dramatic Art - New York), dies following a house fire at 73
Dec 3 Philip Barry, American dramatist (The Philadelphia Story), dies of a heart attack at 53

Lead Belly (1888-1949)

Dec 6 American blues 12-string guitarist (Rock Island Line), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 64

Dec 10 Duncan Stewart, 2nd British Governor of Sarawak (1949), dies at 45 after being fatally stabbed in the streets of Sibu by pro-Indonesian Malay student Rosli Dhoby
Dec 16 Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (Ben Hur), dies at 76
Dec 16 Traitsjo Kostov, Bulgarian communist vice-premier, executed by the state at 52
Dec 17 David Stanley Smith, American composer (Merrymount), dies at 72
Dec 28 Hervey Allen, American writer and poet (Anthony Adverse), dies at 60
Dec 28 Ivie Anderson, American swing jazz singer (Duke Ellington Orchestra, 1931-42), dies of complications from chronic asthma at 45 [1]
Dec 28 Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (Olympic gold 1,500m 1936), dies in rail accident at 39

On This Day