Holidays
Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Commemorating the sighting in 1531 of the Virgin Mary by Juan Diego on Tepayac hill outside Mexico City.
A venerated image on a cloak associated with the apparition is enshrined in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The basilica is the most-visited Catholic shrine in the world.
What Happened On
Cabbage Patch Kids
December 12, 1983
The Cabbage Patch Kids dolls are featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine. The dolls were responsible for Black Friday riots at stores where shoppers were trampling each other to "adopt" them. The dolls would go on to set the record as the most successful new doll introduction in the history of the toy industry.
They were created in 1976 by Xavier Roberts using the German technique of needle molding from the 1800s. Instead of selling them, he allowed people to adopt them from Babyland General Hospital, which he ran from a renovated turn of the century medical facility.
The Poseidon Adventure
December 12, 1972
The movie The Poseidon Adventure premieres with its ensemble cast including Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters, and Red Buttons. It tells the story of the crew and passengers' attempts to survive after the SS Poseidon is overturned by a rogue wave.
It was one of a series of all-star disaster movies of the 1970s, and was nominated for nine Oscars, winning four. Made on a budget of $4.7 million, it earned $93.3 million at the box office.
The story was partially inspired by a real incident aboard the RMS Queen Mary during World War II, which was struck by a 92-foot (28 meters) rogue wave that caused her to roll and almost capsize. It is estimated that if she had rolled another five inches, she would have capsized. Parts of this movie were filmed aboard the Queen Mary.
Mad's 1973 parody, The Poopsidedown Adventure, became the magazine's best selling issue.
Jerry Lee Lewis Marries His 13-Year-Old Cousin
December 12, 1957
The 22-year-old singer Jerry Lee Lewis secretly marries his 13-year-old third cousin Myra Gale Brown. It was his third marriage and she was his first cousin once removed and the daughter of the bass player in his band.
It was legal to marry a 13-year-old in Mississippi at the time, however, Lewis was still married to his second wife. The marriage ended in 1970 after Brown filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery and abuse.
He was condemned by the church and his career took a nosedive.
Chalk River before the accident
Chalk River before the accident
First Nuclear Reactor Accident
December 12, 1952
The Chalk River nuclear plant in Canada experiences a melt down and explosion of its reactor core. Some 4,500 tons of radioactive water was found in the cellar of the building. This water was dumped into ditches about 1 mile (1600 meters) from the border of the Ottawa River. Future U.S. president Jimmy Carter, a U.S. Navy nuclear engineer at the time, was part of the cleanup crew. The facility suffered a second reactor accident in 1958.
It was also the first nuclear reactor outside of the U.S.
World War II - Final Solution
December 12, 1941
Adolf Hitler announces the imminent liquidation of the Jewish race during a Reich Chancellery meeting with the highest ranking officials of the Nazi Party present. This marked a turning point when the Nazis went from propaganda and intimidation to extermination.
Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary about the meeting, "Regarding the Jewish Question, the Führer has decided to make a clean sweep. He prophesied to the Jews that, if they yet again brought about a world war, they would experience their own annihilation. That was not just a phrase. The world war is here, and the annihilation of the Jews must be the necessary consequence."
Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany's loss of World War I, even though over 100,000 German and Austrian Jews had fought for Germany in the war.
Using a kite to raise the receiving antenna
Using a kite to raise the receiving antenna
First Transatlantic Radio Signal
December 12, 1901
Broadcast from England to Newfoundland, by Guglielmo Marconi. The distance was about 2,200 miles (3,500 km). They used a 500-foot (150 meters) receiving antenna held aloft by a kite.
His detractors said it was impossible to send radio waves more than 200 miles because the radio waves would not follow the curvature of the Earth. Marconi believed they would. They were both wrong. Marconi was wrong because the radio waves did NOT follow the curvature of the Earth as he believed. And his detractors were wrong because it was possible to transmit radio waves long distances due to their bouncing off the ionosphere.
The message consisted solely of the Morse code signal for the letter "s".
Golf Tee
December 12, 1899
George F. Grant receives a patent for the first golf tee.
Iraq War
December 12, 2002
CIA Director George Tenet is said to have assured U.S. President George W. Bush that the evidence against Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction was a slam dunk. However, this turned out to be untrue. Bush would later declare "George Tenet did a superb job for America."
Bush vs. Gore
December 12, 2000
The U.S. Supreme Court reverses a Florida Supreme Court request for a manual recount of Florida's U.S. presidential election ballots. The 5-4 decision effectively gave Florida's 25 electoral votes to George W. Bush, thus winning the election. Much of the controversy stemmed from improperly-functioning voting machines that left ballots with hanging and pregnant chads.
Reagan
December 12, 1983
U.S. President Ronald Reagan tells the Congressional Medal of Honor Society the stirring story of a Medal of Honor winner; unfortunately the story was fictional, probably from a 1944 issue of Reader's Digest.
Nancy Reagan and Mr. T
December 12, 1983
U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan sits on Mr. T's lap and kisses him on top of his head. Mr. T had been invited to play Santa Claus at the White House.
Kenya
December 12, 1963
The British colony declares its independence.
Elvis Is Not In the Spirit of Christmas
December 12, 1957
Portland, Oregon disc jockey Al Priddy is fired for playing Elvis Presley's version of White Christmas. The station management said, "it's not in the spirit we associate with Christmas."
Saab
December 12, 1949
The military aircraft supplier begins full-scale production of its first automobile, the model 92. The engine was a transversely mounted, water-cooled two-cylinder, two-stroke 764 cc, 25 hp (19 kW) with a three-speed transmission, giving a top speed of 65 mph (105 km/h). They were originally all painted green, supposedly because SAAB had an abundance of green left over from their wartime production of airplanes.
Mae West Seduces Dummy
December 12, 1937
Mae West seduces Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy on radio causing a public outcry which lead to an FCC investigation, in which NBC was reprimanded on the grounds of indecency. NBC blamed West, claiming that there was nothing indecent in the content of the sketch itself, but it was West's tone and style of performance that made it offensive. NBC banned West, and even the mention of her name, from all network programs. She didn't return to radio again until 1950.
First U.S. Motel
December 12, 1925
The first U.S. motel, the Motel Inn in San Luis Obispo, California opens.
Boys Town
December 12, 1917
Father Flanagan opens Boys Town, the Omaha, Nebraska orphanage and home for troubled boys. He believed, "There is no such thing as a bad boy."
The Katzenjammer Kids
December 12, 1897
The Katzenjammer Kids comic strip premieres. It was created by Rudolph Dirks who was the first cartoonist to regularly express comic strip dialogue in speech balloons.
First Black Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
December 12, 1870
Joseph Hayne Rainey of South Carolina is sworn in, serving until 1879. He was the second black to serve in the U.S. Congress, and the first black presiding officer of the House of Representatives.
Born into slavery, he was freed when his father purchased the freedom of his entire family and himself.
First American Bishop
December 12, 1790
Father John Carroll is installed and placed in charge of the Diocese of Baltimore.
Pennsylvania
December 12, 1787
Pennsylvania becomes the 2nd U.S. state.
Birthdays
Dionne Warwick (Marie Dionne Warrick)
Born December 12, 1940
American Grammy-winning singer. Music: Valley of the Dolls (1968), Do You Know The Way To San Jose (1968, Grammy), Then Came You (1974, #1), I'll Never Love This Way Again (1979, Grammy), We Are The World (1985, #1), and That's What Friends Are For (1985, #1).
Connie Francis (Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero)
Born December 12, 1938
American singer, actress. She was the top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s and is estimated to have sold more than 100 million records.
Music: Who's Sorry Now (1958) and Where The Boys Are (1961).
Photo Credit: Intel Free Press
Photo Credit: Intel Free Press
Mayor of Silicon Valley
Robert Norton Noyce
Born December 12, 1927 d. 1990
American businessman. Nicknamed "Mayor of Silicon Valley." He co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor (1957) and Intel (1968). Jack Kilby had invented the first hybrid integrated circuit in 1958 made of germanium. The following year, Noyce invented the monolithic integrated circuit on silicon. Noyce's was more practical than Kilby's implementation and modern ICs are based on Noyce's design.
Photo Credit: Iaksge
Photo Credit: Iaksge
Bob Barker
Born December 12, 1923 d. 2023
American TV personality. TV: Truth or Consequences (1956-74, host), Price Is Right (1972-2007, host), Miss USA Pageant (emcee), Miss Universe Pageant (emcee), and SpongeBob SquarePants (2015, voice of Bob Barnacle). Film: Happy Gilmore (1996, as himself).
Barker is 1/8 Sioux Indian and is an official member of the Sioux tribe, having spent most of his youth on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Mission, South Dakota.
Frank Sinatra (Francis Albert Sinatra)
Born December 12, 1915 d. 1998
American singer, Oscar-winning actor. Music: Strangers in the Night (1966). He sold more than 150 million records worldwide, "doing it his way".
Music: Love and Marriage (1955), Strangers in the Night (1966), My Way (1969), and New York, New York (1980).
Film: From Here to Eternity (1953, Oscar), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and The Manchurian Candidate (1962).
Edvard Munch
Born December 12, 1863 d. 1944
Norwegian artist. Paintings: The Scream (1893). In 1994, The Scream was stolen from Oslo's National Art Museum. Thieves stole the painting by using a ladder to enter a window where the painting was stored. Two men were arrested while trying to collect a $414,000 ransom for the painting and the painting was returned.
A week after the theft, the Rev. Borre Knudsen, leader of a Norwegian anti-abortion movement, announced that the painting would be returned if Norwegian television would broadcast the anti-abortion film The Silent Scream. However, Knudsen was not involved in the theft.
Tracy Ann Austin
Born December 12, 1962
American tennis Hall-of-Famer. She won her first Wimbledon match at age 14 and became the youngest player to earn $1,000,000.
Ana Alicia (Ana Alicia Ortiz)
Born December 12, 1956
Mexican-born actress. TV: Falcon Crest (Melissa).
Emerson Fittipaldi
Born December 12, 1946
Brazilian auto racer. Winner of the Formula World Champion (1972, '74) and Indianapolis 500 (1989, '93).
Grover Washington Jr.
Born December 12, 1943 d. 1999
American saxophonist. Music: Just the Two of Us (1981, #2). He was one of the most commercially successful jazz musicians of the '70s and '80s.
Ed Koch (Edward Irving Koch)
Born December 12, 1924 d. 2013
American politician, mayor of New York City (1978-89), U.S. House of Representatives (NY, 1969-77).
Zack Mosley
Born December 12, 1906 d. 1993
American cartoonist. Creator of The Adventures of Smilin' Jack (1933-73).
Edward G. Robinson (Emmanuel Goldenberg)
Born December 12, 1893 d. 1973
American actor. Film: Little Caesar (1931, the gangster boss).
Harry Morris Warner
Born December 12, 1881 d. 1958
Russian-born American film executive. He and his brothers Sam, Albert, and Jack founded Warner Bros. Pictures (1923).
Gustave Flaubert
Born December 12, 1821 d. 1880
French author. Writings: Madame Bovary.
John Jay
Born December 12, 1745 d. 1829
6th president of the Continental Congress (1778-79), co-author of the Federalist papers (1787), Secretary of State ad interim (until Thomas Jefferson could take office, 1790), the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1789-95), and governor of New York (1795-1801).
Deaths
Overcame Crippling Polio to Become the Fastest Woman in the World
Wilma Rudolph
Died December 12, 1994 b. 1940
African-American Hall of Fame sprinter. She contracted polio at the age of five, losing strength in left leg and foot and had to wear a leg brace until the age of 12. The 20th of her father's 22 children, her family members gave her daily leg massages to restore the strength in her legs. She competed in the 1956 Olympics, where her 4x100 meter relay team won the bronze medal, with a time matching the previous world record of 44.9 seconds.
In the 1960 Olympics, she won gold medals in the 100 and 200-meter dash and the 4×100-meter relay, making her the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympiad. She also set a new Olympic record of 23.2 seconds for the 200-meter dash, earning her the title, "Fastest Woman in the World."
She died at age 54 after being diagnosed with brain and throat cancer.
Illustration of Crusoe in goatskin clothing shows the influence of Selkirk
Illustration of Crusoe in goatskin clothing shows the influence of Selkirk
The Real Robinson Crusoe
Alexander Selkirk
Died December 12, 1721 b. 1676
Scottish sailor. The real Robinson Crusoe. He was marooned by his captain on an uninhabited island off the coast of Chile (1704-09). His highly-publicized ordeal was the basis for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe character.
John Le Carré (David John Moore Cornwell)
Died December 12, 2020 b. 1931
British spy novelist. Writings: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974), and Drummer Girl (1983).
Le Carré worked for both the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) during th 1950s and 1960s.
Charley Pride
Died December 12, 2020 b. 1934
American Hall of Fame Grammy-winning country singer, baseball player (Memphis Red Sox, 1954). He is considered the most successful black country singer and was the first country singer to perform the national anthem at a Super Bowl (1974). He became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis Presley. During the peak years of his recording career (1966–87), he had 30 #1 hits and won the Entertainer of the Year award at the Country Music Association Awards (1971).
Danny Aiello
Died December 12, 2019 b. 1933
American actor. Film: Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Moonstruck (1987), Harlem Nights (1989), and Do the Right Thing (1989, the pizzeria owner).
Photo Credit: Edge4life42
Photo Credit: Edge4life42
Ike Turner (Izear Luster Turner Jr.)
Died December 12, 2007 b. 1931
American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Grammy-winning singer, guitarist, with wife Tina Turner. Music: Rocket 88 (1951, is considered by many to be the first rock and roll song) and Proud Mary. Quote: "One of two things happen when you hit a woman. Either she heads for the door or she's all yours."
Peter Boyle (Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr.)
Died December 12, 2006 b. 1935
American Emmy-winning actor, ex-monk with the Christian Brothers order. Film: Young Frankenstein (1974, the monster) and Taxi Driver (1976, Wizard the philosophical taxi driver). TV: Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005, Frank Barone).
Joseph Heller
Died December 12, 1999 b. 1923
American author. Writings: Catch-22 (1961).
Anne Baxter
Died December 12, 1985 b. 1923
American Oscar-winning actress. Film: The Razor's Edge (1946, Oscar) and All About Eve (1950, title role). TV: Hotel (Victoria Cabot).
David Sarnoff
Died December 12, 1971 b. 1891
Russian-born American radio and TV pioneer, president of RCA (1930-70), and founder of NBC (1926). He started out as a telegraph operator.
Tallulah Bankhead
Died December 12, 1968 b. 1902
American actress. Stage: The Little Foxes (1939, Regina) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1943, Sabrina). Film: Lifeboat (1944).
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (Douglas Elton Ullman)
Died December 12, 1939 b. 1883
American actor. First of the Hollywood swashbucklers. He co-founded United Artists (1919).
John Wanamaker
Died December 12, 1922 b. 1838
American merchant, U.S. Postmaster General (1889-93). He introduced the use of mailboxes in an effort to make mail delivery more efficient (1891). Until then the mailman would knock on your door and hand deliver the mail.