What Happened On
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
December 18, 1966
The Dr. Seuss story How the Grinch Stole Christmas! makes its TV debut, with narration by Boris Karloff and the song You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch sung by Thurl Ravenscroft (who also voiced Tony the Tiger). It became an instant television Christmas classic.
Atlas-B rocket with its SCORE payload ready for launch
Atlas-B rocket with its SCORE payload ready for launch
First Communications Satellite
December 18, 1958
Project SCORE (Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment), the world's first communications satellite is launched by the U.S. to test communications relay systems in space. It could receive messages and store them on tape to be relayed back to Earth. On December 19th, it broadcast a pre-recorded Christmas message from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower via short wave radio.
"This is the President of the United States speaking. Through the marvels of scientific advance, my voice is coming to you from a satellite circling in outer space. My message is a simple one: Through this unique means I convey to you and to all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill toward men everywhere."
Over the course of the mission, 78 real-time and store-and-forward transmissions were sent between the four ground stations.
The batteries were only designed to last a few days and it fell back to Earth burning up in the atmosphere on January 21, 1959.
Authorities Destroying Illegal Alcohol
Authorities Destroying Illegal Alcohol
Prohibition
December 18, 1917
The 18th amendment prohibiting intoxicating liquors in the U.S. is sent to the states for ratification. While it did not prohibit the consumption of alcohol, it did ban the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. The Volstead Act, which defined the terms used in the 18th Amendment, defined an intoxicating liquor as any beverage containing more than 0.5 percent alcohol. This caused beer and wine to also be prohibited.
It went into effect in 1920 and was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment.
Carbon filament light bulb
Photo Credit: Ulfbastel
Carbon filament light bulbPhoto Credit: Ulfbastel
Incandescent Light
December 18, 1878
Joseph Swan demonstrates his carbon filament electric light, almost a year before Thomas Edison. Even though the light burned bright in his laboratory, it broke down due to excessive current. Swan repeated his demonstration on January 17, 1879 with the lamp shown in actual operation.
Swan had developed the carbon filament lamp in 1860, but due to the lack a good vacuum pump it had a short lifetime. With the development of better vacuum pumps, he was able to reduce the oxygen in the bulb allowing the filament to glow almost white-hot without catching fire.
Photo Credit: André Karwath aka Aka
Photo Credit: André Karwath aka Aka
13th Amendment Abolishing Slavery Goes into Effect
December 18, 1865
It abolished slavery in the U.S. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
Ebonics
December 18, 1996
The Oakland, California school board unanimously passes a resolution for the incorporating of Ebonics in the classroom. The Oakland resolution mandated it was both for "maintaining the legitimacy and richness of such language … and to facilitate their acquisition and mastery of English language skills." It also proposed an increase of salaries of those proficient in both Ebonics and Standard English to the level of those teaching limited English proficiency (LEP) students and the use of public funding to help teachers learn Ebonics themselves.
The word "Ebonics" is a portmanteau of "Ebony" and "Phonics" and was coined by Robert L. Williams, who described it in his 1975 book Ebonics: The true language of Black Folks.
Ebonics is often referred to by mainstream linguists as African American English (AAE).
The Color Purple
December 18, 1985
The movie The Color Purple premieres. Directed by Steven Spielberg, it was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker. Produced on a budget of $15 million, it earned $142 million at the box office.
The film starred Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, and Oprah Winfrey.
Amityville Horror
December 18, 1975
George and Kathleen Lutz purchase their new home at their home at 112 Ocean Avenue. The previous year, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered his parents, two brothers, and two sisters in the house. The Lutz's claims of paranormal happenings in the house were the basis for The Amityville Horror (1977) book and subsequent movies.
James Bond
December 18, 1969
On Her Majesty's Secret Service premieres in London, 6th in the James Bond series, it starred George Lazenby as 007.
First Giant Panda in the U.S.
December 18, 1936
Su-Lin arrives in San Francisco from China creating Panda-monium. He was the first giant panda in the U.S. and was also the first panda kept outside of China. Su-Lin means "a little bit of something very cute." He would die in 1938, at which time an autopsy determined he was male.
$100,000 Bill
December 18, 1935
The $100,000 gold certificates are first printed. They featured a portrait of Woodrow Wilson. They were never circulated but used internally by the Federal Reserve.
Reconstruction of Piltdown Man
Reconstruction of Piltdown Man
Piltdown Man Hoax
December 18, 1912
Charles Dawson announces to the Geological Society of London that he had found skull fragments of a missing ape to human link. Dawson claimed that he had discovered this "missing link" between ape and man back in 1908, stating he had found a section of a human-like skull in Pleistocene gravel beds near Piltdown, East Sussex. The fragments were hypothesized to belong to a human ancestor from 500,000 years ago and were given the Latin name Eoanthropus dawsoni ("Dawson's dawn-man"). The find was significant because the combination of a human-like cranium with an ape-like jaw tended to support the prevailing notion that human evolution began with the brain.
In 1953, it was definitively revealed that it was a hoax. It was found to be the altered mandible and some teeth of an orangutan deliberately combined with the cranium of a fully developed, though small-brained, modern human.
In 1913 Nature published the conclusion that the sample consisted of a human skull and ape mandible, but others sided with Dawson and debate continued until 1953.
Dawson died in 1916, and it is still debated whether he perpetrated the fraud, or was the victim of fraud himself. Other specimens in his collection of fossils were also determined to be frauds.
New Jersey
December 18, 1787
New Jersey becomes the 3rd state.
Birthdays
Edmund Kemper (Edmund Emil Kemper III)
Born December 18, 1948
American serial killer. He was one of the role models for the Buffalo Bill character in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). In 1964, at age 15, he murdered his paternal grandparents. When asked why, Kemper said that he "just wanted to see what it felt like to kill Grandma." He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and sentenced to the State Hospital as a criminally insane juvenile. Released on parole at age 21, he started killing young female hitchhikers whom he would dismember and rape their corpses. He then murdered his mother and one of her friends before turning himself in to the authorities.
Kemper stood 6′9″ (2.06 m) tall, 250 (113 kg) pounds, and had an IQ of 145. While in prison, he ran a program that recorded hundreds of audiobooks for the blind.
Quote: "When I see a pretty girl walking down the street, I think two things. One part of me wants to take her out, talk to her, be real nice and sweet and treat her right… [and the other part of me wonders] what her head would look like on a stick."
Creator of the Pet Rock
Gary Dahl
Born December 18, 1936 d. 2015
American entrepreneur. Creator of the Pet Rock (1975). While sitting in a bar listening to people complain about their pets, he joked that he had the perfect pet - a rock.
He then sold rocks to people as pets, complete with instructions. From the Pet Rock manual: "To be sure, training a rock to come when it's called requires extraordinary patience."
Betty Grable (Elizabeth Ruth Grable)
Born December 18, 1916 d. 1973
American actress, dancer, pin-up girl. Her legs were insured for $1,000,000 with Lloyds of London, stating "I became a star for two reasons, and I'm standing on them." Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million and her bathing suit poster made her the number-one pin-up girl of World War II.
Armstrong with his wife and a portable radio he built for her (1923)
Armstrong with his wife and a portable radio he built for her (1923)
Inventor of FM Radio
Edwin Howard Armstrong
Born December 18, 1890 d. 1954
American Hall of Fame electrical engineer. He invented the superheterodyne receiver (1918) and wide band FM radio (1933), which is what is used today. He developed his FM radio to reduce the noise and static of AM radio. The rights to his invention were offered to RCA, but they turned it down. Facing financial problems, after a fight with his wife, he jumped to his death from his 13th-floor apartment.
Ty Cobb (Tyrus Raymond Cobb)
Born December 18, 1886 d. 1961
American baseball player, "The Georgia Peach." He was the first person elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (1936). Cobb is credited with setting 90 MLB records during his career, some of which still stand, including his record of a combined total of 4,065 runs scored and runs batted in (after adjusting for home runs).
De Palma and his mechanic pushing their car
De Palma and his mechanic pushing their car
Ralph De Palma
Born December 18, 1882 d. 1956
Italian-born American Hall of Fame auto racer. With 2,557 wins out of 2,889 races, he was the world's winningest race car driver.
At the 1912 Indianapolis 500 he led 196 of the laps, but on lap 199 of 200 his car lost power. He and his riding mechanic got out and pushed it over the finish line for 11th place, but they were disqualified as the cars must move under their own power.
Painting by Isaak Brodsky
Painting by Isaak Brodsky
Joseph Stalin
Born December 18, 1878 d. 1953
Russian dictator (1929-53). In 1893 he entered a seminary to study for the priesthood, but was expelled in 1898 for his Marxist activities. He also founded the newspaper Pravda (1911) and was Time magazine's 1939 and 1942 Man of the Year.
Grimaldi as "Joey" the Clown
Grimaldi as "Joey" the Clown
Joseph Grimaldi
Born December 18, 1778 d. 1837
English clown. He was the first to wear clown makeup and a clown suit. The term "Joey," which is synonymous with the word clown, is from a character he played.
Christina Aguilera
Born December 18, 1980
American Grammy-winning singer. TV: Mickey Mouse Club (1993-94). Music: Reflection (1998).
Leonard Maltin
Born December 18, 1950
American film critic, historian. TV: Entertainment Tonight. At age 15, he founded Film Fan Monthly.
Steven Spielberg
Born December 18, 1946
American Oscar-winning director. Film: Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), and Schindler's List (1994, Oscar).
Keith Richards
Born December 18, 1943
British guitarist, with the Rolling Stones.
Ramsey Clark
Born December 18, 1927 d. 2021
American lawyer, U.S. Attorney General (1967-89). In 2005, he joined the legal team defending Saddam Hussein.
Ossie Davis (Raiford Chatman Davis)
Born December 18, 1917 d. 2005
American actor, civil rights activist. TV: B.L. Stryker (Oz Jackson) and Evening Shade (Ponder Blue and narrator).
First African American U.S. Air Force Brigadier General
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr.)
Born December 18, 1912 d. 2002
American Air Force General. He was the first African American U.S. Air Force Brigadier General. Davis had applied for the Army Air Corps but was rejected because it did not accept African Americans. He was also not allowed inside the base officers' club due to his race.
He served with the all black "Buffalo Soldiers". In 1998, he was advanced to four-star general by President Bill Clinton.
His father, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., was the first African American U.S. Army Brigadier General.
Franz Ferdinand (Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria)
Born December 18, 1863 d. 1914
Austrian Archduke. He and his wife's assassination by a Serbian nationalist led to World War I.
Joseph John Thomson
Born December 18, 1856 d. 1940
English physicist. He discovered the electron (1897).
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Charles Wesley
Born December 18, 1707 d. 1788
English clergyman and hymnist. He helped his brother John Wesley establish Methodism and wrote over 6,500 hymns including Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (1739), which was based on the Bible verse Luke 2:14.
Deaths
Joseph Barbera
Died December 18, 2006 b. 1911
American Oscar-winning cartoonist. With William Hanna created Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
Claudine Auger (Claudine Oger)
Died December 18, 2019 b. 1941
French actress, Miss France (1958) and first runner-up in the 1958 Miss World contest. Film: Thunderball (1965, Bond girl Domino Derval).
Zsa Zsa Gabor (Sári Gábor)
Died December 18, 2016 b. 1917
Hungarian-born American actress, Miss Hungary (1936), and police slapper (1989). She is often credited as being the first person to be famous for being famous. Commenting on her nine marriages: "I am a marvelous housekeeper: Every time I leave a man I keep his house." Film: Moulin Rouge (1952) and Queen of Outer Space (1958). TV: Batman (1969, villainess health spa owner Minerva in the series' final episode).
Photo Credit: Photo used in Harper's Bazaar, 1959. by Richard Avedon
Photo Credit: Photo used in Harper's Bazaar, 1959. by Richard Avedon
China Machado (Noelie Dasouza Machado)
Died December 18, 2016 b. 1929
Chinese-born Portuguese-American fashion model, editor, and television producer. She was the first non-white person to appear on the cover of a major American fashion magazine (1959, Harper's Bazaar).
At one time she was the highest-paid runway model in Europe, earning $1,000 a day.
William Mark Felt, Sr.
Died December 18, 2008 b. 1913
American agent and Associate Director of the FBI (1972-73). He was the informant known as Deep Throat in the Watergate scandal. His leaks about Watergate led to U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Chris Farley
Died December 18, 1997 b. 1964
American actor, comedian. TV: Saturday Night Live. Film: Tommy Boy (1995), Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), and Almost Heroes (1998).
Sam Wanamaker
Died December 18, 1993 b. 1919
American actor. Film: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and Private Benjamin (1980). He is best known for rebuilding London's famous Globe Theater.
Mark Goodson
Died December 18, 1992 b. 1915
American producer. TV: To Tell the Truth, What's My Line?, The Price Is Right, and Family Feud.
Cyril Ritchard
Died December 18, 1977 b. 1898
Australian actor. Stage: Peter Pan (1954, Captain Hook).
Thomas Holden
Died December 18, 1953 b. 1895
American criminal. He was the first person to make the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List (1950). He had killed his wife and her two brothers. He was apprehended and died in prison.
Holden and Francis Keating robbed payroll deliveries, trains, and banks, becoming one of the most notorious holdup teams by the end of the 1920s. They were captured and convicted in 1928 and each sentenced to 25 years in prison.
After two years, they escaped Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary and went on to form a new gang, committing a series of daylight robberies during 1930 and 1931. They were recaptured and returned to Leavenworth, where Holden was paroled in 1947. Two and a half years later, Holden killed his wife and two of her brothers during a drunken family argument.
Sir Richard Owen
Died December 18, 1892 b. 1804
English biologist, paleontologist. He coined the term Dinosaur (1842). He was strongly opposed to Darwinian evolution.
Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Died December 18, 1869 b. 1829
American pianist, composer. He was the first internationally recognized U.S. pianist.
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Died December 18, 1829 b. 1744
French naturalist. He was the first to distinguish vertebrates from invertebrates and was one of the first to use the term biology in its modern sense. He is best known for proposing that acquired traits are inheritable (Lamarckism), which was proved wrong, but initiated interest in the idea of evolution.
Antonio Stradivari
Died December 18, 1737 b. circa 1644
Italian violin maker, crafted the world's finest violins.