December Birthdays

Besides hosting Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Years Eve, December is a very busy month. What else is going on during December?

December Birthdays

Who was born in December? December birthdays include:

• Walt Disney (1901-1966), creator of Mickey Mouse and powerhouse behind Disneyland and Disney World.

• Golfer Tiger Woods (1975-)is still going strong.

• Sandy Koufax (1935-) was a left handed pitcher for the Dodgers in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Koufax won the Cy Young Award in 1963, 1965, and 1966.

• Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was one of the founders of microbiology and developed pasteurization to prolong the shelf life of milk.

• Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) was an actor famous for his “tough guy” roles in movies such as the “Maltese Falcon” and “Casablanca.”

• Howard Hughes (1905-1976) was an eccentric businessman and aviator.

• Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) composed operas including “Madama Butterfly” and “Tosca.”

• Charles Ringling (1863-1926) produced the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

• Ozzie Osbourne (1948-) was one of the founders of the heavy metal group “Black Sabbath” and stars in the reality show “The Osbournes” with his family.

• Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was a painter and printmaker who taught at the Bauhaus.

• Soprano opera singer Maria Callas (1923-1977)wowed the world with her voice and her personal life.

• George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876), controversial Lt. Commander, lost his life at the Battle at Little Big Horn.

• Dennis Wilson (1944-1983) was one of the founding members of the “Beach Boys.

• Mary, Queen of Scotts (1542-1587 led a tragic life as ruler of Scotland and England.

December Historical Events

December marks the date of many interesting historical events, including:

• December 1, the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955.

• December 3, the day that Illinois was admitted as the 21st state into the Union.

• December 5, the day that Prohibition ended in 1933.

• December 7, the day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor without declaring war in 1941.

• December 15, the day that “Gone with the Wind,” starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, premiered in Atlanta in 1939.

• December 16, the day when Patriots disguised as Native Americans dumped tea into the Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party in 1773.

• December 19, the day that Benjamin Franklin published "Poor Richard’s Almanac" in 1732 for the first time.

• December 21, the day that the legal age to vote in the United States was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1970.

• December 25, the day that history records the first Christmas celebration, held in Rome in 336 AD.

• December 27, the day that the Battle of the Bulge ended in 1944.

Enjoy your December!

-Laura Evans