[Taggart]

Birthdays - definitely an odd selection.

Wassily Kandinsky 1866
Francisco Franco 1892
Deanna Durbin 1921
Chris Hillman 1942 - Musician (Flying Burrito Brothers, Byrds)
Dennis Wilson (Beach Boys) 1944

1154 - Pope Hadrian IV elected Pope. The only Englishman to become pontiff, Nicholas Breakspear was a member of the family which until recent years brewed beer in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

 

[rrudolph]

1971, Montreux Casino burned down during a concert by Frank Zappa after a fan had set the venue on fire with a flare gun.
The song "Smoke on the Water" by English rock group Deep Purple is about the incident. Deep Purple had set up camp in Montreux, Switzerland to record an album using a mobile recording studio and saw the fire. The song is honoured in Montreux by a sculpture along the lake shore (right next to the statue of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury) with the band's name, the song title, and the riff in musical notes.

Coincidentally, today is the 20th anniversary of Zappa's death from prostate cancer.

 

[EricABQ]

December 5th is the most sacred day on the American calendar.

1933 – Prohibition in the United States ends: Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to enact the amendment (this overturned the 18th Amendment which had made the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol illegal in the United States).

 

[Pip]

Well, the Grim Reaper had a penchant for this day, December 5
1971 Mozart
1926 Monet
1940 Jan Kubelik, violinist, father of Raphael
1951 shoeless joe Jackson
1989 John Pritchard
2007 Stockhausen

 

[Taggart]

You missed:

1870 Alexandre Dumas, père

The birthdays are quite good too:

Martin Van Buren (U.S.) 1782
Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830
George Armstrong Custer 1839
Walt Elias Disney 1901
Otto Preminger 1906
Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman) 1932
Jose Carreras 1947

1908 - At the University of Pittsburgh, numerals were first used on football uniforms worn by college football players.

 

[KenOC]

On this day, 5 December 1848: In a message before the U.S. Congress, US President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.

In 1969: The initial four node ARPANET network is established. This is the first packet-switching network, a predecessor to the Internet.

 

[Taggart]

In 1969: The initial four node ARPANET network is established. This is the first packet-switching network, a predecessor to the Internet.

Hmm. It was the internet but not the web. The web is technically an application using the internet as a transport mechanism. Typical subject to get nerds chattering about.

 

[Flamme]

Mozart died in his home in Vienna, Austria on 5 December 1791 (aged 35) at 1:00 am. "I thank my God for graciously granting me the opportunity of learning that death is the key which unlocks the door to our true happiness." ― Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

 

[EricABQ]

Some interesting reading on the repeal of prohibition on this the 80th anniverseray of that great day:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/happy-repeal-day-here-are_n_4391739.html?utm_hp_ref=the-agitator

 

[Taggart]

Death of Nelson Mandela.

Just got the news - Mandela has died. Our sympathies to all in South Africa.

 

[KenOC]

At the risk of unseemly levity, this video was linked on another forum today. It asks the important question: Who should the United States invade next? If you're not an American, you may feel somewhat nervous after seeing this.

 

[EricABQ]

At the risk of unseemly levity, this video was linked on another forum today. It asks the important question: Who should the United States invade next? If you're not an American, you may feel somewhat nervous after seeing this.

Without even watching that video, my answer is Canada.

 

[mstar]

Abandoning this thread on account of Mozart's quote (above a few posts) just made me reluctant to finish eating the apple in my hand...
...and then we start up on Mandela's death to make matters worse. There was once a saying on a picture that went something along the lines of: One thing money can't buy is good words on your epitaph.

I think I'll go back to tissue therapy and genetics now.

 

[KenOC]

On this day 6 December 1865: The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.

In 1941: The United Kingdom and Canada declare war on Finland in support of the Soviet Union during the Continuation War. We don't talk much about that any more.

In 1957: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit. A huge embarrassment that I still remember. It was said that Wernher von Braun, long since ready to launch a satellite with his Juno I system, seethed on the sidelines as he was denied permission for political reasons. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, in October. Beep-beep!

 

[Taggart]

Deaths

1889 Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans. He was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America.
1949 Huddie William Ledbetter - Leadbelly
1969 Meredith Hunter - stabbed on stage at the Altamont free concert during a Rolling Stones performance.

Births

1896 - Lyricist Ira Gershwin in New York City.

Other News

1917 - Finland proclaimed independence from Russia.
1921 - The Catholic Irish Free State was created as a self-governing dominion of Britain when an Anglo-Irish treaty was signed.
1923 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge became the first president to give a presidential address that was broadcast on radio.

 

[Flamme]

Mandela was an old guy he lived probably more than any of us will...Long life can be curse more than blessing

 

[mstar]

Deaths

1889 Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans. He was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America.
1949 Huddie William Ledbetter - Leadbelly
1969 Meredith Hunter - stabbed on stage at the Altamont free concert during a Rolling Stones performance.

Births

1896 - Lyricist Ira Gershwin in New York City.

Other News

1917 - Finland proclaimed independence from Russia.
1921 - The Catholic Irish Free State was created as a self-governing dominion of Britain when an Anglo-Irish treaty was signed.
1923 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge became the first president to give a presidential address that was broadcast on radio.

A new trend? The Death Section.

 

[KenOC]

On this day, 7 December 1732: The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London, England.

In 1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy carries out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

In 1949: The government of the Republic of China moves from Nanking to Taipei, Taiwan.

 

[Taggart]

A new trend? The Death Section.

Media vita in morte sumus.

1815 - Michel Ney, French marshal (Waterloo), murdered at 46
1817 - William Bligh, British naval officer of "Bounty" fame, dies at 63
1970 - Rube Goldberg, US cartoonist dies at 87

1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. constitution becoming the first of the United States.
1796 - John Adams was elected to be the second president of the United States.
1836 - Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.

1889 - The first of 554 performances of "The Gondoliers" took place.

 

[KenOC]

On this day, 8 December 757: Du Fu returns to Chang'an as a member of Emperor Xuanzong's court, after having escaped the city during the An Lushan Rebellion. Du Fu, along with his friend Li Bo, was one of the very greatest poets of the Tang dynasty, which boasted a lot of great poets.

1813: Premier of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.

1941: Japanese forces simultaneously invade Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. The US Pacific fleet had been pretty well put out of commission the day before at Pearl Harbor.

1980: John Lennon is murdered by a deranged fan in front of The Dakota in New York City.

1991: The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States. The world is changed.

2010: With the second launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 and the first launch of the SpaceX Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.