EVENTS
- 1620 – The Mayflower ship departed from England, bound for America with 102 passengers and a small crew. The ship weathered dangerous Atlantic storms and reached Provincetown, Massachusetts on November 21st. The Pilgrims disembarked at Plymouth on December 26th.
- 1810 – Mexico’s break from Spain began in the town of Dolores Hidalgo as Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang his church’s bells and exhorted local Indians to “recover from the hated Spaniards the land stolen from your forefathers…”
- 1893 – Settlers race in Oklahoma to claim land in the Cherokee Strip.
- 1908 – General Motors was founded by entrepreneur William Crapo “Billy” Durant in Flint, Michigan.
- 1920 – A bomb explodes on Wall Street, New York killing 38 people. The Wall Street Bombing, as the incident is known, was the deadliest such act on American soil to that date. It is still not known who was responsible for the bombing.
- 1956 – The toy Play-Doh is first introduced
- 1963 – Malaysia is created. The Federation of Malaya united with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore to create Malaysia. Singapore left the arrangement two years later.
- 1966 – The Metropolitan Opera House opens in New York City.
- 1976 – The Episcopalian Church in the U.S. approved the ordination of women priests and bishops.
- 1978 – Muhammad Ali defeats Leon Spinks for the world heavyweight boxing title for the third time.
- 1978 – An earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale rocks the city of Tabas in Iran. More than 11,000 people were killed during the natural disaster.
- 1982 – Beginning of a two day massacre in Palestinian refugee camps in West Beirut as Christian militiamen (the Phalangists) entered Sabra and Shatila and began shooting hundreds of Palestinians, including elderly men, women and children.
- 1984 – ‘Miami Vice’ airs its first episode on TV
BIRTHDAYS
- 1386 – Henry V (King of England)
- 1507 – JiaJing (Emperor of China)
- 1858 – Bonar Law (Canadian/Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
- 1925 – B.B. King (Blues Musician)
- 1952 – Mickey Rourke (American boxer, actor, screenwriter)
- 1956 – David Copperfield (American magician)
- 1963 – Richard Marx (American singer-songwriter, producer)
- 1971 – Amy Pohler (Actress – SNL)
- 1981 – Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls Actress)
- 1992 – Nick Jonas (Singer and Actor)
DEATHS
- 1701 – James II of England
- 1824 – Louis XVIII of France
- 1898 – Ramón Emeterio Betances (Puerto Rican doctor, politician)
- 1977 – Maria Callas (Greek soprano)
- 1980 – Jean Piaget (Swiss psychologist)