The Importance of December 21 in History (Not Just the Winter Solstice)
December 21 is the Winter Solstice. It is officially the shortest day of the calendar year, yet there is so much more to this day.
Throughout history, December 21 has stood the test of time as one of the most important days in world history. It has witnessed important births, deaths, inventions, battles, premieres and more.
Sit back and revel on the importance of December 21 and maybe later you can impress your friends with some trivia…
On this day, December 21….
- Born December 21, 1117 – Thomas Becket – English archbishop of Canterbury, born in London, England
- 1620 – 102 Mayflower Pilgrims and about 30 crew land on Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
- 1864 – General Sherman conquers Savannah, Georgia
- 1872 – Phileas Fogg completes his round the world trip in 80 days in Jules Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days”
- 1891 – First game of organized basketball (with rules), created by James Naismith, was played by 18 students in Springfield, Massachusetts
- 1898 – French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium
- 1913 – First crossword puzzle with 32 clues printed in NY World
- 1914 – First feature-length silent film comedy “Tillie’s Punctured Romance” was released starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin
- Born December 21, 1926 – Joe Paterno – College Hall of Fame Coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions and 1986 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year
- 1929 – First group hospital insurance plan is offered in Dallas, Texas
- 1933 – Fox films signs 5 year old Shirley Temple to a studio contract
- 1937 – First full-length animated feature film by Walt Disney, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premieres at Carthay Circle Theatre
- American Author of the classic “The Great Gatsby” F. Scott Fitzgerald died on December 21, 1940 at the age of 44
- American WWII General George S. Patton died on December 21, 1945 at the age of 60
- Born December 21, 1948 (70 Years Old Today) – Actor Samuel L. Jackson
- 1952 – Broadway Tunnel opens in San Francisco
- Iconic tennis star Chris Evert born December 21, 1954
- 1958 – Charles de Gaulle wins a 7 year term as the 1st President of the 5th Republic of France
- 1959 – Tom Landry accepts the coaching job with the Dallas Cowboys where he would stay until 1988
- TV and film star Kiefer Sutherland who brought us Jack Bauer was born on December 21, 1966
- 1968 – Apollo 8 – First manned Moon voyage launched with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders on board
- 1968 – David Crosby, Stephen Stills & Graham Nash (CSN) make their premiere together in California
- 1969 – Legendary coach Vince Lombardi coaches his final football game. At the time was leading the Washington Redskins
- 1970 – Elvis Presley meets U.S. President Richard Nixon in the White House
- Current French President Emmanuel Macron was born on December 21, 1977
- 1978 – Police in Des Plaines, Illinois arrest serial killer John Wayne Gacy charging him with murder
- 1989 – U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle sends out 30,000 Christmas cards with the word beacon spelled “beakon”
- Alfred J. Gross, American inventor (Walkie-Talkie) died on December 21, 2000 at 82
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It’s nice that you post a page, “On This Day …”. 28 facts listed and the one fact that involves and American of African descent is Samuel L. Jackson? This is not to demean Samuel L. Jackson or his profession. However the list is so much longer and you could have extended the educational level of at least one more person. So, as to not complain, without a solution, here is a list I gathered, just by asking Google.
~ Motown Records established by Berry Gordy Jr. December 21, 1959
~ December 21, 1890 Alexander Thomas Augusta, surgeon, professor of medicine and Civil War veteran, died. Augusta was born March 8, 1825 in Norfolk, Virginia.
~ December 21, 1897 William Washington Browne, educator, minister and businessman, died. Browne was born enslaved October 20, 1849 in Habersham County,
• December 21, 1911 Josh Gibson, hall of fame Negro league baseball player, was born in Buena Vista, Georgia. In 1930,
• December 21, 1921 Pickney Benton Stewart Pinchback, the first African American to become governor of a state in the United States, died.
• December 21, 1931 David Nathaniel Baker, Jr., hall of fame symphonic jazz composer, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• December 21, 1942 Carla Venita Thomas, the Queen of Memphis Soul, was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Thomas began performing at 10 as a member of the Teen Town Singers.
• December 21, 1958 Harry “The Black Panther” Wills, hall of fame boxer, died. Wills was born May 15, 1889 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• December 21, 1972 Horace Mann Boyd, historian, college administrator and social science researcher,
~ Montgomery AL Bus Boycott Ended 1959. When the bus boycott ended on this day, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. were National Hero’s, as the Supreme Court had ruled that segregation on city buses was unconstitutional.
~ Patricia Roberts Harris was named Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by President Jimmie Carter on this date in 1976. Harris was the first black woman to hold a Cabinet position.
~ Hazel O’Leary, a Minnesota Power Company Executive, was named Secretary of Energy by President Bill Clinton on this date in 1993