December 16 - Party Guy

Party Guy

This Day In History

1497

Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.

1653

Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1773

Boston Tea Party – Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.

1811

The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes occur in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri.

1826

Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican controlled Nacogdoches, Texas and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.
1835
Fire consumes over 600 buildings in New York City.

1907

The Great White Fleet begins its circumnavigation of the world.

1947

William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor.

1997

An episode of Pokémon, "Dennō Senshi Porygon", aired in Japan induces seizures in 685 Japanese children.

2003

President George W. Bush signs the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 into law. The law establishes the United States' first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission to enforce its provisions.

Famous Birthdays

1485

Catherine of Aragon, consort of Henry VIII of England (d. 1536)

1717

Elizabeth Carter, English poet, classicist, writer and translator (d. 1806)

1775

Jane Austen, English writer (d. 1817)

1863

George Santayana, Spanish philosopher and writer (d. 1952)

1866

Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French abstract painter (d. 1944)

1882

Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (d. 1967)

1899

Sir Noël Coward, English playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973)

1901

Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978)

1905

Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (d. 1996)

1917

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, English writer (d. 2008)

1927

Randall Garrett, American science fiction and fantasy author (d. 1987)

1928

Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982)
1946
Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (ABBA)
1962
William Perry, American football player
1967
Miranda Otto, Australian actress
1981
Krysten Ritter, American actress
1988
Anna Popplewell, English actress