2012 - A year in review

2012 has come to an end. It has been an eventful year. Here is a review of the past twelve months.

January

January 20th - Etta James died aged 73 in California

 January 23rd - Iran–European Union relations: The European Union adopts an embargo against Iran in protest of that nation's continued effort to enrich uranium.

January 24th - Birth of HH Princess Athena of Denmark, 10th in line to the Danish throne

February

February 6th - The Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom and commonwealth nations.

February 11th – Whitney Houston died aged 48 in Beverly Hills, California, USA

February 23rd - Birth of  HRH Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland, 2nd in line to the Swedish throne

February 27th - Arab Spring: As a result of ongoing protests, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is succeeded by Vice President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi.

March


March 13th - After 244 years since its first publication, the Encyclopædia Britannica discontinues its print edition.

March 22nd - The President of Mali, Amadou Toumani Touré, is ousted in a coup d'état after mutinous soldiers attack government offices.

March 27th - Adrienne Rich died aged 82 in California

April

April 12th - Mutinous soldiers in Guinea-Bissau stage a coup d'état and take control of the capital city, Bissau. They arrest interim President Raimundo Pereira and leading presidential candidate Carlos Gomes Júnior in the midst of a presidential election campaign.

April 15th - Centenary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic

May

May 2nd - A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for US$120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for an auctioned work of art

June

June 2nd - 5th - Celebrations are held across the United Kingdom and commonwealth to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee

June 16th - Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia died

July


July 4th - CERN announces the discovery of a new particle with properties consistent with the Higgs boson after experiments at the Large Hadron Collider.

July 27th - The 2012 Summer Olympics commence in London, United Kingdom.


July 30th - Maeve Binchy, author died aged 72 in Ireland

August

August 6th - Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, successfully lands on Mars.

August 12th - Closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom

August 25th - Neil Armstrong, the first man to step foot on the moon died aged 82 in Cincinnati, Ohio USA

August 29th - Opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom

September

September 9th - Closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom

September 11th - 27th - A series of terrorist attacks are directed against United States diplomatic missions worldwide, as well as diplomatic missions of Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the US, opinions are divided over whether the attacks are a reaction to a YouTube trailer for the film Innocence of Muslims. In Libya, among the dead is US ambassador J. Christopher Stevens

September 16th - Ragnhild Alexandra Lorentzen, Princess of Norway died aged 82 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

October


October 14th - Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the sound barrier without any machine assistance during a record space dive out of the Red Bull Stratos helium-filled balloon from 24 miles (39 kilometres) over Roswell, New Mexico in the United States.

October 24th - 30th - Hurricane Sandy kills at least 209 people in the Caribbean, Bahamas, United States and Canada. Considerable storm surge damage causes major disruption to the eastern seaboard of the United States


November

November 6th - US Presidential election: President Barack Obama defeats Republican Governor Mitt Romney to win a second term as President

November 14th - 21st - Israel launches Operation Pillar of Defense against the Palestinian-governed Gaza Strip, killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari. In the following week 140 Palestinians and five Israelis are killed in an ensuing cycle of violence. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is announced by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after the week-long escalation in hostilities in Southern Israel and the Gaza Strip

November 23rd - Larry Hagman died aged 81 in Dallas, Texas

December

December 8th - In Qatar, the UN Climate Change Conference agrees to extend the Kyoto Protocol until 2020

December 14th - 26 people (20 children) are shot dead in a Primary school in Newtown, Connecticut USA.

December 31st in History

406 - Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.

535 - Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.

1225 - The Lý Dynasty of Vietnam ends after 216 years by the enthronement of the boy emperor Tran Thai Tong, husband of the last Ly monarch, Ly Chieu Hoang, starting the Trần Dynasty.

1229 - James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Majorca.

1660 - James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.


1695 - A window tax is imposed in England, causing many householders to brick up windows to avoid the tax.

1759 - Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.

1857 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of Canada.


1909 - Manhattan Bridge opens.

1923 - The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.

1944 - World War II: Hungary declares war on Nazi Germany.

1951 - The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.


1955 - The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.

1960 - The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.

1961 - RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.

1963 - The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.


1992 - Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

1994 - The First Chechen War: Russian army began a New Year's storm of Grozny

1999 - Boris Yeltsin, the first president of Russia, resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.

Famous Birthdays:

1378 - Pope Callixtus III

1572 - Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan

1738 - Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, general

1880 - George C. Marshall, United States Secretary of State, Nobel Laureate

1885 - Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein, consort of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

1937 - Sir Anthony Hopkins, actor

1941 - Sir Alex Ferguson, football manager

1943 - Sir Ben Kingsley, actor

1970 - Carlos Morales Quintana, husband of HRH Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark

1984 - Édgar Lugo, footballer

December 30th in History

1066 - Granada massacre: A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city.

1460 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield.

1702 - Queen Anne's War: James Moore, Governor of the Province of Carolina, abandons the Siege of St. Augustine.


1816 - The Treaty of St. Louis (1816) between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi Indian tribes is proclaimed.

1825 - The Treaty of St. Louis (1825) between the United States and the Shawnee Nation is proclaimed.

1896 - Filipino patriot and reform advocate José Rizal is executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila, Philippines.

1916 - The last coronation in Hungary is performed for King Charles IV and Queen Zita.

1944 - King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving the throne vacant.

1947 - King Michael of Romania is forced to abdicate by the Soviet Union-backed Communist government of Romania.

1972 - Vietnam War: The United States halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

1993 - Israel and Vatican City establish diplomatic relations.

2006 - Madrid–Barajas Airport is bombed.

2011 - Owing to a change of time zone the day is skipped in Samoa and Tokelau.

Famous Birthdays:

39 - Titus, Roman Emperor 

1204 - Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi, ruler of Minorca

1673 - Ahmed III, Ottoman Sultan 

1741 - Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain, grandchild of George II and sister of George III.

1819 - John W. Geary, 1st Mayor of San Francisco 

1838 - Émile Loubet, 7th President of France

1884 - Hideki Tōjō, Prime Minister of Japan 

1914 - Jo Van Fleet, actress 

1942 - Fred Ward, actor

1968 - Meredith Monroe, actress

1979 - Michael Grimm, singer-songwriter and guitarist

1986 - Ellie Goulding,singer

December 29th in History

1170 - Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church.

1778 - American Revolutionary War: 3,000 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.

1786 - French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convened.

1845 - In accordance with International Boundary delimitation, United States annexes the Mexican state of Texas, following the Manifest Destiny doctrine. The Republic of Texas, which had been independent since the Texas Revolution of 1836, is thereupon admitted as the 28th US state.


1911 - Sun Yat-sen becomes the provisional President of the Republic of China; he formally takes office on January 1st, 1912.

1911 - Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty.


1937 - The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.

1989 - Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.


1992 - Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.

1996 - Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.

2003 - The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.

Famous Birthdays:

1709 - Empress Elizabeth of Russia 

1721 - Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France

1808 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States 

1809 - William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1859 - Venustiano Carranza, 54th President of Mexico 

1885 - Roman Ungern von Sternberg, famous White Russian warlord

1885 - Roman Ungern von Sternberg, White Russian warlord

1941 - Ray Thomas, musician 

1954 - Prince Takamado of Japan

1959 - Patricia Clarkson, actress

1970 - Aled Jones, singer

1978 - LaToya London, singer

1994 - HIH Princess Kako of Akishino of Japan

December 28th in History

457 - Majorian is crowned Emperor of the Western Roman Empire and recognized by Pope Leo I.

1065 - Westminster Abbey is consecrated.

1832 - John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.


1836 - Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.

1846 - Iowa is admitted as the 29th US state.

1943 - World War II – After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the battle of Ortona concludes with the victory of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Division and the capture of the Italian town of Ortona.

1972 - Kim Il-sung, already Prime Minister of North Korea and General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, became the first President of North Korea.

2008 - War in Somalia: The military of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops capture Mogadishu unopposed.

2010 - Arab Spring: Popular protests begin in Algeria against the government.

Famous Birthdays:

1164 - Emperor Rokujō of Japan

1635 - Princess Elizabeth of England, second daughter of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France.

1856 - Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States

1903 - John von Neumann, mathematician

1924 - Milton Obote, former President of Uganda

1945 - Birendra, King of Nepal

1950 - Hugh McDonald, musician

1970 - Elaine Hendrix, actress


1981 - Sienna Miller, actress

1990 - David Archuleta, singer and actor

December 27th in History

537 - The Hagia Sophia is completed.

1657 - The Flushing Remonstrance is signed.

1831 - Charles Darwin embarks on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle, during which he will begin to formulate the theory of evolution.

1939 - Erzincan, Turkey is hit by an earthquake, killing 30,000.

1945 - The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations.

1949 - Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognizes Indonesian independence. End of the Dutch East Indies.


1968 - Apollo Program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital manned mission to the Moon.

1978 - Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.

1978 - The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in the South Pole recorded temperatures of 7.5 °F (−13.6 °C), making it the highest temperature to ever be recorded in the South Pole.

1979 - The Soviet Union invades the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

2001 - The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.

Famous Birthdays:

1390 - Anne de Mortimer, Countess of Cambridge

1717 - Pope Pius VI


1822 - Louis Pasteur, scientist

1823 - Mackenzie Bowell, fifth Prime Minister of Canada

1910 - Charles Olson, poet

1947 - Janet Perry, soprano

1955 - Brad Murphey, racing driver

1975 - Heather O'Rourke, actress

1983 - Cole Hamels, baseball player

1990 - Milos Raonic, tennis player

1991 - Chloe Bridges, actress

December 26th in History

1135 - Coronation of King Stephen of England.

1481 - Battle of Westbroek: Holland defeats troops of Utrecht.


1790 - Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution.

1793 - Second Battle of Wissembourg: France defeat Austria.

1799 - Four thousand people attend George Washington's funeral where Henry Lee III declares him as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

1871 - Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate for the first time, on their lost opera, Thespis. It does modestly well, but the two would not collaborate again for four years.

1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.

1944 - World War II: George S. Patton's Third Army breaks the encirclement of surrounded U.S. forces at Bastogne, Belgium.

1966 - The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

1982 - Time's Man of the Year is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.


1996 - Start of the largest strike in South Korean history.

1998 - Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.

2004 - Orange Revolution: The final run-off election in Ukraine is held under heavy international scrutiny.

Famous Birthdays:

1194 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

1771 - Julie Clary, Queen consort of Naples

1893 - Mao Zedong, military leader and founding father of the People's Republic of China 

1921 - Steve Allen, television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer

1939 - Phil Spector, music producer

1953 - Leonel Fernández, current President of the Dominican Republic

1957 - Dermot Murnaghan, broadcaster

1963 - Lars Ulrich, drummer

1984 - Leonardo Ghiraldini, rugby player

Merry Christmas from The History Blog

Afrikaans - "Geseënde Kersfees en ‘n Voorspoedige Nuwe Jaar."

Arabic - "I'd Miilad Said Oua Sana Saida"

Argentine - "Felices Pasquas Y felices ano Nuevo"

Armenian - "Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand"

Basque - Eguberri on

Bohemian - "Vesele Vanoce"

Breton - "Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat"

Bulgarian - "Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo"

Chinese - [Mandarin] - "Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan"

Chinese - [Catonese] - "Saint Dan Fai Lok"

Cornish - "Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth"

Croatian - "Sretan Bozic i Nova Godina" (Merry Christmas & Happy New Year)

Czech - "Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok"

Danish - "Glædelig Jul"

Dutch - "Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar"

English - "Merry Christmas"

Estonian - "Haid joule ja head uut aastat"

Farsi - "Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad"

Filipino-"Maligayang Pasko"

Finnish - "Hyvaa joulua"

French - "Joyeux Noël"

German - "Froehliche Weihnachten"

Greek - "Kala Christouyenna"

Hawaiian - "Mele Kalikimaka"

Hebrew - "Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova"

Hindi - "Shub Naya Baras"

Hungarian - "Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket"

Icelandic - "Gledileg Jol"

Indonesian - "Selamat Hari Natal"

Iraqi - "Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah"

Irish - "Nollaig Shona Dhuit"

Italian - "Buone Feste Natalizie"

Japanese -" Shinnen omedeto, kurisumasu omedeto.
The first part is translated "Happy New Year.
Kurisumasu omedeto means Merry Christmas.
Japanese people generally add the expression gozaimasu to indicate humility.

Korean - "Sung Tan Chuk Ha"

Latvian - "Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu"

Lithuanian - "Linksmu Kaledu"

Navajo - "Merry Keshmish"

Norwegian - "God Jul"

Pennsylvania German - "En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr"

Polish - "Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia"

Portuguese - "Feliz Natal" "Boas Festas"(Good Holidays.)

Romanian - "Craciun fericit" (Merry Christmas), "Sarbatori Fericite" (Happy Holidays) Thanks Julia!

Russian - "Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva s Novim Godom"

Serbian - "Hristos se rodi"

Slovakian - "Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce"

Samoan - "La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou"

Scots Gaelic - "Nollaig chridheil huibh"

Serb-Croatian - "Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina"

Slovak - "Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok"

Slovene - "Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto"

Spanish - "Feliz Navidad"

Swedish - "God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År"

Tahitian -Merry Chrismas :" Ia orana te Noera"

and Happy new year is "Ia orana i te mata iti api"

Thai - "Sawadee Pee Mai"

Turkish - "Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun"

Ukrainian - "Z Rizdvom Khrystovym !" - "Merry Christmas"

Vietnamese - "Chuc Mung Giang Sinh"

Welsh - "Nadolig Llawen"

Yugoslavian - "Cestitamo Bozic"

History of the Twelve Days of Christmas

Today marks the beginning of the Twelve Days of Christmas. During the holiday season, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is heard everywhere from shopping malls to television commercials to church functions. Everywhere you go, you can hear about Two Turtle Doves, Seven Swans-a-Swimming and Eleven Pipers Piping. But what does any of this mean? What does a song about doves, hens and geese have to do with Christmas?

The carol has its roots in 18th-century England, as a memory-and-forfeit game sung by English children. In the game, players had to remember all of the previous verses and add a new verse at the end. Those unable to remember a verse paid a forfeit, in the form of a kiss or a piece of candy to the others.

One theory, however, connects the carol to the era when Catholicism was outlawed in England, from 1558 and 1829. The carol, it is said, was a catechism song for Catholics to learn "the tenets of their faith," as they could not openly practice in Anglican society. While many still hold the idea of a coded hymn to be true, there's no substantive evidence that this was the case, nor is there any evidence that the verses contain anything uniquely Catholic.

Here are the verses of the song, along with their supposed symbolism:

A Partridge in a Pear Tree - Jesus Christ

Two Turtle Doves - The Old and New Testaments

Three French Hens - The three virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity

Four Calling/Collie Birds - Four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Five Golden Rings - First five books of the Old Testament

Six Geese-a-Laying - Six days of creation before God's rest on the seventh day

Seven Swans-a-Swimming - Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

Eight Maids-a-Milking - Eight Beatitudes

Nine Ladies Dancing - Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit

Ten Lords-a-Leaping - Ten Commandments

Eleven Pipers Piping - Eleven faithful disciples

Twelve Drummers Drumming -Twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed

December 25th in History

333 - Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar.


496 - Clovis I, King of the Franks, is baptized into the Catholic faith at Rheims, by Saint Remigius.

800 - Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.


1000 - The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.

1066 - William the Conqueror is crowned King of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.

1100 - Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity.

1130 - Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first King of Sicily


1643 - Christmas Island found and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary.

1776 - George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.


1868 - US President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.

1926 - Emperor Taishō of Japan dies. His son, Prince Hirohito succeeds him as Emperor Shōwa.

1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong.

1950 - The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.

1989 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, former communist President of Romania and his wife, First-Deputy Prime-Minister Elena are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.

1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.

Famous Birthdays:

Circa 7-2 BC - Jesus Christ - Son of God / Christian messiah


1137 - Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria

1250 - John IV Laskaris, Byzantine Emperor

1584 - Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain and Portugal

1642 - Isaac Newton, scientist and mathematician

1821 - Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross

1865 - Evangeline Booth, the 4th General of The Salvation Army

1876 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan

1901 - Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester

1924 - Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India

1936 - HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy

1948 - Alia al Hussein, of Jordan, Queen consort of Jordan and the third spouse of King Hussein of Jordan until her death.

1954 - Annie Lennox, singer

1981 - Katie Wright, actress

1988 - Eric Gordon, basketball player

History of Santa Claus

It's Christmas Eve. Most the preparations are in place. It is now time to wait in anticipation...for Santa Claus! Santa or Father Christmas has a rich tapestry of history as far back as the Middle Ages.

Santa Claus...Kris Kringle...Old Saint Nick...We see him on advertising posters, in parades, at departments stores...who is this guy and why does he have so many aliases? Well, the original St. Nicholas lived in south-western Turkey in the 4th century. As the Bishop of Myra he was credited with doing a number of miracles involving sailors and children. After his death this led him to become the patron saint of both groups as well as for unmarried girls. As a saint he was given his own "feast day" that was celebrated on December 6th.

St. Nicholas or "Sancte Claus

At about the same time Nicholas lived, Pope Julius I decided to establish a date for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. As the actual time of year for this event was unknown, the Pope decided to assign the holiday to December 25th. There had long been a pagan midwinter festival at this time of year and the Pope hoped to use the holiday to christianize the celebrations.

Eventually, Saint Nicholas's feast day also became associated with December 25th and his connection with Christmas was established. A tradition developed that he would supposedly visit homes on Christmas Eve and children would place nuts, apples, sweets and other items around the house to welcome him. As the reformation took a hold of much of Europe, however, the popularity of St. Nicholas dropped in most Protestant countries, with the exception of Holland where he was referred to as "Sinter Klaas." After this tradition came to the United States, "Sinter Klass" would eventually be corrupted to "Sancte Claus."

It's been said that Dutch settlers brought the tradition of Saint Nicholas to the North American city of New Amsterdam (which the British would later rename "New York"). However, research shows there's little evidence that Nicholas played much of a part in these early settlers' celebrations. It seems more likely that Saint Nicholas became an American tradition during a wave of interest in Dutch customs following the Revolutionary War. Washington Irving (of Sleepy Hollow fame) included him a comic History of New York City written in 1809. John Pintard, founder of the New York Historical Society, took an especially keen interest in the legend and the Society hosted its first St. Nicholas anniversary dinner in 1810. Artist Alexander Anderson was commissioned to draw an image of the Saint for the dinner. He was still shown as a religious figure, but now he was also clearly depositing gifts in children's stockings which were hung by the fireplace to dry.


Perhaps nothing has fixed the image of Santa Claus so firmly in the American mind as a poem entitled A Visit from St. Nicholas written by Clement Moore in 1822. Moore, a professor of biblical languages at New York's Episcopal Theological Seminary, drew upon Pintard's thinking about the early New Amsterdam traditions and added some elements from German and Norse legends. These stories held that a happy little elf-like man presided over midwinter pagan festivals. In the poem, Moore depicts the Saint as a tiny man with a sleigh drawn by eight miniature reindeer. They fly him from house to house and at each residence he comes down the chimney to fill stockings hung by the fireplace with gifts.

Santa Claus circa 19th Century

Moore had written the poem for the enjoyment of his own family, but in 1823 it was published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel. It became very popular and has been reprinted countless times under the more familiar title, The Night Before Christmas.

Where did Moore get the reindeer? The Saami people of northern Scandinavia and Finland often used reindeer to pull their sledges around and this found its way into the poem. Reindeer, which are much sturdier animals than North American deer,are well adapted to cold climates with their heavy fur coats and broad, flat hooves for walking on snow.


As time went by, more and more was added to the Santa Claus legend. Thomas Nast, a 19th century cartoonist, did a series of drawings for Harper's Weekly. Nash's vision of Santa had him living at the North Pole. Nash also gave him a workshop for building toys and a large book filled with the names of children who had been naughty or nice.

The 19th century Santa was often shown wearing outfits of different colours  purple, green and blue in addition to red. This slowly faded out so that by the beginning of the 20th century the standard image of Santa Claus was a man in a red suit trimmed with white. The Coca-Cola company has often been cited for cementing the image of Santa with the colours red and white through a series of popular advertisements in the 1940's depicting Saint Nick enjoying their product (Coca-Cola's company colours are red and white). However, Santa was already well associated with these colours by that time. American artist Norman Rockwell had done a number of paintings with Saint Nick wearing red and white including A Drum for Tommy which appeared on the cover of The Country Gentleman in 1921. The truth is that by the time the Coke ads came out, Santa, in the public's mind, was already wearing only the modern version of his colours.

Santa Claus 1921

What about Rudolph?

Almost as popular as Santa himself is his sometimes lead reindeer with a glowing red nose, Rudolph. Unlike Santa's history, the story of Rudolph can be traced back to a specific author: Robert L. May. May was a copywriter for Montgomery Ward department stores in 1939. The company had been buying and giving away colouring books at Christmas time for many years. May's boss thought they could save some money by printing their own books and asked May to come up with a story. May thought up the idea of a misfit reindeer who saves the day for Santa on a foggy Christmas Eve.

The story took off, but unfortunately May did not own the rights. His employer, Montgomery Ward, did. With a generosity not often seen in the corporate world, in 1947 the company's President turned the rights over to May, who was in debt because of his wife's terminal illness. With a hit song written in 1949 by May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, and a TV special in 1964, May's financial security was assured and Rudolph earned a permanent spot in American Christmas pop culture.

Rudolph

December 24th in History

1294 - Pope Boniface VIII is elected Pope, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned.

1814 - The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the War of 1812.

1851 - Library of Congress burns


1914 - World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins.

1924 - Albania becomes a republic.

1939 - World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.


1942 - World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers.

1943 - World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the Supreme Allied Commander.

1951 - Libya becomes independent from Italy. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.


1968 - Apollo Program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.

1973 - District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.

2005 - Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.

Famous Birthdays:

3 BC - Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman Emperor

1166 - King John of England

1389 - John VI, Duke of Brittany

1784 - Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia

1845 - King George I of Greece 

1879 - Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, Queen Consort to Christian X 

1943 - Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland

1973 - Stephenie Meyer, author

1974 - Ryan Seacrest, television host

December 23rd in History

1688 - As part of the Glorious Revolution, King James II of England flees England to Paris, France after being deposed in favor of his nephew, William of Orange and his daughter Mary.

1783 - George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland.


1914 - World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in Cairo, Egypt.

1916 - World War I: Battle of Magdhaba – Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

1941 - World War II: After 15 days of fighting, the Imperial Japanese Army occupies Wake Island.

1948 - Seven Japanese convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are executed at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, Japan.

1986 - Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refuelling.


1990 - History of Slovenia: In a referendum, 88.5% of Slovenia's overall electorate vote for independence from Yugoslavia.

2007 - An agreement is made for the Kingdom of Nepal to be abolished and the country to become a federal republic with the Prime Minister becoming head of state

Famous Birthdays:

1173 - Louis I, Duke of Bavaria

1750 - King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony

1777 - Tsar Alexander I of Russia

1907 - James Roosevelt, American politician, soldier and son of Franklin D. Roosevelt

1918 - Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of Germany

1933 - His Imperial Majesty Akihito, Emperor of Japan

1943 - Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden

1953 - Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia

December 22nd in History

69 - Emperor Vitellius is captured and murdered at the Gemonian stairs in Rome.

1769 - Sino-Burmese War (1765–1769) ends with an uneasy truce.

1885 - Itō Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.

1939 - Indian Muslims observe a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II with the United Kingdom.


1942 - World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.

1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge – German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"

1974 - The house of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.

1989 - Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.


1992 - The Archives of Terror are discovered.

2010 - The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Famous Birthdays:


244 - Diocletian, Roman Emperor

1095 - Roger II of Sicily, King of Sicily

1178 - Emperor Antoku of Japan

1819 - Franz Abt, composer

1912 - Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States

1951 - Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster

1968 - Lauralee Bell, actress

1984 - Jonas Altberg (Basshunter), singer

1989 - Logan Huffman, actor

December 21st in History

69 - The Roman Senate declares Vespasian as Roman emperor, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.

1620 - Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1832 - Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya.

1907 - The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile.


1937 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theater.

1941 - World War II: A formal treaty of alliance between Thailand and Japan is signed in the presence of the Emerald Buddha in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.


1967 - Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, after living for 18 days after the transplant.

1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8 launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.

1988 - A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UK killing 270.

1995 - The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.

Famous Birthdays:

1118 - Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury

1804 - Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1818 - Amalia of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece

1850 - William Wallace Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln

1866 - Maud Gonne, activist

1942 - Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China

1953 - Betty Wright, singer

1966 - Kiefer Sutherland, actor

1980 - Michele Di Piedi, footballer


1989 - Mark Ingram, Jr, football player

December 20th in History

69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor.

217 - The papacy of Zephyrinus ends. Callixtus I is elected as the sixteenth pope, but is opposed by the theologian Hippolytus who accuses him of laxity and of being a Modalist, one who denies any distinction between the three persons of the Trinity.

1192 - Richard the Lion-Heart is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third crusade.

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.


1915 - World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.

1917 - Cheka, the first Soviet secret police, is founded.

1924 - Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison

1942 - World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.

1955 - Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.

1977 - Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations.

1987 - History's worst peacetime sea disaster, when the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people

1989 - United States invasion of Panama: The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega. This is also the first combat use of purpose-designed stealth aircraft.

1999 - Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.

2007 - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.

Famous Birthdays:

1537 - King John III of Sweden

1717 - Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, statesman and diplomat

1886 - Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, tennis player

1894 - Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia

1902 - Prince George, Duke of Kent

1922 - George Roy Hill, film director

1944 - Jean Fergusson, actress

1956 - President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania

1963 - HRH Infanta Elena of Spain, the Duchess of Lugo, elder daughter of His Majesty King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain, fourth in the line to the Spanish throne.

1979 - Michael Rogers, cyclist

1982 - David Wright, baseball player


1983 - Jonah Hill, actor

December 19th in History

324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor.

1154 - Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.

1490 - Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.

1777 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.


1916 - World War I: Battle of Verdun – On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position.

1920 - King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander of Greece and a plebiscite.


1941 - World War II: Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-chief of the German Army.

1946 - Start of the First Indochina War.

1963 - Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.

1972 - Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.

1983 - The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Famous Birthdays:

1554 - Philip William, Prince of Orange

1683 - King Philip V of Spain

1778 - Marie Thérèse of France, daughter of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI of France

1875 - Carter Woodson, historian and author, founder of Black History Month

1899 - Martin Luther King, Sr, Baptist minister and father of Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr.

1928 - Eve Bunting, children's author

1934 - Pratibha Patil, 12th President of the Republic of India and first woman to hold the office

1944 - Tim Reid, actor

1956 - Phil Harris, fisherman (Deadliest Catch)

1962 - Jill Talley, actress

1969 - Richard Hammond, television presenter

1985 - Lady Sovereign, musician

December 18th in History

1271 - Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of Mongolia and China.

1642 - Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand.

1777 - The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.

1916 - World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when German forces under Chief of staff Erich von Falkenhayn are defeated by the French, and suffer 337,000 casualties.

1939 - World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.

1956 - Japan joins the United Nations.

1972 - Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.

1978 - Dominica joins the United Nations.

1989 - The European Economic Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.

2005 - The civil war in Chad begins when rebel groups, allegedly backed by neighbouring Sudan, launch an attack in Adré.


2006 - United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.

2010 -  Governmental protests begin in Tunisia, beginning the Arab Spring

Famous Birthdays:

1825 - Charles Griffin, general

1863 - Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

1888 - Dame Gladys Cooper, actress

1913 - Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany

1928 - Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

1943 - Keith Richards, guitarist

1963 - Brad Pitt, actor

1978 - Katie Holmes, actress

1980 - Christina Aguilera, singer

1989 - Ashley Benson, American actress

December 17th in History

546 - Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under king Totila plunder the city, by bribing the Byzantine garrison.

920 - Romanos I is crowned co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII.

942 - Assassination of William I of Normandy.


1538 - Pope Paul III excommunicates King Henry VIII of England.

1577 - Francis Drake sails from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I.


1600 - Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.

1718 - Great Britain declares war on Spain.

1812 - War of 1812: U.S. forces attack a friendly Lenape village in the Battle of the Mississinewa.


1903 - The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1907 - Ugyen Wangchuck is crowned first King of Bhutan


1941 - World War II: Japanese forces land in Northern Borneo.

1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge – Malmedy massacre – American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper.


1967 - Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria and is presumed drowned.

1969 - The SALT I talks begin.

1983 - Provisional IRA members detonate a car bomb at Harrods Department Store in London. Three police officers and three civilians are killed.

1989 - The first episode of television series The Simpsons, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", airs in the United States.

2002 - Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years.

2010 - Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire. This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring.

Famous Birthdays:

1267 - Emperor Go-Uda of Japan

1734 - Maria I of Portugal, Queen of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves.

1874 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, 10th Prime Minister of Canada

1887 - Empress Hermine Reuss of Germany, second consort of Emperor Wilhelm II of German

1935 - George Lindsey, actor

1945 - Jacqueline Wilson, author

1972 - Laurie Holden, actress

1986 - Vanessa Zima, actress

2007 - James, Viscount Severn, son of HRH Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex and Sophie, Countess of Wessex. eighth in the line to the throne of the United Kingdom and commonwealth

December 16th in History

1431 - Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris, France.

1497 - Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.

1598 - Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang – The final battle of the Seven Year War is fought between the China and the Korean Allied Forces and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive Allied Forces victory.

1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate – Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven is born

1773 - American Revolution: 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.

1826 - Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican controlled Nacogdoches, Texas and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.

1864 - American Civil War: Franklin–Nashville Campaign – Battle of Nashville – Major General George Thomas's Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee.

1903 - Taj Mahal Palace & Tower first opened its doors to the guests.

1912 - First Balkan War: The Battle of Elli takes place.

1914 - World War I: German battleships under Franz von Hipper bombard the English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough.

1938 - Adolf Hitler institutes the Cross of Honor of the German Mother

1941 - World War II: Japanese forces occupy Miri, Sarawak

1942 - Holocaust: Porajmos – Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination be deported to Auschwitz.

1946 - Thailand joins the United Nations.

1950 - US President Harry S. Truman declares a state of emergency, after Chinese troops enter the fight with communist North Korea in the Korean War.

1971 - Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan Army brings an end to both conflicts.

1971 - "National Day" of the Kingdom of Bahrain is celebrated. Not to be confused with Bahrain Independence Day which took place on August 15, 1971.

1972 - Vijay Diwas: (Victory Day) is commemorated every 16 December in India as it marks its military victory over Pakistan in 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

1979 - Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, having an immediate dramatic effect on the United States.

1986 - Revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist Party of Kazakhstan, known as Jeltoqsan, which becomes the first sign of ethnic strife during Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure

1991 - Independence of Kazakhstan.

1998 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox – The United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq.

Famous Birthdays: 

1485 - Catherine of Aragon, 1st consort of Henry VIII of England

1614 - Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg

1775 - Jane Austen, writer

1790 - King Leopold I of Belgium

1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia

1928 - Terry Carter, actor

1945 - Bobby George, professional darts player

1955 - HIH Lorenz Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince of Belgium

1964 - Gail Harris, actress

1979 - Trevor Immelman, golfer

1979 - Flo Rida, rapper and singer

1984 - Theo James, actor

1999 - Bryce Robinson, actor

December 15th in History

1778 - American Revolutionary War: British and French fleets clash in the Battle of St. Lucia.

1791 - The United States Bill of Rights becomes law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.


1914 - World War I: The Serbian Army recaptures Belgrade from the invading Austro-Hungarian Army.

1917 - World War I: An armistice is reached between the new Bolshevik government and the Central Powers.

1941 - Holocaust: German troops murder over 15,000 Jews at Drobytsky Yar, a ravine southeast of the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Soviet Union.

1945 - Occupation of Japan: General Douglas MacArthur orders that Shinto be abolished as the state religion of Japan.

1960 - King Mahendra of Nepal suspends the country's constitution, dissolves parliament, dismisses the cabinet, and imposes direct rule.

1976 - Samoa becomes a member of the United Nations.


1993 - Northern Ireland: The Downing Street Declaration is issued by British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.

1994 - Palau becomes a member of the United Nations.

2000 - The 3rd reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down.

Famous Birthdays:


37 - Nero, Roman emperor

130 - Lucius Verus, Roman co-emperor

1832 - Gustave Eiffel, engineer and architect (Eiffel tower)

1933 - Donald Woods, journalist and anti-apartheid activist

1939 - Cindy Birdsong, singer

1963 - Helen Slater, actress

1980 - Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist

1982 - Tatiana Perebiynis, tennis player

1994 - Emma Lockhart, actress

December 14th in History

557 - Constantinople is severely damaged by an earthquake.

1287 - St. Lucia's flood: The Zuiderzee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.

1542 - Princess Mary Stuart becomes Mary, Queen of Scots.

1782 - The Montgolfier brothers' first balloon lifts off on its first test flight.

1799 - George Washington died

1819 - Alabama becomes the 22nd US state.

1903 - The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1918 - President of Portugal Sidónio Pais is assassinated.

1939 - Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland.

1941 - World War II: Japan signs treaty of alliance with Thailand.

1946 - The United Nations General Assembly votes to establish its headquarters in New York, USA

1955 - Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations.

1961 - Tanzania joins the United Nations.

1962 -  NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.

1981 - Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset passes The Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the area of the Golan Heights.

1995 - Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris, France by leaders of various governments.

2004 - Cuba and Venezuela found the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.

Famous Birthdays:

1009 - Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan

1784 - Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias

1787 - Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia

1870 - Karl Renner, President of Austria

1895 - King George VI of the United Kingdom 

1901 - Paul, King of Greece

1914 - Karl Carstens, former President of Germany 

1947 - Dilma Rousseff, current President of Brazil

1979 - Michael Owen, footballer

1985 - Tom Smith, rugby union footballer

1988 - Vanessa Hudgens, singer and actress

December 13th in History

558 - King Chlothar I reunites the Frankish Kingdom after his brother Childebert I has died. He becomes sole ruler of the Franks.

1294 - St Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.

1545 - Council of Trent begins.

1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets out from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.

1643 - English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.

1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking – Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese.

1938 - The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.


1949 - The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.

1959 - Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus.

1972 - Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.

1974 - Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations


2002 - Enlargement of the European Union: The European Union announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004.

2003 - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit

Famous Birthdays:


1521 - Pope Sixtus V

1533 - King Eric XIV of Sweden

1553 - King Henry IV of France

1678 - Yongzheng Emperor of China

1784 - Archduke Louis of Austria

1818 - Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States

1906 - Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent

1913 - Arnold Brown, the 11th General of The Salvation Army

1936 - His Highness Prince Shah Karim al-Husseini Aga Khan IV, Present Imam (leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims

1973 - Christie Clark, actress

1989 - Taylor Swift, singer

2005 - HRH Prince Nicolas of Belgium, 14th in the line to the Belgian throne.

2005 - HRH Prince Aymeric of Belgium, 15th in the line to the Belgian throne.

December 12th in History

1098 - First Crusade: Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan – Crusaders breach the town's walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they resort to cannibalism.

1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution five days after Delaware became the first.


1911 - Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.

1911 - King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary are enthroned as Emperor and Empress of India.

1915 - President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.


1925 - The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.

1935 - Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.

1939 - Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi – Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.


1941 - World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.

1941 - Adolf Hitler announces extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery


1956 - Beginning of the Irish Republican Army's "Border Campaign".

1958 - Guinea joins the United Nations.

1963 - Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

1964 - Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta becomes the first President of the Republic of Kenya.

1979 - The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.

1991 - Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR.

1992 - Wedding of HRH Anne The Princess Royal of the United Kingdom and Timothy Laurence

Famous Birthdays: 

1298 - Albert II of Austria, Duke of Austria

1574 - Anne of Denmark, Queen consort of James I of England

1610 - St Vasilije, Eastern Orthodox Church saint.


1745 - John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the United States

1791 - Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, wife of Napoleon

1924 - Ed Koch, Former Mayor of New York City

1949 - Marc Ravalomanana, Former President of Madagascar

1970 - Regina Hall, actress

1982 - Dmitry Tursunov, tennis player


1985 - Chris Jennings, football player

Abdication speech of King Edward VIII

December 11th in History

361 - Julian the Apostate enters Constantinople as sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.

969 - Byzatine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes.

1792 - French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.

1816 - Indiana becomes the 19th US state.

1920 - Irish War of Independence: In revenge for an IRA ambush, British forces burn and loot numerous buildings in Cork city. Many civilians also reported being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces.

1931 - The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster 1931, establishing legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Dominion of Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.

1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India becomes effective. Prince Albert the Duke of York becomes King George VI.

1941 - World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on Germany and Italy.

1946 - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.

1948 - The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, which established and defined the role of the United Nations Conciliation Commission as an organization to facilitate peace in the British Mandate for Palestine.

1972 - Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and last Apollo mission to land on the Moon.

1994 - First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.

1997 - The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature.

2001 - China joins the World Trade Organization.

Famous Birthdays: 

1475 - Pope Leo X

1709 - Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Queen consort of Spain

1830 - King Kamehameha V of Hawaiʻi

1883 - Victor McLaglen, actor

1908 - Hákun Djurhuus, 4th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands

1921 - Liz Smith, actress

1932 - Anne Heywood, actress

1944 - Brenda Lee, singer

1954 - Jermaine Jackson, singer

1969 - Alessandro Melli, footballer

1981 - Javier Saviola, footballer

The abdication crisis of 1936

King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom was born on the 23rd of June 1894 at White Lodge, Richmond Park, London. His great grandmother Queen Victoria was in her 57th year on the throne. The then born Prince Edward of York was the eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Mary)

Young Prince Edward

Soon after his parents inherited the throne (after the death of King Edward VII on the 6th of May 1910) the new King George V invested his eldest son as the Prince of Wales in a special ceremony at Caernarvon Castle on the 13th of July 1911.
When the First World War (1914–1918) broke out, the Prince had reached the minimum age for active service and was keen to participate. He had joined the Grenadier Guards in June 1914, and although Prince Edward was willing to serve on the front lines, Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener refused to allow it, citing the immense harm that would occur if the heir to the throne were captured by the enemy.

The Prince during World War I

Throughout the 1920s the Prince of Wales, represented his father, King George V, at home and abroad on many occasions. He took a particular interest in visiting the poverty stricken areas of the country,and undertook 16 tours to various parts of the Empire between 1919 and 1935. During a tour of Canada in 1919, he acquired the Bedingfield ranch, near Pekisko, Alberta, and in 1924 he donated the Prince of Wales Trophy to the National Hockey League. His rank, travels, good looks, and unmarried status gained him much public attention, and at the height of his popularity, he was the most photographed celebrity of his time.

The Prince's compulsive womanising and reckless behaviour during the 1920s and 1930s worried Prime Minister Baldwin, King George V, and those close to the Prince. The King was disappointed at his eldest son's failure to settle down in life, disgusted by his affairs with married women, and was reluctant to see him inherit the Crown. "After I am dead," King George said, "the boy will ruin himself in 12 months.". Meanwhile his younger brother Prince Albert (nicknamed "Bertie" by his family) married Lady Elizabeth  Bowes-Lyon on the 26th of April 1923 in Westminster Abbey. They were styled the Duke and Duchess of York. In April 21st 1926 they welcomed the birth of Princess Elizabeth of York (Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom) and a second daughter Princess Margaret of York on the 21st of August 1930. At this stage the Prince of Wales had not married.

The Prince had numerous affairs. Many with married women. Prince Edward would meet and fall in love with a woman. This woman would result in a change in history. That woman was Mrs. Wallis Simpson.  
Bessie Wallis Warfield was born in Pennsylvania in the USA on the 19th of June 1896. Her first marriage, to US. naval officer Win Spencer in 1916, was  dramatised with periods of separation and eventually ended in divorce in 1927. She remarried again in1928 to Ernast Simpson.  In 1934, during her second marriage to Ernest she began an affair with the Prince of Wales. When the Prince became King, Wallis divorced Ernast. Soon after the new King would propose to his mistress. This would later topple the new Monarch.

Wallis Simpson
1936

George V died on January 20th 1936 and thus the Prince of Wales was now King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, the dominions (the commonwealth) and Emperor of India. A heavy burden had been placed upon him. He had always been reluctant to be King. Edward caused unease in government circles with actions that were interpreted as interference in political matters. His comment during a tour of depressed villages in South Wales that "something must be done" for the unemployed coal miners was seen as directly critical of the Government. Government ministers were reluctant to send confidential documents and state papers to Fort Belvedere because it was clear that Edward was paying little attention to them and there was a lack of confidence in his discretion in constitutional and political matters. It was feared that Simpson and other house guests might see state papers and that confidential information in them might be improperly or inadvertently disclosed in ways that could be detrimental to the country's national interests.

The King was madly in love with his fiancée and wished to marry her. When he declared his intentions he faced numerous challenges. Firstly, Wallis was a "commoner" and "would not be suitable to be Queen" Secondly as Monarch, the King held the role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. In the Church of England re-marriage after divorce was opposed. Wallis was twice divorced. With his position in the church  the clergy expected the King to obey by the rules of the church.

The King proposed an alternative solution of a morganatic marriage, in which he would remain King but Wallis would not become Queen. She would enjoy some lesser title instead, and any children they might have would not inherit the throne. This was rejected by the British Cabinet and dominion governments.

King Edward informed Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin that he would abdicate if he could not marry Wallis. Baldwin then presented the King with three choices: give up the idea of marriage; marry against his ministers' wishes; or abdicate.It was clear that the King was not prepared to give up Wallis, and he knew that if he married against the advice of his ministers, he would cause the government to resign, prompting a constitutional crisis. He chose to abdicate.

Edward duly signed the instruments of abdication at Fort Belvedere on the 10th of December 1936 in the presence of his younger brothers: Prince Albert, Duke of York, next in line for the throne; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince George, Duke of Kent. The next day, the last act of his reign was the royal assent to His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. As required by the Statute of Westminster, all the Dominions consented to the abdication.

The instrument of abdication

On the night of 11th December 1936, Edward, now reverted to a Prince, made a broadcast to the nation and the Empire, explaining his decision to abdicate. He famously said, "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love."

After the broadcast, Edward departed for Austria; he was unable to join Wallis until her divorce became absolute, several months later. His brother, Prince Albert, Duke of York, succeeded to the throne as King George VI. George VI's elder daughter, Princess Elizabeth, became first in the line of succession, as heiress presumptive.

On 12th December 1936, at the accession meeting of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, George VI announced he was to make his brother "His Royal Highness The Duke of Windsor". He wanted this to be the first act of his reign, although the formal documents were not signed until 8th March the following year. During the interim, Edward was universally known as the Duke of Windsor. George VI's decision to create Edward a royal duke ensured that he could neither stand for election to the House of Commons nor speak on political subjects in the House of Lords.

King George VI

The Duke of Windsor married Wallis, who had changed her name by deed poll to Wallis Warfield, in a private ceremony on the 3rd June 1937, at Château de Candé, near Tours, France. When the Church of England refused to sanction the union, a County Durham clergyman, the Reverend Robert Anderson Jardine (Vicar of St Paul's, Darlington), offered to perform the ceremony, and the Duke accepted. The new King, George VI, forbade members of the Royal Family to attend.

Wedding Day

The denial of the style Her Royal Highness to the Duchess of Windsor caused conflict. The Government declined to include the Duke or Duchess on the Civil List, and the Duke's allowance was paid personally by George VI. The Duke compromised his position with his brother by concealing the extent of his financial worth when they informally agreed on the amount of the allowance. Edward's wealth had accumulated from the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall paid to him as Prince of Wales and ordinarily at the disposal of an incoming King. George VI also paid Edward for Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle. These properties were Edward's personal property, inherited from his father, George V, and thus did not automatically pass to George VI on his accession.


Relations between the Duke of Windsor and the rest of the Royal Family were strained for decades. Edward became embittered against his mother, writing to her in 1939: "destroy the last vestige of feeling I had left for you ... [and has] made further normal correspondence between us impossible." In the early days of George VI's reign the Duke telephoned daily, importuning for money and urging that the Duchess be granted the style of Royal Highness, until the harassed King ordered that the calls not be put through.
The Duke had assumed that he would settle in Britain after a year or two of exile in France. King George VI (with the support of their mother Queen Mary and his wife Queen Elizabeth) threatened to cut off Edward's allowance if he returned to Britain without an invitation.

HRH The Duke of Windsor

For the rest of their lives the Duke and Duchess of Windsor retired in France. The City of Paris provided the Duke with a house at 4 Route du Champ d'Entraînement, on the Neuilly-sur-Seine side of the Bois de Boulogne, for a nominal rent. The French government exempted him from paying income tax, and the couple were able to buy goods duty-free through the British embassy and the military commissary.

In June 1953, instead of attending the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London, the Duke and Duchess watched the ceremony on television in Paris. The Duke said that it was contrary to precedent for a Sovereign or former Sovereign to attend any coronation of another.

The Royal Family never fully accepted the Duchess. Queen Mary refused to receive her formally. However, the Duke sometimes met his mother and brother George VI, and attended George's 1952 funeral. Queen Mary remained angry with Edward and indignant over his marriage to Wallis: "To give up all this for that", she said.

In 1965, the Duke and Duchess returned to London. They were visited by Elizabeth II, Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, and Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood. A week later, the Princess Royal died, and they attended her memorial service. In 1967, they joined the Royal Family for the centenary of Queen Mary's birth. The last royal ceremony the Duke attended was the funeral of Princess Marina in 1968. He declined an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to attend the Investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969, replying that Prince Charles would not want his "aged great-uncle" there.

In later years

The Duke, who was a smoker from an early age, was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent cobalt therapy. Queen Elizabeth II visited the Windsors in 1972 while on a state visit to France; however, only the Duchess appeared with the royal party for a photocall.

On the 28th of May 1972, the Duke died at his home in Paris, less than a month before his 78th birthday. His body was returned to Britain, lying in state at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The funeral service was held in the chapel on 5th June in the presence of the Queen, the Royal Family, and the Duchess of Windsor, who stayed at Buckingham Palace during her visit. The coffin was buried in the Royal Burial Ground behind the Royal Mausoleum of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Frogmore. Frail, and suffering increasingly from senile dementia, the Duchess died 14 years later aged 89, and was buried alongside her husband as Wallis, Duchess of Windsor

The graves of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor