31 December
On December 31, 1907, Times Squares holds its first New Year’s Eve celebration. The turn of the year offers many opportunities for beginnings as endings complete. This happens in the … Continue reading “31 December” →
Category: December
30 December
On December 30, 1865, Rudyard Kipling is born in India. He is best known as the author of “The Jungle Book,” with which he shared many of his best known … Continue reading “30 December” →
29 December
On December 29, 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II. Following his death he becomes a saint and martyr … Continue reading “29 December” →
28 December
On December 28, 169 BC, the menorah is lit to rededicate the Holy Temple of Jerusalem after two centuries of foreign rule and religious oppression and a seven-year revolt. It … Continue reading “28 December” →
27 December
On December 27, 1915, William Masters is born. He worked as a gynecologist, author, and academic until his death in 2001. During his career, he and his wife, Virginia E. … Continue reading “27 December” →
26 December
On December 26, 1966 , Maulana Karenga celebrates the first Kwanzaa. At the time he was the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Though its traditions … Continue reading “26 December” →
25 December
On Christmas morning, Ebenezer Scrooge wakes up having survived visits of three Christmas ghosts in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. By this time in the year it was first published … Continue reading “25 December” →
24 December
On December 24, 1914, an incident known as the “Christmas Truce” occurs. Stanley Weintraub re-stitches together the events of that event with “Silent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914.” … Continue reading “24 December” →
23 December
December 23 marks Festivus, a parody holiday made popular by the sitcom Seinfeld, but embraced by American pop culture as a moment of relief in the middle of stressful holidays. … Continue reading “23 December” →
22 December
On December 22, 1894, Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason in France. This becomes the beginning of what will be known of the Dreyfus Affair. Dreyfus was sentenced to … Continue reading “22 December” →