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What happened in history on this day: December 21?
On December 21 in ...
- 1784 - John Jay becomes first US Secretary of State (foreign affairs).
- 1812 - In Santa Barbara Channel, California, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs.
- 1829 - First stone arch railroad bridge in US is dedicated, in Baltimore, Maryland.
- 1861 - US President Abraham Lincoln signs law authorizing Navy Medal of Valor.
- 1863 - First national US bank note is issued, a $5 note, by the First National Bank of Washington, D.C.
- 1864 - USA Army General Tecumseh Sherman conquers Savannah, Georgia.
- 1866 - Cheyennes, Arapho's, Sioux, Fetterman Massacre.
- 1909 - First junior high school established (Berkeley, California).
- 1914 - First feature-length silent film comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance is released (starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charles Chaplin).
- 1915 - 25.83 cm (10.17 inches) of rainfall, in Glenora, Oregon (state record).
- 1921 - US Supreme Court rules labor injunctions and picketing are unconstitutional.
- 1929 - First US group hospital insurance plan instituted, Dallas, Texas.
- 1933 - Dried human blood serum first prepared, University of Pennsylvania.
- 1933 - US President Franklin Roosevelt issues an Executive Proclamation authorising the US Treasury to coin half of the 97.7 million ounces of silver bullion agreed to be purchased over the next four years.
- 1937 - RKO Radio Pictures world premieres Disney's first full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Hollywood. It is the industry's first full-length animated movie. The US$1.5 million needed to complete the film nearly bankrupted the company. Two million drawings make up the 83 minute film.
- 1942 - US Supreme court declares Nevada marriage separation legal.
- 1946 - Frank Capra's movie It's a Wonderful Life premieres in theaters in the USA.
- 1952 - Broadway Tunnel opens in San Francisco, California, USA.
- 1959 - Citizens of Deerfield, Illinois, block building of interracial housing.
- 1962 - US and Cuba accord, for release of Bay of Pigs captives.
- 1968 - Joseph W. Barr begins term as US Treasury Secretary (lasts one month).
- 1968 - Apollo 8 (Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders) is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the first manned Moon voyage.
- 1970 - The American F-14 Tomcat military jet first flies.
- 1973 - Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, US and USSR meet in Geneva, Switzerland.
- 1976 - Patricia R Harris is named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
- 1976 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1985 - ARCO Anchorage runs aground near Port Angeles, Washington.
- 1988 - Drexel agrees guilt to security felonies, pays a US$650 million fine.
- 1989 - US Vice-President Dan Quayle sends out 30,000 Christmas cards with word "beacon" spelled "beakon".
- 1994 - A homemade bomb goes off on the #4 train on Fulton Street in New York City.
- 2018 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 22,445 after its worst week since 2008.
- 2020 - US Congress basses US$900 billion pandemic relief bill, including US$600 one-time payment to each citizen.
Births on December 21
- 1892 - Birth of Walter Hagen in Rochester, New York, USA; PGA golfer (US Open 1914, 1919).
- 1899 - Birth of Guy Wilkerson in Texas, USA; actor (Dead or Alive, West of Texas, Shootin' Iron).
- 1908 - Birth of Sylvester 'Pat' Weaver in Los Angeles, California, USA; President of NBC-TV, created Today and Tonight shows.
- 1909 - Birth of George Ball in Iowa, USA; lawyer/UnderSecretary of state.
- 1910 - Birth of Marvin Davis in New Mexico, USA; architect, art director at 20th Century Fox, worked at Disney 1955-95, helped plan Disneyland layout, designs for many buildings, worked on films and TV shows, Emmy award 1962, planning and designing Walt Disney World, named a Disney Legend 1994.
- 1913 - Birth of Fred Joerger in Illinois, USA; designer and architect of Disneyland attractions 1953+, retires 1979, named Disney Legend in 2001.
- 1922 - Birth of Paul Winchell in New York City, New York, USA; ventriloquist (dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff on TV in 1950s/60s), voice actor (Tigger - Winnie the Pooh films).
- 1926 - Birth of Pedro Gonzales-Gonzalez in Aguilares, Texas, USA; actor (Rio Bravo).
- 1928 - Birth of Ed Nelson in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; actor (Peyton Place, Along Came a Spider, The Silent Force, Capitol).
- 1931 - Birth of David Baker in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; composer (Reflections).
- 1935 - Birth of Phil Donahue in Cleveland, Ohio, USA; talk show host (Phil Donahue Show).
- 1937 - Birth of Jane Fonda in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Barbarella, Klute, The Dollmaker, Lily: Sold Out, fitness videos).
- 1938 - Birth of Larry Bryggman in Concord, California, USA; actor (Dr John Dixon - As the World Turns).
- 1940 - Birth of Frank Zappa in Baltimore, Maryland, USA; rock singer and composer ("Memories of El Monte", Mothers of Invention band, 50 albums, "Jazz From Hell" album (Grammy Award 1988)).
- 1940 - Birth of Paul [Ray Hildebrand] in Texas, USA; singer ("Hey Paula").
- 1944 - Birth of Jared Martin in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Varian - Fantastic Voyage, Dusty - Dallas).
- 1944 - Birth of Michael Tilson Thomas in Los Angeles, California, USA; conductor (New York Philharmonic for Young People).
- 1945 - Birth of Millie Hughes-Fulford in Wells, Texas, USA; astronaut (STS 40).
- 1946 - Birth of Carl Dean Wilson in Hawthorne, California, USA; guitarist (Carl and the Passions, The Beach Boys - Surfin U-S-A", "Surfer Girl", "I Get Around", "Good Vibrations").
- 1946 - Birth of Christopher Keene in Berkeley, California, USA; conductor (La Traviata).
- 1946 - Birth of Josh Mostel in New York, USA; actor (Windy City, Animal Behavior, Money Pit).
- 1948 - Birth of Barry Gordon in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA; actor (Gary - Archie Bunker's Place).
- 1948 - Birth of Carol Potter in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Beverly Hills 90210, Maggie Clinton - Today's FBI).
- 1952 - Birth of Dennis Boutsikaris in Newark, New Jersey, USA; actor (Batteries Not Included, Six Degrees, Law and Order, 100 Centre Street).
- 1954 - Birth of Chris Evert Lloyd Mills in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; tennis pro 'Miss Pokerface'.
- 1955 - Birth of Jane Kaczmarek in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; actress (Lois - Malcolm in the Middle, Mary - Hometown).
- 1956 - Birth of Kevin Burnham in Hollis, New York, USA; 470 yachter (Olympics-8th-1992, 1996).
- 1956 - Birth of Lee Roy Parnell in Abilene, Texas, USA; country singer ("Oughta be a Law").
- 1957 - Birth of Joshua Mostel in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Delta House, At Ease).
- 1957 - Birth of Lisa Gerritsen in Los Angeles, California, USA; actress (Bess - The Mary Tyler Moore Show).
- 1957 - Birth of Ray Romano in Queens, New York, USA; actor (Ray Barone - Everybody Loves Raymond).
- 1959 - Birth of Florence Griffith Joyner in Los Angeles, California, USA; runner (3 Olympics-gold-1988).
- 1960 - Birth of Michael Swain in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA; judoka (Olympics-bronze-1988).
- 1960 - Birth of Roger McDowell in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; pitcher (New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles).
- 1962 - Birth of Christy Forester in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, USA; country singer (Forester Sister - "Men").
- 1965 - Birth of Andy Dick in Charleston, South Carolina, USA; actor-comedian (Matthew - Newsradio, Less Than Perfect).
- 1965 - Birth of Sue Thomas in Texarkana, Texas, USA; LPGA golfer (1991 Orix Hawaiian Ladies-14th).
- 1967 - Birth of Kristi Cooke in Marion, Ohio, USA; Miss Ohio-America (1991).
- 1968 - Birth of Khrystyne Haje in Santa Clara, California, USA; actress (Simone - Head of the Class).
- 1978 - Birth of Amber Corwin in Harbor City, California; figure skater (1997 Nationals - 5th).
- 1978 - Birth of Michael Vitar in Los Angeles, California; actor (D2, D3, Sunset Grill, Sandlot Kids).
Deaths on December 21
- 1940 - Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, author (Great Gatsby, Zelda), dies of a heart attack in Hollywood, California at age 44.
- 1945 - George S. Patton, US general (Sicily/Normandy), dies at age 50 in a military hospital in Heidelberg, Germany, from head wound in car crash 12 days earlier.
- 1972 - Horace Mann Bond, president of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), dies at age 70.
- 1978 - Sports cartoonist Willard Mullin, creator of the lovable character known as the 'Brooklyn Bum', dies in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA at the age of 76.
- 1992 - Albert King, American blues singer/guitarist (Crosscut Saw), dies at age 71 (born 1923).
- 1992 - Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian/US violist (Beethoven, Bach), dies at age 87 (born 1903).
- 1998 - United Nations Security Council members France, Germany and Russia call for sanctions to end against Iraq. The three Security Council members also call for UNSCOM to either be disbanded or for its role to be recast. The U.S. says it will veto any such proposal.
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