|
What happened in history on this day: December 23?
Since 1995, I have been collecting information on a variety of topics,
creating several timelines of history.
Here you will find specific events from those databases
for this day, on the topics of personal computers, video games, the Walt Disney Company,
Chevrolet Corvettes, A&W Root Beer, Sweden, and Canadian coins.
On December 23 in ...
- 1947 - Three scientists at Bell Telephone Laboratories, William Shockley, Walter Brattain, and John Bardeen demonstrate their new invention of the point-contact transistor amplifier. The name transistor is short for "transfer resistance".
- 1994 - Netscape Communications, Spyglass, and the University of Illinois settle their web browser lawsuit out of court. Netscape pays US$2.2 million in damages, and will pay up to US$1.4 million in licensing deals with other companies.
- 2002 - US district court judge J. Frederick Motz orders Microsoft to include Sun Microsystems' Java runtime environment in Windows. Microsoft announces it will appeal the decision.
- 2005 - IBM discontinues all OS/2 products.
- 1938 - The Silly Symphony film Mother Goose Goes Hollywood is released to theaters.
- 1954 - Disney releases the Donald Duck film Grand Canyonscope to theaters. Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore also appears.
- 1954 - Buena Vista releases Disney's live-action feature film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to theaters. It cost US$4.2 million to make. The film is based on the novel by Jules Verne.
- 1960 - Buena Vista releases Disney's live-action feature film Swiss Family Robinson to theaters. It cost US$4-5 million to make. The film is based on the novel by Johann Wyss.
- 1962 - The NBC TV network airs the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color show, entitled Holiday Time at Disneyland.
- 1982 - The Electronic Forum opens in Communicore East in EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World. Guests watch short films, then press buttons to indicate their opinions.
- 1987 - Disney pre-releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Good Morning, Vietnam in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, in order to generate publicity before a general release.
- 1988 - St. Vincent issues ten postage stamps depicting Disney characters in Christmas and train themes.
- 1990 - Disney premieres the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Green Card in Los Angeles.
- 1991 - St. Vincent issues ten postage stamps depicting Walt Disney Company Christmas cards.
- 1993 - The Cirque de Soleil theater opens at Downtown Disney West Side in Walt Disney World with the production "La Nouba".
- 1997 - Buena Vista Home Video releases the film Chasing Amy on videocassette.
- 1998 - The Cirque du Soleil begins performing in Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World.
- 1940 - German bombers sink the SS Breda in a convoy off the coast of Scotland. The ship is not directly hit, but nearby bomb blasts cause the ship to sink.
- 1941 - US oil tanker Montbello is sunk by Japanese submarine torpedo, off Cambria, 170 miles south of San Francisco, California.
- 1941 - The rest of the Japanese invasion force lands off Damortas.
- 1941 - The Canadian Royal Rifles on Hong Kong Island are ordered to withdraw to Stanley Peninsula.
- 1941 - US General MacArthur announces plan to withdraw from Manila to Bataan peninsula.
- 1943 - American General Dwight Eisenhower is appointed Allied Commander-in-Chief for operation Overlord.
- 1944 - (morning) American C47 transport planes begin dropping supplies in Bastogne.
- 1944 - With clear skies returning, Allied fighters and bombers begin attacks on German ground forces.
- 1944 - 153 British Lancaster bombers attack the rail centre at Trier.
- 1949 - The USSR issues two postage stamps marking the 2nd anniversary of the return of western territories to Byelorussia and Ukraine.
- 1991 - Marshall Islands issues a postage stamp marking the 50th anniversary of the fall of Wake Island.
- 2000 - The Russian government officially admits to the unjustifiable arrest and murder of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg in 1945.
- 1982 - Victor Ali scores a world record 80,364,995 on the Missile Command arcade game.
- 1994 - The Street Fighter film opens in theaters in the US.
- 2000 - The Russian government officially admits to the unjustifiable arrest and murder of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg in 1945.
- 1966 - The government announces that 10c, 25c, and 50c coins would be switched from silver to pure nickel in 1968.
- 1977 - Yvon Gariepy, Master of the Royal Canadian Mint, announces that the proposed smaller 1c coin will not be released in 1978.
- 1998 - A Royal proclamation authorizes the issuance of a series of twelve 1999 25c nickel coins, each with a month of the year from January to December, and various images representing Canada's past.
- 1805 - US Senate confirms Robert Patterson as Mint director.
- 1840 - Christian Gobrecht begins term as US Mint chief engraver.
- 1882 - Philadelphia Mint superintendent Snowden replies to Treasury Secretary Charles Folger that the 1873 Coinage law would be complied with in the location of wording on coins.
- 1912 - The Philadelphia Mint engraving department receives back ten dies of 1913 Liberty Head 5-cent coins from the San Francisco Mint.
- 1942 - Treasury Secretary sets weight of steel cent at 41.5 grains.
- 2008 - US President George W. Bush signs H.R. 6184 "America's Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008" into law, as Public Lal 110-456. The program encompasses a new series of circulating and non-circulating coins depicting national sites of each state and territory, and the District of Columbia, five designs per year, beginning in 2010. In addition to circulating quarter dollar coins, 5-ounce silver coins will also be produced for each design.
- 1923 - New York Yankees' pitcher Carl Mays sold to Cincinnati Reds for $85,000.
- 1933 - Howie Morenz takes over NHL career goal lead at 251.
- 1939 - South Australia score 7-821 against Queensland in cricket.
- 1946 - University of Tennessee refuses to play Duquesne University, because they may use a black player in their basketball game.
- 1951 - First coast-to-coast televised football game (Dumont paid $75,000); Los Angeles Rams beat Cleveland Browns 24-17 in NFL championship game.
- 1953 - Brooklyn Dodgers; second baseman Jim "Junior" Gilliam wins National League Rookie of Year.
- 1957 - Test Cricket debut for Wally Grout and Bobby Simpson versus South Africa.
- 1962 - Dallas Texans beat Houston Oilers 20-17 in AFL championship game.
- 1972 - "Immaculate Reception" Pittsburgh Steelers turns around a 7-6 defeat with a last second touchdown reception against the Oakland Raiders to win 13-7.
- 1972 - Chandrasekhar takes 8-79 India versus England at Delhi.
- 1972 - New York Islanders end 15-game winless streak.
- 1975 - A landmark decision by Peter Seitz begins a new era in major league baseball as the arbitrator's judgment makes pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally the first true free-agents in baseball history.
- 1978 - New York Islanders score 7 goals in one period against the New York Rangers, Trottier scores 8 points, five goals-NHL record six points in one period.
- 1979 - New York Islanders' greatest shutout loss (8-0) versus Chicago Black Hawks.
- 1981 - Boycott becomes leading run-scorer in Test Crickets with 8033.
- 1984 - Viv Richards scores 208 in Test Cricket at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
- 1994 - Baseball owners impose salary cap, fiercely opposed by players.
- 1997 - Chicago Bulls' coach Phil Jackson is quickest to reach 500 wins (682 games).
- 1997 - Colorado Avalanche player Jari Kurri is 8th NHL player to score 600 career goals.
- 2004 - Free-agent outfielder J.D. Drew signs a five-year, $55 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
- 2005 - Johnny Damon signs a US$52 million, four-year deal to play for the New York Yankees.
- 1672 - Giovanni Cassini discovers Rhea, a satellite of Saturn.
- 1690 - John Flamsteed observes Uranus without realizing it is undiscovered.
- 1968 - First documented US case of space motion sickness.
- 1964 - India and Ceylon hit by cyclone, about 4,850 killed.
- 1776 - Continental Congress negotiates a war loan of $181,500 from France.
- 1779 - Benedict Arnold court-martialed for improper conduct.
- 1783 - General George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
- 1788 - Maryland votes to cede a 10 square mile area for District of Columbia.
- 1805 - US Senate confirms Robert Patterson as Mint director.
- 1814 - US Congress passes a law, effective February 1, increasing all US postal rates by 50 percent to raise revenue to help pay for the war.
- 1862 - USA General Ben "Beast" Butler is proclaimed a "felon, outlaw and common enemy of mankind" by Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
- 1907 - First all-steel passenger railroad coach completed, in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
- 1912 - First "Keystone Kops" film, titled "Hoffmeyer's Legacy".
- 1913 - The Federal Reserve Act is signed by US President Woodrow Wilson into law. It authorizes the Federal Reserve System and a set of Federal Reserve notes.
- 1928 - NBC sets up a permanent, coast-to-coast radio network.
- 1930 - Police Bureau of Criminal Alien Investigation started in New York City, New York.
- 1943 - First telecast of a complete opera (Hansel and Gretel), Schenectady, New York.
- 1948 - Hideki Tojo, Japanese Prime Minister, and six other Japanese hanged for war crimes by US.
- 1961 - Fidel Castro announces Cuba will release 1,113 prisoners from failed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion for US$62 million worth of food and medical supplies.
- 1962 - Cuba starts returning US prisoners from the Bay of Pigs invasion.
- 1967 - US President Lyndon B Johnson meets Pope Paul VI at the Vatican.
- 1968 - First documented US case of space motion sickness.
- 1968 - 82 members of US intelligence ship Pueblo released by North Korea.
- 1970 - 7,511th performance of Agatha Christie's Mousetrap (record).
- 1970 - New York World Trade Center reaches highest point (411 m).
- 1975 - US Congress passes Metric Conversion Act.
- 1975 - Richard S Welch, US Central Intelligence Agency station chief in Athens, Greece, is shot dead.
- 1982 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends the evacuation of Times Beach, Missouri due to dangerous levels of dioxin contamination.
- 1983 - Journal Science publishes first report on nuclear winter.
- 1986 - Voyager airplane completes the first nonstop circumnavigation of the earth by air without refueling in 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
- 1987 - Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for attempted assassination of US President Gerald R Ford escapes from Alderson Prison.
- 1991 - New York Daily News publisher Kevin Maxwell resigns.
- 1997 - Terry Nichols found guilty of manslaughter in Oklahoma City bombing.
- 1997 - US Agriculture Department estimates it costs $149,820 to raise a child to 18.
- 2005 - U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announces the first in an expected series of troop drawdowns following the Iraqi elections.
- 2008 - US President George W. Bush signs H.R. 6184 "America's Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008" into law, as Public Lal 110-456. The program encompasses a new series of circulating and non-circulating coins depicting national sites of each state and territory, and the District of Columbia, five designs per year, beginning in 2010. In addition to circulating quarter dollar coins, 5-ounce silver coins will also be produced for each design.
Other history:
- 1920 - Ireland divided into two parts, each with its own parliament.
- 1964 - India and Ceylon hit by cyclone, about 4,850 killed.
- 1972 - 6.25 Earthquake destroys central Managua Nicaragua, 10,000 die.
- 1973 - Six Persian Gulf nations double their oil prices.
- 1986 - Rutan and Yeager make first around-the-world flight without refueling.
- 2007 - A general election is held in Thailand. The People's Power Party, which is associated with former Prime Minster Thaksin Shinawatra, wins a majority of seats in the parliament.
vvv advertisement vvv
^^^ advertisement ^^^
You can pick a particular day to view that day's events in history.
Bookmark this URL: http://kpolsson.com/today/ and revisit each day.
(this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing the current day's events)
Or, visit my Timelines of History page.
|