Today in History for 12th December 2017:
Historical Events
1677 – Brandenburgs army occupies Stettin
1787 – Pennsylvania becomes 2nd state to ratify US constitution
1870 – Joseph Rainey (South Carolina) becomes 1st African American to serve in US House of Representatives
1961 – Amateur radio satellite Oscar 1 launched with military Discoverer 36
1968 – Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O’Neill receives overwhelming support from Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs) at Stormont
1997 – Carlos the Jackal, “professional revolutionary”, goes on trial in Paris
Famous Birthdays
1929 – John Osborne, English playwright (Entertainer, Look Back in Anger, Luther), born in London (d. 1994)
1946 – Marlous Fluitsma, actress (De Prooi, Apart, Alle Dagen Feest)
1951 – Steven Alan Hawley, PhD/ast (STS 41-D, 61-C, 31, 82), born in Ottawa, Kansas
1963 – Teresa Blake, Tuscaloosa Ala, actress (Gloria Marsh-All My Children)
1967 – Yuzo Koshiro, Japanese composer
1968 – Kate Humble, English television presenter
Famous Deaths
1204 – Maimonides, [Moses Ben Maimon], Span/Egyptian rabbi, dies at 69
1889 – Robert Browning, English poet (Ring and Book), dies at 77
1914 – Watkins Lewis Africa American lynched in Shrevport, Louisiana
1964 – H I “Sailor” Young, cricketer (left-arm bowler Eng v Aust 1899), dies
1988 – Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano, American Mafia figure (b. 1917)
1992 – Bernard CJ Lievegoed, Dutch anthroposopher (Free College), dies at 87