December 1908 calendar

Events

• 02 Dec 1908 Child Emperor Pu Yi ascends the Chinese throne at the age of two
• 25 Dec 1908 Jack Johnson KO Tommy Burns and becomes first black heavyweight champion.
• 26 Dec 1908 Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia.
• 28 Dec 1908 Messina, Italy struck by an earthquake (nearly 80,000 died).
• 29 Dec 1908 Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake, Clintonville Wisconsin.
• 30 Dec 1908 Stanley Cup: MontrTal Wanderers outscore Edmonton, 13-10 in two game series.

Famous Birthday

• Willard Libby

  American chemist and academic Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980).

• Olivier Messiaen

  French composer and musician, one of the most influential French composers of the 20th century.

• Manoel de Oliveira

  Portuguese director.

• Simon Wiesenthal

  Ukranian Nazi hunter who made a career of tracking down some 1,100 war criminals from 1945 after he was held in a concentration camp for...

• Quentin Crisp

  British character, the gay author of "The Naked Civil Servant.

• Giacomo Manzù

  Italian sculptor and academic (d. 1991).

• Simone Alma

  French singer and actress, known for the film "La forêt qui tue" (1927).

• Lew Ayres

  American actor onscreen from 1929.

• Max Bill

  Swiss painter, abstract sculptor and architect, the author of "Continuity.

• Elliot Carter
• Laurence Naismith

  Surrey, England -- Actor (Judge Fulton-Persuaders).

• Pierre Graber

  Swiss lawyer and politician 69th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 2003).

• Alton Delmore
• Dennis Morgan

  American actor and leading man who was also an opera singer.

• Jonah Jones
• Celia Johnson

  England, United Kingdom -- Actress (Happy Breed, Brief encounter).

• Morey Amsterdam

  American actor singer and screenwriter (d. 1996).

• Morey Amsterdam

  American actor singer and screenwriter (d. 1996).

• William Brocklesby

  Wordsworth composer.

• Victor Babin

  composer.

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Famous Deaths

• Francois A Gevaert

  Belg / Dutch Composer (Diable au Moulin), dies at 68.

• Francois-Auguste Gevaert

  Belgian musicologist / composer, dies at 80.

• Marie Jungius Dutch teacher/fairy tale writer

  dies at age 44.

• Eduard Wachmann composer

  dies at age 72.

• Thomas-Alfred Bernier

  Canadian journalist lawyer and politician (d. 1908).

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Top #5 songs in the USA

1. Frederic Rose - If You Cared for Me
2. Frank Stanley & Henry Burr - Rainbow
3. George Stehl, Marshall Lufsky & Paul Surth - The Herd Girl's Dream
4. Ada Jones & Billy Murray - There's No Moon Like the Honeymoon
5. Billy Murray - I'm Glad I'm Married