December Historical Events

December 1

800 – Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican.

1167 – Northern Italian towns form Lombardi League

December 2

“…the Italian Navigator has just landed in the New World…” Coded telephone message confirming first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, December 2, 1942.At 3:25 P.M. on December 2, 1942, the Atomic Age began inside an enormous tent on a squash court under the stands of the University of Chicago’s Stagg Field. There, scientists headed by Enrico Fermi engineered the first controlled nuclear fission chain reaction. The result, sustainable nuclear energy, led to creation of the atomic bomb and nuclear power plants—two of the twentieth century’s most powerful and controversial achievements. Four years earlier the Italian scientist received the Nobel Prize for Physics. Planning to defect, Fermi attended the award ceremonies in Stockholm with his wife and children. Like so many intellectuals who left fascist Europe, Fermi came to the United States and worked at Columbia University.

1946  – Born: Gianni Versace, Italian Designer (d.1997)

1994 Achille Lauro sinks off the coast of Somalia

1840 Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “La Favorita,” premieres in Paris

1578 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and music theorist (d. 1640)

December 3

1621 – Galileo invents telescope

December 4

December 5

63 BC – Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations.

1590 – Niccolo Sfondrati chosen Pope Gregory XIV

1602 – Giulio Caccini’s “Euridice,” premieres in Florence

1914 – The Italian Parliament proclaims the neutrality of the country

December 6

1925 – Italy, Britain & Egypt sign Jaghbub accord (Italy)

1940 – Pietro Badoglio resigns as viceroy of Ethiopia

December 7

December 8

1849 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Luisa Miller,” premieres in Naples

1869 – 20th Roman Catholic ecumenical council, Vatican I, opens in Rome

December 9

December 10

1294 – Pope Coelestinus V becomes Pope (until Dec 13th)

December 11

1937 – Italy withdraws from League of Nation

December 12

1901 – Marconi receives 1st transatlantic radio signal, England to US

1913 – “Mona Lisa,” stolen from Louvre Museum in 1911, recovered

1951 – Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement

1963 – Frank Sinatra Jr returned after being kidnapped

December 13

1294 – Pope Coelestinus V ends term

1466 – Donatello died (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi) (born 1386) was a famous Florentine artist and sculptor of the Early Renaissance.

1545 – Pope Paul III opens council of Trente

1662 –  Francesco Bianchini was an Italian philosopher and scientist. He worked for the curia of many popes, including being secretary of the commission for the reform of the calendar, working on the method to calculate the correct date for Easter in a given year. He published many books, including A Universal History, and Hesperi et Phosphori nova Phaenomena in which he deduced a rotational period from the observation of the surface of Venus. Today, we know that this is impossible, because of the thick cloud cover on this planet. He also worked on the parallax of Venus, and he measured the precession of the Earth’s rotational axis. Craters on Mars and the Moon were named in his honor. He died in 1729.

1823 – Gioacchino Rossini arrives in London

1903 – Italo Marcioni patents ice cream cone (NJ)

1913 – Mona Lisa stolen in Aug 1911 returned to Louvre

1918 – Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Il Trittico,” premieres in NYC

1960 – Italy beats US in Davis cup (1st time in 24 years US not in finals)

December 14

867 – Adrian II begins his reign as Catholic Pope

872 – John VIII elected as Catholic Pope

1124 – Theobald Buccapecus elected Pope Coelestinus II (he refuses)

1918 – Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Il Trittico,” premieres in NYC

1924 – Respighi’s symphony “Pini di Roma,” premieres in Paris

1969 – “La Strada” opens/closes at Lunt Fontanne NYC for 1 performance

1977 – “Saturday Night Fever,”starring John Travolta, premieres in NYC

December 15

37 – Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus, 5th emperor of Rome’s birthday (54-68)

687 – St Sergius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding Conon

1167 – Sicilian chancellor Stephen du Perche moves the royal court to Messina to prevent a rebellion.

1815 – Rossini gets assignment for Il barbiere di Siviglia

1830 – Francesco D’Arcais, composer (birthday)

1926 – Facist national symbol elevated in Italy

December 16

1631 – Mount Vesuvious, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages & kills 4,000

283 – St Gaius begins his reign as Catholic Pope

546 – Gothic War (535-554): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison.

920 – Romanos I is crowned as co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII.

^{1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicated England’s King Henry VIII}

^{1948 – Jim Bonfanti, rocker (Raspberries-Go All the Way) birthday}

^{1960 – Moreno Argentin, Italian cyclist (birthday)}

^{1962 – Giulla Boschi, Italian actress (Act of Contrition, Bonus Malus) Birthday}

^{1962 – Rocco Anthony Mediate, Greensburg PA, PGA golfer (1991 Doral-Ryder) birthday}

^{1974 – Giovonni Ribisi, actor (Cory-My 2 Dads, New Leave it To Beaver) birthday}

1989 – Patti Rizzo/Mike Hill wins LPGA Mazda Golf Championship

December 18

218 BC – Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal’s Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic.

^{1884 – Italy recognizes King Leopold II’s Congo Free State}

^{1966 – Alberto “La Bomba” Tomba, Italian skier (Olympic-gold-1988, 92)}

December 20

^{1600 – Ottario Rinuccini/Giulio Caccini’s opera “Euridice” published}

^{1900 – Giacobini discovers a comet (will be 1st comet visited by spacecraft)}

December 21

^{1946 – Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” premieres}

^{1951 – Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement}

^{1969 – Vince Lombardi (Redskins) coaches his last football game, losing}

December 22

^{401 – St Innocent I begins his reign as Catholic Pope}

^{1947 – Italian constituent assembly adopts new constitution}

^{1974 – Phil Esposito, Boston, became 6th NHLer to score 500 goals}

^{1994 – Italian govt of Berlusconi resigns}

December 23

1923 – Claudio Scimone, Italian conductor

^{1925 – Harry Guardino, NYC, actor (Monty Nash, Perry Mason, Hill St Blues)}

^{1927 – Joseph Castaldo, composer}

^{1951 – Johnny Contardo, singer (Sha Na Na)}

^{1956 – Michele Alboretto, formula-1 racer (Ferrari)}

^{1967 – Carla Bruni, Italian-French model and singer}

^{1973 – Tony Graziani, quarterback (Atlanta Falcons)}

December 24

^{1294 – Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani chosen as Pope Boniface VIII}

^{1871 – Giusseppi Verdi’s “Aida” premieres in Cairo, at Suez canal opening}

^{1910 – Luisa Tetrazzini sings to 250,000 people at Lotta’s Fountain}

^{1920 – Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (NYC)}

^{1951 – John D’Acquisto, baseball player (birthday)}

December 25

^{274 – Roman Emperor Aurelian dedicates a temple to Sol Invictus on the supposed day of the winter solstice and day of rebirth of the Sun.}

^{390 – Roman emperor Theodosius admits debt on mass murder in Thessalonica}

^{800 – Pope Leo III crowns Charles the Great (Charlemagne), Roman emperor}

^{1223 – St Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene (Greccio, Italy)}

December 26

^{795 – St Leo III begins his reign as Catholic Pope}

^{1830 – Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “Anna Bolena,” premieres in Milan}

^{1831 – Vincenzo Bellini’s opera “Norma,” premieres in Milan}

^{1892 – Opera “Cristoforo Colombo” is produced (La Scala)}

December 27

^{1954 – Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera “Saint,” premieres in NYC}

^{1950 – Terry Bozzio, rock drummer (Missing Persons-Hello I Love You)}

^{1988 – Rick Porcello, American baseball player}

December 28

^{1503 – Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici, ruler of Florence died (b. 1471)}

^{1663 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist died (b. 1618)}

^{1821 – Naples: Gioacchini Rossini moves to Bologna}

^{1908 – Earthquake strikes Messina, Italy; 80,000 die}

^{1954 – Tony Rosato, Naples Italy, comedian (SCTV, SNL, Amanda’s)}

December 29

^{1992 – Gov Cuomo grants Jean Harris (Scarsdale Diet Dr killer) clemency}

December 30

^{274 – St Felix I ends his reign as Catholic Pope}

^{1572 – Galeazzo Alessi, Italian architect (Palazza Marino, Milan), dies at 60}

^{1573 – Giovanni Battista Giraldi, Italian writer, dies (b. 1504)}

^{1591 – Innocent IX, [Giovanni Facchinetti], Pope, (1591 62 days), dies at 72}

^{1788 – Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian rococo painter/etcher, dies at 86}

^{1821 – Angelo Maria Benincori, composer, dies at 42}

^{1941 – Al Capone’s son Sonny marries in Miami Beach}

December 31

^{December 31, 1929 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Divini illius magistri}