# Today in History **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 10, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530 "2016-07-10T04:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/301 "2016-12-13T07:02:39Z")
**December 13, 1916** : [The White Friday](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://storiesofthegreatwar.blogspot.com/2014/07/in-memory-of-december-13-1916.html%3Fm%3D1&ved=0ahUKEwjmkMDnyvDQAhVDfiYKHW8sCaoQFghEMAc&usg=AFQjCNFAqcAO7W6TF8ifNq6xQLL3QfHjDQ&sig2=X9F1-PqVwE-bnx7vbHaW1A)avalanche kills hundreds of soldiers in one of the deadliest snow avalanches ever. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/302 "2016-12-13T09:05:31Z")
**December 13, 1928:** George Gershwin’s _An American in Paris_ is first performed, conducted by Walter Damrosch. Gershwin stated that Damrosch’s sluggish, dragging tempo caused him to walk out of the hall. The audience was much more enthusiastic. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/303 "2016-12-14T16:32:56Z")
**December 14, 1941** : [The _HMS Galatea_](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Galatea_(71))is torpedoed and sunk off Alexandria, Egypt killing 469. The German submarine responsible, U-557, is rammed by an Italian ship two days later, killing everyone aboard that u-boat. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/304 "2016-12-15T00:24:42Z")
December 14, 1799 - George Washington dies on this day at his Mount Vernon home along the banks of the Potomac ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/305 "2016-12-15T15:47:30Z")
December 15,1970 – Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully lands on Venus. It is the first successful soft landing on another planet ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/306 "2016-12-15T17:37:27Z")
**December 15, 1973:** The American Psychiatric Association votes 13–0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/307 "2016-12-15T17:38:42Z")
December 15, 1966: Walt Disney dies. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/308 "2016-12-16T05:17:29Z")
**December 15, 1593:** Holland grants a patent on a windmill with a crankshaft. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/310 "2016-12-16T12:01:15Z")
**December 16, 1773:** Members of the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians, dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/311 "2016-12-17T17:01:21Z")
**December 17, 1989:** _The Simpsons_, America’s longest-running sitcom, debuts. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/312 "2016-12-18T06:04:53Z")
**December 18, 1966** : \*How the Grinch Stole Christmas \*airs for the first time, on CBS. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/313 "2016-12-18T09:48:41Z")
**December 18, 1892:** Premiere performance of _The Nutcracker_ by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In general, the performance was not a success. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/314 "2016-12-18T22:47:34Z")
**December 18, 1620:** The British ship Mayflower docked at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/315 "2016-12-18T23:31:45Z")
**December 18, 1603:** The first fleet of the Dutch East India Company under Admiral Steven van der Haghen departs for the East Indies. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/316 "2016-12-19T05:59:46Z")
**December 19, 1941** : [HMS Neptune (20)](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4004.html&ved=0ahUKEwi1vJi6yP_QAhXCxYMKHfhdDboQFgiGATAW&usg=AFQjCNE3Awbl0Sr_R-aQ8hRrJxrGbpgF8w&sig2=dsWLuqA4tPzB8MLKXaCt4g) strikes several Italian mines. All but 1 of her crew of 767 perish. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/317 "2016-12-19T09:28:29Z")
**December 19, 1998:** President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second President of the United States to be impeached. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/318 "2016-12-19T14:54:34Z")
**December 19, 1944** : [Japanese aircraft carrier \*Unryu \*](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Unry%25C5%25AB&ved=0ahUKEwi188KRwIDRAhUM34MKHewsBwkQFgguMAA&usg=AFQjCNG33K6aKzGGpHTZEamb94oSxPKljw&sig2=n4MG6a0jK1VNP1aWx0O85w)is torpedoed by a US submarine in the South China Sea. 1238 die. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/319 "2016-12-19T17:02:25Z")
December 19, 1154 – King Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/320 "2016-12-20T06:46:11Z")
**December 20, 1987** : A Filipino passenger ferry, the [MV\* Dona Paz](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Do%25C3%25B1a_Paz&ved=0ahUKEwjHs-vOkoLRAhUD6SYKHaO9DjAQFggaMAA&usg=AFQjCNHf5TtogrF5dyWlCkdyK5CpsOxWtg&sig2=hS1GVZMnYCm3VuE9_Jc4LA) \*collides with an oil tanker. The ferry catches fire and both ships sink in shark infested waters. 4386 people die, making this the single deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/321 "2016-12-20T15:09:15Z")
**December 20, 1991:** A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the “honor killing” of their daughter Palestina. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=17)