Highlights
1982 "Thriller", 6th studio album by Michael Jackson is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year 1984, best-selling album of all time, Billboard Album of the Year 1983)
1949 Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord, born in Rionegro, Colombia (d. 1993)
1982 Martial artist Jackie Chan (28) weds actress Lin Feng-jiao (29) in Los Angeles
1761 Marie Tussaud, French founder of Madame Tussaud's wax museum, born in Strasbourg (d. 1850)
1913 Ford Motor Company institutes world's 1st moving assembly line for the Model T Ford
1933 Rudolf Hess & Ernest Rohm become ministers in Hitler government
1953 Hugh Hefner publishes 1st edition of Playboy magazine, featuring Marilyn Monroe as the magazine's 1st centerfold
Birthdays
1896 Georgy Zhukov, Russian deputy commander-in-chief of the Red Army during WWII (Battles of Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin) and Minister of Defense, born in Strelkovka, Kaluga (d. 1974)
1913 Mary Martin, American actress (Peter Pan) and Larry Hagman's mom, born in Weatherford, Texas (d. 1990)
1918 Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, 1st President of the United Arab Emirates, born in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi (d. 2004)
1935 Woody Allen, [Allen Konigsberg], director and actor (Zelig, Annie Hall), born in Brooklyn, New York
1940 Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (Lady Sings the Blues, Stir Crazy), born in Pecoria, Illinois (d. 2005)
1945 Bette Midler, American actress and singer (Beaches, Wind Beneath my Wings), born in Honolulu, Hawaii
Important Historical Events
800 Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican.
1566 Spanish king Philip II names Fernando Alvarez, duke of Alva
1822 Franz Liszt's (11) debut as pianist Isabella Colbran
1824 US House of Representatives begins to decide outcome of election deadlock between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (Adams wins)
1868 John D. Rockefeller begins anti oil war
1884 Society of Independent Artists hold 1st exhibition in Polychrome Pavilion, Paris, includes Georges Seurat's "Bathers at Asnières"
1924 "La Révolution surréaliste" publishes its first issue in Paris, edited by André Breton
1934 Leningrad mayor Sergey Kirov assassinated, Stalin uses as excuse to begin the Great Purge of 1934-38
1937 Japan recognizes Franco government
1939 SS-Fuhrer Himmler begins deportation of Polish Jews
1941 Japanese emperor Hirohito signs declaration of war
1946 Australia compile 645 v India at the Gabba (Bradman 187)
1955 Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to move to the back of a bus and give her seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama
1957 Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly and the Crickets debut on Ed Sullivan Show
1960 Paul McCartney and Pete Best arrested then deported from Hamburg, Germany for accusation of attempted arson.
1964 Martin Luther King Jr. speaks to J. Edgar Hoover about his slander campaign
1967 Wilt Chamberlain set NBA record of 22 free throws misses
1971 Cubs release Ernie Banks & sign him as a coach
1971 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in US
1973 Jack Nicklaus becomes 1st golfer to earn $2M in a year
1975 US President Gerald Ford visits People's Republic of China
1978 US President Jimmy Carter more than doubles national park system size
1982 "Tootsie" directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange premieres in Hollywood
1984 "Beverly Hills Cop" directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold premieres in Los Angeles
1988 Benazir Bhutto named 1st female Prime Minister of a Muslim country (Pakistan)
1989 USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev meets Pope John Paul II at the Vatican
1990 NY Knicks Patrick Ewing scores 50 points beating Charlotte 113-96
1999 Rapper Jay-Z stabs record executive Lance "Un" Rivera at a night club in New York
2003 "The Return of the King", 3rd and final film in the Lord of the Rings series, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen premieres in Wellington, New Zealand
2007 T. C. Williams High School’s newly constructed basketball court is named after Earl Lloyd
2016 French President Francois Hollande announces he will not seek a 2nd term - 1st modern French leader not to do so
Deaths
1521 Leo X, [Giovanni de' Medici], Italian Pope (1513-21), dies at 45
1973 David Ben-Gurion, founding father of Israel, dies in Tel Aviv at 87
1990 Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Indian diplomat and politician, dies at 90
Weddings
1927 Chinese political and military leader Chiang Kai-shek (40) weds Soong Mei-ling (28) in Shanghai
1973 NFL running back Gale Sayers (30) weds second wife Ardythe Bullard
1990 Film director John Carpenter (36) weds producer Sandy King
Divorce
1994 Cindy Crawford & Richard Gere announce they are seperating
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