Born On This Day:

• Madame de Pompadour, 1721
• Charles Goodyear, 1800
• Andrew Johnson, 1808
• William Gladstone, 1809
• Pablo Casals, 1876
• Jess Willard, 1881
• Tom Bradley, 1918
• Mary Tyler Moore, 1938
• Jon Voight, 1938
• Marianne Faithfull, 1946
• Ted Danson, 1948
• Paula Poundstone, 1959
• Ashleigh Banfield, 1967
• Jude Law, 1972

Died On This Day:

• St. Thomas à Becket assassinated, 1170
• Sir William Osler, 1919
• Rainer Maria Rilke, 1926
• Don Marquis, 1937
• Eden Phillpotts, 1960
• Paul Whiteman, 1967
• Harold Macmillan, 1986

Today's Events:

• 1170 - Thomas à Becket is killed by four leading knights of Henry II's court in Canterbury Cathedral.
• 1720 - London Haymarket Theatre opened.
• 1775 - Sarah Siddons makes London stage debut.
• 1778 - British capture Savannah, Georgia.
• 1845 - Texas 28th state admitted to Union.
• 1859 - YMCA (Young Men's Christian Organization) organized in Boston, 15 years after Britain.
• 1890 - Massacre of Wounded Knee, South Dakota-300 women & children Indians killed by U.S. 7th Cavalry.
• 1891 - Thomas Alva Edison granted patent on electrical transmission of radio signals.
• 1911 - Revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen elected President of provisional government of China.
• 1940 - Germany begins dropping incendiary bombs on London. WWII.
• 1954 - Vietnam achieves independence.
• 1975 - Equal Pay Act of 1970 in the UK prohibiting less favorable pay and conditions for women comes into force.
• 2011 - One million North Koreans mourning death of Kim Jong Il witness installation of Kim Jong-un as 'supreme leader of the party, state and army.'

Feast Day of Saint:

• Marcellus the Righteous
• Thomas of Canterbury

Holiday:

• National Holiday in Nepal celebrating King's birthday

Non-Specific Holiday:

• ADVENT SUNDAY, Sunday nearest to feast of Saint Andrew (Nov. 30) whether before or after.
• CHANUKKA (Jewish Feast of Lights), eight day holiday beginning on 25th day of lunar month Kislev.
• TSAO CHÜN, Festival of the Kitchen God in China (23rd day of the twelfth moon (or 24th in Kwantung)
• CH'U HSI, Night of the Thirtieth (29th day of the twelfth moon)
• KWANZAA - African American Heritage celebrated December 26 - January 1