Armand-Jean du Plessis, Cardinal de Richelieu(French clergyman and statesman)–
Frank Zappa(musician)–
Besse Cooper(world’s oldest person at time of her death)–
Born
Thomas Carlyle(historian)–
Deanna Durbin(actress)–
Ed Flesh(designer of the wheel on the TV game show Wheel of Fortune)–
Roberta Lynn Bondar(astronaut)–
Jeff Bridges(actor)–
Marisa Tomei(actress)–
Jay-Z(hip hop artist)–
Events
At Fraunces Tavern in New York’s lower Manhattan, George Washington bade farewell to his officers of the Continental Army, before traveling to Annapolis, Maryland, to resign his commission as commander-in-chief –
National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry founded –
Boss Tweed escaped jail –
Crew of shipwrecked tanker Kyzikes rescued, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina –
In its first aerial attack on Italy, the US bombs Naples –
First television appearance of Marcel Marceau –
Matisse’s Le Bateau rehung after being upside down in The Museum of Modern Art for 47 days, New York City
–
Brenda Lee’s Christmas hit “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, 65 years after its original release –
Weather
New Haven, Connecticut, received 20 inches of snow in the first of two major snowstorms that December –
The temperature dropped from 52 degrees F to 18 degrees F in 20 minutes, Livingston, Montana –
