1642: New Zealand sighted. Dutch navigator Abel Tasman sighted South Island, New Zealand, and later, mistaking the strait north of the island for a bay, believed he had found the west coast of a hypothetical southern continent.

 

13th Dec:

1972 - In Paris, peace negotiations deadlocked on the issue of who would have political power in South Vietnam if a cease-fire were announced. North Vietnamese officals walked out of the negotiations.

1974 - North Vietnamese General Tran Van Tra ordered an attack on Phuoc Long Province, north of Saigon. The communist forces overran the last South Vietnamese positions in the area on January 6, 1975.

 

On this day in history, December 13, 1989, pop star Taylor Swift is born in Pennsylvania
Songwriting prodigy took Nashville by storm before conquering pop music.

Taylor Swift reportedly turned down an offer to perform at the 2023 Super Bowl.

 

On December 14, 1979, The Clash released their third studio album, the groundbreaking 'London Calling.'

While their first 2 albums were critically and commercialy successful in the UK, London Calling would blow the lid off for them, making them international superstars. The album was a departure from their punk rock roots, branching out into reggae, rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock. Their themes also matured to include social displacement, unemployment, racial conflict, drug use, and the responsibilities of adulthood. The little punk band was growing up.

As for the biggest hit on the album, title cut London Calling, Joe Strummer said that depressing news stories gave him the inspiration for the track which was written around the time of the Cold War. It was an impending sense of doom that is filtered throughout the song.

The double album received widespread acclaim and was ranked at number eight on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003 and was ranked as the sixth-greatest album of the 1970s by NME.



The band plays London Calling on SNL imitator show 'Fridays' on April 25, 1980:

 

December 14

1911 - Norwewegion explorerRaold Admunsen reaches the South Poe.

1504 - Nostradamas was born in France.

 

On This Day In History
December 14, 1863
President Lincoln pardons his sister-in-law

President Abraham Lincoln announces a grant of amnesty for Emilie Todd Helm, his wife Mary Lincoln’s half sister and the widow of a Confederate general. The pardon was one of the first under Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which he had announced less than a week before. The plan, the president’s blueprint for the reintegration of the South into the Union, allowed for former Confederates to be granted amnesty if they took an oath to the United States. The option was open to all but the highest officials of the Confederacy. Lincoln's sister-in-law received the pardon, but never took the required oath.

Emilie Todd Helm was the wife of Benjamin Helm, who, like the Lincolns, was a Kentucky native. The president was said to be an admirer of Helm, a West Point and Harvard graduate. Lincoln had offered Helm a position in the U.S. Army, but Helm opted to join the Confederates instead. Helm led a group of Kentuckians known as the Orphan Brigade, since they could not return to their Union-held native state during the war. Helm was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863.

After her husband’s death, Helm made her way through Union lines to Washington, D.C. She stayed in the White House and the Lincolns tried to keep her visit a secret. General Daniel Sickles, who had been wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, five months prior, told Lincoln that he should not have a Rebel in his house. Lincoln replied, “General Sickles, my wife and I are in the habit of choosing our own guests. We do not need from our friends either advice or assistance in the matter.” After Lincoln granted her pardon, Emilie Helm returned to Kentucky.

 

On this day in history, December 14, 1977, 'Saturday Night Fever' debuts, capturing disco era in America
Movie catapulted Travolta to stardom, was built on fraudulent piece in magazine purporting to capture NYC club scene.


The movie "Saturday Night Fever," directed by John Badham. Seen here, John Travolta as Tony Manero on the dance floor of 2001 Odyssey discotheque.

 

1863: Lincoln pardons his sister-in-law, Emilie Todd Helm. She was one of the first people to receive a pardon from Lincoln under his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which he issued on December 8, 1831. The pardon allowed former Confederates to take an oath of loyalty to the United States and return to their Southern homes.

 

14 Dec 1941

US Congress authorized the US Navy to keep enlisted men in service past their enlistment expiration.

US Navy Task Force 11 centered around the carrier USS Lexington, with three cruisers, and nine destroyers set sail for the Marshall Islands, acting as decoy an in attempt to lure Japanese naval vessels out of the Wake Island area.

 

December 15

1939 - Gone with the wind starring Vivien Leah and Clark Gable premiered in Atlanta, Georgia.

1892 - American oil billionaire J. Paul Getty was born in Minneapolis,Minnesota.

1791 - The first Ten Ammendments in the U.S Constitution were adopted as a single unit known as The Bill of Rights.

 

Two things:

As previously noted, on December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights, which are the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, were adopted as a single unit.

The Bill spells out Americans' rights in relation to their government, guaranteeing civil rights and liberties to the individual—including freedom of speech, press, religion, and the right to bear arms. These 10 amendments are mutually reinforcing guarantees of individual rights and limitations on federal and state governments.



Also on December 15:

In 1944, American big-band musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and patriot Glenn Miller was killed when his aircraft disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel while traveling to entertain US troops in France during World War II. Miller was the best-selling recording artist from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best-known big bands.

In just four years Glenn Miller scored 23 No.1 hits. Miller's recordings include 'In the Mood', 'A String of Pearls', 'Moonlight Serenade', 'Pennsylvania 6-5000', and 'Chattanooga Choo Choo'.





Many songs helped define the WWII era, but none more so than 'In The Mood.'

 

On This Day In History
December 15, 1973
The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses

On December 15, 1973, at a time when society often still views gay people as deviants, the American Psychiatric Association reverses a century-old decision, issuing a resolution stating that homosexuality it neither a mental illness nor a sickness. To underline the point, the association removes homosexuality from its influential reference tool, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The APA stated in its resolution: “We will no longer insist on a label of sickness for individuals who insist that they are well and demonstrate no generalized impairment in social effectiveness.” The statement also pledged APA support for civil rights legislation that would provide “homosexual citizens the same protections now guaranteed to others.” At the time, the majority of U.S. states still held anti-sodomy laws, and uncloseted homosexuals risked losing their jobs and housing, as well as family and community acceptance.

The resolution also explains: “For a mental or psychiatric condition to be considered a psychiatric disorder, it must either regularly cause subjective distress, or regularly be associated with some generalized impairment in social effectiveness or functioning. With the exception of homosexuality…all of the other mental disorders in DSM-II fulfill either of these two criteria.”

The resolution marked a major milestone for equality for gay people. But further steps, like the legalization of gay marriage, would take decades to follow. The 1973, the APA decision also did not stop attempts, largely encouraged by conservative faith groups, to try and make gay people straight via conversion therapy—a practice widely denounced today and illegal for minors in some states.

The APA’s statement came a year after the dramatic moment in the 1972 APA Annual Meeting when a masked speaker calling himself “Dr. H. Anonymous” began his speech with this declaration: “I am a homosexual. I am a psychiatrist.” The story of how Dr. Anonymous—who later revealed himself as Dr. John Fryer—along with Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny and others worked together to push the APA to remove homosexuality from the manual was explored in a 2021 PBS documentary called CURED.

 

1890: Sitting Bull killed. Indian agency police shoot the powerful holy man in the head and chest during a scuffle at his reservation cabin as they attempted to arrest him. Local authorities thought Sitting Bull was behind the growing Ghost Dance movement, which they feared would spark an Indian uprising.

 

King Joins Jailed Albany Protesters
1961
Martin Luther King Jr. joins over 500 civil rights demonstrators in jail, arrested for protesting in Albany, Georgia.


Martin Luther King Jr.

 

15 Dec 1941

The American Federation of Labor established a no-strike policy in war industries.

USS Saratoga (CV-3) arrived at Pearl Harbor from San Diego. She would become the centerpiece of US Navy Task Force 14, which also included cruisers USS Astoria, USS Tangier, and destroyer escorts, and be commanded by Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher. Along with her airwing, she would carry a US Marine Corps expeditionary force consisting of elements of the 4th Defense Battalion and Marine Fighter Squadron 211. She would, after refueling, depart for Wake Island.

 

On December 16, 1773, American colonists, some disguised as Mohawk Indians, performed a raid on three British ships in Boston Harbor throwing the contents of several hundred chests of tea into the harbor as a protest against British taxes on tea and against the monopoly granted the East India Company. This would become known as the Boston Tea Party.

Historians cite that the event turned the ongoing dissatisfaction, pamphlet writing and general grumbling of the colonists into kinetic actions which led to the American Revolution.

The colonists had demanded that the three ships not be allowed to unload their cargo, but the demand was refused by Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson, spurring this famous act of defiance.

As punishment for the Tea Party, in April 1774, the British Parliament passed the Coercive (or Intolerable) Acts, which not only took away home rule from Massachusetts, it forced all Americans to board British troops in unoccupied buildings.

 

December 16

1985 - Paul Costellano, "boss of bosses",was shot and killed. John " the Teflon don: Gotti was later convicted for arranging the murder that Sammy" the bull" Gravano pulled off.

 

On This Day In History
December 16, 1998
U.S. House of Representatives recommends impeaching Clinton

On December 16, 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary releases a 265-page report recommending the impeachment of President Bill Clinton for high crimes and misdemeanors.

The subsequent impeachment proceedings were the culmination of a slew of specious scandals involving the president and first lady Hillary Clinton. The Clintons were suspected of arranging improper real-estate deals, fundraising violations and cronyism in involving the firing of White House travel agents. Added to the mix were stories of Clinton’s extra-marital affairs and a sexual harassment claim filed against him.

An independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, was appointed to investigate the Paula Jones sexual harassment case; the ensuing investigation led Starr to Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern who had been accused of having an affair with Clinton. In early 1998, the Lewinsky scandal broke to the press and Clinton denied the affair. A year of federal grand jury testimony from various individuals in both camps followed, while Clinton continued to refute the allegations and invoked executive privilege when subpoenaed in August 1998.

Clinton’s attempt to cover up the affair, which he later admitted to and apologized for, prompted incensed House Republican leaders to pass Resolution No. 611 on December 19, 1998. The resolution launched the impeachment process for high crimes and misdemeanors, including perjury and obstruction of justice. The report accused Clinton of concealing evidence, giving misleading testimony and influencing witnesses. In the opinion of the majority of the House, Clinton’s actions “undermined the integrity of his office.” Democratic leaders also disapproved of Clinton’s conduct but preferred to formally censure the president over impeachment.

After heated debate, the Republican-dominated House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton on December 19. On January 7, 1999, the impeachment trial began in the Senate—it was the first such trial since President Andrew Johnson was accused of illegally removing the secretary of war from office and violating several Congressional acts in 1868. Like Johnson, Clinton was acquitted on February 12, 1999.

Bill Clinton also ordered an air attack on the Nation of Iraq on this day as well.....

 

Christian Dior Founded
1946
French fashion designer Christian Dior and his backer Marcel Boussac found fashion house Christian Dior


Christian Dior

 

16 Dec 1941

The US Navy expanded its pilot training program from 800 students to 2,500 per month.

The USS Enterprise task force returned to Pearl Harbor after failing to find the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack force.

Vice Admiral William Pye replaced Admiral Husband Kimmel as the acting Commander-in-Chief of the USN Pacific Fleet; he would soon be relieved by the newly-appointed permanent Pacific Fleet chief Rear Admiral Chester Nimitz, who was already en route to Hawaii.


16 Dec 2022

United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm vacated the 1954 revocation of Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance.