^B{^#!16!23 December^N! Feast day of The Ten Martyrs of Crete, St Dagobert II of Austria, St John of Kanti, Saints Victoria and Anatolia, St Frithebert, St Servulus, and St Thorlac.
^B{1834^B} English architect Joseph Hansom patented his 'safety cab', better known as the Hansom cab. ^B{1888^B} Following a quarrel with Paul Gauguin, Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh cut off part of his own earlobe. ^B{1922^B} The BBC began daily news broadcasts in Britain. ^B{1948^B} General Tojo and six other Japanese military leaders were executed, having been found guilty of crimes against humanity. ^B{1953^B} Soviet secret police chief Lavrenti Beria and six of his associates were shot for treason following a secret trial. ^B{1986^B} Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made the first non-stop flight around the world without refueling, piloting the US plane ^I{Voyager^I}. ^B{1965^B} A 70-mph speed limit was introduced in Britain. ^B{1990^B} Elections in Yugoslavia ended, leaving four of its six republics with non-Communist governments.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Richard Arkwright, English inventor, ^B{1732^B}; Alexander I, tsar of Russia, ^B{1777^B}; Samuel Smiles, Scottish author, ^B{1812^B}; J Arthur Rank, British film magnate, ^B{1888^B}; Maurice Denham, English actor, ^B{1909^B}; Helmut Schmidt, German statesman, ^B{1918^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}Michael Drayton, English poet, ^B{1631^B}; Thomas Robert Malthus, English economist, ^B{1834^B}; George Catlin, US painter and explorer, ^B{1872^B}; Charles Dana Gibson, US artist and illustrator, ^B{1944^B}; Henry Cotton, British golfer, ^B{1987^B}; Ernst Krenek, US composer, ^B{1991^B}.
