^B{^#!16!11 December^N! Feast day of St Daniel the Stylite, St Damasus, pope, Saints Fuscianus, Victoricus and Gentianus, and St Barsabas.
^B{1769^B} Edward Beran of London, UK, patented venetian blinds. ^B{1844^B} Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, was first used for a tooth extraction. ^B{1894^B} The first motor show opened in Paris, with nine exhibitors. ^B{1941^B} Germany and Italy declared war on the US. ^B{1987^B} Charlie Chaplin's trademark cane and bowler hat were sold at Christie's for #║2,500. ^B{1991^B} Salman Rushdie, under an Islamic death sentence for blasphemy, made his first public appearance since 1989 in New York, at a dinner marking the 200th anniversary of the First Amendment (which guarantees freedom of speech).
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Pope Leo X, ^B{1475^B}; Hector Berlioz, French composer, ^B{1803^B}; Carlo Ponti, Italian film director and producer, ^B{1913^B}; Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Russian author, ^B{1918^B}; Kenneth MacMillan, Scottish choreographer, ^B{1929^B}; Brenda Lee, US pop singer, ^B{1944^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}Llewlyn ap Gruffydd, last native Prince of Wales, ^B{1282^B}; Bernardino Pinturicchio, Italian painter, ^B{1513^B}; Olive Schreiner, South African novelist, ^B{1920^B}; Ed Murrow, US journalist and broadcaster, ^B{1965^B}.
