^B{^#!16!13 December^N! Feast day of St Lucy, St Aubert of Cambrai, St Othilia or Odilia, St Eustratius of Sebastea, and St Judocus or Josse.
^B{1577^B} Francis Drake began his journey from Plymouth in the ^I{Golden Hind^I} that was to take him around the world. ^B{1642^B} Dutch navigator Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand. ^B{1903^B} Molds for ice cream cones were patented by Italo Marcione of New York. ^B{1904^B} The Metropolitan Underground railroad in London, UK, went electric. ^B{1967^B} A military coup replaced the monarchy in Greece, sending King Constantine II into exile. ^B{1973^B} Due to the Arab oil embargo and the coalminers' slowdown, the British government ordered a three-day work week.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Heinrich Heine, German poet and journalist, ^B{1797^B}; John Piper, English painter and writer, ^B{1903^B}; Laurens van der Post, South African writer and explorer, ^B{1906^B}; Balthazar Johannes Vorster, South African politician, ^B{1915^B}; Christopher Plummer, US film actor, ^B{1929^B}; Howard Brenton, English dramatist, ^B{1942^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}Maimonides, Jewish philosopher, ^B{1204^B}; Donatello, Italian sculptor, ^B{1466^B}; Dr Samuel Johnson, English lexicographer, ^B{1784^B}; Wassily Kandinsky, Russian painter, ^B{1944^B}; Grandma Moses, US primitive painter (aged 101), ^B{1961^B}; Mary Renault, English novelist, ^B{1983^B}.
