1672 – New York Governor Francis Lovelace announces monthly mail service between New York and Boston.
1884 – “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain is first published in the United Kingdom and Canada. A printing error caused to be delayed until February 1885 in the United States.
1906 – President Theodore Roosevelt is the first American awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1919 – National League votes to ban spitball use by all new pitchers.
1927 – “Grand Ole Opry” first named as such during Barn Dance radio broadcast in Nashville, Tennessee.
1935 – Philadelphia Athletics sell infielder Jimmie Foxx’s contract to Boston Red Sox for $150,000, which would have been about $2.8M in 2020 dollars.
1939 – National Football League Championship, Dairy Bowl, West Allis, Wisconsin: Green Bay Packers beat New York Giants 27-0. It was the Packers fifth title.
1945 – Preston Tucker reveals plan to produce the Torpedo, a new 150 MPH car.
1954 – Albert Schweitzer receives Nobel Peace Prize.
1961 – Houston Oilers utility back Billy Cannon gains American Football League record 373 yards combined rushing/receiving in 48-21 win over the New York Titans at the Polo Grounds in New York City.
1963 – 6-year old Donny Osmond’s singing debut on Andy Williams Show.
1970 – Soviet novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn chooses not to claim his Nobel Prize in Literature for fear that the USSR would prevent his return afterwards. Accepted in 1974 after he was deported.
1973 – For the first time since 1885, tennis has two top-ranked male players – Americans Stan Smith and Jimmy Connors.
1983 – Last National Football League game at Shea Stadium: Pittsburgh Steelers beat New York Jets 34-7.
1990 – Space Shuttle STS 35 (Columbia 11) lands.
2001 – “The Fellowship of the Ring” Lord of the Rings film directed by Peter Jackson and starring Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen premieres in London.
2009 – President Barack Obama accepts the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.
2012 – Google begins selling $99 laptops.
2016 – 82nd Heisman Trophy Award: Lamar Jackson, Louisville Cardinals quarterback. He is the youngest player to win at 19.
2021 – Rare December tornadoes strike four American states with a “Quad-State Tornado’ across Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky completely destroying towns and leaving at least 70 dead.
2022 – 88th Heisman Trophy Award: Caleb Williams, Southern California quarterback.
About Author
