Armand-Jean du Plessis, Cardinal de Richelieu(French clergyman and statesman)β
Frank Zappa(musician)β
Besse Cooper(worldβs oldest person at time of her death)β
Born
Thomas Carlyle(historian)β
Deanna Durbin(actress)β
Ed Flesh(designer of the wheel on the TV game show Wheel of Fortuneββ)β
Roberta Lynn Bondar(astronaut)β
Jeff Bridges(actor)β
Marisa Tomei(actress)β
Jay-Z(hip hop artist)β
Events
At Fraunces Tavern in New York’s lower Manhattan, George Washington bade farewell to his officers of the Continental Army, before traveling to Annapolis, Maryland, to resign his commission as commander-in-chiefβ
National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry foundedβ
Boss Tweed escaped jailβ
Crew of shipwrecked tanker Kyzikes rescued, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolinaβ
In its first aerial attack on Italy, the US bombs Naplesβ
First television appearance of Marcel Marceauβ
Matisse’s Le Bateau rehung after being upside down in The Museum of Modern Art for 47 days, New York City
β
Weather
New Haven, Connecticut, received 20 inches of snow in the first of two major snowstorms that Decemberβ
The temperature dropped from 52 degrees F to 18 degrees F in 20 minutes, Livingston, Montanaβ