Updated December 15, 2011, 1:28 pm
On Dec. 16, 1950, President Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight “Communist imperialism.”
On Dec. 16, 1901, Margaret Mead, the American anthropologist who authored 44 books and over 1000 articles , was born. Following her death on Nov. 15, 1978, her obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1653 Oliver Cromwell became lord protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. 1773 The Boston Tea Party took place as American colonists boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea overboard to protest tea taxes. 1809 Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate. 1811 The first of the powerful New Madrid earthquakes, with an estimated magnitude of 7.7, struck the central Mississippi Valley. 1916 Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen. 1917 Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke was born in Minehead, England. 1944 The Battle of the Bulge during World War II began as German forces launched a surprise counterattack against Allied forces in Belgium. 1985 Reputed organized-crime chief Paul Castellano was shot to death outside a New York City restaurant. 1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president of Haiti in the country’s first democratic elections. 1991 The U.N. General Assembly rescinded its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism. 1998 President Bill Clinton ordered a sustained series of airstrikes against Iraq by American and British forces in response to Saddam Hussein’s continued defiance of U.N. weapons inspectors. 2000 President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to become the first African-American secretary of state. 2007 British forces formally handed over to Iraq responsibility for Basra, the last Iraqi region under their control. 2009 Iran test-fired a missile capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe. 2010 Larry King concluded his CNN talk show after 25 years. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Broadcast journalist Lesley Stahl (“60 Minutes”) turns 70 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Actor Benjamin Bratt turns 48 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
1936 Morris Dees, Civil rights attorney, turns 75 1937 Joyce Bulifant, Actress, turns 74 1938 Liv Ullmann, Actress, turns 73 1943 Steven Bochco, TV producer (“NYPD Blue,” “Hill Street Blues”), turns 68 1948 Pat Quinn, Governor of Illinois, turns 63 1949 Billy Gibbons, Rock musician (ZZ Top), turns 62 1968 Peter Orszag, Former White House budget director, turns 43 Historic Birthdays
Margaret Mead 12/16/1901 – 11/15/1978 American anthropologist. Go to obituary »
50 Catherine of Aragon 12/16/1485 – 1/7/1536
English queen41 Jane Austen 12/16/1775 – 7/18/1817
English novelist58 Francois Boieldieu 12/16/1775 – 10/8/1834
French composer61 Josephine Shaw Lowell 12/16/1843 – 10/12/1905
American social reformer51 Hans Buchner 12/16/1850 – 4/5/1902
German bacteriologist88 George Santayana 12/16/1863 – 9/26/1952
Spanish-American philosopher and poet81 Sir John Berry Hobbs 12/16/1882 – 12/21/1963
English athlete73 Sir Noel Coward 12/16/1899 – 3/26/1973
English actor and playwright96 V.S. Pritchett 12/16/1900 – 3/20/1997
English author61 James McCracken 12/16/1926 – 4/29/1988
American operatic tenor56 Ludwig van Beethoven 12/16/1770 – 3/26/1827
German composer and pianist
