Today in History for 24th December 2022

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Historical Events

1715 - Swedish troops occupy Norway
1851 - Fire devastates US Library of Congress in Washington, destroys 35,000 volumes
1951 - 1st opera commissioned for television - "Amahl and the Night Visitors" by Gian Carlo Menotti premieres on NBC with the NBC Opera Theater
1996 - Ballon d'Or: Borussia Dortmund's German sweeper Matthias Sammer is named best football player in Europe ahead of PSV/Barcelona striker Ronaldo and Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer
2000 - The Texas 7 hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas. Police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot during the robbery
2001 - "Time Magazine" names New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani 'Person of the Year', for leadership after 9/11 attacks

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Famous Birthdays

1945 - Lemmy [Ian Fraser Kilmister], British heavy metal musician (Motörhead), born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire (d. 2015)
1950 - Peter te Bos, Dutch singer (Claw Boys Claw), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1958 - Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer, born in Nara Prefecture, Japan
1959 - Lee Daniels, American director ("Precious", "Empire"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1978 - Yıldıray Baştürk, Turkish footballer, born in Herne, Germany
1982 - Aiba Masaki, Japanese singer and actor, born in Chiba, Japan

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Famous Deaths

1907 - Isidor Feinstein "Izzy" Stone, journalist (IF Stone's Weekly), dies
1979 - Dirk Uipko Stikker, Dutch politician, diplomat (Ambassador to Great Britain, 1952-58; Secretary General of NATO, 1961-64), and CEO (Heineken), dies at 82
1993 - Alexander Mackendrick, American-born Scottish director (Lady Killers), dies at 81
1994 - John Osborne, English playwright (Entertainer, Look Back in Anger, Luther, dies at 65
1999 - Zeke Carey, American RandB singer (The Flamingos - "Goodnight Sweetheart"; "I Only Have Eyes For You"), dies of a heart attack at 66
2011 - Cheetah [Cheeta, Cheta, Chita], chimpanzee actor (1930s Tarzan franchise), dies of kidney failure at 80

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