Historical Events on December 14

  • 1814: During the War of 1812, Lake Borgne in Louisiana is captured by the Royal Navy.
  • 1819: The 22nd state to become an official U.S State is Alabama – who’s admitted on this day.
  • 1903: The first attempt to fly the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina is undertaken by the Wright brothers.
  • 1939: The League of Nations expels Russia for their invasion of Finland during the Winter War.
  • 1940: Pu-238 – the element of Plutonium – is isolated for the first time at Berkeley in California.
  • 1955: With the passage of the U.N Security Council Resolution #109, several countries join the United Nations. Some of these include Albania, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Nepal, Romania and Spain.
  • 1958: The Soviet Union launches their Third Soviet Antarctic Expedition to reach the southern pole.
  • 1962: Mariner 2 flies by the planet Venus.
  • 1964: It’s ruled by the U.S Supreme Court that the United States Congress can indeed use the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to fight discrimination.
  • 1972: The last person to ever walk on the moon, Eugene Cernan, does so after the final EVA (extra-vehicular activity) of the Apollo 17 mission.
  • 1992: At the Siege of Tkvarcheli during the War in Abkhazia, fifty-two people are killed, half of which are children, when a helicopter containing evacuees is shot down.

Famous Birthday

  • American pilot, aviation pioneer and Medal of Honor recipient, James Doolittle is born in 1896.
  • French tennis player Henri Cochet is born in 1901.
  • American novelist and short story writer, Shirley Jackson in born in 1916.
  • American dancer and choreographer, June Taylor is born in 1917.
  • South African author Margaret Bakkes is born in 1930.
  • English actress Miranda Hart is born in 1972.
  • American baseball player Billy Koch is born in 1974.
  • American actress and singer, Tammy Blanchard is born in 1976.
  • Italian race car driver Antonio Giovinazzi is born in 1993.
  • Chinese figure skater Li Zijun is born in 1996.