Compiled from various, online sources.

December

1—Israel announced plans to establish "the world's first chain of

industrial co-operative towns" in the Negev Desert, starting with the

community of Mitzpe Ramon; born: Barb Mucha, Parma OH, LPGA golfer

(1992 Oldsmobile Classic)

2—Fidel Castro declares he's a Marxist, and will lead Cuba to

Communism; Actors Dinah Shore and George Montgomery announced that

they would divorce after 18 years of marriage

3—Beatles meet future manager Brian Epstein; Discoverer 35 fell out

of orbit about three weeks after its launch; George Blanda of Houston

Oilers kicks 55-yard field goal; U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada

Test Site; born: Julianne Moore, actress (Lost World, 9 Months)

4—Floyd Patterson K.O.s Tom McNeeley for heavyweight boxing title;

Museum of Modern Art accidentally hung Matisse's “Le Bateau” upside

down for 47 days; Tanganyika becomes 104th member of U.N.; WXGA TV

channel 8 in Waycross, Ga. (PBS) begins broadcasting; An agreement on

maintaining the neutrality of Laos was reached at the 14-nation Laos

Peace Conference being held in Geneva; 1961 college football season:

The Alabama Crimson Tide was voted #1 in the final A.P. and U.P.I.

polls, granting them recognition by the NCAA as the mythical national

college football champion. In the AP sportswriters poll, unbeaten

(10-0-0) Alabama received 26 first place votes and 452 points overall.

Ohio State (8-0-1) finished second with 20 first place votes and 436

points; born: Frank Reich, N.F.L. quarterback (Carolina Panthers,

Green Bay Packers)

5—The largest ever escape from East Berlin, to the West, was carried

out by Harry Deterling, a 28-year-old train engineer, after he and

co-worker Hartmut Lichy learned that there was still an open rail

connection at Albrechtshof, one-quarter mile from the border, and that

East German authorities were preparing to block it. Deterling's wife

and four children, his mother, and 13 friends boarded atOranienburg,

and four others got on at Falkensee. Deterling and Lichy never stopped

at the Albrechtshof station, and rushed the train past startled border

guards. The train's conductor, and six passengers who hadn't been in

on the plot, elected to return to East Germany. The government tore up

the tracks the next day and put up barriers, and there were no further

escapes by train

6—27th Heisman Trophy Award to Ernie Davis, Syracuse: died: Frantz

Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and writer (b. 1925)

7—The second phase of American manned spaceflight, the Gemini

program, was announced by NASA, with plans for a two-man version of

the one-man Mercury capsule. Originally called “Mercury Mark II”, the

program was renamed “Gemini” on Jan. 3, at the suggestion of Alex

Nagy, after the constellation of the same name, associated with the

"heavenly twins", Castor and Pollux; born: Mary Beth Evans, Pasadena

CA, actress (Katherine Ashton—General Hospital) and Lisa Fischer,

American R&B singer

8—Antwerp Belgium diocese forms; Sixteen people were killed in a

flash fire on the ninth floor of the Hartford Hospital in Hartford,

Connecticut. The blaze started in a trash chute and swept across the

ceiling tiles, killing seven patients, five visitors, and four

hospital employees, including a physician. Investigators eventually

concluded that the fire had resulted from the discarding of x-ray film

into the chute, and ignition from a cigarette; born: Ann Coulter,

American author, political commentator, and attorney

9—S.S. Col. Adolf Eichmann found guilty of war crimes in Israel;

Tanganyika gains independence from Britain takes name Tanzania; born:

Joe Lando, Los Angles, Cal., actor (Byron Sully—Dr. Quinn)

10—Dr Ruth marries Fred Westheimer; US performs underground nuclear

test at Carlsbad New Mexico; USSR & Albania break diplomatic relations

11—"Please, Mr. Postman" by Marvelettes, released; Elvis Presley's

"Blue Hawaii," album goes to number one and stays number one for 20

weeks; J.F.K. provides US miltary helicopters & crews to South

Vietnam; born: Mike Henneman, St. Charles, MO pitcher (Texas Rangers)

12—Ham radio satellite Oscar 1 launched with military Discoverer 36;

Martin Luther King, Jr. and 700 demonstraters arrested in Albany, Ga.

13—Jimmy Dean's Big Bad John album is country music first million

dollar seller and receives golden record; born: Gary Zimmerman, N.F.L.

tackle (Denver Broncos—Superbowl 32) and Harry Gregson-Williams,

English composer; died: Grandma (Anna M.) Moses, US painter, dies at

101

15—Equal access rule, political parties get TV broadcasting time;

J.F.K. visits Puerto Rico; died: William "Dummy" Hoy, professional

baseball player, dies at 99

17—Disgruntled employee set fire to a circus tent in Niteroi, Brazil;

India seizes Goa and two other Portuguese colonies; died: Marion

Perkins, sculptor (Man of Sorrow), dies at 53

18—Britain's EMI Records originally rejects the Beatles; born: Brian

Orser, Canada, figure skater (Olympics—Silver 1988)

19—British govt begins decimal coin system; born: Kelly Tough,

Vancouver, B.C. playmate (Oct, 1981) and Reggie White, N.F.L.

defensive end (Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31)

20—Died: Moss Heart, US dramatist (You can't take it with you), dies

at 57 and Earle Page, eleventh Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880)

21—Beatles record "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Ready Teddy"; J.F.K. and

British Prime Minister MacMillan meet in Bermuda

22—Born: Andrew Fastow, American businessman

23—Train accident in Italy, 70 die; Fidel Castro announces Cuba will

release 1,113 prisoners from failed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion for $62

million worth of food and medical supplies; died: Kurt Meyer, German

S.S. officer (b. 1910)

24—Houston Oilers beat San Diego Chargers 10-3 in A.F.L. championship

game; born: Jay Wright, American basketball coach

25—Died: Rheinhold Rudenberg, inventor of electron microscope; Otto

Loewi, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b.

1873) and Owen Brewster, U.S. Senator from Maine (b. 1888)

26—Born: Storm Davis, Dallas Texas, pitcher (KC Royals)

27—Belgium and Congo resume diplomatic relations

28—Tennessee Williams' "Night of the Iguana" premieres in New York

City; died: Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, 1st lady (1915-21), dies at 89

29—Born: Robert Louis Tewdwr Moss, journalist and travel writer

30—Moscow: premier of Dmitri Sjostakovitch 4th Symphony

31—First performance of Beach Boys; failed coup by Syrian group in

Lebanon; Green Bay Packers shutout New York Giants 37-0 in N.F.L.

championship game; born: Joanna Johnson, actress (Caroline—Bold &

Beautiful)