Once Upon A Time – Dec. 16 – 1689 – English Parliament Passes Bill Of Rights Establishing Limits On Crown Powers

755 An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during Chinese Tang Dynasty

1598 Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point – in the final battle of the war Korean navy decisively defeats the Japanese

1653 Parliamentarian General Oliver Cromwell appointed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland

1773 Boston tea party incident – Sons of Liberty protesters throw tea shipments into Boston harbour in protest against British imposed Tea Act

1785 John Marrant arrives at the port city of Shelburne, Nova Scotia. He will pastor at neighboring Birchtown, apparently the first-ever African-American ordained (in Selina Hastings’s Methodist Connexion) with authority to baptize, conduct marriages, and administer Communion.

1873 Birth of Missionary Statesman, Robert A. Jaffray.

1920 8.5 earthquake rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000

1944 Nazi Germany launches a counteroffensive against the Allies in the Ardennes region of Belgium, beginning the ‘Battle of the Bulge’

1998 Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox – the United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq

Today’s Historical Events

Today In Film & Tv

1967 “Playtime”, French film directed by Jacques Tati, starring himself, is released

Today In Music

1893 Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 – “New World Symphony” premieres at Carnegie Hall, New York

Today In Sport

1930 Golfer Bobby Jones is the first to win the James E. Sullivan Award (best US amateur athlete)

Do You Know This Fact About Today? Did You Know?

1689 English Parliament passes Bill of Rights establishing limits on crown powers and requirement for regular elections.

Would You Believe This Fact About Today? Would You Believe?

1937 Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from American federal prison Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.