DECEMBER 22 ~ ON THiS DAY in History

1808 – Ludwig van Beethoven conducted and performed the premiere of his Fifth SymphonySixth SymphonyFourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy on the 22nd December 1808, at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna.

1851 – The 1st freight train was operated in Roorkee, India on the 22nd December 1851.

1885 – Itō Hirobumi the samurai became the 1st Prime Minister of Japan on the 22nd December 1885.

1891 – Asteroid 323 Brucia became the 1st asteroid discovered using photography on the 22nd December 1891.

1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opened to traffic in New York City on the 22nd December 1937.

1956 – Colo, the 1st gorilla to be bred in captivity, was born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio on the 22nd December 1956.

1960Jean-Michel Basquiat the Haitian-American artist was born on the 22nd December 1960 (died 12th August 1988 aged 27).

1963 – The cruise ship Lakonia burned 290 km (180 miles) north of Madeira, Portugal on the 22nd December 1963, with the loss of 128 lives.

1964 – The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) took place on the 22nd December 1964, at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.

1965 – A speed limit was applied to all rural roads and motorways for the first time in the UK on the 22nd December 1965. The speed limit was set at 70 mph, previously there had been no speed limit at all.

1989 – Berlin‘s Brandenburg Gate re-opened after almost 30 years on the 22nd December 1989, ending the division of East and West Germany.

2010 – The repeal of the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, was signed into law by President Barack Obama on the 22nd December 2010.

2013Keith McGowan the Australian radio presenter died on the 22nd December 2013 aged 70. (Born in Melbourne, Australia on the 9th March 1943).

 

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