World Events Today
- The German battle cruiser the Scharnhorst, the lead ship of her class, was sunk by the Royal Navy battleship HMS Duke of York and her escorts, today in 1943
- The Flamingo Hotel and Casino, was opened today in 1946 by mobster Bugsy Siegel
- The Moors Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, claimed their 4th and penultimate victim, Lesley Ann Downey, today in 1964
Entertainment Events Today
- The adventure movie The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, was released today in 1951
- The American supernatural horror movie The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, was released today in 1973
- At the age of 40 years and 266 days, the English footballer Teddy Sheringham broke his own record as the oldest Premier League goal scorer today in 2006, he scored for West Ham in a 2-1 defeat to Portsmouth
Family Events Today
- The British mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage, considered by many as the “father of the computer”, was born today in 1791 in London
- The Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong, who became the founding father of the People’s Republic of China, the PRC, was born today in 1893
- Christopher Catesby Harington, better known as the British actor Kit Harington, Jon Snow in the Game of Thrones series, was born today in 1986 in London
Main Event Today
- The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, also known as the Boxing Day Tsunami, occurred today in 2004, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were most affected
National Day Today
- Today, it’s National Thank-you Note Day