History for December 16

History for December 16 - On-This-Day.com:
Catherine of Aragon 1485, Ludwig Van Beethoven 1770 - Composer, Jane Austen 1775 


Arthur C. Clarke 1917 - Author, Liv Ullmann 1939 Actress, Benny Andersson 1946 - Singer, keyboards, synthesizers (ABBA) 


1773 - Nearly 350 chests of tea were dumped into Boston Harbor off of British ships by Colonial patriots. The patriots were disguised as Indians. The act was to protest taxation without representation and the monopoly the government granted to the East India Company. 


1838 - The Zulu chief Dingaan was defeated by a small force of Boers at Blood River celebrated in South Africa as 'Dingaan's Day'. 


1901 - "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," by Beatrix Potter, was printed for the first time. 


1944 - During World War II, the Battle of the Bulge began in Belgium. It was the final major German counteroffensive in the war. 


1950 - U.S. President Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight "Communist imperialism." 


1951 - NBC-TV debuted "Dragnet" in a special preview on "Chesterfield Sound Off Time". The show began officially on January 3, 1952. 


1960 - A United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collided over New York City, killing 134 people. 


1996 - Britain's agriculture minister announced the slaughter of an additional 100,000 cows thought to be at risk of contracting BSE in an effort to persuade the EU to lift its ban on Britain.