The following events all occurred on December 19th throughout the years…
324 – Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor.
1154 – Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.
1490 – Anne of Brittany is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.
1606 – The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who, at Jamestown, Virginia, found the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
1776 – Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in the Pennsylvania Journal titled The American Crisis.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington’s Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
1828 – Nullification Crisis: Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun pens the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.
1835 – The first issue of The Blade newspaper is published in Toledo, Ohio.
1875 – Carter Woodson, American historian and author, founder of Black History Month, is born.
1902 – Sir Ralph Richardson, English actor, is born.
1907 – A group of 239 coal miners die during a mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
1912 – William H. Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over 1,000 people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after three-and-a-half-years in Sing Sing prison.
1916 – World War I: Battle of Verdun – On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position.
1920 – King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite.
1924 – Gary Morton, second husband of Lucille Ball, is born.
1924 – The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
1927 – James Booth, English actor and screenwriter, is born.
1929 – Howard Sackler, American screenwriter, is born.
1932 – BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service
1933 – Cicely Tyson, American actress, is born.
1935 – Barbara Bostock, American actress, is born.
1941 – Maurice White, American singer and songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire), is born.
1941 – World War II: Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army.
1946 – Robert Urich, American actor, is born.
1958 – Limahl, English singer (Kajagoogoo) , is born.
1960 – Mike Lookinland, American actor, is born.
1961 – Reggie White, American football player, is born.
1961 – India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.
1963 – Jennifer Beals, American film actress, is born.
1966 – Chuckii Booker, American singer, musician and producer, is born.
1966 – Robert MacNaughton, American stage and screen actor, is born.
1967 – Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt is officially presumed dead.
1967 – Criss Angel, American illusionist, actor, and musician, is born.
1967 – Dan Taylor, American would-be comic book writer, is born.
1969 – Kristy Swanson, American actress, is born.
1969 – Villano IV, Mexican professional wrestler, is born.
1971 – Tiffany Towers, Canadian adult film actress, is born.
1972 – Alyssa Milano, American actress, is born.
1972 – Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
1972 – Warren Sapp, American football player, is born.
1974 – Jake Plummer, American football player, is born.
1975 – John Paul Stevens appointed as a justice of The United States Supreme Court.
1980 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor, is born.
1981 – Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
1983 – The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.
1984 – The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that the People’s Republic of China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997 is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.
1985 – Lady Sovereign, English musician, is born.
1986 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from internal exile in Gorky.
1994 – Rolls-Royce announces its future cars will feature V12 engine which will be produced by BMW.
1995 – The United States Government restores federal recognition to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indian tribe.
1997 – SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
1997 – Titanic is released in theaters. This movie would become the most financially successful movie in U.S. history, grossing approximately $1.8 billion worldwide.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives forwards articles I and III of impeachment against President Bill Clinton to the Senate.
2000 – The Leninist Guerrilla Units wing of the Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist attack a Nationalist Movement Party office in Istanbul, killing one person and injuring three.
2001 – A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia.
2001 – Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots – Riots erupt in Buenos Aires after Domingo Cavallo’s corralito measures restrict the withdrawal of cash from bank deposits.
Kristy Swanson (you’ll always be “Buffy” in my book), Alyssa Milano (we can talk baseball — even if you are a Dodgers fan), and Tiffany Towers (we need at least one Canadian with cerulean eyes) are all welcome to join me for drinks in celebrating our birthdays. Chriss Angel — you’re not invited.
I got home from work today to find that my recently repaired DSL service working for for the second straight day in a row and was thankful to once again decompress while surfing the web. Unfortunately, my surfing brought me news of the passing of 
Dan Taylor Blog 