Deaths
which occurred on a December 12: ^top^
2002 Sergeant Maor Kalfon and Corporal Keren Yaakobi, male
and female soldiers from the Sahlav (“Orchid”) unit of the Israeli
Military Police, shot by a sniper at 20:00 as they were guarding a roadblock
near the Tomb of the Patriarch in the center of Hebron, West Bank. Female
soldiers have been posted in the Sahlav unit since its establishment in
1995. They account for about one-third of the personnel, get the same training
as the men soldiers and perform the same duties. Originally, this unit was
designed for riot control, mainly of Jews in Hebron, but in the last few
years it has also been playing an active role in the conflict with the Palestinians.
Yaakobi is the first Israeli woman soldier killed since women were reintroduced
to front-line units.
2002 Ahmad
Fares Muhammad Al-Astal, 19, Ahmad Muhammad Aish Al-Astal, 32, Assaf Adel
Ismail Al-Astal, 25, Muhammad Adel Ismail Al-Astal, 28, and Muhammad Fahmi
Haasan Al-Astal, 22, unarmed Palestinians, by an Israeli tank
shell shortly after midnight in the Gaza Strip, as they crawled,
dragging ladders, toward Israel's fence in an interdiction area near the
Karni border crossing. They were workers from Khan Younis desperate to get
work in Israel, from which most Palestinians have been barred during the
al-Aqsa intifada, whose body count, according to Reuters, thus reaches “at
least” 1717 Palestinians and 668 Israelis.In September 2000, 600'000,
of the about 3 million Palestinians lived in poverty ($2 per day). By May
2002, 84.6 % of households in Gaza and 57.8% of households in the West Bank
lived below the poverty line. 30% of children under five suffer from chronic
malnutrition, 21% from acute malnutrition and 45% of children under five
years old, and 48% of women of childbearing age suffer from moderate to
mild anemia.
2002 Eli
Ginzberg, US economist born on 30 April 1911, adviser to US
presidents. Author of The Illusion of Economic Stability (1939,
recommending reforms of the regulatory and monetary systems); and memoirs
My Brother's Keeper (1989, mostly about his family and his Jewish
heritage) and The Eye of Illusion (1993, mostly about his professional
career).
2001 Yisrael
Sternberg, 46, Yair Amar, 13, Yirmiyahu Salam, 48, Esther Avraham,
42, Avraham Nahman Nitzani, 18, David Tzarfati, 32, Hanan Tzarfati,
37, Ya'acov Tzarfati, 64, passengers on Israeli bus, one attacker,
and one more person.
Gunmen first detonated a roadside bomb,
then fired automatic weapons and threw hand-grenades at the at a Dan
company bus line 189, as it neared the ultra-Orthodox West Bank enclave
settlement Emmanuel. The Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade took responsiblity
for the attack. IDF reservists and members of the Border Patrol shot
and killed one of the terrorists shortly after he sprayed the bus
and nearby cars with automatic fire. 30 persons were injured, six
of them critically, ten seriously, and the rest lightly.The attack
on took place at about 18:00. (16:00 UT) as the bus was on a winding
uphill road approaching the settlement. As security forces and rescue
workers approached the scene, they came under fire from the gunmen.
There were at least two terrorists responsible for the attack. One
of the vehicles in front of the bus came under fire first, after which
the militants began firing on the bus. The occupants of the vehicle,
some of whom were injured, were trapped inside it until resuce workers
managed to resuce them. There was a huge explosion in the back of
the bus, all the windows of the back of the bus were destroyed, the
bus continued slowly about 100 meters and people lied on the floor.
On 16
July 2002, seven persons would die in an attack on another line
#189 bus, near the same place.
The
first four victims listed were from Emmanuel. Esther Avraham, her
husband, and five children had moved from Rehovot to Emmanuel two
weeks earlier.
Avraham Nahman
Nitzani, of Betar Illit, was studying in the Braslav Yeshiva in Jerusalem
and in another yeshiva in Bnei Brak. He was on his way to visit his
family in Emmanuel when he was killed. Nitzani's father, Rabbi Oded
Nitzani, heads the Sde Tzofim Yeshiva, and has been living in Betar
Illit for 10 years. He and his wife, Tzila, have 10 other children.
Ya'acov Tzarfati and his son
Hanan lived in Kfar Saba, his other son, David, lived in Ginot Shomron.
2001 Dov Moshe Guttman, 40,
an Emmanuel resident, had been driving behind the above mentioned
bus on his way to buy donuts for his nine children when he was hurt
in the explosion and later died during the ensuing gun battle. He
had been seriously wounded about a year earlier by a thrown rock in
an attack that also occurred near Emmanuel, but then had what doctors
termed a miraculous recovery. He was still undergoing therapy when
he was killed.
2001 Yoel Bienenfeld,
35, was killed in an exchange of fire with the attackers
of the above mentioned bus. Border Police Chief Warrant Officer Bienenfeld,
of Tel Shahar, had been accompanying a security prisoner in a Border
Police vehicle with three of his comrades when they were told by a
passerby about the terrorist attack. They immediately drove to the
scene, with three of them jumping from their jeep to help the wounded.
While tending to the victims, they came under fire, and Bienenfeld
was killed in the ensuing exchange. Bienenfeld was recently divorced,
and the father of a six-year-old boy. He is also survived by his parents
and six siblings. |
2001 Two suicide bombers who blow themselves up near two
Israeli vehicles on the road between the Gaza Strip settlement of Gannei
Tal and Neve Dekalim. The four occupants of the vehicles were lightly wounded..
2001 Fadel Muhammad Abu Ubaida, 25, Yasser Hassan Abu Namous,
21, Saed Abu Sitta, 31, and Ibrahim Al-Assar 18, by missiles from Israeli
helicopters, in a cemetery near the Khan Younis refugee camp, Gaza
strip, from where the Israelis say that mortar shells have been fired at
the Jewish enclave settlement of Neve Dekalim, which it overlooks. Some
15 bystanders are injured. The al-Aqsa intifada body count stands at 815
Palestinians and 232 Israelis.
1998 Lawton Chiles,
68, Florida Governor, while exercising in the governor's mansion's gymnasium.
1996 Ángel Crespo, escritor, traductor y profesor
español.
1993 Jozsef Antall, historiador, primer
ministro de Hungría.
1989 Carlos Barral, poeta,
editor y político español.
1985: 248 US soldiers and 8 crew
members die in Arrow Air charter crash
1977 Arthur
Erdélyi, mathematician.
1971 David Sarnoff, radio and
television pioneer. ^top^
David Sarnoff rose from his roots as
a Russian immigrant messenger boy to become the founder of the first
US television service. Along the way, he established the NBC radio
network and became general manager of RCA. Sarnoff immigrated to New
York at age nine and took a job at age seventeen as a telegraph messenger
boy. He used his first paycheck to buy a telegraph and taught himself
Morse code. Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company later hired Sarnoff
as a telegraph operator. In 1912, Sarnoff was the first telegraph
operator to pick up the Titanic's distress call: He remained at his
post for seventy-two hours, monitoring the call and passing on information.
Sarnoff rose rapidly through the ranks of the company: He proposed
that Marconi market a “radio music box” and in 1921 became
general manager of RCA, where he set up the NBC radio network and
established the first US television service in 1939. |
1971 Jack Barnhill a Northern Ireland senator is assassinated.
1965 Radó,
mathematician.
1939 Day 13 of Winter War: USSR
aggression against Finland. [Talvisodan
13. päivä]
More deaths due to Stalin's desire to grab Finnish territory.
Finland to buy 43 fighter planes from US. Central
Isthmus: Soviet troops launch reconnaissance probes at Summa in the
central section of the Isthmus. Ladoga Karelia: Group Talvela's
Detachment Pajari begins its successful offensive at Tolvajärvi. Ladoga
Karelia: troops of IV Army Corps launch an offensive on the Lemetti
road. Ilomantsi: Detachment A's advance from Oinaansalmi to take
Möhkö 4 km to the east grinds to a halt due to command problems. Suursaari:
the Finnish motor torpedo boats Raju and Isku lay the first offensive
mine fields in front of Suursaari harbour. The League of Nations
calls on the warring parties to cease hostilities and open peace negotiations.
Finland wins authorization to buy 43 Brewster fighter aircraft
from the USA. |
1937: 2 US sailors and one civilian
on USS Panay sunk by Japanese ^top^
During the battle for Nanking in the
Sino-Japanese War, the US gunboat Panay is attacked and sunk by Japanese
warplanes in Chinese waters. The American vessel, neutral in the Chinese-Japanese
conflict, was escorting US evacuees and three Standard Oil barges
away from Nanking, the war-torn Chinese capital on the Yangtze River.
After the Panay is sunk, the Japanese fighters machine-gunned lifeboats
and survivors huddling on the shore of the Yangtze. Two US sailors
and a civilian passenger are killed and eleven personnel are seriously
wounded, setting off a major crisis in US-Japanese relations. Although
the Panay's position had been reported to the Japanese as required,
the neutral vessels were clearly marked, and the day was sunny and
clear, the Japanese maintain that the attack was a tragic mistake,
and they agree to pay two million dollars in reparations. Two neutral
British vessels were also attacked by the Japanese in the final days
of the battle for Nanking. |
1929 Charles Goodnight, 93,
cattle-trail pioneer
Born in Illinois in 1836, Goodnight came to Texas with his family
when he was nine years old, and he thrived in the rugged frontier
environment. His skill as a frontiersman and scout won him a position
as a regimental guide during the Civil War, and Goodnight became confident
that he could blaze a trail across any landscape, no matter how rugged
or desolate. By the time the war ended, Goodnight had also built up
a herd of cattle on his ranch in Palo Pinto County, Texas, and he
decided to combine his interest in ranching with his ability as a
trailblazer. At the time, most Texas ranchers drove their herds north
to the railheads in the cattle-towns of Kansas for shipment to the
East, but Goodnight was convinced that he could make a better profit
if he could find a path to drive his cattle to the growing beef markets
in New Mexico and Colorado.
While buying provisions for his proposed drive, Goodnight met Oliver
Loving, a cattleman who was already renowned for his frontier and
livestock skills. Loving agreed that Goodnight's idea was solid and
the two men became partners. In 1866, they blazed a 500-mile route
from Fort Belknap, Texas, to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, which became
known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail. Later extended north into Colorado,
the Goodnight-Loving Trail became one of the most heavily used cattle
trails in the Southwest. Though well utilized, it was a risky ride,
since it passed through lands still dominated by small bands of hostile
Indians. Loving was killed by Indians while planning a third trip
on the trail, but Goodnight continued to use the route for three more
years and in 1871 cleared a profit of $17,000.
In 1875, Goodnight blazed another cattle trail, this time from New
Mexico to Colorado. But he had grown tired of the long and dangerous
trail drives and increasingly focused his efforts on his new Colorado
ranch. When the Colorado ranch failed, Goodnight transferred the remnants
of his herd to the Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle to make
a fresh start. After convincing a wealthy Irishman to invest large
amounts of capital into his new operation, Goodnight succeeded in
building his new JA Ranch into one of the major Texas ranches of the
day, eventually running more than 100,000 cattle and returning excellent
profits. By the time he died, Goodnight had transformed himself from
an intrepid trailblazer and cattle driver into one of the great cattle
barons of the American West. |
1919 Stäckel,
mathematician.
1917: 543 persons in troop train,
worst train derailment in history, near Modane, France.
1914 Watkins Lewis black man lynched in Shreveport LA
1889 Robert Browning English poet
1889 Bunyakovsky,
mathematician.
1885 Justo Pastor Lozada, litógrafo
colombiano.
1862 USS Cairo sunk on the
Yazoo River, Mississippi
1860 Hendrik Bakhuyzen (or Backhuyzen)
van de Sande, Dutch artist born on 02 January 1795.
1862
USS Cairo torpedoed in the Yazoo River.
1793
Michel-Bruno Bellengé (or Bellangé), French artist
born in 1726.
1787 Jean Valade, French artist born
in 1709.
1777 Albrecht von Haller, fisiólogo suizo.
1777 Rev Benjamin Russen executed at Tyburn, England
for rape
1756 Théodore de Neuhoff, roi
de Corse (uniquement d'après lui)
Théodore de Neuhoff, aventurier audacieux, de sa propre initiative,
sans en avoir été prié, se déclara, un beau jour, roi de Corse. Le
plus inattendu de l’affaire est qu’il n’était même pas originaire
de l’île. Il appartenait, en effet, à une famille de Westphalie qui,
à la suite d’une mésalliance, avait dû se réfugier en France et c’est
à Metz que naquit, en 1690, celui qui devait ceindre une couronne.
Le baron Neuhoff parvient a son but après bien des aventures en 1736.
Son règne fut aussi court que rocambolesque. Il meurt en Angleterre,
seul et ruiné, en répétant fièrement : «Je n’ai rien, rien que mon
royaume corse». |
1694 Filippo Lauri, Italian artist born on 25 August 1623.
1685 Pell,
mathematician.
1603 Alejandro de Aguiar, músico,
poeta y cantante de cámara en la corte de Felipe II.
1602 Les victimes de l'Escalade
de Genève.
Au
terme d'une bataille épique, la ville de Genève s'émancipe de son
suzerain féodal, le duc de Savoie, et devient indépendante. Au siècle
précédent, Genève s'était transformée en république et ralliée au
protestantisme, accueillant avec ferveur le réformateur Calvin. Le
duc de Savoie décide d'en finir avec la rébellion de la ville. C'est
ainsi que le 12 décembre 1602, son armée de mercenaires s'approche
de la ville. Le seigneur d’Albigny veut profiter de la plus longue
nuit de l'année pour s'en emparer. Des soldats d'élite avec des échelles
enveloppées de chiffons se hissent le long de la muraille. Mais de
sa fenêtre, la mère Royaume les voit se faufiler dans sa ruelle. Elle
saisit sa marmite et déverse la soupe brûlante sur les assaillants...
L'alerte est donnée. Les intrus se ruent vers la poterne pour faire
entrer l'armée savoyarde. Mais un garde se jette sur le taquet qui
retient la herse et la fait tomber sur les assaillants. La ville est
sauvée.
Les survivants
de l'assaut seront pendus le lendemain avec force démonstrations de
joie dans la plaine de Plainpalais. Le roi de France Henri IV, en
apprenant la nouvelle quelques jours plus tard, enverra ses chaleureuses
félicitations aux Genevois. La bataille continue d'être commémorée
sous le nom de «Journée de l'Escalade». Les habitants s'habillent
en costumes d'époque, avec fifres, tambourins et feu de joie devant
la cathédrale. On mange des marmites en chocolat, fracassées sur la
table familiale au cri de «Ainsi périssent les ennemis de la République!»
|
1600 Luis de Molina, teólogo jesuita.
1582
Duke of Alva, Spanish general who butchered 18'000 or more in the
Netherlands.
1562 Peter Martyr, a theologian with
reform tendencies. He fled Italy to England, but with the rise of Catholicism
under Mary Tudor, fled to Switzerland. |
2000
Francisco Umbral es galardonado con el Premio Cervantes. 
1531
