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Today (December 23)
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December 23  Joss Whedon, writer of Fray Melaka Fray is a fictional character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics by Dark Horse Comics. She debuted in the first issue of Fray (2001), a limited series in a shared universe with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Melaka is a professional thief who learns that she is a Slayer destined to fight supernatural foes, while her twin brother Harth inherited their prophetic dreams. She learns that Harth, whom she thought was dead, is a vampire intent on bringing demons back to Earth's dimension. After stopping his plan, Melaka remains a thief, but chooses to protect others as well. In Tales of the Slayers, she connects with her heritage by reading journals about past Slayers. Melaka reappears in the canonical comic-book continuation of the television series, meeting the 21st-century Slayer Buffy Summers in Season Eight and helping her defeat Harth in Season Twelve. Academics have analyzed Melaka's character arc in Fray as an example of the hero's journey. A fan film featuring Melaka was released in 2017. (Full article...) |
On this day
December 23: Night of the Radishes in Oaxaca City, Mexico; Festivus  Signature of Yohl Ikʼnal
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December 23
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Tomorrow (December 24)
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December 24  The tufted jay, also known as the painted jay and Dickey's jay, is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae. It is endemic to a small area of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. A large jay, it has a prominent dark crest on its head; a purplish-blue back, wings, and face; a white spot above the eye and on the cheek; white undersides; and a partially white tail. Its typical call is a quick, four-note vocalization. The relationship between the tufted jay and other members of the genus Cyanocorax has been a subject of interest since the species was first described in 1935. Because of the visual similarities between the tufted jay and the white-tailed jay, the two were thought by some to be closely related. A 2010 mitochondrial-DNA study has shown that the tufted jay is most closely related to a group of South American jays, despite their ranges being separated by more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi). They are likely descended from an ancestral jay that ranged throughout Latin America. (Full article...) |
On this day
"Silent Night"
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December 24
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In two days (December 25)
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December 25  First-edition frontispiece and title page A Christmas Carol is an 1843 novella by Charles Dickens, illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man. Dickens wrote the story during a period when the British were exploring and re-evaluating past Christmas traditions, including carols, and newer customs such as Christmas trees. His Christmas stories (including three before and four after this one) were influenced by those of other authors, including Washington Irving and Douglas William Jerrold. Parts of the novella point out the misery that poor children often endured; Dickens had recently witnessed appalling conditions for children working in the Cornish tin mines. He gave 128 public readings of A Christmas Carol, including his farewell performance in 1870, the year of his death. (Full article...)
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On this day
December 25: Christmas (Western Christianity; Gregorian calendar); Quaid-e-Azam Day in Pakistan  Coronation of Baldwin I of Jerusalem
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December 25
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In three days (December 26)
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December 26  Elm Park, site of Gillingham's final match of the season In the 1937–38 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division South, the third tier of the English football league system. It was the eighteenth season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League. The team won only three times in nineteen Football League matches between August and December; in November and December, they played six league games and lost each one without scoring a goal, leaving them at the bottom of the division at the end of 1937. Although Gillingham's performances improved in the second half of the season, with seven wins between January and May, they remained in last place at the end of the season, meaning that the club was required to apply for re-election to the League. The application was rejected, and as a result the club lost its place in the Football League and joined the regional Southern League. The team were eliminated in the first round of the FA Cup but reached the second round of the Third Division South Cup. (Full article...)
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On this day
December 26: Saint Stephen's Day (Western Christianity); Boxing Day in the Commonwealth; Wren Day in Ireland and the Isle of Man; Kwanzaa begins (African diaspora in the Americas)  Babe Ruth
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December 26  The coat of arms of the Archdiocese of New York The Archbishop of New York is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, who is responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province encompassing nearly all of the state of New York, the Archbishop of New York also administers the bishops who head the suffragan dioceses of Albany, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Rockville Centre and Syracuse. Ten men have been Archbishop of New York; another three were bishop of its predecessor diocese. Eight archbishops were elevated to the College of Cardinals. John McCloskey, the fifth ordinary of the archdiocese, was the first archbishop to be born in the United States, as well as the first born in what is now New York City. The current archbishop is Timothy M. Dolan. (Full list...)
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December 26
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In four days (December 27)
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December 27  Trichogenes claviger, the Caetés catfish, is a critically endangered species of pencil catfish native to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. It was discovered early in 2010 and scientifically described later that year. One of three species within the genus Trichogenes, it is restricted to an area of 16 km2 (6.2 sq mi) in the Caetés forest, a mountainous area in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. When discovered, the rainforest in which it occurs was unprotected and threatened by deforestation. A private nature reserve has since been established, allowing visitors to see the fish in its habitat. A small fish, T. claviger is up to 50.8 mm (2.00 in) in length. A series of black dots runs along the side of the body, distinguishing it from related species. Males have a bony protrusion from the gill area (the opercular process) that is elongated and club-like, a feature that inspired the name of the species (claviger – 'club-bearing'). (Full article...)
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On this day
 Radio City Music Hall
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December 27
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In five days (December 28)
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December 28  The Moltke-class battlecruisers were a class of two "all-big-gun" battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy built between 1909 and 1911. Named SMS Moltke and SMS Goeben, they were similar to the previous battlecruiser Von der Tann, but the Moltke class was slightly larger, faster, and better armored, and had an additional pair of 28 cm (11 in) guns. Both ships served during World War I. Moltke participated in several major battles with the rest of the High Seas Fleet, including the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland in the North Sea, and the Battle of the Gulf of Riga and Operation Albion in the Baltic Sea. At the end of the war, Moltke was interned with the majority of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow while the ships' fate was being discussed during peace treaty negotiations. The ships were scuttled on 21 June 1919 by the Germans crewing them to prevent seizure of the ships by the Allies. (This article is part of two featured topics: Battlecruisers of the world and Battlecruisers of Germany.)
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On this day
 Depiction of Alaric II
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December 28
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In six days (December 29)
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December 29 .jpg) The Hearst Tower is a building at the southwest corner of 57th Street and Eighth Avenue, near Columbus Circle, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, U.S. It is the world headquarters of the media conglomerate Hearst Communications, housing many of the firm's publications and communications companies. The Hearst Tower consists of two sections, with a total height of 597 feet (182 m) and 46 stories. The six lowest stories form the original Hearst Magazine Building (also known as the International Magazine Building), designed by Joseph Urban and George B. Post & Sons, and completed in 1928. Above it is the Hearst Tower addition, designed by Norman Foster and finished in 2006. The original structure is clad with stone and contains six pylons with sculptural groups. The tower section has a glass-and-metal façade arranged as a diagrid, or diagonal grid, which doubles as its structural system. (Full article...)
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On this day
.jpg) Capture of HMS Java by USS Constitution
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December 29  Hendrix on stage in June 1967 American musician Jimi Hendrix recorded over 170 different songs during his career from 1966 to 1970. Often considered one of the most accomplished and influential electric guitarists, Hendrix wrote most of his own material in a variety of styles. Some show his blues and R&B roots and others incorporate jazz and early funk influences. Some songs, such as "Purple Haze", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", and "Machine Gun", feature his guitar-dominated hard and psychedelic rock sound, while others including "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Little Wing" take a slower, more melodic approach. Two of his best-known single releases were written by others: "Hey Joe" by Billy Roberts and "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan. Hendrix supplied his own interpretations, however, which gave them a much different character than the originals. (Full list...) | |||
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December 29
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In seven days (December 30)
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December 30  William Hopton Anderson (30 December 1891 – 30 December 1975) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He flew with the Australian Flying Corps in World War I, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Belgian Croix de guerre for his combat service with No. 3 Squadron on the Western Front in 1917. At the outbreak of World War II, Anderson was Air Member for Supply. In 1940, he acted as Chief of the Air Staff between the resignation of Air Vice-Marshal Stanley Goble in January and the arrival of Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett of the Royal Air Force (RAF) the next month. Anderson led the newly formed Central and Eastern Area Commands between December 1940 and July 1943, returning to the Air Board as Air Member for Organisation and Equipment from September 1941 to May 1942. He was the founding commandant of the RAAF Staff School from July to November 1943, after which he was appointed Air Member for Personnel. (Full article...)
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On this day
December 30: Tenth of Tevet (Judaism, 2025); Rizal Day in the Philippines (1896) .jpg) Pro-government rally in Tehran, Iran
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December 30
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