On this day...

1640 Portugal regains independence after 60 years of Spanish rule
1641 Massachusetts becomes first colony to give statutory recognition to slavery
1742 Empress Elisabeth orders expulsion of all Jews from Russia
1822 Dom Pedro crowned emperor of Brazil
1831 Erie Canal closes for entire month due to cold weather
1878 First White House telephone
1887 Sherlock Holmes first appears in print: "A Study In Scarlet"
1887 Sino-Portuguese treaty recognizes Portugal's control of Macao
1896 First certified public accountants receive certificates, New York
1909 First Christmas Club payment made, to Carlisle Trust Co, Pennsylvania
1913 First drive-up gasoline station opens (Pittsburgh)
1913 Continuous moving assembly line introduced by Ford (car every 2:38)
1917 Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town
1918 Iceland becomes independent state under the Danish crown
1919 Lady Astor sworn-in as first female member of British Parliament
1921 First US helium-filled dirigible makes first flight
1921 US Post Office establishes philatelic agency
1929 BINGO invented by Edwin S. Lowe
1936 Bell Labs tests coaxial cable for TV use
1938 School bus & train collide in Salt Lake City
1941 US Civil Air Patrol (CAP) organizes
1951 Golden Gate Bridge closes due to high winds
1953 Walter Alston named Dodger manager
1955 Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to move to back of the bus
1958 Our Lady of Angels School burns, killing 92 students & 3 nuns (Chicago)
1959 12 nations sign a treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica
1959 First color photograph of Earth from outer space
1959 Billy Cannon (Louisiana halfback) wins the Heisman trophy
1962 Grey Cup halted by fog, resumed next day (Winnipeg 28, Hamilton 27)
1963 Nagaland becomes a state of the Indian union
1965 Airlift of refugees from Cuba to US began
1967 Queen Elizabeth inaugurates 98-inch (249-cm) Isaac Newton telescope
1967 Wilt Chamberlain set NBA record of 22 free throws misses
1969 US government holds its first draft lottery since WW II
1971 People's Republic of South Yemen renames itself People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
1973 Australia grants self-government to Papua New Guinea
1973 Jack Nicklaus becomes first golfer to earn $2M in a year
1974 LA Skid Row slasher kills first of 8
1978 President Carter more than doubles national park system size
1980 George Rogers (South Carolina running back) wins the Heisman trophy
1981 180 dies as Yugoslav DC-9 jetliner slams into a mountain
1983 Rita Lavelle, former head of EPA, convicted of perjury
1984 Doug Flutie (Boston College quarterback) wins the 50th Heisman trophy
1984 George Page KOs Gerrie Coetzee to win WBA Boxing title
1987 Digging begins to link England & France under the English Channel
1988 596 dead after cyclone hits Bangladesh, half a million homeless
1988 Benazir Bhutto named first female PM of a Moslem country (Pakistan)
1988 NBC bids record $401M to capture rights to 1992 Barcelona Olympics
1989 East Germany drops the communist monopoly from its constitution
1989 Mark Langston signs record $3.2 million per year California Angels contract
1989 USSR Pres Mikhail S. Gorbachev meets Pope John Paul II at the Vatican
1990 British & French workers meet in English Channel's tunnel (Chunnel)
1990 Ty Detmer, Brigham Young quarterback, wins the Heisman trophy
1991 France beats US, for their First Davis Cup since 1932
1991 Ukranian people vote for independence
1991 US 75th manned space mission "STS 44" Atlantis 10 lands


Birthdays which occurred on December 1st:

1886 Rex Stout, mystery writer (Nero Wolf)
1898 Cyril Ritchard, actor (Capt Hook-Peter Pan)
1899 Robert Welch, founded John Birch Society
1902 Morris "Red" Badgro, Washington, NFL hall of fame (Yanks, Giants, Dodgers)
1904 W.A. "Tony" Boyle, United Mine Workers president
1905 Charles Finney, US, author (Circus of Dr. Lao)
1911 Walter Alston, baseball manager (Dodgers)
1912 Minoru Yamasaki, architect (World Trade Center, NY)
1913 Mary Martin, Weatherford TX, actress (Peter Pan)
1914 Dame Alicia Markova, ballerina (Diaghilev Ballet Russe 1925-32)
1914 Johnny Johnston, St. Louis, singer (Make that Spare)
1917 Marty Marion, baseball player (NL MVP 1944)
1919 Anne Cox Chambers, Dayton Ohio, US ambassador to Belgium (1977-81)
1921 Ralph Manza, San Francisco, actor (Banacek, Mama Malone, Newhart)
1922 Geraldine McCulloug, Maywood Illinois, painter/sculptor (Phoenix)
1922 Paul Picerni, New York, actor (Agent Lee Hobson-Untouchables)
1923 Stansfield Turner, CIA director
1926 Allyn Ann McLerie, Quebec, actress (Tony Randall Show, Thorn Birds)
1926 Keith Michell, Adelaide Australia, actor (Six Wives of Henry VIII)
1926 Robert Symonds, Bristow Oklahoma, actor (Roebert E. Lee-Blue & Gray)
1929 Dick Shawn, Buffalo NY, actor (Producers, Maid to Order, Angel)
1929 Emily McLaughlin, actress (Jessie-General Hospital)
1934 Billy Paul, Philadelphia, singer (Me & Mrs. Jones)
1935 Roger Christian, US, ice hockey player (Olympic gold-1960)
1936 Lou Rawls, Chicago, singer
1937 Gordon Crosse, Bury Lancashire England, composer (Grace of Todd)
1938 Sandy Nelson, Santa Monica, 50s rocker (Teen Beat, All Night Long)
1939 Dianne Lennon, Los Angeles, singer (Lennon Sisters)
1939 Lee Trevino, Dallas, PGA golfer
1940 Richard Pryor, Illinois, comedian/actor (Stir Crazy)
1940 Ron Finn, Toronto, NHL linesman
1942 Peter Kalikow, Queens NY, real estate developer/publisher (NY Post)
1945 Bette Midler, Patterson NJ, singer/actress (The Rose)
1945 John Densmore, Los Angeles, drummer (Doors)
1946 Gilbert O'Sullivan, Ireland, singer (Alone Again Naturally)
1950 Richard Keith, Lafayette LA, actor (Little Ricky-I Love Lucy)
1951 Treat Williams, actor (Flashpoint)
1954 Bob Goen, TV host (Wheel of Fortune)
1958 Charlene Tilton, San Diego, actress (Lucy Ewing-Dallas)
1962 Stan Albers, Pleasant Beach NJ, actor (Curtis-Loving)
1976 Konerak Sinthasomphone, Milwaukee, Jeffrey Dahmer's victim

Deaths which occurred on December 1st:

1842 Philip Spencer, first US naval officer condemned for mutiny, hanged
1934 Sergei Kirov, Josef Stalin's collaborator, assassinated in Leningrad
1935 Bernard Schmidt, inventor (Schmidt camera)
1975 Nick Kenny, columnist/songwriter (Nick Kenny Show), dies at 80
1986 Horace Heidt, orchestra leader (Swift Show Wagon), dies at 85
1987 James A Baldwin, writer (Another Country), dies at 63
1985 Philip Larkin, English poet