1653 Oliver Cromwell became lord protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1770 Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany.
1809 Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate.
1899 Noel Coward, the English actor, playwright and composer, was born in London.
1916 Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen.
1944 The Battle of the Bulge during World War II began as German forces launched a surprise counterattack against Allied forces in Belgium.
1950 President Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight ''Communist imperialism.''
1960 A United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collided over New York City, killing 134 people.
1985 Reputed organized-crime chief Paul Castellano was shot to death outside a New York City restaurant.
1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president of Haiti in the country's first democratic elections.
1991 The U.N. General Assembly rescinded its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism by a 111-25 vote.
1998 President Clinton ordered a sustained series of airstrikes against Iraq by American and British forces in response to Saddam Hussein's continued defiance of UN weapons inspectors.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Birthdays
Benjamin Bratt turns 38 years old today.
AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian Actor Benjamin Bratt turns 38 years old today.
84 Arthur C. Clarke Author
65 Morris Dees Civil rights attorney
64 Joyce Bulifant Actress
62 Liv Ullmann Actress
60 Lesley Stahl CBS news correspondent (''60 Minutes'')
58 Steven Bochco TV producer
55 Benny Andersson Pop singer (ABBA)
54 Ben Cross Actor
52 Billy Gibbons Rock musician (ZZ Top)
42 Alison LaPlaca Actress
40 Sam Robards Actor (''American Beauty'')
40 Jon Tenney Actor
30 Michael McCary R&B singer (Boyz II Men)
Historic Birthdays
Margaret Mead
12/16/1901 - 11/15/1978 American anthropologist (Go to obit.)
50 Catherine of Aragon 12/16/1485 - 1/7/1536 English queen
41 Jane Austen 12/16/1775 - 7/18/1817 English novelist
58 Francois Boieldieu 12/16/1775 - 10/8/1834 French composer
61 Josephine Shaw Lowell 12/16/1843 - 10/12/1905 American social reformer
51 Hans Buchner 12/16/1850 - 4/5/1902 German bacteriologist
88 George Santayana 12/16/1863 - 9/26/1952 Spanish-American philosopher and poet
81 Sir John Berry Hobbs 12/16/1882 - 12/21/1963 English athlete
73 Sir Noel Coward 12/16/1899 - 3/26/1973 English actor and playwright
96 V.S. Pritchett 12/16/1900 - 3/20/1997 English author
61 James McCracken 12/16/1926 - 4/29/1988 American operatic tenor