December 1st in History

The Montgomery, Alabama, bus in which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, December 1, 1955

On this day in history —

  • The US Presidential election is thrown into the House of Representatives for the first and only time because no candidate received a majority of electoral college votes, resulting in John Quincy Adams becoming president even though Andrew Jackson had more electoral votes (1824)
  • The soft drink Dr. Pepper goes on sale (1885)
  • Ford introduces the first moving assembly line (1913)
  • Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus and is arrested (1955)
  • Paul McCartney and Pete Best are arrested (and are later deported) from Germany after accusations of attempted arson (1960)
  • Benazir Bhutto is appointed prime minister of Pakistan (1988)

It’s the birthday of —

  • Marie Tussaud, wax sculptor (1761)
  • Nikolai Lobachevsky, mathematician (1792)
  • Rex Stout, mystery writer (1886)
  • Georgy Zhukov, Soviet general (1896)
  • Mary Martin, actress (1913)
  • Lou Rawls, singer-songwriter (1933)
  • Woody Allen, filmmaker and comedian (1935)
  • Lee Travino, golfer (1939)
  • Richard Pryor, comedian (1940)
  • Bette Midler, singer-songwriter and actress (1945)
  • Gilbert O’Sullivan, singer-songwriter (1946)
  • Pablo Escobar, drug lord (1949)
  • Treat Williams, actor (1951)
  • Annette Haven, porn star (1954)
  • Candace Bushnell, journalist (1958)
  • Charlene Tilton, actress (1958)
  • Carol Alt, model (1960)
  • Nestor Carbonell, actor (1967)
  • Sarah Silverman, comedienne (1970)
  • Matthew Shepard, murder victim (1976)

Deaths —

  • George Everest, surveyor and mountain namesake (1866)
  • Alfred Thayer Mahan, naval strategist (1914)
  • Aleister Crowley, occultist (1947)
  • J. B. S. Haldane, geneticist (1964)
  • David Ben-Gurion, Israeli prime minister (1973)
  • Russ Manning, comic artist (1981)
  • James Baldwin, poet and author (1987)
  • Alvin Ailey, choreographer (1989)
  • Stéphane Grappelli, jazz violinist (1997)

Holidays and Celebrations —

  • Antarctica Day (international)
  • Damrong Rajanubhab Day (Thailand)
  • First President Day (Kazakhstan)
  • Freedom and Democracy Day (Chad)
  • Great Union Day/National Day (Romania)
  • Military Abolition Day (Costa Rica)
  • National Day (Burma)
  • Republic Day (Central African Republic)
  • Restoration of Independence Day (Portugal)
  • Fullveldisdagurinn (Iceland)
  • Teacher’s Day (Panama)
  • World AIDS Day (international)
Informal and made-up holidays include Basketball Day, Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day, Civil Air Patrol Day, Day With(out) Art Day, and Rosa Parks Day.
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December 1 is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years). There are 30 days remaining until the end of the year.