^B{^#!16!2 December^N! Feast day of St Chromatius of Aquilea, St Silvanus of Constantinople, St Nonnus and St Bibiana or Viviana.
^B{1697^B} The rebuilt St Paul's Cathedral, work of Sir Christopher Wren, was opened. ^B{1805^B} Napoleon (crowned Emperor exactly one year earlier) defeated the Austrians and Russians at the Battle of Austerlitz. ^B{1823^B} US President James Monroe proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine, warning that any further European colonial ambitions in the western hemisphere would be considered threats to US peace and security. ^B{1901^B} In the US, King Camp Gillette patented a safety razor with a double-edged disposable blade. ^B{1942^B} The first nuclear chain reaction took place at the University of Chicago, under physicists Enrico Fermi and Arthur Compton. ^B{1988^B} In Bangladesh, a cyclone killed thousands of people and left five million homeless. ^B{1990^B} West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl was elected chancellor of a united Germany. ^B{1993^B} Colombian drugs baron Pablo Escobar was shot dead.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Georges Seurat, French painter, ^B{1859^B}; Ruth Draper, US entertainer, ^B{1884^B}; John Barbirolli, English conductor, ^B{1899^B}; Peter Carl Goldmark, US inventor of the LP record, ^B{1906^B}; Maria Callas, US lyric soprano, ^B{1923^B}; Alexander Haig, US general and politician.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}Hernßndo CortΘs, Spanish conquistador, ^B{1547^B}; Gerhardt Mercator, Belgian cartographer, ^B{1594^B}; Marquis de Sade, French writer and philosopher, ^B{1814^B}; John Brown, US abolitionist, ^B{1859^B}; Philip Larkin, English poet, ^B{1985^B}; Aaron Copland, US composer, ^B{1990^B}; Pablo Escobar, Colombian racketeer, ^B{1993^B}.
