Wednesday, December 17, 2025

40th year - N° 351 Wednesday, 17 December 2025

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)
40th year - N° 351 Wednesday, 17 December 2025


17 December / Today's 25 Events:
(-)
192 years ago 

Tuesday 17th of December 1833

Foundling Kaspar Hauser aka The Wild Child dies of a stab wound suffered three days earlier at the age of 21 in Ansbach, Bayern, Germany.

On 14 December 1833 Hauser came home with a deep wound in his left breast. He said that he was lured to the Ansbach Hofgarten and that a stranger stabbed him there while giving him a bag. When policeman Herrlein searched the Hofgarten he found a small violet purse containing a pencilled note in 'Spiegelschrift' (mirror writing). The message read "Hauser wird es euch ganz genau erzählen können, wie ich aussehe, und wo her ich bin. Den Hauser die Mühe zu ersparen will ich es euch selber sagen, woher ich komme _ _ Ich komme von von _ _ _ der Baierischen Gränze _ _ Am Fluße _ _ _ _ _ Ich will euch sogar noch den Namen sagen: M. L. Ö."


(+)
148 years ago 

Monday 17th of December 1877

Chief executioner Jules-Henri Desfourneaux aka Monsieur de Paris is born in Bar-le-Duc, Lorraine, France.


(+)
122 years ago 

Thursday 17th of December 1903

Writer Erskine Preston Caldwell is born in Moreland, Georgia, United States.


(-)
116 years ago 

Friday 17th of December 1909

2nd King of Belgium Leopold II, originally Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 74 in Château de Laeken, Laeken, Brussel, Brabant, Belgium.


(+)
111 years ago 

Thursday 17th of December 1914

Serial killer Raymond Martinez Fernandez aka The Lonely Hearts Killers (with Martha Beck) is born in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.


(+)
102 years ago 

Monday 17th of December 1923

Director of the Dresdner bank Jürgen Ponto is born in Bad Nauheim, Hessen, Germany.


(+)
92 years ago 

Sunday 17th of December 1933

Victim of Harvey Glatman aka The Pin-Up Killer Ruth Rita Mercado aka Angela Rojas is born in Plattsburgh, New York, United States.


(+)
83 years ago 

Thursday 17th of December 1942

Musician Paul Vaughn Butterfield is born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.


(+)
82 years ago She Was Daughter Mary

Friday 17th of December 1943

Member of the 'Manson Family' Mary Theresa Brunner aka Marioche aka Mother Mary is born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States.


(-)
78 years ago He Didn't Perform the Post Mortem

Wednesday 17th of December 1947

Pathologist Bernard Henry Spilsbury commits suicide by gassing at the age of 70 in University College, Bloomsbury, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Spilsbury was depressed over his finances and his declining health.


(+)
77 years ago 

Friday 17th of December 1948

Murderer Stephen McCoy is born in Houston, Texas, United States.


(x)
67 years ago 

Wednesday 17th of December 1958

31-year-old Serial killer Harvey Murray Glatman aka The Pin-Up Killer is sentenced to death in San Diego, California, United States.


(x)
64 years ago 

Sunday 17th of December 1961

Over 500 die in Gran Circus Norte-Americano fire in Gran Circus Norte-Americano, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The fire was arsoned by former employee Adilson Marcelino.


(-)
62 years ago 

Tuesday 17th of December 1963

Murderer Dennis John Whitty is executed by hanging by Robert Stewart at the age of 22 in Winchester Prison, Winchester, Hampshire, United Kingdom.


(-)
62 years ago 

Tuesday 17th of December 1963

Murderer Russel Pascoe is executed by hanging by Harry Allen at the age of 23 in Horfield Prison, Bristol, South West England, United Kingdom.


(x)
57 years ago 

Tuesday 17th of December 1968

12-year-old Child killer Mary Flora Bell aka Child of Hell is sentenced to detention for life for the murder of two children in Moot Hall, Castle Garth, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, United Kingdom.

Mary's accomplice Norma Bell was acquitted.


(x)
56 years ago 

Wednesday 17th of December 1969

44-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl performs 'Materialaktion nr. 59 / Stille Nacht / Frohe Weihnacht' aka 'O Tannenbaum' in Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Johannes-Selenka-Platz 1, Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, Germany.


(x)
46 years ago 

Monday 17th of December 1979

23-year-old Necrophiliac Karen Greenlee steals the 1975 Cadillac hearse she was driving to a funeral along with the body of a 33-year-old man to have sex with the corpse in Sacramento Memorial Lawn, 6100 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, California, United States.

Greenlee was found days later near Alleghany in Sierra County. She had attempted to commit suicide by overdosing on about 20 pills of Tylenol and codeine but survived.


(-)
36 years ago 

Sunday 17th of December 1989

June Cicero is strangled and mutilated by serial killer Arthur Shawcross aka The Genesee River Killer in Salmon Creek, Rochester, New York, United States.

Cicero's body was discovered by aerial surveillance on 3 January 1990.


(x)
28 years ago 

Wednesday 17th of December 1997

72-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl is released from prison after serving six years for sex and drug offences in Eisenstadt, Burgenland, Austria.


(-)
21 years ago 

Friday 17th of December 2004

Pop artist Tom Wesselmann dies of complications after heart surgery at the age of 73 in University Medical Center, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States.


(-)
15 years ago 

Friday 17th of December 2010

Singer-songwriter, musician and artist Don Van Vliet, originally Don Glen Vliet aka Captain Beefheart dies of complications from multiple sclerosis at the age of 69 in Arcata, California, United States.


(-)
14 years ago 

Saturday 17th of December 2011

Second Supreme Leader of North Korea Jong-il Kim dies of a heart attack at the age of 70 in Pyongyang, P'yŏngan, North Korea.

It was reported in December 2012 by South Korean media that Jong-ilhad died in a fit of rage over construction faults in a crucial power plant project at Huichon in Jagang Province.


(-)
12 years ago 

Tuesday 17th of December 2013

Great Train Robber Ronnie Ronald Arthur Biggs dies of pneumonia at the age of 84 in Carlton Court Care Home, 112 Bells Hill, East Barnet, Greater London, United Kingdom.


(-)
5 years ago 

Thursday 17th of December 2020

Serial killer Donato Bilancia aka Il Mostro della Liguria dies of COVID-19 at the age of 69 in Padua, Veneto, Italy.




Concept and design © 1985-2025 Danny Devos

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

40th year - N° 350 Tuesday, 16 December 2025

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)
40th year - N° 350 Tuesday, 16 December 2025


16 December / Today's 30 Events:
(+)
540 years ago 

Wednesday 16th of December 1485

Princess of Wales and first wife of Henry VIII Catalina de Aragón is born in Palacio Arzobispal, Alcalá de Henares, Área metropolitana de Madrid, Spain.


(+)
255 years ago 

Sunday 16th of December 1770

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven is born in Bonngasse 20, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.


(+)
250 years ago 

Saturday 16th of December 1775

Writer Jane Austen is born in Steventon, Hampshire, United Kingdom.


(+)
235 years ago 

Thursday 16th of December 1790

1st King of Belgium Leopold I, originally Leopold George Christian Frederick of Saksen-Coburg-Saalfeld is born in Ehrenburg Palace, Coburg, Bayern, Germany.


(-)
166 years ago 

Friday 16th of December 1859

Folklorist and mythologist Wilhelm Karl Grimm dies of an internal infection at the age of 73 in Berlin, Berlin, Germany.


(+)
159 years ago Kam der Blaue Reiter

Sunday 16th of December 1866

Painter and art theorist Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky is born in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.


(+)
143 years ago 

Saturday 16th of December 1882

Composer Zoltán Kodály is born in Kecskemét, Dél-Alföld, Hungary.


(+)
126 years ago 

Saturday 16th of December 1899

Playwright, director, actor and singer Noël Peirce Coward is born in Teddington, Middlesex, United Kingdom.


(+)
124 years ago 

Monday 16th of December 1901

Anthropologist Margaret Mead is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.


(-)
121 years ago 

Friday 16th of December 1904

Widow Gladys Cochcrane dies of Spontaneous Human Combustion in Falkirk, Rosehall, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Cochrane was found burned beyond recognition in her bedroom sitting in a chair surrounded by pillows and cushions which were not burned. Cochrane had not cried out and there was no fire in her grate.


(+)
108 years ago 

Sunday 16th of December 1917

Science fiction writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer and television series host Arthur C. Charles Clarke is born in Minehead, Somerset, United Kingdom.


(+)
97 years ago 

Sunday 16th of December 1928

Science fiction writer Philip K. Kindred Dick is born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Dick and his twin sister Jane Charlotte were born six weeks prematurely. The death of Jane on 26 January 1929, profoundly affected Philip's life, leading to the recurrent motif of the 'phantom twin' in his books.


(-)
90 years ago 

Monday 16th of December 1935

Actress Thelma Alice Todd aka The Bohemian Girl dies of carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 30 in Pacific Palisades, California, United States.


(-)
87 years ago His Carpet Wasn't Stained

Friday 16th of December 1938

Swindler Phillip Mariano Fausto Musica aka F. Donald Costercommits suicide by a shot in the head at the age of 61 in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States.

Musica was careful to stand in a way that when he fell into a large marble bathtub none of his blood stained the carpet on the floor.


(+)
87 years ago 

Friday 16th of December 1938

Actress Liv Johanne Ullmann is born in Tokyo, Kantō, Japan.


(x)
81 years ago 

Saturday 16th of December 1944

567 die in Cinema Rex explosion in Cinema Rex, De Keyserlei 15, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

The building was caught in a full hit by a V2 during the showing of Cecil B DeMille's ‘The Plainsman’ starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur.


(+)
76 years ago 

Friday 16th of December 1949

Possible victim of the Zodiac Killer Betty Elizabeth Marie Cloer is born in Lakeview, Oregon, United States.


(+)
69 years ago 

Sunday 16th of December 1956

Musician Lizzy Martine-Elisabeth Mercier Descloux is born in Paris, Île-de-France, France.


(x)
65 years ago He Survived but Died

Friday 16th of December 1960

134 die in United Airlines Douglas DC-8-11 Flight 826 and Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation Flight 266 collision in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York, New York, United States.

The only initial survivor of the tragedy was 11-year-old Stephen Lambert Baltz, but he died of pneumonia the next day.


(-)
60 years ago 

Thursday 16th of December 1965

Writer and playwright William Somerset Maugham dies of natural causes at the age of 91 in Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.


(x)
57 years ago 

Monday 16th of December 1968

43-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl performs 'Aktion / Das Böse / Tv–film für den WDR' in Praterstraße 32, Wien, Wien, Austria.


(x)
55 years ago His Father Played the Organ while He Nailed His Mother to the Wall

Wednesday 16th of December 1970

16-year-old Multiple murderer Frank Alexander is found beating his 39-year-old mother Dagmar and his 18-year-old and 15-year-old sisters Marina and Petra to death in Flat 1d, 37 Calle Jesús Nazareno, Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Spain.

Alexander had also been tearing out their hearts and cutting away their sex organs and nailing them to the walls of the flat while his father Harald played the organ in a presumer 'Lorberbewegung' ritual. Petra's twin sister Sabina managed to escape. In the subsequent trial the young Alexander stated "I saw that mom was looking at me, I felt I was not allowed that she looked at me that way."


(x)
55 years ago 

Wednesday 16th of December 1970

45-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl performs 'Weihnacht 70' in Aktionsgalerie Rudolf Jäggli, Uferweg 42, Bern, Mittelland, Switzerland.


(x)
49 years ago He Failed to End His Song

Thursday 16th of December 1976

36-year-old Double murderer Gary Mark Gilmore aka The Executioner’s Song tries to commit suicide in Utah State Prison, Draper, Utah, United States.


(-)
48 years ago 

Friday 16th of December 1977

Maryann Carr is abducted and killed by serial killer Richard Cottingham aka The Torso Killer in Ledgewood Terrace Apartments, Liberty Street, Little Ferry, New Jersey, United States.

Carr's body was left on the parking lot of a Quality Inn Motel parking lot.


(x)
40 years ago Ils n'ont pas Fini Leur Hamburger

Monday 16th of December 1985

The four only members, 33-year old Pierre Carette, 30-year-old Didier Chevolet, 28-year-old Pascale Vandegeerde and 23-year-old Bertrand Sassoye of Terrorist organisation Les Cellules Communistes Combattantes aka CCC are arrested in Quick restaurant, Avenue de la Gare 7, Namur, Namur, Belgium.


(x)
39 years ago The Search Proved no Results

Tuesday 16th of December 1986

44-year-old Serial killer Myra Hindley aka The Moors Murderers (with Ian Brady) returns to the Moor by helicopter from Cookham Wood Prison in an attempt to locate burial sites of their victims Pauline Reade and Keith Benneth in Hollin Brown Knoll, Saddleworth Moor, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom.

The search proved no results and Hindley arrived back at Cookham Wood at 7.15pm.


(-)
36 years ago 

Saturday 16th of December 1989

Actor Lee Clarence Leroy Van Cleef dies of a heart attack at the age of 64 in Oxnard, California, United States.


(-)
32 years ago 

Thursday 16th of December 1993

Double murderer David Mark Pruett is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 44 in Greensville Correctional Center, Jarratt, Virginia, United States.


(-)
15 years ago 

Thursday 16th of December 2010

Murderer John David Duty is executed by lethal injection at the age of 58 in Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester, Oklahoma, United States.

Duty was to be the first US prisoner whose execution included the use of the sedative pentobarbital, commonly used to euthanise animals. Duty's last meal request was for a double cheeseburger with mayonnaise, a foot-long hot dog with cheese, mustard and onions, a cherry limeade, and a banana shake.




Concept and design © 1985-2025 Danny Devos