On this Day - 1 December

Highlights

1982 "Thriller", 6th studio album by Michael Jackson is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year 1984, best-selling album of all time, Billboard Album of the Year 1983)

1949 Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord, born in Rionegro, Colombia (d. 1993)

1982 Martial artist Jackie Chan (28) weds actress Lin Feng-jiao (29) in Los Angeles

1761 Marie Tussaud, French founder of Madame Tussaud's wax museum, born in Strasbourg (d. 1850)

1913 Ford Motor Company institutes world's 1st moving assembly line for the Model T Ford

1933 Rudolf Hess & Ernest Rohm become ministers in Hitler government

1953 Hugh Hefner publishes 1st edition of Playboy magazine, featuring Marilyn Monroe as the magazine's 1st centerfold

Birthdays

1896 Georgy Zhukov, Russian deputy commander-in-chief of the Red Army during WWII (Battles of Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin) and Minister of Defense, born in Strelkovka, Kaluga (d. 1974)

1913 Mary Martin, American actress (Peter Pan) and Larry Hagman's mom, born in Weatherford, Texas (d. 1990)

1918 Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, 1st President of the United Arab Emirates, born in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi (d. 2004)

1935 Woody Allen, [Allen Konigsberg], director and actor (Zelig, Annie Hall), born in Brooklyn, New York

1940 Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (Lady Sings the Blues, Stir Crazy), born in Pecoria, Illinois (d. 2005)

1945 Bette Midler, American actress and singer (Beaches, Wind Beneath my Wings), born in Honolulu, Hawaii

Important Historical Events

800 Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican.

1566 Spanish king Philip II names Fernando Alvarez, duke of Alva

1822 Franz Liszt's (11) debut as pianist Isabella Colbran

1824 US House of Representatives begins to decide outcome of election deadlock between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (Adams wins)

1868 John D. Rockefeller begins anti oil war

1884 Society of Independent Artists hold 1st exhibition in Polychrome Pavilion, Paris, includes Georges Seurat's "Bathers at Asnières"

1924 "La Révolution surréaliste" publishes its first issue in Paris, edited by André Breton

1934 Leningrad mayor Sergey Kirov assassinated, Stalin uses as excuse to begin the Great Purge of 1934-38

1937 Japan recognizes Franco government

1939 SS-Fuhrer Himmler begins deportation of Polish Jews

1941 Japanese emperor Hirohito signs declaration of war

1946 Australia compile 645 v India at the Gabba (Bradman 187)

1955 Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to move to the back of a bus and give her seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama

1957 Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly and the Crickets debut on Ed Sullivan Show

1960 Paul McCartney and Pete Best arrested then deported from Hamburg, Germany for accusation of attempted arson.

1964 Martin Luther King Jr. speaks to J. Edgar Hoover about his slander campaign

1967 Wilt Chamberlain set NBA record of 22 free throws misses

1971 Cubs release Ernie Banks & sign him as a coach

1971 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in US

1973 Jack Nicklaus becomes 1st golfer to earn $2M in a year

1975 US President Gerald Ford visits People's Republic of China

1978 US President Jimmy Carter more than doubles national park system size

1982 "Tootsie" directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange premieres in Hollywood

1984 "Beverly Hills Cop" directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold premieres in Los Angeles

1988 Benazir Bhutto named 1st female Prime Minister of a Muslim country (Pakistan)

1989 USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev meets Pope John Paul II at the Vatican

1990 NY Knicks Patrick Ewing scores 50 points beating Charlotte 113-96

1999 Rapper Jay-Z stabs record executive Lance "Un" Rivera at a night club in New York

2003 "The Return of the King", 3rd and final film in the Lord of the Rings series, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen premieres in Wellington, New Zealand