===
- 627 – A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeatedEmperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh, near present-day Mosul, Iraq.
- 1915 – President Yuan Shikai (pictured) of the Republic of China reinstated the monarchy and declared himself Emperor.
- 1939 – The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duchess collided with the battleship HMS Barham she was escorting and sank with heavy loss of life.
- 1942 – World War II: German troops began Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
- 1964 – Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
===
Events
- 627 – Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
- 1098 – First Crusade: Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan – Crusaders breach the town's walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they resort to cannibalism.
- 1408 – The Order of the Dragon a monarchical chivalric order is created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, then King of Hungary.
- 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant – A British fleet led by HMS Victory defeats a French fleet.
- 1787 – Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution five days after Delaware became the first.
- 1862 – USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
- 1870 – Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman, the first one being Hiram Revels.
- 1897 – Belo Horizonte, the first planned city in Brazil, is founded.
- 1901 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
- 1911 – Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
- 1911 – King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck are enthroned as Emperor and Empress of India.
- 1915 – President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.
- 1917 – In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
- 1918 – Flag of Estonia is raised atop the Pikk Hermann for the first time.
- 1925 – The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
- 1935 – Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.
- 1936 – Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, is kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
- 1937 – USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink US gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze River in China.
- 1939 – Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi – Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
- 1939 – HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
- 1940 – World War II: Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield, as a result of a German air raid.
- 1941 – World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
- 1941 – World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
- 1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
- 1941 – Adolf Hitler announces extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery
- 1942 – World War II: German troops begin Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
- 1942 – A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland, kills 100 people.
- 1946 – A fire at a New York City ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
- 1948 – Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre – 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
- 1950 – Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
- 1956 – Beginning of the Irish Republican Army's "Border Campaign".
- 1958 – Guinea joins the United Nations.
- 1963 – Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1964 – Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta becomes the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
- 1969 – Strategy of tension: Piazza Fontana bombing – The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
- 1979 – Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
- 1979 – President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
- 1979 – The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.
- 1979 – A major earthquake and tsunami kill 259 people in Colombia.
- 1983 – the Australian Labor government led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating floated the Australian dollar.
- 1984 – Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya becomes the third president of Mauritania after a coup d'état against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the latter is attending a summit.
- 1985 – Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, including 236 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
- 1988 – The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains – one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom.
- 1991 – Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR.
- 2000 – The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.
[edit]Births
- 1298 – Albert II of Austria (d. 1358)
- 1526 – Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral
- 1574 – Anne of Denmark, queen consort of James I of England (d. 1619)
- 1610 – Saint Vasilije (d. 1671)
- 1659 – Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (d. 1739)
- 1685 – Lodovico Giustini, Italian composer and keyboard player (d. 1743)
- 1712 – Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (d. 1780)
- 1715 – Gennaro Manna, Italian composer (d. 1779)
- 1724 – Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (d. 1816)
- 1731 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician, slave trade abolitionist, inventor and poet (d. 1802)
- 1745 – John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1829)
- 1766 – Nikolay Karamzin, Russian poet and historian (d. 1826)
- 1779 – Madeleine Sophie Barat, French saint (d. 1865)
- 1783 – Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician (d. 1865)
- 1786 – William L. Marcy, American statesman (d. 1857)
- 1791 – Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, wife of Napoleon (d. 1847)
- 1792 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek prince (d. 1828)
- 1799 – Karl Briullov, Russian painter (d. 1852)
- 1805 – William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist (d. 1879)
- 1805 – Henry Wells, American banking executive (d. 1878)
- 1806 – Stand Watie, American Confederate general (d. 1871)
- 1812 – John Sandfield Macdonald, Canadian premier of Ontario (d. 1872)
- 1821 – Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)
- 1845 – Bruce Price, American architect (d. 1903)
- 1849 – William Kissam Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (d. 1920)
- 1862 – Joseph Bruce Ismay, British ocean liner executive and Titanic survivor (d. 1937)
- 1862 – André Fauquet-Lemaître, French polo player (d. 1943)
- 1863 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (d. 1944)
- 1864 – Paul Elmer More, American essayist (d. 1937)
- 1866 – Alfred Werner, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1919)
- 1870 – Walter Benona Sharp, American oil industry executive (d. 1912)
- 1875 – Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (d. 1953)
- 1876 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete (d. 1928)
- 1881 – Harry Warner, American studio executive (d. 1958)
- 1887 – Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (d. 1974)
- 1892 – Milko Kos, Slovenian historian (d. 1972)
- 1893 – Edward G. Robinson, American actor (d. 1973)
- 1900 – Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d. 1988)
- 1902 – Koloman Sokol, Slovak painter (d. 2003)
- 1903 – Dagmar Nordstrom, American composer (d. 1976)
- 1903 – Yasujirō Ozu, Japanese film director (d. 1963)
- 1904 – Nicolas de Gunzburg, French magazine editor (d. 1981)
- 1905 – Manès Sperber, Austrian writer (d. 1984)
- 1907 – Roy Douglas, English composer and orchestrator
- 1908 – Gustav Ernesaks, Estonian composer and conductor (d. 1993)
- 1909 – Karen Morley, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1909 – Hans Keilson, German-born Dutch writer and child psychologist (d. 2011)
- 1910 – Richard Sagrits, Estonian painter (d. 1968)
- 1914 – Patrick O'Brian, English author (d. 2000)
- 1915 – Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)
- 1917 – James Wall, American actor (d. 2010)
- 1918 – Joe Williams, American singer (d. 1999)
- 1919 – Olivia Barclay, English astrologer (d. 2001)
- 1919 – Dan DeCarlo, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
- 1920 – Fred Kida, American comics artist
- 1922 – Christian Dotremont, Belgian painter and writer (d. 1979)
- 1923 – Bob Barker, American television game show host
- 1923 – Bob Dorough, American jazz pianist/vocalist
- 1923 – Ken Kavanagh, Australian racing driver
- 1924 – Ed Koch, American politician
- 1924 – Ray Cordeiro, Hong Kong radio personality
- 1924 – Robert Coogan, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1925 – Vladimir Shainsky, Russian composer
- 1925 – Ahmad Shamlou, Iranian poet (d. 2000)
- 1927 – Robert Noyce, American inventor (d. 1990)
- 1928 – Chinghiz Aitmatov, Soviet-born Kyrgyz writer (d. 2008)
- 1928 – Helen Frankenthaler, American artist (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Toshiko Akiyoshi, Japanese musician
- 1929 – John Osborne, English dramatist (d. 1994)
- 1930 – Bill Beutel, American journalist (d. 2006)
- 1930 – Silvio Santos, Brazilian TV show host
- 1931 – Lionel Blair, English actor and choreographer
- 1932 – Bob Pettit, American basketball player
- 1934 – Miguel de la Madrid, Mexican politician
- 1936 – Jefferson Kaye, American radio announcer (d. 2012)
- 1937 – Philip Ledger, English organist and composer (d. 2012)
- 1937 – Buford Pusser, American law enforcement official (d. 1974)
- 1938 – Connie Francis, American singer
- 1940 – Sharad Pawar, Indian politician
- 1940 – Dionne Warwick, American singer
- 1940 – Frances Willard, American magician
- 1942 – Morris Sadek, Egyptian-American lawyer and activist
- 1942 – Peter Sarstedt, British musician
- 1942 – Zoe Laskari, Greek actress
- 1943 – Vassilis Alexakis, Greek-French writer
- 1943 – Dickey Betts, American musician (The Allman Brothers Band)
- 1943 – Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (d. 1999)
- 1944 – Kenneth Cranham, Scottish actor
- 1944 – Jean Doré, Canadian politician
- 1944 – Zoe Laskari, Greek actress
- 1944 – Rob Tyner, American Singer, Songwriter and activist (The MC5) (d. 1991)
- 1945 – Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (d. 1997)
- 1946 – Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver
- 1946 – Paula Wagner, American film executive
- 1947 – Wings Hauser, American actor
- 1949 – Bill Nighy, English actor
- 1949 – Marc Ravalomanana, President of Madagascar
- 1950 – Pedro Ferriz de Con, Mexican radio and TV news anchor
- 1950 – Rajinikanth, Indian actor
- 1950 – Billy Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1951 – Rehman Malik, Pakistani politician
- 1952 – Brenton Broadstock, Australian composer and academic
- 1952 – Herb Dhaliwal, Canadian politician
- 1952 – Sarah Douglas, English actress
- 1952 – Cathy Rigby, American gymnast and actress
- 1953 – Bruce Kulick, American guitarist (Kiss, Grand Funk Railroad)
- 1953 – Dave Meniketti, American guitarist
- 1953 – Rafael Septien, Mexican placekicker and convicted sex offender
- 1954 – Hemant Karkare, Chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (d. 2008)
- 1955 – Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek businesswoman
- 1955 – Eddy Schepers, Belgian cyclist
- 1956 – Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
- 1957 – Sheila E., American musician
- 1957 – Robert Lepage, French Canadian playwright
- 1958 – Monica Attard, Australian journalist
- 1958 – Lucie Guay, Canadian canoer
- 1958 – Dag Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian musician
- 1958 – Sheree J. Wilson, American actress
- 1962 – Tracy Austin, American tennis player
- 1962 – Peter Bergen, American journalist and national security analyst
- 1962 – Mike Golic, American football player
- 1963 – Liz Claman, American television anchor
- 1963 – Eduardo Castro Luque, Mexican politician (d. 2012)
- 1963 – Ai Orikasa, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1964 – Sabu, American professional wrestler
- 1964 – Haywood Jeffries, American football player
- 1965 – Will Carling, English rugby union footballer
- 1966 – Royce Gracie, Brazilian martial artist
- 1966 – Kouichi Nagano, Japanese voice actor
- 1966 – Último Dragón, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1967 – Yuzo Koshiro, Japanese composer
- 1967 – Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Japanese composer
- 1967 – John Randle, American football player
- 1967 – Deke Sharon, American musician
- 1968 – Kate Humble, English television presenter
- 1968 – Rory Kennedy, American documentarian
- 1968 – Laurie Williams, Jamaican cricketer (d. 2002)
- 1969 – Carrie Westcott, American model and actress
- 1970 – Mädchen Amick, American actress
- 1970 – Jennifer Connelly, American actress
- 1970 – Regina Hall, American actress
- 1972 – Nicky Eaden, English footballer
- 1972 – Wilson Kipketer, Danish middle-distance runner
- 1972 – Kevin Parent, French Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1972 – Brandon Teena, American murder victim (d. 1993)
- 1972 – Georgios Theodoridis, Greek sprinter
- 1972 – Hank Williams III, American musician
- 1973 – Walter Otta, Argentine footballer
- 1973 – Gary Breen, Republic of Ireland footballer
- 1973 – Tony Hsieh, American Businessman
- 1974 – Nolberto Solano, Peruvian footballer
- 1975 – Mayim Bialik, American actress
- 1975 – Wesley Charles, Vincentian footballer
- 1975 – Craig Moore, Australian footballer
- 1976 – Dan Hawkins, English guitarist (The Darkness)
- 1976 – Lloyd Owusu, Ghanaian footballer
- 1977 – Nicole, Erica and Jaclyn Dahm, American triplet models
- 1977 – Bridget Hall, American supermodel
- 1977 – Orlando Hudson, American baseball player
- 1977 – Colin White, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Monica Barladeanu, Romanian actress
- 1978 – Jennifer Rovero, American model
- 1979 – Garrett Atkins, American baseball player
- 1979 – Nate Clements, American football player
- 1979 – John Salmons, American basketball player
- 1980 – Gus G, Greek musician
- 1980 – Nicolae Dorin Goian, Romanian footballer
- 1981 – Ronnie Brown, American football player
- 1981 – Shane Costa, American baseball player
- 1981 – Jeret Peterson, American aerial skier
- 1981 – Pedro Ríos, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
- 1981 – Stephen Warnock, English footballer
- 1982 – Lim Jae-Duk, South Korean gamer
- 1982 – Ai Kato, Japanese actress
- 1982 – Jeremiah Riggs, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
- 1982 – Dmitry Tursunov, Russian tennis player
- 1983 – Katrina Elam, American singer
- 1984 – Daniel Agger, Danish footballer
- 1984 – Daniel Merrett, Australian football player
- 1984 – Sohail Tanvir,Pakistani cricketer
- 1985 – Pat Calathes, Greek-American basketball player
- 1985 – Chris Jennings, American football player
- 1985 – Erika Van Pelt, American singer
- 1985 – David Veikune, American football player
- 1985 – Giannis Zaradoukas, Greek footballer
- 1986 – Përparim Hetemaj, Finnish footballer
- 1986 – Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Japanese singer (AAA)
- 1986 – Nina Kolarič, Slovenian athlete
- 1986 – Thomas Wansey, English actor
- 1986 – T. J. Ward, American football player
- 1986 – Lee Qri, Korean singer and actress (T-ara)
- 1988 – Ham Eun-jeong, Korean singer and actress (T-ara)
- 1990 – Victor Moses, Nigerian footballer
- 1990 – Seungri, Member of South Korean boygroup Big Bang
- 1991 – Daniel Magder, Canadian actor
[edit]Deaths
- 884 – Carloman, King of the West Franks
- 1212 – Geoffrey, Archbishop of York
- 1569 – Metropolitan Philip of Moscow (b. 1507)
- 1574 – Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1524)
- 1586 – Stefan Batory, King of Poland (b. 1533)
- 1685 – John Pell, English mathematician (b. 1610)
- 1751 – Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (b. 1678)
- 1754 – Wu Jingzi, Chinese writer (b. 1701)
- 1766 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (b. 1700)
- 1789 – John Ponsonby, Irish politician (b. 1713)
- 1790 – Mikhail Shcherbatov, Russian philosopher and writer (b. 1733)
- 1817 – Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I of Ethiopia, (b. about 1751)
- 1843 – King William I of the Netherlands, (b. 1772)
- 1858 – Jacques Viger, antiquarian and archeologist, first mayor of Montreal (b. 1787)
- 1889 – Robert Browning, English poet (b. 1812)
- 1889 – Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1804)
- 1894 – Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1845)
- 1913 – Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia (b. 1844)
- 1923 – Raymond Radiguet, French author (b. 1903)
- 1926 – Jean Richepin, French poet (b. 1849)
- 1929 – Charles Goodnight, American cattle baron (b. 1836)
- 1934 – Oscar Goerke, American cyclist (b. 1883)
- 1934 – Thorleif Haug, Norwegian Nordic skier (b. 1894)
- 1939 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (b. 1883)
- 1941 – César Basa, Philippine Air Force and World War II hero (b. 1915)
- 1951 – Mildred Bailey, American jazz singer (b. 1907)
- 1952 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (b. 1879)
- 1958 – Albert Walsh, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1900)
- 1963 – Yasujirō Ozu, Japanese film director (b. 1903)
- 1964 – Maithili Sharan Gupt Indian Poet(b.1866)
- 1966 – Karl Ruberl, Austrian swimmer (b. 1880)
- 1968 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (b. 1902)
- 1970 – Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (b. 1889)
- 1971 – Yechezkel Kutscher, Israeli philologist and Hebrew linguist (b. 1909)
- 1971 – David Sarnoff, Russian-born American General Manager of RCA (b. 1891)
- 1976 – Jack Cassidy, American actor (b. 1927)
- 1976 – Vinko Žganec, Croatian ethnomusicologist (b. 1890)
- 1977 – Baroness Spencer-Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill (b. 1885)
- 1978 – Fay Compton, English actress (b. 1894)
- 1980 – Jean Lesage, Canadian politician (b. 1912)
- 1983 – Amza Pellea, Romanian actor (b. 1931)
- 1985 – Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1985 – Ian Stewart, Scottish musician (b. 1938)
- 1987 – Enrique Jorrín, Cuban musician and composer (b. 1926)
- 1988 – Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano, American Mafia figure (b. 1917)
- 1992 – Suzanne Lilar, Belgian essayist, novelist and playwright (b. 1901)
- 1993 – József Antall, Hungarian politician (b. 1932)
- 1994 – Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (b. 1933)
- 1994 – Donna J. Stone, American poet (b. 1933)
- 1996 – Vance Packard, American author (b. 1914)
- 1997 – Yevgeniy Landis, Russian mathematician (b. 1921)
- 1998 – Lawton Chiles, U.S. Senator from Florida and Governor of Florida (b. 1930)
- 1998 – Marco Denevi, Argentine writer (b. 1922)
- 1998 – Mo Udall, American politician (b. 1922)
- 1999 – Paul Cadmus, American artist (b. 1904)
- 1999 – Joseph Heller, American author (b. 1923)
- 2000 – George Montgomery, American actor (b. 1916)
- 2000 – Ndabaningi Sithole, Zimbabwean Nationalist politician (b. 1920)
- 2001 – Ardito Desio, Italian explorer, geologist and leader of the 1954 K2 expedition (b. 1897)
- 2001 – Jean Richard, French actor (b. 1921)
- 2002 – Dee Brown, American author (b. 1908)
- 2002 – Brad Dexter, American actor (b. 1917)
- 2002 – Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted murderer (b. 1965)
- 2003 – Heydar Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Gangodawila Soma Thero, Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka(b. 1948)
- 2003 – Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (b. 1926)
- 2005 – Robert Newmyer, American film producer (b. 1956)
- 2005 – Gebran Tueni, Lebanese politician (b. 1957)
- 2005 – Annette Vadim, Danish actress (b. 1936)
- 2005 – Ramanand Sagar, Indian Film Maker (b.1917)
- 2006 – Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)
- 2006 – Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1935)
- 2006 – Kenny Davern, American jazz clarinetist (b. 1935)
- 2006 – Raymond P. Shafer, 38th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1917)
- 2006 – Al Shugart, pioneering American computer engineer and co-founder of Seagate Technology (b. 1930)
- 2007 – Ike Turner, American musician (b. 1931)
- 2007 – Francois Hajj, Lebanese Army's chief of operations (b. 1953)
- 2008 – Avery Dulles, Roman Catholic Cardinal, theologian (b. 1918)
- 2008 – Van Johnson, American actor (b. 1916)
- 2008 – Tassos Papadopoulos, President of Cyprus (b. 1934)
- 2010 – Peter Pagel, German footballer (b. 1956)
- 2010 – Tom Walkinshaw, former racing driver and Formula One team owner (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Ravi Shankar, Indian musician and sitar player (b. 1920)
[edit]Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet
- Feast of the Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico)
- Vicelinus
- Constitution Day (Russia)
- Feast of Masá'il ("Questions"), the first day of the 15th month of the Bahá'í calendar (Bahá'í Faith)
- Jamhuri Day, celebrates the independence of Kenya from Britain in 1963.
===
Proof our students are not being taught properly
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (9:04am)
The poor results of Australian primary students in an international reading skills study are a disgrace. But it’s not all about “resources”, despite what teacher unions, the Gonski review and the federal minister Peter Garrett keep saying.
PRIMARY students have a “substantial problem” in reading, with 25 per cent failing to meet the minimum standard for their age in international tests, while maths and science skills in primary and high school have stagnated over the past 16 years.
In the first international test of primary students, Australian year 4 students scored the lowest of the English-speaking nations in reading, ranked 27th out of 48 countries tested, comparable to Bulgaria, Slovenia and Lithuania.
“To say the results are disappointing is an understatement,” said Geoff Masters, chief executive of the Australian Council for Educational Research, which performed the testing in Australia.
It is the first time Australian primary school students’ reading skills have been benchmarked internationally. The ranking is significantly worse than Australian high school students’ reading levels.The 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) measured year four reading standards in 45 countries. Australia ranked 27th and placed at a substantially lower level than 21 countries including the US, England, Canada, Portugal and Bulgaria. Twenty-four per cent of year four students did not meet the study’s “intermediate benchmark,” which is regarded as the minimal acceptable standard of literacy.A companion report, the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) found that Australian year four students perform below those in most developed countries, ranking 25th in science, and considerably below 18 countries. Australia ranked 18th in maths.
The National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy (I was on the committee) in 2005 identified the problems and mapped out the solution, according to evidence-based research.
It is no secret how children learn to read.
Early, systematic, direct and explicit instruction in phonics is necessary if a child is to learn to read properly, though not the only factor. Teacher quality is crucial. And increasing evidence suggests pre-school intervention is needed for socially disadvantaged children whose vocabulary is not being developed at home.
Yet all we hear about from the government is Gonski Gonski Gonski, as if the Gonski review recommendations of $5 billion more a year for smaller classes and more specialist teachers is the answer.
Australian school spending grew 44% from 2000-09, far more than the OECD average, yet our students’ reading and maths scores plummeted over that period. They were thrashed by students in larger classes in countries which spent far less.
NSW alone has already spent more than $700 million on shrinking classes in the first three years of school, and look at the results.
As I wrote in July, our average class size is 23, yet in reading and science our students are one to two years behind their peers in Shanghai, where the average class size is 40, according to a report by the Grattan Institute, and we’re more than two years behind in maths.
Now when the chickens are coming home to roost, the education establishment wants to waste more taxpayer money on more strategies that don’t work.
===
Mummy bloggers to the rescue
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (5:23am)
IT was appropriate that Julia Gillard’s latest party for mummy bloggers at Kirribilli House coincided with the latest polls showing Labor’s vote back on a downhill trajectory.
Cynically pandering to demographic slices of the electorate should only get you so far.
It was the PM’s second function for bloggers in a busy six months of Y-chromosome bashing, which included her world-famous misogyny speech and girlpower stories pitched to women’s magazines.
For some reason the women so targeted on gender grounds don’t feel patronised or taken for fools. But, until the latest polls showed a collapse in Labor’s upward momentum, Australia was being played like a violin by Gillard and her scheming Scottish strategist John McTernan.
In an article for the latest The Monthly magazine, Nick Bryant maps out McTernan’s strategy: Emphasise the economy, schools, carbon tax, Gonski and disability insurance while downplaying boats, pokies and, ironically, carbon. And character assassinate Tony Abbott.
The numbers began trending up for Labor and down for the Coalition in about September, and the question of better PM switched in Gillard’s favour, as Labor moved to own the economic narrative.
In September began the all-out assault on Abbott’s character, beginning with the allegation that when he was a 19-year-old student politician he punched a wall near the head of a female political rival.
The government went to town on the story, with Wayne Swan describing the Opposition Leader as a thug’’.
In September, too, Abbott-friendly 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones came under fire for saying the PM’s father had died of shame’’.
Meanwhile, Gillard was being recast as a stateswoman, addressing the UN and cosying up to US President Barack Obama.
She unveiled big-spending motherhood promises, from dental schemes and Gonski education reforms to raising the salaries of childcare workers, and reassuring public servants their jobs were safe.
Then came her October surprise, the misogyny speech casting herself as the victim of a sexist Abbott.
It was the McTernan strategy to a tee and the polls validated his tactics.
But now comes a turnaround. The last Newspoll for the year, taken over the weekend, reflects questions over the PM’s legal advice to the AWU regarding the incorporation of an association later described as a slush fund, record boat people arrivals, and ICAC’s Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald corruption allegations tarnishing the Labor brand.
Labor’s primary vote fell four points to 32 per cent, a sixmonth low, while the Coalition’s rose three points to 46, leaving the widest gap between the parties since McTernan’s strategy kicked in. Flattered mummy bloggers are all that’s left.
===
YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (5:11pm)
Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki entertains fans:
During an exhibition match against Maria Sharapova in Brazil, Wozniacki stuffed her chest and skirt with padding and pranced out onto the court, inciting laughter from the crowd.
Naturally, this has been condemned as racist.
===
SOCIAL MEDIA WINS
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (12:19pm)
The campaign to sack Alan Jones declares victory:
With Alan Jones well and truly held to account, we believe the time has come to formally declare this part of the campaign to be over. We believe that this is the correct decision both strategically and morally.
It’s a brilliant success, except that it isn’t:
Alan Jones maintained the number one spot in his breakfast show and increased his audience share to 18.2% in the most recent radio ratings …
===
LADIES FIRST
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (11:33am)
A contact hidden deep within the Sydney Morning Herald emails:
Would it surprise you to learn that when Julia Gillard paid her first visit as PM to a certain newspaper’s offices they held a female-only morning tea for her while the men remained at their posts?
Nothing is really surprising in our current era of galpartheid.
===
NEW SMACK
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (11:19am)
Climate academic Peter Christoff:
Think of how we view sellers of asbestos or heroin or tobacco.
OK. Bad people.
We no longer buy the argument that harm is a case of ‘’buyer beware’’.
If you say so.
We ascribe responsibility to the knowing, predatory traders of harmful substances.
True, I guess.
Coal is another such substance.
Especially if you inject it.
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THE CORNERED TWENTY
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (10:38am)
A number of readers note the omission of Gina Rinehart and other members of the productive sector from Fairfax’s “most influential women” list. Here’s the selection criteria:
From more than 2000 nominations we selected the 20 women we felt most strongly were “a woman that empowers other women”. This list is a timely reminder of just some of the inspiring and powerful women we have in our corner. They have all made an impact on the lives of Australian women this year and the issues that are most important to them.
One of the Cornered Twenty, Marieke Hardy, spent much of 2012 in her role as freelance book censor. Another “woman that empowers other women” is just a Facebook page:
And yet another empowerer is Susan Carland, a suburban Melbourne girl who these days gets around in a freedom smock. Inspiring!
And yet another empowerer is Susan Carland, a suburban Melbourne girl who these days gets around in a freedom smock. Inspiring!
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SLIPPER CASE DISMISSED
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (9:59am)
AAP reports:
The sexual harassment case against former federal parliamentary speaker Peter Slipper has been dismissed by a Federal Court judge.
UPDATE. James Ashby intends to appeal:
Mr Ashby said no evidence had been heard in his substantive claim against Mr Slipper since he filed the claim eight months ago.“There’s been a determined campaign to try and prevent the substantive allegations being heard and judged in open court that (has) put me at a maximum cost in pursuing justice,” he told reporters outside the court in Sydney.“With my lawyers we will study the judgment in detail but at this stage we intend to appeal this regrettable decision.”
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Albrechtsen on being the one to argue against three on Insiders
Andrew BoltDECEMBER122012(7:09am)
Janet Albrechtsen has been asked to become Insiders’ token conservative. She’s a little underwhelmed - and not just by this one ABC program:
AFTER waiting more than a decade to hear from Aunty, finally word came last Friday afternoon. Aunty is the national broadcaster and the email came from the producer of ABC1’s Insiders wanting to discuss “upcoming opportunities on the program”.
Insiders extended a kind invitation for a different conservative—me—to join its Sunday morning weekly political program from time to time. What explained this offer from the blue? To be fair, Insiders did ask me when I started writing for The Australian. As a media newcomer, I said I needed time to settle in. But what explains 10 long years between drinks? Maybe signalling on national television that I am open to changing my mind about gay marriage, as I did recently on Q&A, was the clincher.
More likely, the invitation arrived thanks to the power of The Australian’s letters page. Last week, a stream of frustrated letter writers said “enough”; they were giving Insiders the flick because “Sunday mornings regularly lead off with a Labor or Greens press release” and “progressives lecture me on the evils of Tony Abbott while loosely guided by Barrie Cassidy as Julia Gillard’s cheer-leader”. Letter writers expressed disappointment about the “continued absence of any conservative voices” among ABC news and current affairs hosts; it is a “slap in the face to half of the Australian population that helps pay for its existence”.
While the ABC celebrates diversity by employing indigenous reporters and filling radio and TV spots with female voices, diversity of opinion is another matter entirely. Alas, the invitation from Insiders, while genuinely appreciated as an olive branch, misses the point. The issue is not whether Janet Albrechtsen or Niki Savva sits in the chair reserved for the show’s sole conservative. The point is that our taxpayer-funded broadcaster thinks it appropriate, week in and week out, for the program to have a three-to-one ratio in favour of progressives.
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Without free speech, you cannot defend your other rights
Andrew BoltDECEMBER122012(7:04am)
Praise to the three Labor MPs resisting those in their party planning to restrict even further your right to speak:
ATTORNEY-GENERAL Nicola Roxon faces dissent in her own ranks over new discrimination legislation, with Labor backbenchers concerned the proposed laws may restrict freedom of speech and make it unlawful to offend people.
Victorian MP Kelvin Thomson, NSW MP Stephen Jones and West Australian senator Mark Bishop spoke out following comments by ABC chairman Jim Spigelman that the overhaul could redraw the line between permissible and unlawful speech.
Defend free speech while you still have some. The Australian on the Gillard Government’s latest assault on this critical freedom.
No, but yes from the Press Council, which is far too keen to censor:
No, but yes from the Press Council, which is far too keen to censor:
The chairman of the Australian Press Council, Professor Julian Disney, has also chipped in, saying that “making conduct unlawful in these terms (to “offend") is an unacceptably broad and severe limitation on freedom of speech”. The APC also urged the federal government to remove those aspects of the proposed legislation.
“This does not mean that the council believes that vitriolic personal attacks and intimidation should be published or condoned by responsible media outlets” added Disney in a statement today.
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Taxpayers just don’t know the NBN is good for them
Andrew BoltDECEMBER122012(6:58am)
Talk about ingratitude. This kind Labor Government spends $37 billion of taxpayers’ money on a service that 75 per cent of tax payers can’t be bothered taking up:
Nationwide, the take-up is about 15 per cent, prompting the Coalition to question the multi-million-dollar advertising blitz for the $37.4 billion network.
Well, if this turns out to be a white elephant, those taxpayers should just blame themselves.
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Curious. It seems building school halls doesn’t improve reading
Andrew BoltDECEMBER122012(6:52am)
But how can this be, after Julia Gillard spent $16 billion on Building the Education Revolution?
AUSTRALIAN primary school students have scored the lowest of any English-speaking nation in an international test of reading, shocking education experts who have questioned the standard of teacher training and quality of teaching in the classroom.
In the first international reading test of Australian primary schools, about 25 per cent of the nation’s Year 4 students failed to meet the minimum standard in reading for their age, rising to more than 30 per cent in Queensland and the Northern Territory.Of the 48 countries tested, Australia ranked 27th, comparable with Bulgaria, Slovenia and Lithuania, and significantly behind the leaders Hong Kong, Russia and Finland, as well as the US and England.
A test of maths and science among Year 4 and Year 8 students showed Australian students’ skills had stagnated over the past 16 years, while some countries, notably in Asia, had greatly improved.
I’m floored. How could Australian children not have improved in reading, writing and mathematics after this government spent so many billions on buildings?
Oh, and don’t forget all those free computers. Surely that would have lifted classroom standards?
Or not, of course.
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