On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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Killed in plane crash; por
Privy Council assails Cabinet on foreign policy; Emperor Hironito attends meeting; Arita explains causes of failure
Japanese Privy Council assails Cabinet for break in negotiations; Wang Ying, comdr, and irregular Mongol brigade mutiny and kill Japanese officers
Sumner Av, 347, Bklyn, 245th Coast Artillery Regiment's armory destroyed
repts from other dominions
1936Howard Smith, American journalist, director, and producer (died 2014)[†]
Howard Smith was an American Oscar-winning film director, producer, journalist, screenwriter, actor and radio broadcaster.
1936Bobby Abel, English cricketer (born 1857)[†]
Robert Abel, nicknamed "The Guv'nor", was a Surrey and England opening batsman who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the County Championship. He was the first England player to "carry his bat" – opening the batting and remaining not out at the end of an innings – through a Test innings, and the first player to score 2000 runs in consecutive seasons – which he did each season from 1895 to 1902. In 1899 for Surrey against Somerset at The Oval, Abel carried his bat through an innings of 811, the highest total for which this feat has been achieved. His 357* in that innings remains a Surrey record, and was the highest score made at The Oval until Len Hutton scored 364 in 1938. Abel also played a record number of first-class matches in a season – 41 in 1902.
1936Luigi Pirandello, Italian dramatist, novelist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (born 1867)[†]
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art". Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written in Sicilian. Pirandello's tragic farces are often seen as forerunners of the Theatre of the Absurd.
1936Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs the Instrument of Abdication.[†]
In early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was in the process of divorcing her second.