On This Day for December 22 - Alfred Dreyfus sentenced to life in prison, Giacomo Puccini is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. December 22 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Giacomo Puccini READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1894 Alfred Dreyfus sentenced to life in prison READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2010: U.S. President Barack Obama signed legislation to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the policy regarding the service of homosexuals in the military; it took effect the following year. [How much do you know about American politics?] 2001: British Islamist militant Richard Reid attempted—by trying to ignite explosives hidden in the soles of his high-top basketball shoes—to blow up an airplane on which he and some 200 other passengers were traveling; he was restrained by other passengers, and a U.S. court later sentenced him to life without parole. [Take our quiz about criminality and famous outlaws.] 1990: The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia was promulgated, granting such classic civil rights as freedom of speech, religion, information, and association, as well as guaranteeing the equality of nationalities. [ Test your knowledge of European history.] 1965: The American movie Doctor Zhivago, David Lean's adaptation of Boris Pasternak's novel, had its world premiere; the hugely popular drama, which starred Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, became one of cinema's highest-grossing films. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about film.] 1856: Frank B. Kellogg, U.S. secretary of state from 1925 to 1929 who negotiated the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928—a multilateral agreement designed to prohibit war as an instrument of national policy—and won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1929, was born. [Test your knowledge of the Nobel Prize.] 1989: Nicolae Ceaușescu was ousted after 24 years of dictatorial rule in Romania. [Take our quiz about famous people in history.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1962 Ralph Fiennes English actor 1887 Srinivasa Ramanujan Indian mathematician 1960 Jean-Michel Basquiat American artist 1949 Robin Gibb British-Australian musician and singer 1858 Giacomo Puccini Italian composer 1912 Lady Bird Johnson first lady of the United States SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2020 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help