December 22 Through History

Explanation: The Romanian revolution of December 1989 was one of the bloodiest of the Velvet Revolutions that swept Eastern Europe. After his resignation on December 22, Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena attempted to flee, were captured, summarily tried, and executed on December 25, 1989.

Explanation: The coelacanth, believed to have been extinct for 65 million years, was found alive in the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa. This species is considered a "living fossil" because it has barely evolved over hundreds of millions of years. A second population was discovered in 1997 in Indonesia.

Explanation: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy, inspired by a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé, is often considered the starting point of modern music. Its premiere took place at the Société nationale de musique in Paris. Vaslav Nijinsky created the famous choreography in 1912 for the Ballets Russes.

Explanation: The Embargo Act of 1807 banned all trade between the United States and foreign powers, primarily targeting Great Britain and Napoleonic France. The measure was a disastrous economic failure for the United States itself, ruining New England merchants, and was repealed in 1809 after only 15 months in effect.

Explanation: Mayotte was the only island in the Comoros archipelago to vote against independence in 1974. Despite the diplomatic tensions that followed, Mayotte remained French. In 2011, it became the 101st French department, a decision still contested by the Union of the Comoros, which claims sovereignty over the island.

Explanation: Jean Racine was, along with Pierre Corneille and Molière, one of the great playwrights of French classicism under Louis XIV. After a dazzling theatrical career, he converted to Jansenism and gave up theater for twelve years. At the request of Madame de Maintenon, he wrote two biblical plays: Esther and Athalie.

Explanation: The Académie des sciences was founded under the impetus of Colbert and with the support of Louis XIV. It played a crucial role in French scientific development, notably by overseeing the construction of the Paris Observatory. To this day, it advises public authorities on scientific and technological issues.

Explanation: Giacomo Puccini is one of the greatest opera composers of the late XIX and early 20th century. His major works such as Tosca, La Bohème and Turandot (unfinished at his death) are among the most performed in the world. He died in 1924 in Brussels from throat cancer, leaving Turandot unfinished.

Explanation: The Republican calendar, established in France in 1793, assigned to each day the name of a plant, animal, or mineral. The month of Nivôse (from the Latin nix, nivis: snow) covered roughly the period from December 21 to January 19. This calendar was abolished by Napoléon Bonaparte on January 1, 1806.

Explanation: Srinivasa Ramanujan, born in Erode, India, developed revolutionary theorems almost entirely on his own. British mathematician G. H. Hardy recognized his genius and invited him to Cambridge in 1914. Ramanujan died at just 32, leaving behind notebooks filled with formulas, some of which have still not been proven today.