Throwback Thursday for 12/1! Happy December!

Here's what happened on December 1st!

• 1797: Oliver Wolcott, signer of the Declaration of Independence, died while serving as Governor of Connecticut. Read about all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence!
  (American History)
• 1918: Icelandic sovereignty was recognized under the Danish monarchy. It was not until 1944 that Iceland voted to sever their union with Denmark.
  (Countries and Cultures)
• 1935: American comedian, writer, and filmmaker Woody Allen was born in Brooklyn, New York. He wrote, directed, and starred in one of his best known films Annie Hall (1977), which won three Academy Awards.
  (World Biography)
• 1943: The last day of a meeting between the Allied "Big Three"- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin took place in Tehran, Iran. They formulated plans for the invasion of Western Europe during World War II.
  (American History)
• 1949: Author Jan Brett was born in Hingham, Massachusetts. Her most beloved book (which she wrote and illustrated) is The Mitten. It is a retelling of an old Ukranian folktale about a group of animals climbing inside a child's mitten one by one.
  (Biography for Beginners)
• 1951: The opera adaption of Billy Budd premiered at Covent Garden in London. It was composed by Benjamin Britten and is about a retired sea captain thinking back on his British navy days.
  (Essential Information)
• 1951: Auto racer Rich Mears was born in Wichita, Kansas. He was recognized as the Associated Press "Driver of the Decade" for the 1980s and was named one of ten "Champions for Life." He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1997.
  (Sports Champions)
• 1955: Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat up to a white passenger. With this action, she is credited with starting the modern civil rights movement. Her arrest began the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted for over a year until the bus desegregation order was instated.
  (Biography for Beginners, Defining Moments, American History)
• 1987: African American novelist and essayist James Baldwin died of cancer. He wrote passionate works about the racial problems of 20th century America. He influenced many other African American writers, including Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison.
  (Biography for Beginners)
• Yearly: World Aids Day takes place today. Follow this link to read about the AIDS crisis and the history of LGBT rights movement in Defining Moments module on the Stonewall Riots.
  (American History, Defining Moments)