22nd December: Today In History

Today is 22nd December,  the 356 day of 2015. There are 09 days left in the year. Today's Highlight In History; Birthdays:   1639 Jean Racine, French playwright   1768 John Crome, English landscape painter   1858 Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer; 'La Boheme' & 'Madam butterfly'   1888 J.Arthur Rank, Film magnate who built up the 'Rank' film studios   1909 Patricia Hayes, Popular English character actress   1936 James Burke, British writer & television presenter   1949 Robin & Morris Gibb, With brother Barry formed 'The Bee Gees'   1951 Duke Of Westminster, Second only to the Queen, as Britains richest landlord Events:   1715 The 'Old Pretender', James Stuart, landed at Petershead after being exiled in France   1894 French officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was found guilty of selling secrets to Germany   1895 Wilhelm Rontgen, the German physicist, made the first ever X-ray of his wife's hand   1943 The famous childrens writer, Beatrix Potter, died   1965 The maximum speed limit in Britain was set at 70mph   1965 The much loved British TV commentator, Richard Dimbleby, died   1982 Heavy snow fell across much of Britain, causing chaos with up to 8 inches of snow   1987 The renowned golfer, Sir Henry Cotton, died aged 80   1999 Comrade Ola Oni, social crusader and human rights activist dies, aged 66.