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History on the 16th of December

History
Date Text
16 Dec 1786 RELIGIOUS Birth of Konrad Kocher, German chorister and composer of the hymn tune DIX ("For the Beauty of the Earth"). Kocher did much to popularize four_part singing in the churches.
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16 Dec 1826 RELIGIOUS Birth of John Ellerton, Anglican clergyman and writer of children's hymns. Among his better_known compositions are "Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise" and "Welcome, Happy Morning."
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16 Dec 1867 RELIGIOUS Birth of Amy Carmichael, Scotch_Irish missionary. She went to India in 1895 under the Zenana Missionary Society, remaining there without furlough until her death 56 years later. An invalid her last 20 years, she worked to rescue children from Hindu cult prostitution, and founded the Dohnavur Fellowship in 1925.
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16 Dec 1870 RELIGIOUS The Colored Methodist Church of America was established at Jackson, TN. Its name was changed in 1954 to the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The denomination today is comprised of approximately 3,000 congregations.
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16 Dec 1914 WW1 Begin of Raid on Scarborough and Hartlepool
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16 Dec 1915 WW2 Masafumi Arima was promoted to the rank of midshipman. 
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16 Dec 1916 WW2 USS Arizona arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, United States. 
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16 Dec 1917 WW2 An armistice between Russia and the Central Powers commenced. 
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16 Dec 1918 WW2 USS R-1 was commissioned into service, Commander Conant Taylor in command. 
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16 Dec 1920 WW2 The keel of light carrier Hosho was laid down. 
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16 Dec 1925 WW2 Captain William Siebel Miller was named the commanding officer of USS Marblehead, replacing Captain Chauncey Shackford. 
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16 Dec 1931 WW2 Chen Mingshu was named the acting head of the Legislative Yuan of China. 
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16 Dec 1931 WW2 Zang Shiyi was named by the Japanese as the governor of Liaoning Province, China. 
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16 Dec 1933 WW2 Cruiser Astoria was launched, sponsored by Miss Leila C. McKay. 
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16 Dec 1935 RELIGIOUS Death of Walter S. Martin, 73, Disciples of Christ clergyman, teacher and evangelist. He is remembered best today as composer of the hymn tune GOD CARES ("Be Not Dismayed, Whate'er Betide" a.k.a. "God Will Take Care of You").
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16 Dec 1936 WW2 U-36 was commissioned into service. 
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16 Dec 1936 WW2 The 4TP light tank design was completed by Edward Habich of the Polish firm Panstwowe Zaklady Inzynieryjne (PZInz). 
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16 Dec 1937 WW2 Japanese 9th Division killed about 6,500 Chinese people, both military in civilian, in Nanjing, China during two days of mop up operations. 20th Company of the Japanese 16th Division massacred more than 7,000 Chinese east of Zijin Mountain. Chinese troops launched a failed counterattack at Qilin Gate of the city wall; 200 Chinese troops who were captured during the failed counterattack were executed by bayoneting by men of the 38th Company of the Japanese 16th Division. On the shore of the Yangtze River, the Japanese 13th Division began to execute large numbers of the 20,000 Chinese captives it held. As reported by the International Committee later, "seven girls (ages ranged from 16 to 21) were taken away from the Military College"; only five of them were able to return on 18 Dec; some of them reported being raped six or seven times daily by Japanese soldiers. 
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16 Dec 1938 WW2 Ark Royal was commissioned into service. 
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16 Dec 1939 WW2 In China, troops of the Chinese 81st Division captured the city of Kaifeng in Henan Province, while troops of the Chinese 5th Division began to advance toward Kunlun Pass, Guangxi Province in southern China. 
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16 Dec 1939 WW2 Vidkun Quisling met with Adolf Hitler in Berlin, Germany. 
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16 Dec 1939 WW2 Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" received the order to relocate from Stuggart, Germany to Jever, Germany. 
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16 Dec 1940 WW2 134 RAF bombers attacked Mannheim, Germany in retaliation for German raids on British cities; 34 civilians were killed, 81 were injured, and 1,266 homes destroyed by 100 tons of high explosive bombs and 14,000 incendiary bombs. This was the first Allied area bombing raid of the war against a populated target, as opposed to targets of military or industrial value. 
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16 Dec 1940 WW2 Korvettenkapitän Adalbert Schneider became the acting commanding officer of battleship Bismarck while Captain Lindemann was away on Christmas leave. 
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16 Dec 1940 WW2 British 4th Armoured Brigade captured Sidi Omar, Egypt, taking 900 Italian troops prisoner. 
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16 Dec 1940 WW2 German submarine U-37 attacked wooden Spanish ship San Carlos off Cape Juby, Morocco at 1950 hours, stopping her with one torpedo and 21 shells from the deck gun, killing 1. German sailors scuttled the ship after the 28 survivors took to 2 lifeboats. 
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16 Dec 1940 WW2 British submarine HMS Truant sank Italian tanker Bonzo in the Ionian Sea 2 miles off the coast of Calabria, Italy. 
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16 Dec 1940 WW2 Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa was named the governor-general of Taiwan. 
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16 Dec 1940 WW2 US Marine Corps Reserve aviation units were disbanded, and their men were assigned to active duty in the regular US Marine Corps. On the same day, US Marine Corps established the 7th Defense Battalion at San Diego, California, United States. The infantry-artillery battalion was to be assigned to Tutuila, American Samoa. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 Captain Gihachi Takayanagi, Chief Equipping Officer of Battleship No. 1, was commissioned as Yamato's first commanding officer. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese troops landed on British Borneo at 0500 hours and captured the oil fields at Miri and Seria and the oil refinery at Lutong. British and Dutch authorities began to issue orders to destroy other oil related facilities to avoid further capture. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 As Axis troops in North Africa began to fall back towards El Agheila in Libya in earnest, British 4th Armoured Brigade failed to outflank the retreat in the Bir Halegh el Eleba region. To supply the Axis forces operating in Libya, the Italian Navy dispatched a convoy of four freighters from Taranto, Italy, escorted by a powerful fleet of four battleships, five cruisers, twenty destroyers, and one torpedo boat. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 US Navy expanded its pilot training program from 800 students per month to 2,500 per month. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 Hiryu, Soryu, Tone, Chikuma, and two destroyers broke from the Pearl Harbor attack force to reinforce the Wake Island attack force. Meanwhile, Japanese naval land-based aircraft bombed Wake Island. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 US submarine Tambor, damaged, departed from Wake Island area for repairs. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 USS Enterprise task force returned to Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii after failing to find the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack force. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 During a cabinet meeting, Hans Frank, Gauleiter of Poland, asked his peers to shed any feeling of pity for the victims of the genocide. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 US submarine Swordfish was credited with the first confirmed sinking of a Japanese ship in the Pacific War. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 Vice Admiral William Pye replaced Admiral Husband Kimmel as the acting Commander-in-Chief of the USN Pacific Fleet; he would soon be relieved by the newly-appointed permanent Pacific Fleet chief Rear Admiral Chester Nimitz, who was already en route to Hawaii. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese continued to bombard the northern shore of Hong Kong island by artillery and aircraft. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 Soviet forces captured Kalinin, Russia. The lowest temperature recorded in this region of Russia on this date was -42 degrees Fahrenheit (-41 degrees Celsius). 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 European civilians began to evacuate from Penang, Malaya while Allied troops destroyed guns, ammunition dumps, and other military facilities to prevent Japanese capture; the radio station and the ships in the harbor, however, were overlooked and would later be pressed into Japanese service. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 Italian torpedo boat Orione mis-identified German submarine U-557 as a British submarine and rammed her 18 miles west of Crete, Greece at 2144 hours. U-557 sank, killing all 43 aboard. Orione sailed to Suda Bay, Crete to receive repairs for damage sustained during the ramming. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 Five German U-Boats departed from Biscay ports along the French coast for Operation Paukenschlag (Drumbeat) off the American coast. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 USN Task Force 14, centered around USS Saratoga, departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii to relieve Wake Island. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 A Japanese floatplane flew near Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii in a reconnaissance mission. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 The German SS slaughter of Jews in Liepaja, Latvia continued. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 Five German motor torpedo boats from Sicily, Italy entered Malta's Valletta harbour during the night and drop seventy mines there. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 US B-17 bombers at Del Monte airfield on Mindanao in the Philippine Islands departed for Australia. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 The refugee ship Struma arrived in Istanbul, Turkey with 769 Romanian Jews aboard; without permission to enter Palestine, they would remain on the ship for the following two months. 
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16 Dec 1941 WW2 USS Yorktown departed Norfolk, Virginia, United States to return to the Pacific Fleet. 
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16 Dec 1942 WW2 Soviet troops launched an offensive towards Rostov-on-Don, Russia hoping to cut off German troops in the Caucasus, defeating Italian units on the Don River. 
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16 Dec 1942 WW2 Overnight and into the next morning, men of US 1st Infantry Division raided Maknassy, Tunisia, taking 21 German prisoners. 
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16 Dec 1942 WW2 Hoe was commissioned into service. 
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16 Dec 1942 WW2 Tenryu departed with supplies and troops onboard for Madang, Australian New Guinea. 
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16 Dec 1942 WW2 USS Flying Fish arrived at Brisbane, Australia, ending her third war patrol. 
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16 Dec 1942 WW2 USS Finback departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her third war patrol. The first phase of this war patrol would be to escort a carrier force rather than to hunt for enemy shipping. 
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16 Dec 1942 WW2 Light carrier Ryuho entered the drydock at Yokosuka, Japan for repairs. 
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16 Dec 1942 WW2 After dark, USS Sunfish laid mines at the entrance of Iseno Imi off Japan. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Kwajalein, then arrived at Roi; she would depart later in the same day. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 USS Cod arrived at Fremantle, Australia for refit, ending her first war patrol. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 In retaliation for a partisan attack in which two German officials were killed, 150 Polish civilians were executed. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 USS Gar began her tenth war patrol. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 Nine Avro Lancater bombers of No. 617 Squadron RAF, using the stablized automatic bomb sight, attacked a V-weapon launching site at Abbeville, France and achieved an astounding ninety-four yard target error. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 The keel of submarine Carbonero was laid down. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 USS Iowa disembarked US President Franklin Roosevelt. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 USS Flying Fish sank a Japanese cargo ship off Luzon, Philippine Islands, hitting her with 3 of 3 torpedoes fired. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 The 9th Fighter Squadron (flying P-47 aircraft) of USAAF 49th Fighter Group was transferred out of Dobodura Airfield, Australian Papua. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 US naval leadership in the Solomon Islands decided to embark on a fighter sweep campaign against Rabaul, New Britain with US Navy, US Marine Corps, and Royal New Zealand Air Force fighters. The first mission would be launched on the following day. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 Joseph Stilwell met with Chiang Kaishek in Chongqing, China. Chiang told Stilwell that he would only allow a major Chinese offensive into Burma if the Allies could achieve a three-to-one numerical superiority against the Japanese. He also turned over full command of the two Chinese divisions training in Ramgarh, India to Stilwell, who immediately prepared them for operations in northern Burma. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 498 RAF aircraft (483 Lancaster and 15 Mosquito) attacked Berlin, Germany; 25 Lancaster bombers were lost in combat and 29 more were lost while landing in bad weather. Berlin rail system was disrupted heavily, while the National Theater and the national archives buildings were destroyed. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 German troops counterattacked positions held by New Zealand troops outside of Orsogna, Italy before dawn; the Germans failed to gain ground, but the attack also exhausted New Zealand strength in the region. To the west, US troops captured San Pietro, Italy. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 Benito Mussolini gave Commander Ferrucio Ferrini the authorization to form a new naval infantry corps. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 The chief surgeon at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland reported that 106 castration operations had been performed on prisoners. 
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16 Dec 1943 WW2 Marcus Island was launched at Vancouver, Washington, United States, sponsored by Mrs. S. L. La Hache. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 Mauthausen Concentration Camp's satellite camp Gusen III began operations in the town of Lungitz with 262 prisoners; it would eventually grow to house 67,667 prisoners before the end of the war, about half of which would not survive. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 Royal Indian Artillery Sergeant Umrao Singh won the Victoria Cross for defending his advanced gun battery against a determined Japanese attack in Burma. The fighting was frequently hand-to-hand and when Sergeant Singh was found wounded and exhausted, ten enemy bodies surrounded his gun. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 The US Navy Fast Carrier Task Force retired from Philippine waters after three consecutive days of air operations. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Finback attacked a Japanese convoy in the Western Pacific, firing a total of 20 torpedoes but making only 2 hits, sinking a transport. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 Dwight Eisenhower learned that he was about to be promoted to the rank of 5-star general. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 A German V2 rocket fell on the Rex Cinema in Antwerp, Belgium which was packed for the matinee performance. The blast killed 567 people, 296 of them Allied servicemen, and injured 291, half of them soldiers. It took six days to dig out all the bodies, many of which were still sitting upright in their seats. It was the highest death toll from a V-weapon attack during the entire war and resulted in the cinemas and theatres of Antwerp being closed "for the duration" and gatherings of more than 50 people in any one place being banned. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Astoria set sail for Ulithi, Caroline Islands. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 German troops launched Operation Wacht am Rhein, crossing the German border toward Belgium, opening the Battle of the Bulge. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 German Army engineers were awarded at the Peenemünde Army Research Center in Germany. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Puffer departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her sixth war patrol. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Sennet arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Air Group 42 departed. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Dragonet's crew conducted emergency repairs on the bow planes while at sea in the Kurile Islands. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 Japanese submarine I-13 was commissioned into service with Commander Katsuo Ohashi in command. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Wasp transited the Luzon Strait north of the Philippine Islands. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Preston guarded carriers while the carriers launched strikes against Luzon, Philippine Islands. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 Air Group 80 aircraft from USS Ticonderoga flew 6 strikes against Japanese positions in northern Luzon, Philippine Islands; 1 man and 1 aircraft were lost. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Marcus Island departed Mindoro, Philippine Islands. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Wasp's aircraft attacked Japanese airfields on Luzon, Philippine Islands. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 HMS Colossus was commissioned into service. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 George Marshall was promoted to the rank of general of the army. 
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16 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Ray arrived at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States. 
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16 Dec 1945 WW2 Fumimaro Konoe passed away. 
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16 Dec 1947 WW2 The First Auschwitz Trial against 40 former camp staff members, including Arthur Liebehenschel, ended in Kraków, Poland. 
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15th December 17th December
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