Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 December 21

Oswald Watt (1878–1921) was an Australian aviator and businessman. He was born in England and came to Sydney when he was a year old, returning to England for his education. In 1900 he went back to Australia and enlisted in the Militia, before acquiring cattle stations in New South Wales and Queensland. He was also a partner in the family shipping firm. Becoming in 1911 the first Australian to qualify for a Royal Aero Club flying certificate, Watt joined the French Foreign Legion as a pilot on the outbreak of World War I. He transferred to the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) in 1916, quickly progressing to become commanding officer of No. 2 Squadron on the Western Front. By February 1918, he had been promoted to lieutenant colonel and taken command of the AFC's 1st Training Wing in England. A recipient of France's Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre, Watt was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1919. He left the military to pursue business interests in Australia. In 1921, he drowned at Bilgola Beach, New South Wales. He is commemorated by the Oswald Watt Gold Medal for outstanding achievement in Australian aviation, and the Oswald Watt Fund at the University of Sydney. (Full article...)

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• Amidst fears of civil war, the South Sudan Liberation Army captures Bor.
• Russian president Vladimir Putin pardons businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
• The ESA's Gaia space observatory is launched to compile a catalogue of astronomical objects.
• A new species of tapir, Tapirus kabomani, is identified in the Amazon.
• In cricket, Australia defeat England to regain the Ashes in the 2013–14 Ashes series.
• Following a federal election in Germany, a third cabinet under chancellor Angela Merkel (pictured) is inaugurated with a grand coalition.

Recent deaths: Ronnie Biggs

December 21: December solstice (17:11 UTC, 2013); Winter and summer solstices in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres respectively

• 1620 – The Mayflower Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, establishing the Plymouth Colony.
• 1879 – A Doll's House, a controversial play by Henrik Ibsen that challenged 19th century marriage norms, premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• 1919 – After serving two years in prison for encouraging people to resist military conscription, anarchist Emma Goldman (pictured) was deported from the United States to Russia.
• 1923 – Nepal and the United Kingdom signed a treaty, the first to define the international status of Nepal as an independent and a sovereign nation.
• 1988 – A total of 270 people were killed when a bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 exploded while the plane was in flight over Lockerbie, Scotland.

More anniversaries: December 20 – December 21 – December 22