Today is Tuesday, the 21st of December of 2021
December 21 is the 355th day of the year
10 days remain until the end of the year.
December Solstice (Winter Solstice) is THIS morning, Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 7:59 am in San Francisco. In terms of daylight, this day is 5 hours, 14 minutes shorter than on June Solstice
The sun will rise in San Francisco at 7:21:50 am
and sunset will be at 4:55:06 pm.
We will have 9 hours and 33 minutes of daylight.
The solar transit will be at 12:08:28 pm.
The first high tide will be at 1:04 am at 4.77 feet
The first low tide will be at 5:30 am at 3.40 feet
The next high tide at 11:03 am at 5.97 feet
and the final low tide at Ocean Beach tonight will be at 6:18 pm at -0.54 feet
The Moon is currently 95% visible
It’s a Waning Gibbous moon
We’ll have the Last Quarter Moon in 5 days on Sunday the 26th of December of 2021 at 6:24 pm
Today is …
International Dalek Remembrance Day
National French Fried Shrimp Day
National Look at the Bright Side Day
Today is also…
National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day
Armed Forces Day in The Philippines
Blue Christmas (some modern American liberal Protestant groups)
Dongzhi Festival in Asia
Sanghamitta Day in Theravada Buddhism
Ziemassvētki in ancient Latvia
Forefathers' Day in Plymouth, Massachusetts
São Tomé Day in São Tomé and Príncipe
The first day of Pancha Ganapati, celebrated until December 25 in the Saiva Siddhanta Church
On this day in history…
AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.
1844 – The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
1879 – World premiere of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1913 – Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.
1965 – International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted.
1995 – The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
2020 – A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.
…and if today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share this special day with…
968 – Minamoto no Yorinobu, Japanese samurai (d. 1048)
1615 – Benedict Arnold, Rhode Island colonial governor (d. 1678)
1795 – Jack Russell, English priest, hunter, and dog breeder (d. 1883)
1804 – Benjamin Disraeli, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1881)
1892 – Rebecca West, English journalist and author (d. 1983)
1911 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (d. 1947)
1915 – Werner von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 2007)
1917 – Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
1918 – Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (d. 2003)
1918 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel, war criminal, and politician; 9th President of Austria (d. 2007)
1922 – Paul Winchell, American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist (d. 2005)
1935 – Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer
1937 – Jane Fonda, American actress and activist
1940 – Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1993)
1942 – Hu Jintao, Chinese engineer and politician, 5th Paramount leader of China
1944 – Michael Tilson Thomas, American pianist, composer, and conductor
1947 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 2014)
1948 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer
1949 – Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso (d. 1987)
1953 – András Schiff, Hungarian-English pianist and conductor
1953 – Betty Wright, American singer-songwriter (d. 2020)