Timeline Dec 21 to 24

Dec 21
1620  Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.
1898  Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium.
1913  The first crossword puzzle was published, in the New York World.
1942  Butter rationing began in Canada as a wartime measure.
1951  The Canadian Department of National Health and Welfare instituted old age security payments.

Dec 22
1858  Opera composer Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy.
1952  Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent announced the government's intention to construct a National Library in Ottawa.
1990  Lech Walesa took the oath of office as Poland's first popularly elected president.

Dec 23
1648  Robert Barclay, English born American Quaker leader, was born.
1805  Joseph Smith, American founder of the Mormon Church, was born.
1823  The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore was first published, in the Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel.
1963  The federal government approved, in principle, the establishment of a national centre for the performing arts in Ottawa.
1983  Jeanne Sauve was named Canada's first female Governor General.

Dec 24
1524  Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama, who had found the sea route around Africa to India, died in India.
1783  All Loyalist corps were disbanded and their officers put on half pay.
1814  A treaty to end the War of 1812 was signed by British and American negotiators at Ghent in Belgium, with the status quo remaining basically unchanged.
1906  Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, Mass.