Benjamin Tillman (1847–1918) was the Democratic Governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894 and a United States Senator from 1895 until his death in 1918. A white supremacist who opposed civil rights for blacks, Tillman led a paramilitary group of Red Shirts during South Carolina's violent 1876 election. One of his legacies was South Carolina's 1895 constitution, which disenfranchised most of the black majority and ensured white rule for more than half a century. On the floor of the U.S. Senate, he frequently ridiculed blacks, and boasted of having helped to kill them during the 1876 campaign. He was known as "Pitchfork Ben" after he threatened to use a pitchfork to prod that "bag of beef", President Grover Cleveland. He was the primary sponsor of the Tillman Act (1907), the first federal campaign finance reform law, which banned corporate contributions in federal political campaigns. (Full article...)

Eyrewell ground beetle

• ... that the critically endangered Eyrewell ground beetle (pictured) is known from just one locality—a pine plantation which is currently being cut down and turned into dairy farms?
• ... that after he was diagnosed with a heart condition, rodeo cowboy Louis Brooks agreed to retire if he won a second All-Around Cowboy title?
• ... that the construction of the Ceintures de Lyon was motivated by fear of an Austrian invasion?
• ... that in 2018, Sara Cox became the first woman to referee a Premiership Rugby match?
• ... that Young Voters for the President helped Richard Nixon capture 52 percent of the "under 30" vote during the 1972 United States presidential election?
• ... that Karel Sperber escaped to England after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia, but was sent to Auschwitz after the ship on which he served as a doctor was sunk by the Germans?
• ... that the British construction industry was told to modernise or die by a 2016 government report?
• ... that Cecil Cowles made her debut as a pianist when she was eight years old?

Leonardo Ponzio

• Scientists announce that Voyager 2 has left the heliosphere and entered interstellar space, becoming the second man-made object to do so.
• In South American association football, the Copa Libertadores concludes with River Plate (captain Leonardo Ponzio pictured) defeating Boca Juniors in the finals.
• The sample-return spacecraft OSIRIS-REx arrives at the asteroid 101955 Bennu.
• Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush dies at the age of 94.
• Magnus Carlsen defeats Fabiano Caruana to retain the World Chess Championship.

December 11

Lunar Roving Vehicle, driven by Eugene Cernan

• 1789 – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the oldest public universities in the United States and the only one to award degrees in the 18th century, received its charter.
• 1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein, Boers defeated the forces of the British Empire trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.
• 1972 – Apollo 17 (Lunar Roving Vehicle pictured), the last Apollo mission, landed on the Moon.
• 1981 – Salvadoran Civil War: About 900 civilians were killed by the Salvadoran armed forces in an anti-guerrilla campaign.
• 2008 – American stockbroker Bernard Madoff was arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $64.8 billion Ponzi scheme, the largest in history.

Averroes (d. 1198) · Subramania Bharati (b. 1882) · Big Mama Thornton (b. 1926)