Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman (Malay for Pah Wongso the Righteous Warrior) is a 1941 detective film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). It follows the schoolmaster and social worker Pah Wongso as he investigates a murder to clear his protégé's name. The first release by Star Film, it featured camerawork by Cho' Chin Hsin and was produced by Jo Eng Sek, who had previously produced Si Tjonat. It stars Pah Wongso (born Louis Wijnhamer), Elly Joenara, and Mohamad Arief. The first film of its genre to be produced in the Indies, Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman was made to capitalize on the popularity of Wijnhamer and Hollywood characters such as Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto. Released in April 1941 to popular acclaim, it had a mixed critical reception; the reviewer Saeroen suggested that its success was entirely because of its star's renown. Pah Wongso Tersangka, a sequel, was released later that year, but this film may now be lost. (Full article...)

Martin Hellinger

• ... that the Nazi dentist Martin Hellinger (pictured), convicted of removing dental gold from victims at Ravensbrück, was released in 1955 and given a special grant to reopen his dental practice?
• ... that the Indonesian video game Rage in Peace was loosely inspired by the works of Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho?
• ... that as a child, Japanese voice actress Nichika Ōmori wanted to become a magical girl after gaining an interest in the anime series Sailor Moon?
• ... that a research group led by Amnon Marinov claimed in 2008 that the hypothetical element unbibium could be found occurring naturally in thorium deposits?
• ... that Susanna Dinnage is expected to become the first female chief executive of the English Premier League early next year?
• ... that Meghan Trainor's 2019 album Treat Myself has been characterized as "filled with self-love anthems"?
• ... that the world's oldest known printed texts are 8th-century Buddhist charms called dharani preserved in Korean and Japanese temples?
• ... that David Hughson perambulated around London in the early 1800s?

Strasbourg Christmas Market in 2014

• A gunman kills at least three people and injures a dozen others at the Christmas market (pictured in 2014) in Strasbourg, France, before fleeing.
• 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 defeating Boca Juniors in the finals.
• The sample-return spacecraft OSIRIS-REx arrives at the asteroid 101955 Bennu.

December 13

George Gershwin

• 1643 – First English Civil War: Roundhead forces serving under Sir William Waller led a successful surprise attack on a winter garrison of Royalist infantry and cavalry.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Union forces under Ambrose Burnside suffered severe casualties against entrenched Confederate defenders at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
• 1928 – The premiere of An American in Paris, a jazz-influenced orchestral piece by George Gershwin (pictured), took place at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
• 1960 – With Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, out of the country, four conspirators staged a coup attempt and installed Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen as the new Emperor.
• 2001 – The Parliament of India was attacked by five gunmen, resulting in 14 deaths, including those of the perpetrators.

Francesco Bianchini (b. 1662) · Ana Néri (b. 1814) · Dora Marsden (d. 1960)