Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 12: Basketball Hall-of-Famer Bob Pettit is 91. Singer Connie Francis is 86. Larry Mercey, lead singer with the Canadian country music trio The Mercey Brothers, is 84. Singer Dionne Warwick is 83.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 11: Actress Rita Moreno is 92. Singer David Gates of Bread is 83. Actress Donna Mills ("Knots Landing") is 83. Singer Brenda Lee is 79. Actress Linda Day George (TV's "Mission: Impossible") is 79. Actress Teri Garr is 79.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 15: Singer Cindy Birdsong of The Supremes is 84. Drummer Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five is 84. Drummer Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge is 77. Actress Melanie Chartoff ("Rugrats," ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose") is 75.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 10: Actress Fionnula Flanagan is 82. Actress-singer Gloria Loring is 77. Pop-funk musician Walter (Clyde) Orange (The Commodores) is 77. Country singer Johnny Rodriguez is 72. Actress Susan Dey is 71.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 14: Singer-actress Abbe Lane is 91. Actor Hal Williams ("227," ''Sanford and Son") is 89. Singer Joyce Vincent-Wilson of Tony Orlando and Dawn is 77. Entertainment executive Michael Ovitz is 77. Actress Dee Wallace is 75.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 13: Actor-comedian Dick Van Dyke is 98. Country singer Buck White of The Whites is 93. Music/film producer Lou Adler is 90. Actor-singer John Davidson is 82. Trombonist, arranger and composer Russ Little is 82.

Today in History for Dec. 21: On this date: In 1266, the last stand of the first English parliamentarians ended when rebels surrendered Kenilworth Castle to the king after a six-month siege.

Today in History for Dec. 19: On this date: In 1813, fur trader James McGill died in Montreal, leaving 10,000 pounds to establish the university that would bear his name. In 1813, a British-Canadian force took Fort Niagara in the War of 1812.

Today in History for Dec. 22: On this date: In 1216, Pope Honorius III officially approved the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), founded in the same year by St. Dominic.

Today in History for Dec. 20: On this date: In 1699, Russian Czar Peter the Great ordered his people to celebrate the New Year on January 1, instead of Sept. 1.