December 27, 1981 (Sunday)
- In cricket, bowler Dennis Lillee tied and then broke the record that had been set by Lance Gibbs for most Test wickets in a career, getting his 310th wicket (analogous to a strikeout thrown by a baseball pitcher) in Test cricket play. Bowling for Australia in the second game of a Test match against the West Indies, Lillee set the new record at Melbourne while bowling to Larry Gomes. Lillee finished his career in 1984 with 355 Test wickets, a mark surpassed by Ian Botham of England in 1976.
- Born: Emilie de Ravin, Australian actress, in Mount Eliza, Victoria; and Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer, in Chandigarh
- Died: Hoagy Carmichael, 82, American jazz composer
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Famous quotes containing the word december:
“For I have lost the race I never ran,
A rathe December blights my lagging May;”
—Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849)