December 18 1865: U.S. 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, goes into effect. 1943: Keith Richards [Wingless Angels/Rolling Stones] is born in Dartford, England. 1946: Bantu Stephen Biko, leader of South Africa's Black Consciousness Movement, is born in King William's Town, South Africa. 1958: Niger gains autonomy within French Community (National Day). 1964: Dominick is born. 1999: Joe Higgs (Joseph Benjamin Higgs) passes away in a hospital in Los Angeles following several months of treatment for cancer, at age 59. 2017: Ninjaman (Desmond Ballantine) is sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 25 years. 2022: Terry Hall [Specials/Fun Boy Three; guitars, vocals] passes away at the age of 63.  December 19 c.1962: Anthony Red Rose (Anthony Cameron) is born. 1965: Mighty Massa (Nagai Masakazu) [Ska Flames; keyboards/Mighty Massa Sound System] is born. 1997: Sony Corp's co-founder Masaru Ibuka, who led the development of tape recorders and transistor radios, passes away (dies of heart failure) in Tokyo at the age of 89.  December 20 1933: Leslie Kong, Chinese-Jamaican reggae producer (Beverley's), is born in Kingston, Jamaica. 1956: Montgomery Bus Boycott ends. Montgomery follows a Supreme Court decision and removes race-based seat-assignments on its city's buses. The integration ends the 382-days boycott. 1974: DJ Terror Fabulous (Cecil Campbell) is born in St. Thomas, Jamaica. 1997: President Nelson Mandela steps down as leader of South Africa's governing African National Congress. 2017: Dennis Bovell receives an honorary fellowship from Goldsmiths, University of London for his influence in music and culture.