Events

Pre-1600

• 800 A council is convened in the Vatican, at which Charlemagne is to judge the accusations against Pope Leo III.

• 1420 Henry V of England enters Paris alongside his father-in-law King Charles VI of France.

• 1577 English Courtiers Christopher Hatton and Thomas Heneage are knighted by Queen Elizabeth I.

1601–1900

• 1640 End of the Iberian Union: Portugal acclaims as King João IV of Portugal, ending 59 years of personal union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain and the end of the rule of the Philippine Dynasty.

• 1662 Diarist John Evelyn records skating on the frozen lake in St James's Park, London, watched by Charles II and Queen Catherine.

• 1768 The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøya in Norway.

• 1821 José Núñez de Cáceres wins the independence of the Dominican Republic from Spain and names the new territory the Republic of Spanish Haiti.

• 1822 Pedro I is crowned Emperor of Brazil.

• 1824 United States presidential election: Since no candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the United States House of Representatives is given the task of deciding the winner in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

• 1828 Argentine general Juan Lavalle makes a coup against governor Manuel Dorrego, beginning the Decembrist revolution.

• 1834 Slavery is abolished in the Cape Colony in accordance with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

• 1862 American Civil War: In his second State of the Union Address, President Abraham Lincoln reaffirms the necessity of ending slavery as ordered ten weeks earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation.

• 1865 Shaw University, the first historically black university in the southern United States, is founded in Raleigh, North Carolina.

• 1878 President Rutherford B. Hayes gets the first telephone installed in the White House.

• 1900 Nicaragua sells canal rights to U.S. for $5 million. The canal agreement fails in March 1901. Great Britain rejects the amended treaty.

1901–present

• 1913 The Buenos Aires Metro, the first underground railway system in the Southern Hemisphere and in Latin America, begins operation.

• 1913 Crete, having obtained self rule from Turkey after the First Balkan War, is annexed by Greece.

• 1916 An armed confrontation in Athens between the Kingdom of Greece and the Allied Powers, arising from a dispute over Greece's neutrality in World War I, followed by reprisals and riots against Greek supporters of the Allies marking the height of the National Schism.

• 1918 Transylvania unites with Romania, following the incorporation of Bessarabia (March 27) and Bukovina (November 28) and thus concluding the Great Union.

• 1918 Iceland becomes a sovereign state, yet remains a part of the Danish kingdom.

• 1918 The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is proclaimed.

• 1919 Lady Astor becomes the first female Member of Parliament (MP) to take her seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. (She had been elected to that position on November 28.)

• 1924 The National Hockey League's first United States–based franchise, the Boston Bruins, plays their first game in league play at home, at the still-extant Boston Arena indoor hockey facility.

• 1924 A Soviet-backed communist 1924 Estonian coup d'état attempt fails in Estonia.

• 1934 Sergei Kirov is assassinated, paving way for the repressive Great Purge, and Vinnytsia massacre by General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.

• 1939 World War II: A day after the beginning of the Winter War in Finland, the Cajander III Cabinet resigns and is replaced by the Ryti I Cabinet, while the Finnish Parliament move from Helsinki to Kauhajoki to escape the Soviet airstrikes.

• 1939 The Soviet Union establishes the Finnish Democratic Republic puppet state in Terijoki.

• 1941 World War II: Emperor Hirohito of Japan gives his tacit approval to the decision of the imperial council to initiate war against the United States.

• 1941 World War II: Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the Office of Civilian Defense, signs Administrative Order 9, creating the Civil Air Patrol.

• 1952 The New York Daily News reports the news of Christine Jorgensen, the first notable case of sex reassignment surgery.

• 1955 American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to that city's bus boycott.

• 1958 The Central African Republic attains self-rule within the French Union.

• 1958 The Our Lady of the Angels School fire in Chicago kills 92 children and three nuns.

• 1959 Cold War: Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent.

• 1960 Patrice Lumumba is arrested by Mobutu Sese Seko's men on the banks of the Sankuru River, for inciting the army to rebellion.

• 1963 Nagaland, became the 16th state of India.

• 1964 Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.

• 1969 Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II.

• 1971 Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.

• 1971 Purge of Croatian Spring leaders starts in Yugoslavia at the meeting of the League of Communists at the Karađorđevo estate.

• 1973 Papua New Guinea gains self-government from Australia.

• 1974 TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727, crashes northwest of Dulles International Airport, killing all 92 people on board.

• 1974 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231, another Boeing 727, crashes northwest of John F. Kennedy International Airport.

• 1981 Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, crashes in Corsica, killing all 180 people on board.

• 1984 NASA conducts the Controlled Impact Demonstration, wherein an airliner is deliberately crashed in order to test technologies and gather data to help improve survivability of crashes.

• 1988 World AIDS Day is proclaimed worldwide by the UN member states.

• 1988 Benazir Bhutto, is named as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first female leader to lead a Muslim nation.

• 1989 Philippine coup attempt: The right-wing military rebel Reform the Armed Forces Movement attempts to oust Philippine President Corazon Aquino in a failed bloody coup d'état.

• 1989 Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the Communist Party the leading role in the state.

• 1990 Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet beneath the seabed.

• 1991 Cold War: Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approve a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union.

• 1997 In the Indian state of Bihar, Ranvir Sena attacks the CPI (ML) Party Unity stronghold Lakshmanpur-Bathe, killing 63 lower caste people.

• 1997 Fourteen-year-old Michael Carneal opens fire at a group of students in Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, killing three and injuring five.

• 2000 Vicente Fox Quesada is inaugurated as the president of Mexico, marking the first peaceful transfer of executive federal power to an opposing political party following a free and democratic election in Mexico's history.

• 2001 The United Russia political party was founded.

• 2005 As a result of the merger of the Perm Oblast and the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug, a new subject of the Russian Federation, the Perm Krai, was created.

• 2006 The law on same-sex marriage comes into force in South Africa, legalizing same-sex marriage for the first time on the African continent.

• 2009 The Treaty of Lisbon entered into force in the European Union.

• 2011 The Alma-Ata Metro was opened.

• 2018 The Oulu Police informed the public about the first offence of the much larger child sexual exploitation in Oulu, Finland.

• 2019 Arsenal Women 11–1 Bristol City Women breaks the record for most goals scored in a FA Women's Super League match, with Vivianne Miedema involved in ten of the eleven Arsenal goals.

• 2019 The outbreak of coronavirus infection begins in Wuhan.

• 2020 The Arecibo Telescope collapses.

Births

Pre-1600

• 624 Hasan ibn Ali, the second Shia Imam (died 670)

• 1081 Louis VI, French king (died 1137)

• 1083 Anna Komnene, Byzantine medical doctor and scholar (died 1153)

• 1415 Jan Długosz, Polish historian (died 1480)

• 1438 Peter II, Duke of Bourbon, son of Charles I (died 1503)

• 1443 Magdalena of France, French princess (died 1495)

• 1521 Takeda Shingen, Japanese daimyō (died 1573)

• 1525 Tadeáš Hájek, Czech medical doctor and astronomer (died 1600)

• 1530 Bernardino Realino, Italian Jesuit (died 1616)

• 1561 Sophie Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess consort of Pomerania-Wolgast (died 1631)

• 1580 Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer and historian (died 1637)

1601–1900

• 1690 Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (died 1764)

• 1709 Franz Xaver Richter, Czech composer, violinist, and conductor (died 1789)

• 1716 Étienne Maurice Falconet, French sculptor (died 1791)

• 1743 Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist and academic (died 1817)

• 1761 Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (died 1850)

• 1792 Nikolai Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician and geometer (died 1856)

• 1800 Mihály Vörösmarty, Hungarian poet (died 1855)

• 1805 9th Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader (died 1815)

• 1844 Alexandra of Denmark, Queen Consort of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Empress Consort of India (died 1925)

• 1846 Ledi Sayadaw, Burmese monk and philosopher (died 1923)

• 1847 Julia A. Moore, American poet (died 1920)

• 1855 John Evans, English-Australian politician, 21st Premier of Tasmania (died 1943)

• 1869 Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (died 1923)

• 1871 Archie MacLaren, English cricketer (died 1944)

• 1883 Henry Cadbury, American historian, scholar, and academic (died 1974)

• 1884 Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, German painter and etcher (died 1976)

• 1886 Rex Stout, American detective novelist (died 1975)

• 1886 Zhu De, Chinese general and politician, 1st Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China (died 1976)

• 1894 Afrânio Pompílio Gastos do Amaral, Brazilian herpetologist (died 1982)

• 1895 Henry Williamson, English farmer, soldier, and author (died 1977)

• 1896 Georgy Zhukov, Russian general and politician, 2nd Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (died 1974)

• 1898 Stuart Garson, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Premier of Manitoba (died 1977)

• 1898 Cyril Ritchard, Australian-American actor and singer (died 1977)

• 1900 Karna Maria Birmingham, Australian artist, illustrator and print maker (died 1987)

1901–present

• 1901 Ilona Fehér, Hungarian-Israeli violinist and educator (died 1988)

• 1903 Nikolai Voznesensky, Soviet economic planner, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (died 1950)

• 1905 Alex Wilson, Canadian sprinter and coach (died 1994)

• 1910 Alicia Markova, English ballerina and choreographer (died 2004)

• 1911 Walter Alston, American baseball player and manager (died 1984)

• 1911 Calvin Griffith, Canadian-American businessman (died 1999)

• 1912 Billy Raimondi, American baseball player (died 2010)

• 1912 Minoru Yamasaki, American architect, designed the World Trade Center (died 1986)

• 1913 Mary Martin, American actress and singer (died 1990)

• 1916 Wan Li, Chinese educator and politician, 4th Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (died 2015)

• 1917 Marty Marion, American baseball player and manager (died 2011)

• 1920 Peter Baptist Tadamaro Ishigami, Japanese priest, 1st Bishop of Naha (died 2014)

• 1922 Vsevolod Bobrov, Russian ice hockey player, footballer, and manager (died 1979)

• 1923 Dick Shawn, American actor (died 1987)

• 1923 Stansfield Turner, American admiral and academic, 12th Director of Central Intelligence (died 2018)

• 1924 Masao Horiba, Japanese businessman, founded Horiba (died 2015)

• 1925 Martin Rodbell, American biochemist and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998)

• 1926 Mother Antonia, American-Mexican nun and activist (died 2013)

• 1926 Allyn Ann McLerie, Canadian-American actress, singer, and dancer (died 2018)

• 1926 Keith Michell, Australian actor (died 2015)

• 1927 Micheline Bernardini, French dancer and model

• 1928 Malachi Throne, American actor (died 2013)

• 1929 David Doyle, American actor (died 1997)

• 1930 Marie Bashir, Australian psychiatrist, academic, and politician, 37th Governor of New South Wales (died 2026)

• 1930 Joachim Hoffmann, German historian and author (died 2002)

• 1931 George Maxwell Richards, Trinidadian politician, 4th President of Trinidad and Tobago (died 2018)

• 1933 Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (died 2006)

• 1933 Violette Verdy, French ballerina (died 2016)

• 1934 Billy Paul, American soul singer (died 2016)

• 1935 Sola Sierra, Chilean human rights activist (died 1999)

• 1936 Igor Rodionov, Russian general and politician, 3rd Russian Minister of Defence (died 2014)

• 1937 Muriel Costa-Greenspon, American soprano and actress (died 2005)

• 1937 Gordon Crosse, English composer and academic (died 2021)

• 1937 Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Latvian psychologist and politician, President of Latvia

• 1938 Sandy Nelson, American rock and roll drummer (died 2022)

• 1939 Lee Trevino, American golfer and sportscaster

• 1940 Mike Denness, Scottish cricketer and referee (died 2013)

• 1940 Jerry Lawson, American electronic engineer and inventor (died 2011)

• 1940 Richard Pryor, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2005)

• 1942 Mohamed Kamel Amr, Egyptian politician, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs

• 1942 John Crowley, American author and academic

• 1942 Ross Edwards, Australian cricketer

• 1943 Kenny Moore, American runner and journalist (died 2022)

• 1944 Eric Bloom, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1944 John Densmore, American drummer and songwriter

• 1944 Tahar Ben Jelloun, Moroccan author and poet

• 1945 Ásta B. Þorsteinsdóttir, Icelandic politician

• 1945 Lyle Bien, American vice admiral in the United States Navy

• 1945 Bette Midler, American singer-songwriter, actress and producer

• 1946 Jonathan Katz, American comedian and actor

• 1946 Kemal Kurspahić, Bosnian journalist and author (died 2021)

• 1946 Gilbert O'Sullivan, Irish singer-songwriter and pianist

• 1947 Alain Bashung, French singer-songwriter and actor (died 2009)

• 1947 Bob Fulton, English-Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2021)

• 1948 George Foster, American baseball player and radio host

• 1948 Sarfraz Nawaz, Pakistani cricketer and politician

• 1948 John Roskelley, American mountaineer and author

• 1948 Neil Warnock, English footballer and manager

• 1948 N. T. Wright, English bishop and scholar

• 1948 Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, Nigerian civil servant and politician, Governor of Kaduna State (died 2012)

• 1949 Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist (died 1993)

• 1949 Sebastián Piñera, Chilean businessman and politician, 35th President of Chile (died 2024)

• 1950 Manju Bansal, Indian biologist and academic

• 1950 Ross Hannaford, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2016)

• 1950 Filippos Petsalnikos, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Justice (died 2020)

• 1951 Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov, Bulgarian cosmonaut

• 1951 Obba Babatundé, American actor, director, and producer

• 1951 Jaco Pastorius, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (died 1987)

• 1951 Nozipho Schroeder, South African lawn bowler

• 1951 Treat Williams, American actor (died 2023)

• 1952 Stephen Poliakoff, English director, producer, and playwright

• 1952 Rick Scott, American politician and businessman

• 1954 Judith Hackitt, English chemist and engineer

• 1954 François Van der Elst, Belgian footballer (died 2017)

• 1955 Veikko Aaltonen, Finnish actor, director, and screenwriter

• 1955 Verónica Forqué, Spanish actress (died 2021)

• 1955 Udit Narayan, Indian playback singer

• 1955 Pat Spillane, Irish footballer and sportscaster

• 1956 Julee Cruise, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (died 2022)

• 1957 Chris Poland, American guitarist and songwriter

• 1957 Deep Roy, Kenyan-British actor

• 1957 Vesta Williams, American singer-songwriter and actress (died 2011)

• 1958 Javier Aguirre, Mexican footballer and manager

• 1958 Candace Bushnell, American journalist and author

• 1958 Alberto Cova, Italian runner

• 1958 Gary Peters, American politician

• 1958 Charlene Tilton, American actress and singer

• 1959 Wally Lewis, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster

• 1960 Carol Alt, American model and actress

• 1960 Jane Turner, Australian actress and producer

• 1961 Safra Catz, Israeli-American businesswoman and boss of Oracle

• 1961 Raymond E. Goldstein, American biophysicist and academic

• 1961 Jeremy Northam, English actor

• 1962 Sylvie Daigle, Canadian speed skater

• 1962 Pamela McGee, American basketball player and coach

• 1963 Marco Greco, Brazilian race car driver

• 1963 Nathalie Lambert, Canadian speed skater

• 1963 Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lankan cricketer and politician

• 1964 Salvatore Schillaci, Italian footballer (died 2024)

• 1964 Jo Walton, Welsh-Canadian author and poet

• 1965 Henry Honiball, South African rugby player

• 1965 Magnifico, Slovenian singer

• 1966 Andrew Adamson, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1966 Katherine LaNasa, American actress, ballet dancer, and choreographer

• 1966 Larry Walker, Canadian baseball player and coach

• 1967 Nestor Carbonell, American actor

• 1967 Reggie Sanders, American baseball player

• 1968 Justin Chadwick, English actor and director

• 1968 Sarah Fitzgerald, Australian squash player

• 1968 Anders Holmertz, Swedish swimmer

• 1969 Richard Carrier, American author and blogger

• 1970 Golden Brooks, American actress

• 1970 Jonathan Coulton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1970 Kirk Rueter, American baseball player

• 1970 Sarah Silverman, American comedian, actress, and singer

• 1970 Tisha Waller, American high jumper and educator

• 1971 Christian Pescatori, Italian race car driver

• 1971 Mika Pohjola, Finnish-American pianist and composer

• 1971 John Schlimm, American author and educator

• 1972 Stanton Barrett, American race car driver and stuntman

• 1972 Bart Millard, American singer-songwriter

• 1973 Steve Gibb, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1974 Costinha, Portuguese footballer and manager

• 1975 Matt Fraction, American author

• 1975 Isaiah "Ikey" Owens, American keyboard player and producer (died 2014)

• 1975 Thomas Schie, Norwegian racing driver and sportscaster

• 1975 Farah Shah, Pakistani actress and host

• 1975 Sophia Skou, Danish swimmer

• 1976 Tomasz Adamek, Polish boxer

• 1976 Laura Ling, American journalist and author

• 1976 Dean O'Gorman, New Zealand actor, artist, and photographer

• 1976 Matthew Shepard, American hate crime victim (died 1998)

• 1976 Evangelos Sklavos, Greek basketball player

• 1977 Brad Delson, American guitarist and producer

• 1977 Sophie Guillemin, French actress

• 1977 Lee McKenzie, Scottish journalist

• 1977 Nate Torrence, American actor and comedian

• 1978 Mat Kearney, American musician

• 1979 Stephanie Brown Trafton, American discus thrower

• 1979 Ryan Malone, American ice hockey player

• 1979 Richard James, Jamaican sprinter

• 1980 Iftikhar Anjum, Pakistani cricketer

• 1980 Mohammad Kaif, Indian cricketer and politician

• 1980 Mubarak Hassan Shami, Kenyan-Qatari runner

• 1980 Gianna Terzi, Greek singer

• 1981 Park Hyo-shin, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor

• 1981 I Made Wirawan, Indonesian footballer

• 1982 Riz Ahmed, English actor and rapper

• 1982 Christos Kalantzis, Greek footballer

• 1982 Christos Melissis, Greek footballer

• 1984 Charles Michael Davis, American actor

• 1984 Yolandi Visser, South African rapper and actress

• 1985 Philip DeFranco, American media host and YouTube personality

• 1985 Ilfenesh Hadera, American actress

• 1985 Janelle Monáe, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

• 1985 Emiliano Viviano, Italian footballer

• 1986 DeSean Jackson, American football player

• 1987 Tabarie Henry, Virgin Islander sprinter

• 1987 Vance Joy, Australian singer-songwriter

• 1988 Tyler Joseph, American musician and singer

• 1988 Zoë Kravitz, American actress, singer, and model

• 1988 Dan Mavraides, Greek-American basketball player

• 1988 Michael Raffl, Austrian ice hockey player

• 1989 Sotelúm, Mexican trumpet player, composer, and producer

• 1990 Tomáš Tatar, Slovak ice hockey player

• 1991 Rakeem Christmas, American basketball player

• 1991 Hilda Melander, Swedish tennis player

• 1991 Sun Yang, Chinese swimmer

• 1992 Masahudu Alhassan, Ghanaian footballer

• 1992 Javier Báez, Puerto Rican baseball player

• 1992 Linos Chrysikopoulos, Greek basketball player

• 1992 Gary Payton II, American basketball player

• 1992 Marco van Ginkel, Dutch footballer

• 1993 Beau Webster, Australian cricketer

• 1994 Seedy Njie, English footballer

• 1995 Agnė Čepelytė, Lithuanian tennis player

• 1995 Jenna Fife, Scottish footballer

• 1995 James Wilson, English footballer

• 1997 Sada Williams, Barbadian sprinter

• 1997 Jung Chae-yeon, South Korean actress and singer

• 1999 Lloyd Pope, Australian cricketer

• 1999 Nico Schlotterbeck, German footballer

• 2001 Carole Monnet, French tennis player

• 2003 Robert Irwin, Australian conservationist and television personality

• 2008 Ella Gross, American singer, model and actress

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 217 Yehudah HaNasi, 'Nasi', Rabbi and editor of the Mishnah (born 135)

• 660 Eligius, Frankish bishop and saint (born 588)

• 948 Gao Conghui, Chinese governor and prince (born 891)

• 969 Fujiwara no Morotada, Japanese statesman (born 920)

• 1018 Thietmar of Merseburg, German bishop (born 975)

• 1135 Henry I, king of England (born 1068)

• 1241 Isabella of England, Holy Roman Empress (born 1214)

• 1255 Muhammad III of Alamut, Nizari Ismaili Imam

• 1335 Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate (born 1305)

• 1374 Magnus Eriksson, king of Sweden (born 1316)

• 1433 Go-Komatsu, emperor of Japan (born 1377)

• 1455 Lorenzo Ghiberti, Italian goldsmith and sculptor (born 1378)

• 1521 Leo X, pope of the Catholic Church (born 1475)

• 1530 Margaret of Austria, duchess of Savoy (born 1480)

• 1580 Giovanni Morone, Italian cardinal (born 1509)

• 1581 Alexander Briant, English Roman Catholic priest, martyr and saint (born 1556)

• 1581 Edmund Campion, English Roman Catholic priest, martyr, and saint (born 1540)

• 1581 Ralph Sherwin, English Roman Catholic priest, martyr, and saint (born 1550)

1601–1900

• 1633 Isabella Clara Eugenia, infanta of Spain (born 1566)

• 1640 Miguel de Vasconcelos, Portuguese politician, Prime Minister of Portugal (born 1590)

• 1660 Pierre d'Hozier, French genealogist and historian (born 1592)

• 1729 Giacomo F. Maraldi, French-Italian astronomer and mathematician (born 1665)

• 1750 Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr, German mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer (born 1671)

• 1755 Maurice Greene, English organist and composer (born 1696)

• 1767 Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, Scottish politician (born 1710)

• 1825 Alexander I, emperor and autocrat of Russia (born 1777)

• 1865 Abraham Emanuel Fröhlich, Swiss pastor, poet, and educator (born 1796)

• 1866 George Everest, Welsh geographer and surveyor (born 1790)

• 1867 Charles Gray Round, English lawyer and politician (born 1797)

• 1884 William Swainson, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, Attorney-General of the Crown Colony of New Zealand (born 1809)

1901–present

• 1913 Juhan Liiv, Estonian poet and author (born 1864)

• 1914 Alfred Thayer Mahan, American captain and historian (born 1840)

• 1916 Charles de Foucauld, French priest and martyr (born 1858)

• 1923 Virginie Loveling, Belgian author and poet (born 1836)

• 1928 José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian-American lawyer and poet (born 1888)

• 1933 Pekka Halonen, Finnish painter (born 1865)

• 1934 Sergey Kirov, Russian engineer and politician (born 1886)

• 1935 Bernhard Schmidt, Estonian-German optician, invented the Schmidt camera (born 1879)

• 1942 Leon Wachholz, Polish scientist and medical examiner (born 1867)

• 1943 Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai historian and educator (born 1862)

• 1944 Charlie Kerins, Irish Republican executed by hanging (born 1918)

• 1947 Aleister Crowley, English magician, poet, and mountaineer (born 1875)

• 1947 G. H. Hardy, English mathematician and theorist (born 1877)

• 1950 Ernest John Moeran, English pianist and composer (born 1894)

• 1954 Fred Rose, American pianist, composer, and publisher (born 1898)

• 1958 Elizabeth Peratrovich, American civil rights activist (born 1911)

• 1964 J. B. S. Haldane, English-Indian geneticist and biologist (born 1892)

• 1964 Charilaos Vasilakos, Greek runner (born 1877)

• 1968 Nicolae Bretan, Romanian opera singer, composer, and conductor (born 1887)

• 1968 Darío Moreno, Turkish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (born 1921)

• 1973 David Ben-Gurion, Israeli politician, 1st Prime Minister of Israel (born 1886)

• 1975 Nellie Fox, American baseball player and coach (born 1927)

• 1975 Ernesto Maserati, Italian race car driver and engineer (born 1898)

• 1975 Anna Roosevelt Halsted, American journalist (born 1906)

• 1981 Russ Manning, American author and illustrator (born 1929)

• 1984 Roelof Frankot, Dutch painter and photographer (born 1911)

• 1986 Frank McCarthy, American general and film producer (born 1912)

• 1987 James Baldwin, American novelist, poet, and critic (born 1924)

• 1987 Punch Imlach, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (born 1918)

• 1988 J. Vernon McGee, American pastor and theologian (born 1904)

• 1989 Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer (born 1931)

• 1990 Carla Lehmann, Canadian-English actress (born 1917)

• 1991 Pat O'Callaghan, Irish athlete (born 1906)

• 1991 George Stigler, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)

• 1993 Ray Gillen, American singer-songwriter (born 1959)

• 1995 Hopper Levett, English cricketer (born 1908)

• 1995 Colin Tapley, New Zealand-English actor (born 1907)

• 1995 Maxwell R. Thurman, American general (born 1931)

• 1996 Peter Bronfman, Canadian businessman (born 1928)

• 1997 Michel Bélanger, Canadian banker and businessman (born 1929)

• 1997 Stéphane Grappelli, French violinist (born 1908)

• 1997 Endicott Peabody, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 62nd Governor of Massachusetts (born 1920)

• 1998 Janet Lewis, American poet and novelist (born 1899)

• 2001 Ellis R. Dungan, American director and producer (born 1909)

• 2002 Edward L. Beach Jr., American captain and author (born 1918)

• 2002 Dave McNally, American baseball player (born 1942)

• 2003 Clark Kerr, American economist and academic (born 1911)

• 2003 Eugenio Monti, Italian bobsledder (born 1928)

• 2004 Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (born 1911)

• 2004 Bill Brown, Scottish footballer (born 1931)

• 2004 – Norman Newell, English record producer and lyricist (born 1919)

• 2005 Gust Avrakotos, American CIA officer (born 1938)

• 2005 Mary Hayley Bell, English actress and playwright (born 1911)

• 2005 Freeman V. Horner, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1922)

• 2006 Claude Jade, French actress (born 1948)

• 2006 Bruce Trigger, Canadian archaeologist, anthropologist, and historian (born 1937)

• 2007 Ken McGregor, Australian tennis player and footballer (born 1929)

• 2007 Anton Rodgers, British actor (born 1933)

• 2007 Ivo Rojnica, Croatian-Argentine war crimes suspect, businessman, diplomat, and intelligence agent (born 1915)

• 2008 Paul Benedict, American actor (born 1938)

• 2008 Joseph B. Wirthlin, American businessman and religious leader (born 1917)

• 2010 Adriaan Blaauw, Dutch astronomer and academic (born 1914)

• 2010 Hillard Elkins, American actor and producer (born 1929)

• 2011 Christa Wolf, German author and critic (born 1929)

• 2012 Jovan Belcher, American football player (born 1987)

• 2012 Arthur Chaskalson, South African lawyer and judge, 18th Chief Justice of South Africa (born 1931)

• 2012 Rick Majerus, American basketball player and coach (born 1948)

• 2012 Ed Price, American soldier, pilot, and politician (born 1918)

• 2012 Israel Keyes, American serial killer (born 1978)

• 2013 Richard Coughlan, English drummer (born 1947)

• 2013 Stirling Colgate, American physicist and academic (born 1925)

• 2013 Edward Heffron, American soldier (born 1923)

• 2013 Martin Sharp, Australian cartoonist and songwriter (born 1942)

• 2014 Mario Abramovich, Argentinian violinist and composer (born 1926)

• 2014 Dimitrios Trichopoulos, Greek epidemiologist, oncologist, and academic (born 1938)

• 2014 Rocky Wood, New Zealand-Australian author (born 1959)

• 2015 Rob Blokzijl, Dutch physicist and computer scientist (born 1943)

• 2015 Joseph Engelberger, American physicist and engineer (born 1925)

• 2015 Jim Loscutoff, American basketball player (born 1930)

• 2015 Trevor Obst, Australian footballer and coach (born 1940)

• 2018 Vivian Lynn, New Zealand artist (born 1931)

• 2018 Ken Berry, American actor, dancer, and singer (born 1933)

• 2019 Paula Tilbrook, English actress (born 1930)

• 2020 Arnie Robinson, American athlete (born 1948)

• 2022 Gaylord Perry, American baseball player and coach (born 1938)

• 2023 Sandra Day O'Connor, first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1981–2006) (born 1930)

• 2024 Terry Griffiths, Welsh snooker player and coach (born 1947)

• 2024 Ian Redpath, Australian cricketer and coach (born 1941)

Holidays and observances

• Battle of the Sinop Day (Russia)

Christian feast day:

• Alexander Briant

• Ansanus

• Blessed Bruna Pellesi

• Castritian

• Charles de Foucauld

• Edmund Campion

• Eligius

• Evasius

• Grwst

• Nahum

• Nicholas Ferrar (Episcopal Church)

• Ralph Sherwin

• Ursicinus of Brescia

• December 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Damrong Rajanubhab Day (Thailand)

• First President Day (Kazakhstan)

• Freedom and Democracy Day (Chad)

• Great Union Day, celebrates the union of Transylvania with Romania in 1918 (Romania)

• Military Abolition Day (Costa Rica)

• National Day (Myanmar)

• Republic Day (Central African Republic)

• Restoration of Independence Day (Portugal)

• Rosa Parks Day (Ohio and Oregon, United States)

• Self-governance Day or Fullveldisdagurinn (Iceland)

• Teachers' Day (Panama)

World AIDS Day, and its related observances:

• Day Without Art

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on December 1