Events

Pre-1600

• 557 Constantinople is severely damaged by an earthquake, which cracks the dome of Hagia Sophia.

• 835 Sweet Dew Incident: Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty conspires to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot is foiled.

• 872 Pope John VIII is elected following the death of Hadrian II.

• 1287 St. Lucia's flood: The Zuiderzee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.

• 1542 Princess Mary Stuart becomes Queen of Scots at the age of one week on the death of her father, King James V.

1601–1900

• 1751 The Theresian Military Academy is founded in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

• 1780 Founding Father Alexander Hamilton marries Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York.

• 1782 The Montgolfier brothers first test fly an unmanned hot air balloon in France; it floats nearly .

• 1812 The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.

• 1814 War of 1812: The Royal Navy seizes control of Lake Borgne, Louisiana.

• 1819 Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state.

• 1836 The Toledo War unofficially ends as the "Frostbitten Convention" votes to accept Congress' terms for admitting Michigan as a U.S. state.

• 1863 American Civil War: The Confederate victory under General James Longstreet at the Battle of Bean's Station in East Tennessee ends the Knoxville Campaign, but achieves very little as Longstreet returns to Virginia next spring.

• 1896 The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.

• 1900 Quantum mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law (quantum theory) at the Physic Society in Berlin.

1901–present

• 1902 The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from San Francisco to Honolulu.

• 1903 The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

• 1907 The , the largest ever ship without a heat engine, runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Isles of Scilly in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.

• 1909 New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signs the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth to create the Australian Capital Territory.

• 1911 Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.

• 1913 , the fourth and last ship, launches, eventually becoming one of the Japanese workhorses during World War I and World War II.

• 1914 Lisandro de la Torre and others found the Democratic Progressive Party (Partido Demócrata Progresista, PDP) at the Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• 1918 Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King of Finland, renounces the throne.

• 1918 Portuguese President Sidónio Pais is assassinated.

• 1918 The 1918 United Kingdom general election occurs, the first where women were permitted to vote. In Ireland the Irish republican political party Sinn Féin wins a landslide victory with nearly 47% of the popular vote.

• 1918 Giacomo Puccini's comic opera Gianni Schicchi premieres at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

• 1925 Wozzeck, Alban Berg's first opera, is premiered at the Berlin State Opera conducted by Erich Kleiber.

• 1939 Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland.

• 1940 Plutonium (specifically Pu-238) is first isolated at Berkeley, California.

• 1942 An Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-20 crashes near Tashkent, killing all 36 people on board.

• 1948 Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann are granted a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the earliest known interactive electronic game.

• 1955 Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Ceylon, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations through United Nations Security Council Resolution 109.

• 1958 The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility.

• 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education of UNESCO is adopted.

• 1962 NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.

• 1963 The dam containing the Baldwin Hills Reservoir bursts, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles, California.

• 1964 American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause to fight discrimination.

• 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War: Over 200 of East Pakistans intellectuals are executed by the Pakistan Army and their local allies. (The date is commemorated in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day.)

• 1972 Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the most recent person to walk on the Moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extravehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission.

• 1981 Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset ratifies the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the Golan Heights.

• 1985 Wilma Mankiller takes office as the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

• 1986 Qasba Aligarh massacre: Over 400 Muhajirs killed in revenge killings in Qasba colony after a raid on Pashtun heroin processing and distribution center in Sohrab Goth by the security forces.

• 1992 War in Abkhazia: Siege of Tkvarcheli: A helicopter carrying evacuees from Tkvarcheli is shot down, resulting in at least 52 deaths, including 25 children. The incident catalyses more concerted Russian military intervention on behalf of Abkhazia.

• 1994 Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river.

• 1995 Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by the leaders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the same day, NATO began ground peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• 1998 Yugoslav Wars: The Yugoslav Army ambushes a group of Kosovo Liberation Army fighters attempting to smuggle weapons from Albania into Kosovo, killing 36.

• 1999 Torrential rains cause flash floods in Vargas, Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure.

• 2003 Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.

• 2004 The Millau Viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, is formally inaugurated near Millau, France.

• 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

• 2013 A reported coup attempt in South Sudan leads to continued fighting and hundreds of casualties.

• 2017 The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4billion.

• 2020 A total solar eclipse is visible from parts of the South Pacific Ocean, southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean.

• 2025 At least 16 people are killed, including one gunman, and 43 injured in a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in the deadliest terror incident in Australia.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1009 Go-Suzaku, emperor of Japan (died 1045)

• 1332 Frederick III, German nobleman (died 1381)

• 1546 Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and chemist (died 1601)

• 1599 Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge, English politician (died 1668)

1601–1900

• 1607 János Kemény, Hungarian prince (died 1662)

• 1625 Barthélemy d'Herbelot, French orientalist and academic (died 1695)

• 1631 Anne Conway, English philosopher and author (died 1679)

• 1640 Aphra Behn, English playwright and author (died 1689)

• 1678 Daniel Neal, English historian and author (died 1743)

• 1720 Justus Möser, German jurist and theorist (died 1794)

• 1730 Capel Bond, English organist and composer (died 1790)

• 1738 Jan Antonín Koželuh, Czech composer and educator (died 1814)

• 1775 Philander Chase, American bishop and educator, founded Kenyon College (died 1852)

• 1775 Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Scottish admiral and politician (died 1860)

• 1777 Du Pré Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon, Irish politician, Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone (died 1839)

• 1784 Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily (died 1806)

• 1789 Maria Szymanowska, Polish composer and pianist (died 1831)

• 1791 Charles Wolfe, Irish priest and poet (died 1823)

• 1794 Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (died 1872)

• 1816 Abraham Hochmuth, Hungarian rabbi and educator (died 1889)

• 1824 Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter and illustrator (died 1898)

• 1832 Daniel H. Reynolds, American general, lawyer, and politician (died 1902)

• 1851 Mary Tappan Wright, American novelist and short story writer (died 1916)

• 1852 Daniel De Leon, Curaçaoan-American journalist and politician (died 1914)

• 1856 Louis Marshall, American lawyer and activist (died 1929)

• 1866 Roger Fry, English painter and critic (died 1934)

• 1870 Karl Renner, Austrian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Austria (died 1950)

• 1881 Katherine MacDonald, American actress and producer (died 1956)

• 1883 Manolis Kalomiris, Greek pianist and composer (died 1962)

• 1883 Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist, developed aikido (died 1969)

• 1884 Jane Cowl, American actress and playwright (died 1950)

• 1887 Virgil Madgearu, Romanian economist, sociologist (died 1940)

• 1887 Xul Solar, Argentinian painter and sculptor (died 1963)

• 1894 Alexander Nelke, Estonian-American painter and carpenter (died 1974)

• 1895 George VI of the United Kingdom (died 1952)

• 1895 Paul Éluard, French poet and author (died 1952)

• 1896 Jimmy Doolittle, American general and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1993)

• 1897 Kurt Schuschnigg, Italian-Austrian lawyer and politician, 15th Federal Chancellor of Austria (died 1977)

• 1897 Margaret Chase Smith, American educator and politician (died 1995)

• 1899 DeFord Bailey, American Hall of Fame country and blues musician (died 1982)

1901–present

• 1901 Henri Cochet, French tennis player (died 1987)

• 1901 Paul of Greece (died 1964)

• 1902 Frances Bavier, American actress (died 1989)

• 1902 Herbert Feigl, Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (died 1988)

• 1903 Walter Rangeley, English sprinter (died 1982)

• 1904 Virginia Coffey, American civil rights activist (died 2003)

• 1908 Morey Amsterdam, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (died 1996)

• 1908 Claude Davey, Welsh rugby player (died 2001)

• 1908 Mária Szepes, Hungarian journalist, author, and screenwriter (died 2007)

• 1909 Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1975)

• 1911 Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz, Greek-Polish swimmer and water polo player (died 1943)

• 1911 Spike Jones, American singer and bandleader (died 1965)

• 1911 Hans von Ohain, German-American physicist and engineer (died 1998)

• 1914 Karl Carstens, German lieutenant and politician, 5th President of the Federal Republic of Germany (died 1992)

• 1914 Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichord player (died 2003)

• 1915 Dan Dailey, American dancer and actor (died 1978)

• 1916 Shirley Jackson, American novelist and short story writer (died 1965)

• 1917 C.-H. Hermansson, Swedish author and politician (died 2016)

• 1917 Elyse Knox, American actress and fashion designer (died 2012)

• 1917 June Taylor, American dancer and choreographer (died 2004)

• 1918 James T. Aubrey, American broadcaster (died 1994)

• 1918 Radu Beligan, Romanian actor and director (died 2016)

• 1918 B. K. S. Iyengar, Indian yoga instructor and author, founded Iyengar Yoga (died 2014)

• 1920 Clark Terry, American trumpet player, composer, and educator (died 2015)

• 1922 Nikolay Basov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2001)

• 1922 Don Hewitt, American journalist and producer, created 60 Minutes (died 2009)

• 1922 Junior J. Spurrier, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1984)

• 1923 Gerard Reve, Dutch-Belgian author and poet (died 2006)

• 1924 Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, director, and producer (died 1988)

• 1927 Richard Cassilly, American tenor and actor (died 1998)

• 1927 Koos Rietkerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of the Interior (died 1986)

• 1929 Ron Jarden, New Zealand rugby player (died 1977)

• 1930 Margaret Bakkes, South African author (died 2016)

• 1930 David R. Harris, English geographer, anthropologist, and archaeologist (died 2013)

• 1930 Fred Gray, American attorney, civil rights movement legal representative

• 1931 Jon Elia, Pakistani philosopher, poet, and scholar (died 2002)

• 1931 Vladimir-Georg Karassev-Orgusaar, Estonian director and politician (died 2015)

• 1932 George Furth, American actor and playwright (died 2008)

• 1932 Abbe Lane, American actress, singer, and dancer

• 1932 Charlie Rich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1995)

• 1934 Shyam Benegal, Indian director and screenwriter (died 2024)

• 1934 Charlie Hodge, American guitarist and singer (died 2006)

• 1934 Hal Williams, American actor (died 2026)

• 1935 Lewis Arquette, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2001)

• 1935 Lee Remick, American actress (died 1991)

• 1938 Leonardo Boff, Brazilian theologian and author

• 1938 Charlie Griffith, Barbadian cricketer

• 1939 Ann Cryer, English academic and politician

• 1939 Ernie Davis, American football player (died 1963)

• 1940 Lex Gold, Scottish footballer and civil servant

• 1941 Karan Armstrong, American soprano and actress (died 2021)

• 1941 Ellen Willis, American journalist, critic, and academic (died 2006)

• 1942 Chris Harris, English actor and director (died 2014)

• 1942 Dick Wagner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2014)

• 1943 Britt Allcroft, English writer (died 2024)

• 1943 Tommy McAvoy, Scottish politician (died 2024)

• 1943 Emmett Tyrrell, American journalist, author, and publisher, founded The American Spectator

• 1944 Graham Kirkham, Baron Kirkham, English businessman, founded DFS

• 1944 Denis Thwaites, English professional footballer murdered in the 2015 Sousse attacks (died 2015)

• 1946 Antony Beevor, English historian and author

• 1946 Jane Birkin, English-French actress and singer (died 2023)

• 1946 John Du Prez, English conductor and composer

• 1946 Patty Duke, American actress (died 2016)

• 1946 Ruth Fuchs, German javelin thrower and politician (died 2023)

• 1946 Peter Lorimer, Scottish footballer (died 2021)

• 1946 Michael Ovitz, American talent agent, co-founded Creative Artists Agency

• 1946 Stan Smith, American tennis player and coach

• 1946 Lynne Marie Stewart, American actress (died 2025)

• 1946 Joyce Vincent Wilson, American singer

• 1947 Christopher Parkening, American guitarist and educator

• 1947 Dilma Rousseff, Brazilian economist and politician, 36th President of Brazil

• 1948 Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (died 1982)

• 1948 Kim Beazley, Australian politician and diplomat, 9th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

• 1948 Boudewijn Büch, Dutch author, poet, and television host (died 2002)

• 1948 Peeter Kreitzberg, Estonian lawyer and politician (died 2011)

• 1948 Dee Wallace, American actress

• 1949 Bill Buckner, American baseball player and manager (died 2019)

• 1949 David A. Cherry, American artist and illustrator

• 1949 Cliff Williams, Australian bass player

• 1951 John Brown, American basketball player

• 1951 Jan Timman, Dutch chess player and author (died 2026)

• 1952 John Lurie, American actor, saxophonist, painter, director, and producer

• 1953 Vijay Amritraj, Indian tennis player and sportscaster

• 1953 Wade Davis, Canadian anthropologist, author, and photographer

• 1953 René Eespere, Estonian composer

• 1953 Vangelis Meimarakis, Greek lawyer and politician, 4th Greek Minister for National Defence

• 1953 Mikael Odenberg, Swedish soldier and politician, 29th Swedish Minister for Defence

• 1954 Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (died 1993)

• 1954 Steve MacLean, Canadian physicist and astronaut

• 1955 Jane Crafter, Australian golfer

• 1955 Jill Pipher, American mathematician and academic

• 1956 Linda Fabiani, Scottish politician

• 1956 Hanni Wenzel, German skier

• 1958 Mike Scott, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1958 Spider Stacy, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1959 Bob Paris, American-Canadian bodybuilder and actor

• 1959 Jorge Vaca, Mexican boxer

• 1960 James Comey, American lawyer, 7th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

• 1960 Don Franklin, American actor

• 1960 Chris Waddle, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster

• 1960 Diane Williams, American sprinter

• 1961 Patrik Sundström, Swedish ice hockey player

• 1963 Greg Abbott, English footballer and manager

• 1963 William Bedford, American basketball player

• 1963 Diana Gansky, German discus thrower

• 1963 Cynthia Gibb, American actress and model

• 1964 Dino Stamatopoulos, American writer, producer, and actor

• 1965 Craig Biggio, American baseball player and coach

• 1965 Ken Hill, American baseball player

• 1965 Ted Raimi, American actor, director, and screenwriter

• 1966 Fabrizio Giovanardi, Italian race car driver

• 1966 Carl Herrera, Trinidadian-Venezuelan basketball player

• 1966 Anthony Mason, American basketball player (died 2015)

• 1966 Bill Ranford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

• 1966 Tim Sköld, Swedish bass player and producer

• 1966 Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Danish academic and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Denmark

• 1967 Ewa Białołęcka, Polish author

• 1967 Hanne Haugland, Norwegian high jumper and coach

• 1968 Kelley Armstrong, Canadian author

• 1968 Mohamed Saad, Egyptian actor

• 1969 Scott Hatteberg, American baseball player and sportscaster

• 1969 Archie Kao, American actor and producer

• 1969 Natascha McElhone, English-Irish actress

• 1969 Dave Nilsson, Australian baseball player and manager

• 1969 Arthur Numan, Dutch footballer and manager

• 1970 Anna Maria Jopek, Polish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer

• 1970 Beth Orton, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1971 Michaela Watkins, American actor and comedian

• 1972 Miranda Hart, English actress

• 1972 Marcus Jensen, American baseball player and coach

• 1973 Falk Balzer, German hurdler

• 1973 Pat Burke, Irish basketball player

• 1973 Tomasz Radzinski, Canadian soccer player

• 1973 Saulius Štombergas, Lithuanian basketball player and coach

• 1974 Billy Koch, American baseball player

• 1975 Justin Furstenfeld, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

• 1975 Ben Kay, English rugby player

• 1975 KaDee Strickland, American actress

• 1976 Tammy Blanchard, American actress and singer

• 1976 Leland Chapman, American bounty hunter

• 1976 Sebastien Chaule, French-German rugby player

• 1976 André Couto, Portuguese race car driver

• 1976 Santiago Ezquerro, Spanish footballer

• 1977 Brendan Nash, Australian-Jamaican cricketer

• 1977 Jamie Peacock, English rugby player and manager

• 1978 Dean Brogan, Australian footballer and coach

• 1978 Shedrack Kibet Korir, Kenyan runner

• 1978 Zdeněk Pospěch, Czech footballer

• 1978 Patty Schnyder, Swiss tennis player

• 1978 Kim St-Pierre, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1979 Autumn Durald Arkapaw, American cinematographer

• 1979 Jean-Alain Boumsong, French footballer

• 1979 Andrei Makrov, Estonian ice hockey player

• 1979 Kyle Shanahan, American football coach

• 1979 Sophie Monk, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actress

• 1979 Michael Owen, English footballer and sportscaster

• 1980 Thed Björk, Swedish race car driver

• 1980 Gordon Greer, Scottish footballer

• 1980 Didier Zokora, Ivorian footballer

• 1981 Amber Chia, Malaysian model

• 1981 Johnny Jeter, American wrestler

• 1981 Liam Lawrence, Irish footballer

• 1981 Shaun Marcum, American baseball player

• 1982 Josh Fields, American baseball player

• 1982 Steve Sidwell, English footballer

• 1982 Anthony Way, English singer and actor

• 1983 Leanne Mitchell, English singer-songwriter

• 1984 Chris Brunt, Northern Irish footballer

• 1984 Rana Daggubati, Indian actor and producer

• 1984 Ed Rainsford, Zimbabwean cricketer

• 1984 Jackson Rathbone, American actor, singer, and musician

• 1985 Jakub Błaszczykowski, Polish footballer

• 1985 Alex Pennie, Welsh keyboard player

• 1985 Tom Smith, English-Welsh rugby player

• 1985 Nonami Takizawa, Japanese actress and singer

• 1987 Kenneth Medwood, Belizean-American hurdler

• 1988 Nicolas Batum, French basketball player

• 1988 Nate Ebner, American football player

• 1988 Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer

• 1988 Hayato Sakamoto, Japanese baseball player

• 1989 Pedro Botelho, Brazilian footballer

• 1989 Sam Burgess, English rugby league player

• 1989 Onew, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer

• 1990 Robert Covington, American basketball player

• 1991 Ben Henry, New Zealand rugby league player

• 1991 Offset, American rapper

• 1992 Tori Kelly, American singer-songwriter

• 1992 Ryo Miyaichi, Japanese footballer

• 1993 Antonio Giovinazzi, Italian race car driver

• 1994 Kuldeep Yadav, Indian cricketer

• 1995 Ivan Barbashev, Russian ice hockey player

• 1995 Calvyn Justus, South African swimmer

• 1995 Álvaro Odriozola, Spanish footballer

• 1996 Barbie Ferreira, American actress and model

• 1996 Raphinha, Brazilian footballer

• 1996 Li Zijun, Chinese figure skater

• 1997 DK Metcalf, American football player

• 1998 Lonnie Walker IV, American basketball player

• 1998 Kim Ji-woong, South Korean singer and actor

• 2001 Joshua Rush, American actor and activist

• 2002 Francisco Conceição, Portuguese footballer

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 618 Xue Rengao, emperor of Qin

• 648 John III of the Sedre, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch

• 704 Aldfrith, king of Northumbria (or 705)

• 872 Pope Adrian II (born 792)

• 1077 Agnes of Poitou, Holy Roman Empress and regent (born c. 1025)

• 1293 Al-Ashraf Khalil, Mamluk sultan of Egypt

• 1311 Margaret of Brabant, German queen consort (born 1276)

• 1332 Rinchinbal Khan, Mongolian emperor (born 1326)

• 1359 Cangrande II della Scala, Lord of Verona (born 1332)

• 1417 John Oldcastle, English Lollard leader

• 1460 Guarino da Verona, Italian scholar and translator (born 1370)

• 1480 Niccolò Perotti, humanist scholar (born 1429)

• 1503 Sten Sture the Elder, regent of Sweden (born 1440)

• 1510 Friedrich of Saxony (born 1473)

• 1542 James V, King of Scotland (born 1512)

• 1591 John of the Cross, Spanish priest and saint (born 1542)

• 1595 Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (born 1535)

1601–1900

• 1624 Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, English politician, Lord High Admiral of England (born 1536)

• 1651 Pierre Dupuy, French historian and scholar (born 1582)

• 1715 Thomas Tenison, English archbishop (born 1636)

• 1735 Thomas Tanner, English bishop and historian (born 1674)

• 1741 Charles Rollin, French historian and educator (born 1661)

• 1785 Giovanni Battista Cipriani, Italian painter and engraver (born 1727)

• 1788 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German pianist and composer (born 1714)

• 1788 Charles III of Spain (born 1716)

• 1799 George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (born 1732)

• 1831 Martin Baum, American businessman and politician, 5th Mayor of Cincinnati (born 1765)

• 1838 Jean-Olivier Chénier, Canadian physician (born 1806)

• 1842 Ben Crack-O, king of several tribes around Cape Palmas

• 1860 George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1784)

• 1861 Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom (born 1819)

• 1865 Johan Georg Forchhammer, Danish geologist and mineralogist (born 1794)

• 1873 Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American zoologist and geologist (born 1807)

• 1878 Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (born 1843)

1901–present

• 1912 Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis, English lieutenant and explorer (born 1887)

• 1915 Eva Gouel, French choreographer and girlfriend of Pablo Picasso

• 1917 Phil Waller, Welsh rugby player (born 1889)

• 1920 George Gipp, American football player (born 1895)

• 1927 Julian Sochocki, Russian mathematician and academic (born 1842)

• 1929 Henry B. Jackson, British admiral (born 1855)

• 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum, American author (born 1902)

• 1937 Fabián de la Rosa, Filipino painter and educator (born 1869)

• 1940 Anton Korošec, Slovenian priest and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (born 1872)

• 1943 John Harvey Kellogg, American physician and businessman, co-invented corn flakes (born 1852)

• 1944 Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress (born 1908)

• 1947 Stanley Baldwin, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1867)

• 1947 Edward Higgins, English-American 3rd General of The Salvation Army (born 1864)

• 1953 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author and academic (born 1896)

• 1956 Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Finnish lawyer and politician, 7th President of Finland (born 1870)

• 1963 Dinah Washington, American singer and pianist (born 1924)

• 1964 William Bendix, American actor (born 1906)

• 1970 Franz Schlegelberger, German judge and politician, German Reich Minister of Justice (born 1876)

• 1971 Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury, Bangladeshi linguist and scholar (born 1926)

• 1971 Munier Choudhury, Bangladeshi author, playwright, and critic (born 1925)

• 1971 Shahidullah Kaiser, Bangladeshi journalist and author (born 1927)

• 1974 Walter Lippmann, American journalist and author (born 1889)

• 1975 Arthur Treacher, English-American entertainer (born 1894)

• 1978 Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish historian and diplomat, co-founded the College of Europe (born 1886)

• 1980 Elston Howard, American baseball player and coach (born 1929)

• 1984 Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898)

• 1985 Catherine Doherty, Russian-Canadian activist, founded the Madonna House Apostolate (born 1896)

• 1985 Roger Maris, American baseball player and coach (born 1934)

• 1988 – Jean Schramme, Belgian mercenary, farmer, and convicted murderer (born 1929)

• 1989 Jock Mahoney, American actor and stuntman (born 1919)

• 1989 Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1921)

• 1990 Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss author and playwright (born 1921)

• 1990 Paula Nenette Pepin, French composer, pianist and lyricist (born 1908)

• 1991 Robert Eddison, Japanese-English actor (born 1908)

• 1993 Jeff Alm, American football player (born 1968)

• 1993 Myrna Loy, American actress (born 1905)

• 1994 Orval Faubus, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Arkansas (born 1910)

• 1995 G. C. Edmondson, American soldier and author (born 1922)

• 1996 Gaston Miron, Canadian poet and author (born 1928)

• 1997 Stubby Kaye, American actor and comedian (born 1918)

• 1997 Emily Cheney Neville, American author (born 1919)

• 1997 Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist and songwriter (born 1946)

• 1998 Norman Fell, American actor and comedian (born 1924)

• 1998 A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., American lawyer, judge, and activist (born 1928)

• 1998 Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician, Mayor of Dallas (born 1924)

• 2001 W. G. Sebald, German novelist, essayist, and poet (born 1944)

• 2003 Jeanne Crain, American actress (born 1925)

• 2003 Blas Ople, Filipino journalist and politician, 21st President of the Senate of the Philippines (born 1927)

• 2003 Frank Sheeran, American union leader and mobster (born 1920)

• 2004 Rod Kanehl, American baseball player (born 1934)

• 2004 Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor, director, producer, and politician (born 1939)

• 2006 Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan-English strategist and negotiator (born 1938)

• 2006 Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American composer and producer, co-founded Atlantic Records (born 1923)

• 2006 Mike Evans, American actor and screenwriter (born 1949)

• 2009 Alan A'Court, English footballer and manager (born 1934)

• 2010 Timothy Davlin, American politician, Mayor of Springfield (born 1957)

• 2010 Neva Patterson, American actress (born 1920)

• 2010 Dale Roberts, English footballer (born 1986)

• 2011 Joe Simon, American author and illustrator (born 1913)

• 2011 Billie Jo Spears, American singer-songwriter (born 1937)

• 2012 John Graham, English general (born 1923)

• 2012 Edward Jones, American police officer and politician (born 1950)

• 2012 Victoria Leigh Soto, American educator (born 1985)

• 2013 Janet Dailey, American author (born 1944)

• 2013 C. N. Karunakaran, Indian painter and illustrator (born 1940)

• 2013 Dennis Lindley, English statistician and academic (born 1923)

• 2013 Peter O'Toole, British-Irish actor (born 1932)

• 2013 George Rodrigue, American painter (born 1944)

• 2014 Theo Colborn, American zoologist and academic (born 1927)

• 2014 Irene Dalis, American soprano and pianist (born 1925)

• 2014 Louis Alphonse Koyagialo, Congolese politician, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (born 1947)

• 2014 Bess Myerson, American model, activist, game show panelist and television personality; Miss America 1945 (born 1924)

• 2014 Fred Thurston, American football player (born 1933)

• 2015 Terry Backer, American soldier and politician (born 1954)

• 2015 Glen Sonmor, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1929)

• 2015 Vadym Tyshchenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (born 1963)

• 2015 Lillian Vernon, German-American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Lillian Vernon Company (born 1927)

• 2016 Paulo Evaristo Arns, Brazilian cardinal (born 1921)

• 2016 Bernard Fox, Welsh actor (born 1927)

• 2017 Yu Kwang-chung, Chinese writer (born 1928)

• 2019 Chuy Bravo, Mexican-American comedian and actor (born 1956)

• 2020 Gérard Houllier, French Football manager (born 1947)

• 2022 Jean Franco, American academic and literary critic (born 1924)

• 2023 Tomáš Janovic, Slovak writer (born 1937)

• 2024 Isak Andic, Turkish-Spanish billionaire businessman (born 1953)

• 2025 Rob Reiner, American filmmaker and actor (born 1947)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

• Folcwin

• John of the Cross

• John III of the Sedre (Syriac Orthodox Church)

• Blessed Mary Frances Schervier

• Nicasius of Rheims

• Nimatullah Kassab (Maronite Church)

• Spyridon (Western Church)

• Venantius Fortunatus

• December 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Alabama Day (Alabama)

• Forty-seven Ronin Remembrance Day (Sengaku-ji, Tokyo)

• Martyred Intellectuals Day (Bangladesh)

• Monkey Day

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on December 14