Events

Pre-1600

• 533 The Digest, the great collection of all Roman jurists' law, is issued together with a new official law textbook for legal schools, The Institutes.

• 714 Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the Merovingian palace, dies at Jupille (modern Belgium). He is succeeded by his infant grandson Theudoald, while his widow Plectrude holds actual power in the Frankish Kingdom.

• 755 An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Yanjing, initiating the An Lushan Rebellion during the Tang dynasty of China.

• 1431 Hundred Years' War: Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.

• 1497 Vasco da Gama passes the Great Fish River at the southern tip of Africa, where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.

• 1575 An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.5 strikes Valdivia, Chile.

• 1598 Seven-Year War: Battle of Noryang: The final battle of the Seven-Year War is fought between the China and the Korean allied forces and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive allied forces victory.

1601–1900

• 1653 English Interregnum: The Protectorate: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

• 1689 Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.

• 1707 The most recent eruption of Mount Fuji.

• 1761 Seven Years' War: After a four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kołobrzeg.

• 1773 American Revolution: Boston Tea Party: Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.

• 1777 Virginia becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

• 1782 British East India Company: Muharram Rebellion: Hada and Mada Miah lead the first anti-British uprising in the subcontinent against Robert Lindsay and his contingents in Sylhet Shahi Eidgah.

• 1811 The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes occur in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri.

• 1826 Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican-controlled Nacogdoches, Texas, and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.

• 1838 Great Trek: Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers defeat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

• 1850 The Charlotte Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton, New Zealand.

• 1863 American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints General Joseph E. Johnston to replace General Braxton Bragg as commander of the Army of Tennessee.

• 1864 American Civil War: The Battle of Nashville ends as the Union Army of the Cumberland under General George H. Thomas routs and destroys the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General John Bell Hood, ending its effectiveness as a combat unit.

• 1880 Outbreak of the First Boer War between the Boer South African Republic and the British Empire.

• 1882 Wales and England contest the first Home Nations (now Six Nations) rugby union match.

• 1883 Tonkin Campaign: French forces capture the Sơn Tây citadel.

1901–present

• 1905 In rugby union, the "Match of the Century" is played between Wales and New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park.

• 1912 First Balkan War: The Royal Hellenic Navy defeats the Ottoman Navy at the Battle of Elli.

• 1914 World War I: Admiral Franz von Hipper commands a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby.

• 1920 The Haiyuan earthquake of 8.5 rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000.

• 1942 The Holocaust: Schutzstaffel chief Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination be deported to Auschwitz.

• 1944 World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.

• 1951 A Miami Airlines Curtiss C-46 Commando crashes in Elizabeth, New Jersey, killing all 58 aboard including dancer Doris Ruby.

• 1960 A United Air Lines Douglas DC-8 and a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation collide over Staten Island, New York and crash, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft and six more on the ground.

• 1968 Second Vatican Council: Official revocation of the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain.

• 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan Army brings an end to both conflicts. This is commemorated annually as Victory Day in Bangladesh and Vijay Diwas in India respectively.

• 1971 The United Kingdom recognizes Bahrain's independence, which is commemorated annually as Bahrain's National Day.

• 1972 The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is enacted.

• 1973 Aeroflot Flight 2022 crashes in the Soviet Union's (now Russia) Volokolamsky District, killing all 51 aboard, including four Lithuanian doctors.

• 1986 The Jeltoqsan riots erupt in Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR, in response to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's dismissal of ethnic Kazakh Dinmukhamed Kunaev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, and his replacement with Gennady Kolbin, an ethnic Russian from the Russian SFSR.

• 1989 Romanian Revolution: Protests break out in Timișoara, Romania, in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor László Tőkés.

• 1992 Deportation of Hamas members: Israeli authorities began deporting hundreds of Palestinians suspected to be members of Hamas across the Lebanese border.

• 1997 Dennō Senshi Porygon: Over 600 kids in Japan suffer photosensitive epileptic seizures after watching an episode of the Pokémon anime.

• 2011 The Zhanaozen massacre occurs when violent protests by oil workers take place in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, resulting in security forces killing at least 14 and injuring 100 more.

• 2013 A bus falls from an elevated highway in Manila, capital of the Philippines, killing at least 18 people with 20 injured.

• 2014 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants attack an Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 150 people, 132 of them schoolchildren.

• 2022 A landslide occurs at a camp at an organic farm near the town of Batang Kali in Selangor, Malaysia, trapping 92 people and killing 31.

• 2024 The Abundant Life Christian School shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, takes place, resulting in the death of three people.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1364 Emperor Manuel III of Trebizond (died 1417)

• 1485 Catherine of Aragon, Spanish princess, Queen Consort of England (died 1536)

• 1534 Hans Bol, Flemish artist (died 1593)

• 1582 Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey (died 1642)

• 1584 John Selden, English jurist and scholar (died 1654)

• 1585 Livia della Rovere, Italian noble (died 1641)

1601–1900

• 1605 Jerome Weston, 2nd Earl of Portland, English diplomat (died 1663)

• 1614 Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (died 1674)

• 1630 Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort, British botanist (died 1715)

• 1714 George Whitefield, English Anglican priest (died 1770)

• 1716 Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini, French poet and diplomat (died 1798)

• 1717 Elizabeth Carter, English poet and scholar (died 1806)

• 1730 Diego Silang, Filipino revolutionary leader (died 1763)

• 1742 Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, German field marshal (died 1819)

• 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven, composer (died 1827)

• 1775 Jane Austen, English novelist (died 1817)

• 1775 François-Adrien Boieldieu, French pianist and composer (died 1834)

• 1776 Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German chemist, physicist, and philosopher (died 1810)

• 1778 John Ordronaux, French-American soldier (died 1841)

• 1787 Mary Russell Mitford, English author and playwright (died 1855)

• 1790 Leopold I of Belgium (died 1865)

• 1804 Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician and academic (died 1889)

• 1812 Stuart Donaldson, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of New South Wales (died 1867)

• 1834 Léon Walras, French-Swiss economist and theorist (died 1910)

• 1836 Ernst von Bergmann, Latvian-German surgeon and academic (died 1907)

• 1849 Mary Hartwell Catherwood, American author and poet (died 1902)

• 1861 Antonio de La Gándara, French painter and illustrator (died 1917)

• 1863 George Santayana, Spanish philosopher, novelist, and poet (died 1952)

• 1865 Olavo Bilac, Brazilian journalist and poet (died 1918)

• 1866 Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-French painter and theorist (died 1944)

• 1867 Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary and humanitarian (died 1951)

• 1869 Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian physician and activist, co-founded the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (died 1952)

• 1869 Bertha Lamme Feicht, American electrical engineer (died 1943)

• 1872 Anton Denikin, Russian general (died 1947)

• 1882 Jack Hobbs, English cricketer and journalist (died 1963)

• 1882 Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer, conductor, and musicologist (died 1967)

• 1882 Walther Meissner, German physicist and engineer (died 1974)

• 1883 Károly Kós, Hungarian-Romanian architect, ethnologist, and politician (died 1977)

• 1883 Max Linder, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1925)

• 1884 John Gunn, Australian politician, 29th Premier of South Australia (died 1959)

• 1884 Seibo Kitamura, Japanese sculptor (died 1987)

• 1888 Alexander I of Yugoslavia (died 1934)

• 1888 Alphonse Juin, Algerian-French general (died 1967)

• 1889 Kim Chwa-chin, South Korean guerrilla leader (died 1930)

• 1895 Marie Hall Ets, American author and illustrator (died 1984)

• 1896 Anna Anderson, an imposter who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia (died 1984)

• 1899 Noël Coward, English actor, playwright, and composer (died 1973)

• 1900 Lucille Lortel, American actress and producer (died 1999)

• 1900 V. S. Pritchett, British writer and literary critic (died 1997)

1901–present

• 1901 Margaret Mead, American anthropologist and author (died 1978)

• 1902 Rafael Alberti, Spanish poet and playwright (died 1999)

• 1903 Hardie Albright, American actor (died 1975)

• 1903 Harold Whitlock, English race walker and coach (died 1985)

• 1905 Piet Hein, Danish mathematician, author, and poet (died 1996)

• 1905 Ruben Nirvi, Finnish linguist and professor (died 1986)

• 1907 Barbara Kent, Canadian-born American film actress (died 2011)

• 1908 Remedios Varo, Spanish-Mexican surrealist painter & anarchist (died 1963)

• 1910 Freddie Brown, Peruvian-English cricketer and sportscaster (died 1991)

• 1913 George Ignatieff, Russian-Canadian scholar and diplomat, 8th Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations (died 1989)

• 1914 O. Winston Link, American photographer (died 2001)

• 1916 Ruth Johnson Colvin, American author and educator, founded ProLiteracy Worldwide (died 2024)

• 1917 Nabi Bux Khan Baloch, Pakistani author and scholar (died 2011)

• 1917 Pete T. Cenarrusa, American soldier, pilot, and politician, Secretary of State of Idaho (died 2013)

• 1917 Arthur C. Clarke, English science fiction writer (died 2008)

• 1920 Frederick Rotimi Williams, Nigerian lawyer and politician (died 2005)

• 1921 Eulalio González, Mexican singer-songwriter, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2003)

• 1922 Cy Leslie, American record producer, founded Pickwick Records (died 2008)

• 1923 Menahem Pressler, German-American pianist (died 2023)

• 1923 Ernst Florian Winter, Austrian-American historian and political scientist (died 2014)

• 1924 Nicolas Sidjakov, Latvian-American illustrator (died 1993)

• 1926 James McCracken, American tenor and actor (died 1988)

• 1926 A. N. R. Robinson, Tobagonian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (died 2014)

• 1926 Jeffrey Stone, American actor and screenwriter (died 2012)

• 1927 Peter Dickinson, Rhodesian-English author and poet (died 2015)

• 1927 Randall Garrett, American author and poet (died 1987)

• 1928 Terry Carter, American actor, director, and producer (died 2024)

• 1928 Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author (died 1982)

• 1929 Nicholas Courtney, Egyptian-English actor (died 2011)

• 1930 Bill Brittain, American author (died 2011)

• 1930 Sam Most, American flute player and saxophonist (died 2013)

• 1930 Bill Young, American sergeant and politician (died 2013)

• 1932 Grace Alele-Williams, Nigerian mathematician and academic (died 2022)

• 1932 Quentin Blake, English author and illustrator

• 1932 Lin Zhao, Chinese dissident and Christian executed during the Cultural Revolution (died 1968)

• 1933 Gloria Romero, Filipino actress (died 2025)

• 1936 Morris Dees, American lawyer and activist, co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center

• 1937 Joyce Bulifant, American actress

• 1937 Edward Ruscha, American painter and photographer

• 1938 Frank Deford, American journalist and author (died 2017)

• 1938 Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress, director, and screenwriter

• 1939 Philip Langridge, English tenor (died 2010)

• 1939 Gordon Miller, English high jumper

• 1941 Lesley Stahl, American journalist and actress

• 1941 Roger Neil Wheeler, English general

• 1942 Donald Carcieri, American educator and politician, 73rd Governor of Rhode Island

• 1943 Steven Bochco, American television writer and producer (died 2018)

• 1943 Patti Deutsch, American actress and comedian (died 2017)

• 1944 Jeff Kanew, American director and screenwriter

• 1944 Don Meyer, American basketball player and coach (died 2014)

• 1945 Tony Hicks, English singer and guitarist

• 1946 Benny Andersson, Swedish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer

• 1946 Charles Dennis, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1946 Trevor Pinnock, English harpsichord player and conductor

• 1946 Tom Stern, American cinematographer

• 1947 Ben Cross, English actor (died 2020)

• 1947 Vincent Matthews, American sprinter

• 1947 Martyn Poliakoff, English chemist and academic

• 1947 Trevor Żahra, Maltese novelist, poet and illustrator

• 1949 Billy Gibbons, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

• 1949 Heather Hallett, English lawyer and judge

• 1950 Claudia Cohen, American journalist (died 2007)

• 1950 Roy Schuiten, Dutch cyclist and manager (died 2006)

• 1951 Aykut Barka, Turkish scientist (died 2002)

• 1951 Sally Emerson, English author and poet

• 1951 Mike Flanagan, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2011)

• 1951 Robben Ford, American guitarist and songwriter

• 1951 Mark Heard, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 1992)

• 1952 Joel Garner, Barbadian cricketer and manager

• 1952 Francesco Graziani, Italian footballer and manager

• 1953 Rebecca Forstadt, American voice actress and screenwriter

• 1955 Xander Berkeley, American actor and producer

• 1955 Carol Browner, American lawyer and environmentalist, 8th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

• 1955 Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este

• 1955 Chiharu Matsuyama, Japanese singer-songwriter

• 1956 Lizzy Mercier Descloux, French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter (died 2004)

• 1957 Antonio Vega, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2009)

• 1958 Bart Oates, American football player and lawyer

• 1958 Jeff Ruland, American basketball player

• 1959 H. D. Kumaraswamy, Indian social worker and politician, 18th Chief Minister of Karnataka

• 1959 Alison La Placa, American actress

• 1959 Alexander Lebedev, Russian businessman and politician

• 1959 Steve Mattsson, American author and illustrator

• 1960 Sid Eudy, American professional wrestler

• 1960 Pat Van Den Hauwe, Belgian footballer and manager

• 1961 André Andersen, Russian-Danish keyboard player, songwriter, and producer

• 1961 Shane Black, American actor, director, and screenwriter

• 1961 Bill Hicks, American comedian and musician (died 1994)

• 1961 LaChanze, American actress, singer, and dancer

• 1961 Sam Robards, American actor

• 1961 Jon Tenney, American actor and director

• 1962 Maruschka Detmers, Dutch-French actress

• 1962 William Perry, American football player and wrestler

• 1963 Benjamin Bratt, American actor and producer

• 1963 Cathy Johnston-Forbes, American golfer

• 1963 James Mangold, American director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1963 Nadia Moscufo, Belgian politician

• 1964 Heike Drechsler, German sprinter and long jumper

• 1964 Todd Glass, American comedian

• 1964 John Kirwan, New Zealand rugby player and coach

• 1964 Georgie Parker, Australian actress

• 1964 Billy Ripken, American baseball player and sportscaster

• 1965 Melanie Sloan, American lawyer and activist

• 1965 J. B. Smoove, American comedian, writer, and actor

• 1966 Fatima Lamarti, Belgian politician

• 1966 Paul McGinley, Irish golfer

• 1966 Clifford Robinson, American basketball player (died 2020)

• 1966 Dennis Wise, English footballer and manager

• 1967 Donovan Bailey, Canadian sprinter and sportscaster

• 1967 Indrek Kaseorg, Estonian decathlete

• 1967 Miranda Otto, Australian actress

• 1968 Wendy Doolan, Australian golfer

• 1968 Lalah Hathaway, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer

• 1968 Greg Kovacs, Canadian bodybuilder (died 2013)

• 1969 Simon Grayson, English footballer and manager

• 1969 Kent Hehr, Canadian politician

• 1969 Adam Riess, American astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic Nobel Prize laureate

• 1969 Michelle Smith, Irish swimmer

• 1969 Dmitri Tymoczko, American composer and theorist

• 1969 Craig White, English cricketer and coach

• 1970 Valerie Chow, Canadian-Hong Kong actress and publicist

• 1970 Daniel Cosgrove, American actor

• 1971 Seyhan Kurt, French-Turkish poet and sociologist

• 1971 Paul van Dyk, German musician, producer and DJ

• 1971 Michael McCary, American R&B singer

• 1972 Charles Gipson, American baseball player

• 1972 Zeljko Kalac, Australian soccer player and manager

• 1972 Paul Leyden, Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1972 Travis Morrison, American singer-songwriter

• 1973 Themba Mnguni, South African footballer

• 1973 Scott Storch, American songwriter and producer, founded Storch Music Company

• 1975 Valentin Bădoi, Romanian footballer and manager

• 1975 Kaba Diawara, French-Guinean footballer

• 1975 Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1975 Paul Maynard, English politician

• 1976 Jen Golbeck, American computer scientist and academic

• 1977 Éric Bélanger, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1977 Sylvain Distin, French footballer

• 1978 John Morris, Canadian curler and firefighter

• 1978 Gunter Van Handenhoven, Belgian footballer and manager

• 1979 Trevor Immelman, South African golfer

• 1979 Brodie Lee, American wrestler (died 2020)

• 1979 Daniel Narcisse, French handball player

• 1979 Mihai Trăistariu, Romanian singer-songwriter

• 1979 Jessie Ward, American wrestler and producer

• 1980 Danish Kaneria, Pakistani cricketer

• 1981 Krysten Ritter, American actress, musician, and model

• 1981 Reanna Solomon, Nauruan weightlifter (died 2022)

• 1981 Gareth Williams, Scottish footballer

• 1982 Antrel Rolle, American football player

• 1982 Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer, actress and television presenter

• 1982 Stanislav Šesták, Slovak footballer

• 1983 Kelenna Azubuike, Nigerian-American basketball player

• 1983 Frankie Ballard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1983 Joey Dorsey, American basketball player

• 1984 Theo James, English actor

• 1985 Stanislav Manolev, Bulgarian footballer

• 1985 James Nash, English race car driver

• 1985 Amanda Setton, American actress

• 1986 Alcides Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player

• 1986 Pärt Uusberg, Estonian actor, composer, and conductor.

• 1988 Mats Hummels, German footballer

• 1988 Anna Popplewell, English actress

• 1988 Alexey Shved, Russian basketball player

• 1991 Craig Goodwin, Australian footballer

• 1991 David Johnson, American football player

• 1992 Anamul Haque, Bangladeshi cricketer

• 1992 Tom Rogic, Australian footballer

• 1993 Jyoti Amge, Indian actress

• 1993 Stephan James, Canadian actor

• 1994 Nigel Hayes, American basketball player

• 1994 Nicola Murru, Italian footballer

• 1994 José Rodríguez, Spanish footballer

• 1996 Wilfred Ndidi, Nigerian footballer

• 1996 Sergio Reguilón, Spanish footballer

• 1996 Henry Thornton, Australian cricketer

• 1997 Zara Larsson, Swedish singer and songwriter

• 1998 Mira Antonitsch, Austrian tennis player

• 1998 Zhou Jieqiong, Chinese singer and actress

• 2001 Kai Cenat, American streamer

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 604 Houzhu, emperor of the Chen dynasty (born 553)

• 705 Wu Zetian, Empress of the Zhou dynasty (born 624)

• 714 Pepin of Herstal, Frankish statesman (born 635)

• 867 Eberhard of Friuli, Frankish duke (born 815)

• 874 Ado, archbishop of Vienne

• 882 John VIII, pope of the Catholic Church

• 902 Wei Yifan, chancellor of the Tang dynasty

• 999 Adelaide of Italy, Holy Roman Empress (born 931)

• 1153 Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, Norman nobleman

• 1263 Haakon IV, king of Norway (born 1204)

• 1316 Öljaitü, Mongolian ruler (born 1280)

• 1325 Charles, French nobleman (born 1270)

• 1378 Secondotto, marquess of Montferrat (born 1360)

• 1379 John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel, English general and politician, Lord Marshall of England (born 1348)

• 1470 John II, duke of Lorraine (born 1424)

• 1474 Ali Qushji, Uzbek astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (born 1403)

• 1515 Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese admiral and politician, 3rd Viceroy of Portuguese India (born 1453)

• 1558 Thomas Cheney, English diplomat and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports

• 1583 Ivan Fyodorov, Russian printer

• 1594 Allison Balfour, Scottish woman accused of witchcraft

• 1598 Yi Sun-sin, Korean general (born 1545)

1601–1900

• 1669 Nathaniel Fiennes, English soldier and politician (born 1608)

• 1687 William Petty, English economist and philosopher (born 1623)

• 1751 Leopold II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (born 1700)

• 1774 François Quesnay, French economist, physician, and philosopher (born 1694)

• 1783 Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer and educator (born 1699)

• 1783 Sir William James, 1st Baronet, Welsh-English commander and politician (born 1720)

• 1805 Saverio Cassar, Gozitan priest and rebel leader (born 1746)

• 1809 Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist and entomologist (born 1755)

• 1859 Wilhelm Grimm, German anthropologist and author (born 1786)

• 1892 Henry Yesler, American businessman and politician, 7th Mayor of Seattle (born 1810)

• 1897 Alphonse Daudet, French author, poet, and playwright (born 1840)

• 1898 Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (born 1832)

1901–present

• 1908 American Horse, American tribal leader and educator (born 1840)

• 1917 Frank Gotch, American wrestler (born 1878)

• 1921 Camille Saint-Saëns, French pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1835)

• 1922 Gabriel Narutowicz, Lithuanian–Polish engineer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Poland (born 1865)

• 1928 Elinor Wylie, American poet and author (born 1885)

• 1935 Thelma Todd, American actress and comedian (born 1905)

• 1936 Frank Eugene, American-German photographer and educator (born 1865)

• 1940 Eugène Dubois, Dutch paleoanthropologist (born 1858)

• 1940 Billy Hamilton, American baseball player and manager (born 1866)

• 1943 George Bambridge, English diplomat (born 1892)

• 1944 Betsie ten Boom, Dutch Holocaust victim (born 1885)

• 1945 Giovanni Agnelli, Italian businessman, founded Fiat (born 1866)

• 1945 Fumimaro Konoe, Japanese lawyer and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Japan (born 1891)

• 1949 Sidney Olcott, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1873)

• 1952 Robert Henry Best, American journalist (born 1896)

• 1956 Nina Hamnett, Welsh painter and author (born 1890)

• 1961 Hans Rebane, Estonian journalist and politician, 8th Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1882)

• 1965 W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, novelist, and short story writer (born 1874)

• 1968 Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (born 1912)

• 1968 Muhammad Suheimat, Jordanian general and politician (born 1916)

• 1969 Alphonse Castex, French rugby union player (born 1899)

• 1969 Soe Hok Gie, Indonesian activist and academic (born 1942)

• 1970 Oscar Lewis, American anthropologist of Latin America (born 1914)

• 1974 Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet and playwright (born 1884)

• 1976 Réal Caouette, Canadian journalist and politician (born 1917)

• 1977 Risto Jarva, Finnish director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1934)

• 1980 Colonel Sanders, American businessman, founded KFC (born 1890)

• 1980 Hellmuth Walter, German-American engineer (born 1900)

• 1982 Colin Chapman, English engineer and businessman, founded Lotus Cars (born 1928)

• 1983 Debs Garms, American baseball player (born 1907)

• 1983 Mitchell WerBell III, American mercenary (born 1918)

• 1984 Karl Deichgräber, German philologist and academic (born 1903)

• 1985 Thomas Bilotti, American mobster (born 1940)

• 1985 Paul Castellano, American mobster (born 1915)

• 1989 Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentinian race car driver (born 1913)

• 1989 Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (born 1930)

• 1989 Aileen Pringle, American actress (born 1895)

• 1989 Lee Van Cleef, American actor (born 1925)

• 1991 Eszter Tamási, Hungarian actress and journalist (born 1938)

• 1993 Moses Gunn, American actor (born 1929)

• 1993 Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (born 1918)

• 1996 Quentin Bell, English historian and author (born 1910)

• 1997 Lillian Disney, American illustrator and philanthropist (born 1899)

• 1998 William Gaddis, American author and academic (born 1922)

• 2001 Stuart Adamson, English-Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1958)

• 2001 Stefan Heym, German-American soldier and author (born 1913)

• 2003 Robert Stanfield, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician, 17th Premier of Nova Scotia (born 1914)

• 2003 Gary Stewart, American singer-songwriter (born 1945)

• 2004 Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (born 1933)

• 2004 Deyda Hydara, Gambian journalist, co-founded The Point (born 1946)

• 2004 Agnes Martin, American painter and educator (born 1912)

• 2005 Kenneth Bulmer, English author (born 1921)

• 2005 Ed Hansen, American director and screenwriter (born 1937)

• 2005 John Spencer, American actor (born 1946)

• 2006 Don Jardine, Canadian wrestler and trainer (born 1940)

• 2006 Taliep Petersen, South African singer-songwriter and director (born 1950)

• 2006 Pnina Salzman, Israeli pianist and educator (born 1922)

• 2006 Stanford J. Shaw, American historian and academic (born 1930)

• 2007 Dan Fogelberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1951)

• 2009 Roy E. Disney, American businessman (born 1930)

• 2009 Yegor Gaidar, Russian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Russia (born 1956)

• 2009 Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South African physician and politician, 22nd South African Minister of Health (born 1940)

• 2010 Melvin E. Biddle, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1923)

• 2010 Ayinde Barrister, Nigerian fuji musician (born 1948)

• 2011 Robert Easton, American actor and screenwriter (born 1930)

• 2011 Nicol Williamson, Scottish actor (born 1938)

• 2012 Elwood V. Jensen, American biologist and academic (born 1920)

• 2012 Jake Adam York, American poet and academic (born 1972)

• 2013 James Flint, English commander (born 1913)

• 2013 Ray Price, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1926)

• 2013 Marta Russell, American journalist, author, and activist (born 1951)

• 2014 Martin Brasier, English paleontologist, biologist, and academic (born 1947)

• 2014 Tim Cochran, American mathematician and academic (born 1955)

• 2014 Tahira Qazi, Pakistani educationist and principal of Army Public School Peshawar who was killed in the Peshawar school attack.

• 2015 Peter Dickinson, Rhodesian-English author and poet (born 1927)

• 2015 Lizmark, Mexican wrestler (born 1950)

• 2015 George Earl Ortman, American painter and sculptor (born 1926)

• 2017 Keely Smith, American singer and actress (born 1928)

• 2023 Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (born 1937)

• 2024 Dick Van Arsdale, American basketball player (born 1943)

• 2024 Tulsi Gowda, Indian environmentalist (born 1937/1938)

• 2025 Lusanda Dumke, South African professional rugby union player who played as a flanker (born 1996)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

• Adelaide of Italy

• Haggai

• Blessed Marianna Fontanella

• Blessed Philip Siphong Onphitak

• Ralph Adams Cram, Richard Upjohn and John La Farge (Episcopal Church (USA))

• December 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Day of Reconciliation, formerly celebrated as Day of the Vow by the Afrikaners (South Africa)

• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union in 1991.

• National Day, celebrates the withdrawal of United Kingdom from Bahrain, making Bahrain an independent emirate in 1971.

• National Sports Day (Thailand)

The beginning of the nine-day celebration beginning December 16 and ending December 24, celebrating the trials which Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born (Hispanidad):

• The first day of Las Posadas (Mexico, Latin America)

• The first day of the Simbang Gabi novena of masses (Philippines)

• Victory Day observances, celebration of the Indo-Bangla allied victory over Pakistan armed forces and the Liberation of Bangladesh. (Bangladesh and India)

Notes

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on December 16