Events

Pre-1600

• 795 Election of Pope Leo III.

• 887 Berengar I is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia.

• 1481 Battle of Westbroek: An army of 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers raised by David of Burgundy, Bishop of Utrecht, attacks an armed mob of people from nearby Utrecht who were trying to avenge the massacre of the inhabitants of Westbroek.

1601–1900

• 1704 Second Battle of Anandpur: In the Second Battle of Anandpur, Aurangzeb's two generals, Wazir Khan and Zaberdast Khan executed two children of Guru Gobind Singh, Zorawar Singh aged eight and Fateh Singh aged five, by burying them alive into a wall.

• 1709 The opera Agrippina by George Frideric Handel premiered in Venice.

• 1723 Bach led the first performance of Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, his first Christmas Cantata composed for Leipzig.

• 1776 American Revolutionary War: In the Battle of Trenton, the Continental Army under General George Washington executes a successful surprise attack and defeats a garrison of Hessian forces serving Great Britain.

• 1790 Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution.

• 1793 Second Battle of Wissembourg: France defeats Austria.

• 1799 Henry Lee III's eulogy to George Washington in congress declares him as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".

• 1805 Austria and France sign the Treaty of Pressburg.

• 1806 Battles of Pultusk and Golymin: Russian forces hold French forces under Napoleon.

• 1811 A theater fire in Richmond, Virginia kills 72 people, including the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia Abraham B. Venable.

• 1825 Advocates of liberalism in Russia rise up against Czar Nicholas I in the Decembrist revolt, but are later suppressed.

• 1843 The discovery of octonions by John T. Graves, who denoted them with a boldface O, was announced to his mathematician friend William Hamilton, discoverer of quaternions, in a letter on this date.

• 1860 First Rules derby is held between Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C., the oldest football fixture in the world.

• 1861 American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James Murray Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus easing tensions between the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

• 1862 American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins as Union General William T. Sherman starts landing his troops in an attempt to advance on Vicksburg, Mississippi.

• 1862 Dakota War of 1862: The largest mass-hanging in U.S. history takes place in Mankato, Minnesota, where 38 Native American prisoners are hanged.

• 1871 Thespis, the first Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration, debuts.

• 1898 Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.

1901–present

• 1919 Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee, allegedly establishing the Curse of the Bambino superstition.

• 1926 World premiere of Sibelius's tone poem Tapiola.

• 1941 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

• 1941 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

• 1943 World War II: German warship Scharnhorst is sunk off Norway's North Cape after a battle against major Royal Navy forces.

• 1944 World War II: George S. Patton's Third Army breaks the encirclement of surrounded U.S. forces at Bastogne, Belgium.

• 1948 Cardinal József Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy.

• 1948 The last Soviet troops withdraw from North Korea.

• 1963 The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level.

• 1966 The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

• 1968 The Communist Party of the Philippines is established by Jose Maria Sison, breaking away from the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930.

• 1968 Pan Am Flight 799 crashes during takeoff from Elmendorf Air Force Base, killing three.

• 1972 Vietnam War: As part of Operation Linebacker II, 120 American B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi, including 78 launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history.

• 1975 Tu-144, the world's first commercial supersonic aircraft, surpassing Mach 2, goes into service.

• 1978 The inaugural Paris-Dakar Rally begins.

• 1980 Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell".

• 1989 United Express Flight 2415 crashes on approach to the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco, Washington, killing all six people on board.

• 1991 The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War.

• 1993 Kuban Airlines Flight 5719 crashes during a go-around at Gyumri Shirak International Airport, killing 35 of the 36 people on board.

• 1994 Four Armed Islamic Group hijackers seize control of Air France Flight 8969. When the plane lands at Marseille, a French Gendarmerie assault team boards the aircraft and kills the hijackers.

• 1998 Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.

• 1999 The storm Lothar sweeps across Central Europe, killing 137 and causing US$1.3 billion in damage.

• 2003 The 6.6 Bam earthquake shakes southeastern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving more than 26,000 dead and 30,000 injured.

• 2004 The 9.1–9.3 Indian Ocean earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). One of the largest observed tsunamis, it affected coastal and partially mainland areas of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Indonesia; death toll is estimated at 227,898.

• 2004 Orange Revolution: The final run-off election in Ukraine is held under heavy international scrutiny.

• 2006 Two earthquakes in Hengchun, Taiwan measuring 7.0 and 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale kill two and disrupt telecommunications across Asia.

• 2012 China opens the world's longest high-speed rail route, which links Beijing and Guangzhou.

• 2013 An Irkut-Avia Antonov An-12 crashes on approach to Irkutsk Northwest Airport, killing all nine people on board.

• 2015 A violent EF-4 tornado hits Garland, Texas, killing nine and injuring almost 500 others.

• 2021 Three people are killed when a 14-year-old opens fire on civilians at a Texaco convenience store in Garland, Texas.

• 2025 Israel recognises Somaliland as an independent state, becoming the first country to do so.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1194 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1250)

• 1446 Charles de Valois, Duke de Berry, French noble (died 1472)

• 1526 Rose Lok, businesswoman and Protestant exile (died 1613)

• 1532 Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar and academic (died 1576)

• 1536 Yi I, Korean philosopher and scholar (died 1584)

• 1537 Albert, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (died 1593)

• 1581 Philip III, Landgrave of Hesse-Butzbach (died 1643)

1601–1900

• 1618 Elisabeth of the Palatinate, German princess, philosopher, and Calvinist (died 1680)

• 1628 John Page, English Colonial politician (died 1692)

• 1646 Robert Bolling, English/English Colonial merchant and planter (died 1709)

• 1687 Johann Georg Pisendel, German violinist and composer (died 1755)

• 1716 Thomas Gray, English poet and scholar (died 1771)

• 1716 Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French soldier and philosopher (died 1803)

• 1723 Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German-French author and playwright (died 1807)

• 1737 Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (died 1815)

• 1751 Lord George Gordon, English lieutenant and politician (died 1793)

• 1751 Clemens Maria Hofbauer, Austrian priest, missionary, and saint (died 1820)

• 1769 Ernst Moritz Arndt, German writer and poet (died 1860)

• 1780 Mary Somerville, Scottish mathematician, astronomer, and author (died 1872)

• 1782 Philaret Drozdov, Russian metropolitan and saint (died 1867)

• 1785 Étienne Constantin de Gerlache, Belgian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Belgium (died 1871)

• 1791 Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer, invented the Difference engine (died 1871)

• 1803 Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, Estonian physician and author (died 1882)

• 1819 E. D. E. N. Southworth, American author and educator (died 1899)

• 1820 Dion Boucicault, Irish actor and playwright (died 1890)

• 1837 Morgan Bulkeley, American soldier and politician, 54th governor of Connecticut (died 1922)

• 1837 George Dewey, American admiral (died 1917)

• 1852 Johannes François Snelleman, Dutch zoologist, orientalist, and ethnographer (died 1938)

• 1853 René Bazin, French author and academic (died 1932)

• 1854 José Yves Limantour, Mexican financier and politician, Mexican Secretary of Finance (died 1935)

• 1859 William Stephens, American lawyer and politician, 24th Governor of California (died 1944)

• 1863 Charles Pathé, French record producer, co-founded Pathé Records (died 1957)

• 1864 Yun Chi-ho, Korean activist and politician (died 1945)

• 1867 Phan Bội Châu, Vietnamese activist (died 1940)

• 1869 Mathieu Cordang, Dutch cyclist (died 1942)

• 1870 Virginia Bolten, Argentine feminist and trade unionist (died 1960)

• 1872 Norman Angell, English journalist, academic, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967)

• 1873 Thomas Wass, English cricketer (died 1953)

• 1874 Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, Bangladeshi theologian and academic (died 1965)

• 1883 Maurice Utrillo, French painter (died 1955)

• 1885 Bazoline Estelle Usher, African-American educator (died 1992)

• 1887 Arthur Percival, English general (died 1966)

• 1888 Marius Canard, French orientalist and historian (died 1982)

• 1889 Ragnhild Kaarbø, Norwegian painter (died 1949)

• 1890 Konstantinos Georgakopoulos, Greek lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (died 1973)

• 1890 Percy Hodge, English runner (died 1967)

• 1891 Henry Miller, American author and painter (died 1980)

• 1892 Don Barclay, American actor and illustrator (died 1975)

• 1893 Mao Zedong, Chinese politician, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (died 1976)

• 1894 Jean Toomer, American author and poet (died 1967)

• 1900 Evelyn Bark, leading member of the British Red Cross, first female recipient of the CMG (died 1993)

1901–present

• 1901 Elmar Muuk, Estonian linguist and author (died 1941)

• 1902 Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian painter and sculptor (died 1980)

• 1903 Elisha Cook, Jr., American actor (died 1995)

• 1904 Alejo Carpentier, Swiss-Cuban musicologist and author (died 1980)

• 1905 William Loeb III, American publisher (died 1981)

• 1907 Albert Gore, Sr., American lawyer and politician (died 1998)

• 1908 Ralph Hill, American runner (died 1994)

• 1909 Matt Gordy, American pole vaulter (died 1989)

• 1910 Imperio Argentina, Argentine-Spanish actress and singer (died 2003)

• 1910 Marguerite Churchill, American actress (died 2000)

• 1912 Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (died 1962)

• 1913 Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (died 1958)

• 1914 Richard Widmark, American actor (died 2008)

• 1915 Rolf Botvid, Swedish actor and screenwriter (died 1998)

• 1918 Olga Lopes-Seale, Guyanese-Barbadian singer and radio host (died 2011)

• 1918 Georgios Rallis, Greek lieutenant and politician, 173rd Prime Minister of Greece (died 2006)

• 1921 Steve Allen, American actor, singer, talk show host, and screenwriter (died 2000)

• 1921 John Severin, American illustrator (died 2012)

• 1922 Richard Mayes, English actor (died 2006)

• 1923 Richard Artschwager, American painter, illustrator, and sculptor (died 2013)

• 1924 Frank Broyles, American football player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2017)

• 1926 Earle Brown, American composer (died 2002)

• 1927 Denis Gifford, English journalist and historian (died 2000)

• 1927 Alan King, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2004)

• 1927 Stu Miller, American baseball player (died 2015)

• 1927 Denis Quilley, English actor (died 2003)

• 1928 Martin Cooper, American engineer, invented the mobile phone

• 1929 Kathleen Crowley, American actress (died 2017)

• 1929 Régine Zylberberg, Belgian-French singer and actress (died 2022)

• 1930 Jean Ferrat, French singer-songwriter and poet (died 2010)

• 1930 Harry Gamble, American football player, coach, and manager (died 2014)

• 1930 Donald Moffat, English-American actor (died 2018)

• 1933 Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer and voice actor (died 2019)

• 1935 Rohan Kanhai, Guyanese cricketer

• 1935 Norm Ullman, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1936 Kitty Dukakis, American author, First Lady of Massachusetts (died 2025)

• 1936 Peep Jänes, Estonian architect

• 1936 Trevor Taylor, English race car driver (died 2010)

• 1937 John Horton Conway, English mathematician, known for Conway's Game of Life (died 2020)

• 1938 Bahram Beyzai, Iranian director, screenwriter, and playwright (died 2025)

• 1938 Robert Hamerton-Kelly, South African-American pastor, scholar, and author (died 2013)

• 1938 Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1989)

• 1938 Mirko Kovač, Yugoslav-Croatian author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2013)

• 1939 Fred Schepisi, Australian director and screenwriter

• 1939 Phil Spector, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2021)

• 1940 Edward C. Prescott, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022)

• 1940 Ray Sadecki, American baseball player (died 2014)

• 1941 Daniel Schmid, Swiss actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2006)

• 1942 Vinicio Cerezo, Guatemalan politician, 28th President of Guatemala

• 1942 Catherine Coulter, American author

• 1942 Gray Davis, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of California

• 1944 William Ayers, American academic and activist

• 1945 John Walsh, American television host, producer, and activist, created America's Most Wanted

• 1946 Alan Frumin, American lawyer and politician

• 1946 Tiit Rosenberg, Estonian historian and academic

• 1947 James T. Conway, American general

• 1947 Jean Echenoz, French author

• 1947 Carlton Fisk, American baseball player

• 1947 Josef Janíček, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and keyboard player

• 1947 Liz Lochhead, Scottish poet and playwright

• 1947 Richard Levis McCormick, American historian and academic

• 1948 Candy Crowley, American journalist

• 1949 José Ramos-Horta, East Timorese lawyer and politician, 2nd President of East Timor, Nobel Prize laureate

• 1950 Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Pakistani businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Pakistan

• 1950 Mario Mendoza, Mexican baseball player and manager

• 1953 Leonel Fernández, Dominican lawyer and politician, 51st President of the Dominican Republic

• 1953 Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Swedish-Estonian journalist and politician, 4th President of Estonia

• 1953 Makis Katsavakis, Greek footballer and manager

• 1953 Henning Schmitz, German drummer

• 1954 Peter Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and philanthropist

• 1954 Ozzie Smith, American baseball player and sportscaster

• 1955 Evan Bayh, American lawyer and politician, 46th Governor of Indiana

• 1956 David Sedaris, American comedian, author, and radio host

• 1957 Dermot Murnaghan, English-Northern Irish journalist and game show host (died 2026)

• 1958 Adrian Newey, English aerodynamicist and engineer

• 1959 Wang Lijun, Chinese police officer and politician

• 1959 Kōji Morimoto, Japanese animator and director

• 1959 Hans Nielsen, Danish motorcycle racer

• 1960 Keith Martin Ball, American mathematician and academic

• 1960 Ruud Kaiser, Dutch footballer and manager

• 1960 Cem Uzan, Turkish businessman and politician

• 1961 Andrew Lock, Australian mountaineer

• 1962 James Kottak, American drummer (died 2024)

• 1962 Mark Starr, English wrestler (died 2013)

• 1963 Craig Teitzel, Australian rugby league player

• 1963 Lars Ulrich, Danish-American drummer, songwriter, and producer

• 1964 Elizabeth Kostova, American author

• 1966 Jay Farrar, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1966 Tim Legler, American basketball player and sportscaster

• 1968 Matt Zoller Seitz, American film critic and author

• 1969 Isaac Viciosa, Spanish runner

• 1970 James Mercer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1971 Jared Leto, American actor and musician

• 1971 Mika Nurmela, Finnish footballer

• 1971 Tatiana Sorokko, Russian-American model and journalist

• 1972 Gaby Colebunders, Belgian politician

• 1972 Esteban Fuertes, Argentinian footballer

• 1972 Robert Muchamore, English author

• 1973 Paulo Frederico Benevenute, Brazilian footballer

• 1973 Gianluca Faliva, Italian rugby player

• 1973 Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Japanese baseball player

• 1973 Steve Prescott, English rugby player (died 2013)

• 1974 Joshua John Miller, American actor, director, and screenwriter

• 1975 Chris Calaguio, Filipino basketball player

• 1975 Marcelo Ríos, Chilean tennis player

• 1975 María Vasco, Spanish race walker

• 1976 Simon Goodwin, Australian footballer and coach

• 1977 Fatih Akyel, Turkish footballer and manager

• 1977 Adrienn Hegedűs, Hungarian tennis player

• 1978 Karel Rüütli, Estonian lawyer and politician

• 1978 Kaoru Sugayama, Japanese volleyball player

• 1979 Fabián Carini, Uruguayan footballer

• 1979 Chris Daughtry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1979 Dimitry Vassiliev, Russian ski jumper

• 1979 Craig Wing, Australian rugby player

• 1980 Todd Dunivant, American soccer player

• 1980 Ceylan Ertem, Turkish singer

• 1981 Pablo Canavosio, Argentine-Italian rugby player

• 1981 Omar Infante, Venezuelan baseball player

• 1982 Kenneth Darby, American football player

• 1982 Noel Hunt, Irish footballer

• 1982 Aksel Lund Svindal, Norwegian skier

• 1983 Jeroen Soete, Belgian politician

• 1983 Yu Takahashi, Japanese singer-songwriter

• 1983 Alexander Wang, American fashion designer

• 1984 Ahmed Barusso, Ghanaian footballer

• 1984 Leonardo Ghiraldini, Italian rugby player

• 1984 Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker

• 1985 Damir Markota, Croatian basketball player

• 1986 Joe Alexander, American-Israeli basketball player

• 1986 Kit Harington, English actor

• 1986 Hugo Lloris, French footballer

• 1986 Selen Soyder, Turkish actress and beauty queen

• 1987 Oskar Osala, Finnish ice hockey player

• 1989 Yohan Blake, Jamaican sprinter

• 1989 Sofiane Feghouli, Algerian footballer

• 1989 Tomáš Kundrátek, Czech ice hockey player

• 1990 Denis Cheryshev, Russian footballer

• 1990 Cory Jefferson, American basketball player

• 1990 Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer

• 1991 Brandon Scherff, American football player

• 1991 Eden Sher, American actress

• 1991 Trevor Siemian, American football player

• 1992 Cecilia Costa Melgar, Chilean tennis player

• 1992 Jade Thirlwall, English singer

• 1994 Colby Cave, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2020)

• 1994 Souleymane Coulibaly, Ivorian footballer

• 1997 Tamara Zidanšek, Slovenian tennis player

• 2001 Aleksej Pokuševski, Serbian basketball player

• 2002 Josh Wilson-Esbrand, English footballer

• 2004 Leo Carlsson, Swedish ice hockey player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 268 Dionysius, pope of the Catholic Church

• 418 Zosimus, pope of the Catholic Church

• 831 Euthymius of Sardis, Byzantine bishop and saint (born 754)

• 865 Zheng, empress of the Tang Dynasty

• 893 Masrur al-Balkhi, Abbasid general

• 1006 Gao Qiong, Chinese general (born 935)

• 1191 Reginald Fitz Jocelin, archbishop-elect of Canterbury

• 1302 Valdemar, king of Sweden (born 1239)

• 1331 Philip I, Prince of Taranto, titular Latin Emperor (born 1278)

• 1350 Jean de Marigny, French archbishop

• 1352 John, 3rd Earl of Kent, English politician (born 1330)

• 1360 Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent, English commander (born 1314)

• 1413 Michele Steno, doge of Venice (born 1331)

• 1441 Niccolò III d'Este, marquess of Ferrara

• 1458 Arthur III, duke of Brittany (born 1393)

• 1476 Galeazzo Maria Sforza, duke of Milan (born 1444)

• 1530 Babur, Mughal emperor (born 1483)

• 1574 Charles de Lorraine, French cardinal (born 1524)

1601–1900

• 1646 Henri de Bourbon, prince of Condé (born 1588)

• 1731 Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French author (born 1672)

• 1771 Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher and activist (born 1715)

• 1780 John Fothergill, English physician and botanist (born 1712)

• 1784 Seth Warner, American colonel (born 1743)

• 1786 Gasparo Gozzi, Italian playwright and critic (born 1713)

• 1863 Francis Caulfeild, 2nd Earl of Charlemont, Irish politician, Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone (born 1775)

• 1869 Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille, French physician and physiologist (born 1797)

• 1890 Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist, businessman and author (born 1822)

1901–present

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

• 1909 Frederic Remington, American painter and illustrator (born 1861)

• 1923 Dietrich Eckart, German journalist, poet, and politician (born 1868)

• 1925 Jan Letzel, Czech architect, designed the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (born 1880)

• 1929 Albert Giraud, Belgian poet (born 1860)

• 1931 Melvil Dewey, American librarian and educator, created the Dewey Decimal Classification (born 1851)

• 1933 Mary Ann Bevan, English nurse who, after developing acromegaly, toured the circus sideshow circuit as "the ugliest woman in the world" (born 1874)

• 1933 Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian journalist and politician (born 1875)

• 1933 Henry Watson Fowler, English lexicographer and educator (born 1858)

• 1959 Jack Tresadern, English footballer and manager (born 1890)

• 1960 Tetsuro Watsuji, Japanese historian and philosopher (born 1889)

• 1963 Gorgeous George, American wrestler (born 1915)

• 1966 Ina Boudier-Bakker, Dutch author (born 1875)

• 1966 Herbert Otto Gille, German general (born 1897)

• 1966 Guillermo Stábile, Argentinian footballer and manager (born 1905)

• 1968 Weegee, Ukrainian-American photographer and journalist (born 1898)

• 1970 Lillian Board, South African-English runner (born 1948)

• 1972 Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (born 1884)

• 1973 Harold B. Lee, American religious leader, 11th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (born 1899)

• 1974 Farid al-Atrash, Syrian-Egyptian singer-songwriter, oud player, and actor (born 1915)

• 1974 Jack Benny, American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, and violinist (born 1894)

• 1974 Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, Scottish admiral (born 1890)

• 1977 Howard Hawks, American director and screenwriter (born 1896)

• 1980 Tony Smith, American sculptor and educator (born 1912)

• 1980 Richard Chase, American cannibalistic serial killer and necrophile (born 1950)

• 1981 Amber Reeves, New Zealand-English author and scholar (born 1887)

• 1981 Suat Hayri Ürgüplü, Turkish politician, Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1903)

• 1981 Savitri, Indian actress, playback singer, dancer, director and producer (born 1936)

• 1983 Hans Liska, Austrian-German artist (born 1907)

• 1986 Elsa Lanchester, English-American actress (born 1902)

• 1987 Dorothy Bliss, American invertebrate zoologist, curator at the American Museum of Natural History (born 1916)

• 1988 Glenn McCarthy, American businessman, founded the Shamrock Hotel (born 1907)

• 1988 Pablo Sorozábal, German-Spanish composer and conductor (born 1897)

• 1989 Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1924)

• 1990 Gene Callahan, American art director and production designer (born 1923)

• 1994 Sylva Koscina, Italian actress (born 1933)

• 1997 Cahit Arf, Turkish mathematician and academic (born 1910)

• 1997 Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek economist and philosopher (born 1922)

• 1998 Ram Swarup, Indian writer on Hindu philosophy and religion (born 1920)

• 1999 Curtis Mayfield, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1942)

• 1999 Shankar Dayal Sharma, Indian academic and politician, 9th President of India (born 1918)

• 2000 Jason Robards, American actor (born 1922)

• 2001 Nigel Hawthorne, English actor (born 1929)

• 2002 Herb Ritts, American photographer and director (born 1952)

• 2002 Armand Zildjian, American businessman, founded the Avedis Zildjian Company (born 1921)

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

• 2004 Jonathan Drummond-Webb, South African surgeon and academic (born 1959)

• 2004 Angus Ogilvy, English businessman (born 1928)

• 2004 Reggie White, American football player and wrestler (born 1961)

Casualties of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami:

• Troy Broadbridge, Australian footballer (born 1980)

• Sigurd Køhn, Norwegian saxophonist and composer (born 1959)

• Mieszko Talarczyk, Polish-Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1974)

• 2005 Muriel Costa-Greenspon, American soprano (born 1937)

• 2005 Ted Ditchburn, English footballer and manager (born 1921)

• 2005 Kerry Packer, Australian publisher and businessman (born 1937)

• 2005 Viacheslav Platonov, Russian volleyball player and coach (born 1939)

• 2005 Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (born 1948)

• 2005 Erich Topp, German commander (born 1914)

• 2006 Gerald Ford, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 38th President of the United States (born 1913)

• 2006 Ivar Formo, Norwegian skier and engineer (born 1951)

• 2006 Munir Niazi, Pakistani poet (born 1923)

• 2009 Felix Wurman, American cellist and composer (born 1958)

• 2010 Salvador Jorge Blanco, 48th President of the Dominican Republic (born 1926)

• 2010 Edward Bhengu, South African activist (born 1934)

• 2010 Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1956)

• 2011 Houston Antwine, American football player (born 1939)

• 2011 Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., Mexican-American actor and producer (born 1940)

• 2011 Sarekoppa Bangarappa, Indian politician, 15th Chief Minister of Karnataka (born 1932)

• 2011 Joe Bodolai, American screenwriter and producer (born 1948)

• 2011 James Rizzi, American painter and illustrator (born 1950)

• 2012 Gerry Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1929)

• 2012 Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (born 1941)

• 2012 Ibrahim Tannous, Lebanese general (born 1929)

• 2013 Paul Blair, American baseball player and coach (born 1944)

• 2013 Marta Eggerth, Hungarian-American actress and singer (born 1912)

• 2014 Stanisław Barańczak, Polish-American poet, critic, and scholar (born 1946)

• 2014 James B. Edwards, American dentist, soldier, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Energy (born 1927)

• 2014 Leo Tindemans, Belgian politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (born 1922)

• 2015 Sidney Mintz, American anthropologist and academic (born 1922)

• 2015 Jim O'Toole, American baseball player (born 1937)

• 2016 Ricky Harris, American comedian, actor (born 1962)

• 2016 George S. Irving, American actor, singer and dancer (born 1922)

• 2017 Irv Weinstein, American broadcaster and television news anchor (born 1930)

• 2020 Brodie Lee, American Professional Wrestler (born 1979)

• 2021 Giacomo Capuzzi, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lodi (born 1929)

• 2021 Paul B. Kidd, Australian author, journalist, and radio show host (born 1945)

• 2021 Karolos Papoulias, Greek politician, President of Greece from 2005 to 2015 (born 1929)

• 2021 Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican bishop, theologian and anti-apartheid and human rights activist (born 1931)

• 2021 Nell Hall Williams, American quilter (born 1933)

• 2021 Edward O. Wilson, American biologist (born 1929)

• 2023 Lukas Enembe, Indonesian politician, Governor of Papua from 2013 to 2023 (born1967)

• 2023 Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist (born 1937)

• 2024 – Richard Parsons, American business executive (born 1948)

• 2024 Manmohan Singh, Indian economist and politician, 13th Prime Minister of India (born 1932)

• 2025 Pate Mustajärvi, Finnish rock singer (born 1956)

Holidays and observances

Boxing Day, except when December 26 is a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, Boxing Day is transferred to December 27 by Royal Proclamation. (Commonwealth of Nations), and its related observances:

• Day of Good Will (South Africa and Namibia)

• Family Day (Vanuatu)

• Thanksgiving (Solomon Islands)

Christian feast day:

• Abadiu of Antinoe (Coptic Church)

• Pope Dionysius

• James the Just (Eastern Orthodox Church)

• Saint Stephen (Western Church)

• Synaxis of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox Church)

• Vicenta María López i Vicuña

• December 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Independence and Unity Day (Slovenia)

• Mauro Hamza Day (Houston, Texas)

• Mummer's Day (Padstow, Cornwall)

Saint Stephen's Day (public holiday in Alsace, Austria, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland), and its related observances:

• Father's Day (Bulgaria)

• The first day of Kwanzaa, celebrated until January 1 (United States)

• The first day of Junkanoo street parade, the second day is on the New Year's Day (The Bahamas)

The second day of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)

• Second day of Christmas (Public holiday in the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia)

• Wren Day (Ireland and the Isle of Man)

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on December 26