Events

Pre-1600

• 63 BC Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.

• 633 Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville.

• 1033 The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multiple cities across the Levant, triggers a tsunami and kills many.

• 1082 Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated, most likely by his brother, Berenguer Ramon II.

• 1408 Seeking to resubjugate Muscovy, Emir Edigu of the Golden Horde reaches Moscow, burning areas around the city but failing to take the city itself.

• 1456 The first of two earthquakes measuring 7.2 strikes Italy, causing extreme destruction and killing upwards of 70,000 people.

• 1484 Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.

• 1496 King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of Jews from the country.

• 1560 Ten-year-old Charles IX becomes king of France, with Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici as regent.

• 1578 Sir Francis Drake, after sailing through Strait of Magellan, raids Valparaíso.

1601–1900

• 1649 The town of Raahe () is founded by Count Per Brahe the Younger.

• 1757 Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen: Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine.

• 1766 In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.

• 1770 29th Regiment of Foot privates Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy are found guilty for the manslaughter of Crispus Attucks and Samuel Gray respectively in the Boston Massacre.

• 1775 At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• 1776 Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the U.S., holds its first meeting at the College of William & Mary.

• 1831 Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.

• 1847 Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. Senate.

• 1848 California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.

• 1865 Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.

• 1895 New Haven Symphony Orchestra of Connecticut performs its first concert.

1901–present

• 1914 The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition begins in an attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.

• 1919 Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is suppressed and its participants are executed by the Kontrrazvedka.

• 1921 The Football Association bans women's football in England from league grounds, a ban that stays in place for 50 years.

• 1933 The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, repealing Prohibition in the United States.

• 1934 Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.

• 1935 Mary McLeod Bethune founds the National Council of Negro Women in New York City.

• 1936 The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.

• 1941 World War II: In the Battle of Moscow, Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army.

• 1941 World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.

• 1943 World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.

• 1945 Flight 19, a group of TBF Avengers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle.

• 1952 Beginning of the Great Smog in London. A cold fog combines with air pollution and brings the city to a standstill for four days. Later, a Ministry of Health report estimates 4,000 fatalities as a result of it.

• 1955 The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL–CIO.

• 1955 The Civil Rights Movement: the Montgomery bus boycott begins, led by E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks.

• 1958 Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.

• 1958 The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.)

• 1964 Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.

• 1964 Lloyd J. Old discovers the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.

• 1971 Battle of Gazipur: Pakistani forces are defeated as India cedes Gazipur to Bangladesh.

• 1977 Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen in retaliation to preventing President Anwar el-Sadat from pursuing negotiations with Israel at the Tripoli confer.

• 1983 Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.

• 1991 Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of Ukraine.

• 1994 The Budapest Memorandum is signed at the OSCE conference in Budapest, Hungary.

• 1995 Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lanka's government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.

• 1995 Azerbaijan Airlines Flight A-56 crashes near Nakhchivan International Airport in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, killing 52 people.

• 2001 Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-108, carrying the Expedition 4 crew to the International Space Station.

• 2005 The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.

• 2005 The 6.8 Lake Tanganyika earthquake shakes the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing six people.

• 2006 Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.

• 2007 Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska.

• 2013 Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sanaa, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others.

• 2014 Exploration Flight Test-1, the first flight test of Orion, is launched.

• 2017 The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Births

Pre-1600

• 852 Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor (died 912)

• 1377 Jianwen Emperor of China (died 1402)

• 1389 Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Polish cardinal and statesman (died 1455)

• 1443 Pope Julius II (died 1513)

• 1470 Willibald Pirckheimer, German lawyer and author (died 1530)

• 1495 Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish philologist and lexicographer (died 1542)

• 1537 Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shōgun (died 1597)

• 1539 Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and author (died 1604)

• 1547 Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (died 1625)

• 1556 Anne Cecil, Countess of Oxford, English countess (died 1588)

• 1596 Henry Lawes, English composer (died 1662)

1601–1900

• 1661 Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (died 1724)

• 1666 Francesco Scarlatti, Italian violinist and composer (died 1741)

• 1687 Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (died 1762)

• 1697 Giuseppe de Majo, Italian organist and composer (died 1771)

• 1782 Martin Van Buren, American lawyer and politician, 8th President of the United States (died 1862)

• 1784 George Shepherd, English illustrator and painter (died 1862)

• 1803 Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian poet and diplomat (died 1873)

• 1820 Afanasy Fet, Russian poet and author (died 1892)

• 1822 Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American philosopher and academic, co-founded Radcliffe College (died 1907)

• 1829 Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French-Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Premier of Quebec (died 1908)

• 1830 Christina Rossetti, English poet and author (died 1894)

• 1839 George Armstrong Custer, American general (died 1876)

• 1841 Marcus Daly, Irish-American businessman (died 1900)

• 1849 Eduard Seler, German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, and academic (died 1922)

• 1855 Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist, and ethnographer (died 1942)

• 1859 John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, English admiral and politician, 2nd Governor-General of New Zealand (died 1935)

• 1861 Konstantin Korovin, Russian-French painter and set designer (died 1939)

• 1862 John Henry Leech, English entomologist (died 1900)

• 1863 Paul Painlevé, French mathematician and politician, 84th Prime Minister of France (died 1933)

• 1866 John Beresford, Irish polo player (died 1944)

• 1866 Traian Demetrescu, Romanian poet and author (died 1896)

• 1867 Antti Aarne, Finnish author and academic (died 1925)

• 1867 Józef Piłsudski, Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland (died 1935)

• 1868 Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic (died 1951)

• 1869 Ellis Parker Butler, American author and poet (died 1937)

• 1870 Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator (died 1949)

• 1872 Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player (died 1906)

• 1875 Arthur Currie, Canadian general (died 1933)

• 1879 Clyde Vernon Cessna, American pilot and businessman, founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation (died 1954)

• 1881 René Cresté, French actor and director (died 1922)

• 1886 Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author (died 1968)

• 1886 Pieter Oud, Dutch historian, academic, and politician, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands (died 1968)

• 1886 Nikolai Uglanov, Soviet politician (died 1937)

• 1888 Sabás Reyes Salazar, Mexican Catholic priest (died 1927)

• 1890 David Bomberg, English painter, illustrator, and academic (died 1957)

• 1890 Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1976)

• 1891 Paul Kogerman, Estonian chemist and academic (died 1951)

• 1894 Charles Robberts Swart, South African lawyer and politician, 1st State President of South Africa (died 1982)

• 1895 Elbert Frank Cox, American mathematician and academic (died 1969)

• 1896 Ann Nolan Clark, American historian, author, and educator (died 1995)

• 1896 Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984)

• 1897 Nunnally Johnson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1977)

• 1897 Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli philosopher and historian (died 1982)

• 1898 Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and translator (died 1982)

• 1898 Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (died 1947)

• 1900 Jimmy Dimmock, English footballer (died 1972)

1901–present

• 1901 Walt Disney, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (died 1966)

• 1901 Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist and author (died 1980)

• 1901 Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1976)

• 1902 Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1988)

• 1902 Strom Thurmond, American educator, general, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (died 2003)

• 1903 Johannes Heesters, Dutch-German actor and singer (died 2011)

• 1903 C. F. Powell, English-Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1969)

• 1905 Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state (died 1949)

• 1905 Otto Preminger, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (died 1986)

• 1907 Lin Biao, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (died 1971)

• 1907 Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian-French physicist and academic (died 1993)

• 1910 Abraham Polonsky, American director and screenwriter (died 1999)

• 1911 Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and composer (died 2000)

• 1912 Kate Simon, American travel writer (died 1990)

• 1912 Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (died 1965)

• 1913 Esther Borja, Cuban soprano and actress (died 2013)

• 1913 Bruce Conde, American army officer, mercenary, stamp collector, and royalty claimant (died 1992)

• 1914 Helen Dettweiler, American golfer (died 1990)

• 1914 Hans Hellmut Kirst, German lieutenant and author (died 1989)

• 1916 Hilary Koprowski, Polish-American virologist and immunologist, created the world's first effective live polio vaccine (died 2013)

• 1916 Walt McPherson, American basketball player and coach (died 2013)

• 1917 Ken Downing, English racing driver (died 2004)

• 1919 Alun Gwynne Jones, Baron Chalfont, English historian and politician (died 2020)

• 1921 Alvy Moore, American actor and producer (died 1997)

• 1922 Casey Ribicoff, American philanthropist (died 2011)

• 1922 Don Robertson, American songwriter and pianist (died 2015)

• 1924 Robert Sobukwe, South African banker and politician (died 1978)

• 1925 Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Nicaraguan politician, 73rd President of Nicaragua (died 1980)

• 1926 Adetoun Ogunsheye, first female Nigerian professor and university dean

• 1927 Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand (died 2016)

• 1927 W.D. Amaradeva, Sri Lankan musician and composer (died 2016)

• 1929 Madis Kõiv, Estonian physicist, philosopher, and author (died 2014)

• 1930 Yi-Fu Tuan, Chinese-American geographer (died 2022)

• 1931 Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer and manager (died 2011)

• 1932 Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs, British politician

• 1932 Sheldon Glashow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

• 1932 Jim Hurtubise, American race car driver (died 1989)

• 1932 Nadira, Indian actress (died 2006)

• 1932 Little Richard, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (died 2020)

• 1933 Gennadiy Agapov, Russian race walker (died 1999)

• 1933 Harry Holgate, Australian politician, 36th Premier of Tasmania (died 1997)

• 1934 Joan Didion, American novelist and screenwriter (died 2021)

• 1935 Calvin Trillin, American novelist, humorist, and journalist

• 1935 Yury Vlasov, Ukrainian-Russian weightlifter and politician (died 2021)

• 1936 James Lee Burke, American journalist, author, and academic

• 1938 J. J. Cale, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013)

• 1940 Tony Crafter, Australian cricket umpire

• 1940 Boris Ignatyev, Russian footballer and manager (died 2026)

• 1940 Peter Pohl, Swedish author, director, and screenwriter

• 1940 Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2012)

• 1942 Bryan Murray, Canadian ice hockey coach (died 2017)

• 1943 Eva Joly, Norwegian-French judge and politician

• 1943 Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, South Korean cardinal

• 1944 Jeroen Krabbé, Dutch actor, director, and producer

• 1945 Serge Chapleau, Canadian cartoonist

• 1945 Moshe Katsav, Iranian-Israeli educator and politician, 8th President of Israel

• 1946 José Carreras, Spanish tenor and actor

• 1946 Andy Kim, Canadian pop singer-songwriter

• 1946 Sarel van der Merwe, South African racing driver

• 1947 Rudy Fernandez, Filipino triathlete (died 2022)

• 1947 Bruce Golding, Jamaican lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Jamaica

• 1947 Tony Gregory, Irish activist and politician (died 2009)

• 1947 Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa, Mongolian cosmonaut and military leader

• 1947 Jim Messina, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

• 1947 Jim Plunkett, American football player and radio host

• 1947 Kim Simmonds, Welsh blues-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2022)

• 1947 Don Touhig, Welsh journalist and politician

• 1948 Denise Drysdale, Australian television host and actress

• 1949 John Altman, English composer and conductor

• 1949 David Manning, English civil servant and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States

• 1951 Morgan Brittany, American actress

• 1951 Link Byfield, Canadian journalist and author (died 2015)

• 1951 Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian painter and illustrator

• 1953 Gwen Lister, South African-Namibian journalist, publisher, and activist

• 1954 Hanif Kureishi, English author and playwright

• 1955 Miyuki Kawanaka, Japanese singer

• 1955 Juha Tiainen, Finnish hammer thrower (died 2003)

• 1956 Klaus Allofs, German footballer and manager

• 1956 Butch Lee, Puerto Rican basketball player

• 1956 Adam Thorpe, French-English author, poet, and playwright

• 1956 Krystian Zimerman, Polish virtuoso pianist

• 1957 Raquel Argandoña, Chilean model, actress, and politician

• 1957 Art Monk, American football player

• 1958 Dynamite Kid, English wrestler (died 2018)

• 1959 Lee Chapman, English footballer

• 1959 Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, Ukrainian businessman

• 1960 Frans Adelaar, Dutch footballer and manager

• 1960 Osvaldo Golijov, Argentinian-American composer and educator

• 1960 Jack Russell, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2024)

• 1960 Matthew Taylor, English businessman and politician

• 1961 Ralf Dujmovits, German mountaineer

• 1961 Laura Flanders, British journalist

• 1962 José Cura, Argentinian tenor, conductor, and director

• 1962 Pablo Morales, American swimmer and coach

• 1962 Nivek Ogre, Canadian singer-songwriter

• 1962 Fred Rutten, Dutch footballer and manager

• 1963 Doctor Dré, American television and radio host

• 1963 Carrie Hamilton, American actress and playwright (died 2002)

• 1963 Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer (died 2015)

• 1964 Martin Vinnicombe, Australian cyclist

• 1965 Manish Malhotra, Indian fashion designer

• 1965 John Rzeznik, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

• 1965 Wayne Smith, Jamaican rapper (died 2014)

• 1965 Valeriy Spitsyn, Russian race walker

• 1967 Gary Allan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1968 Margaret Cho, American comedian, actress, producer, and screenwriter

• 1968 Lisa Marie, American model and actress

• 1968 Lydia Millet, American novelist

• 1968 Falilat Ogunkoya, Nigerian sprinter

• 1969 Eric Etebari, American actor, director, and producer

• 1969 Morgan J. Freeman, American director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1969 Sajid Javid, British Pakistani banker and politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer

• 1969 Lewis Pugh, English swimmer and lawyer

• 1969 Ramón Ramírez, Mexican footballer

• 1969 Catherine Tate, English actress, comedian, and writer

• 1970 Kevin Haller, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1970 Michel'le, American singer-songwriter

• 1971 Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, German businessman and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence

• 1971 Ashia Hansen, American-English triple jumper

• 1971 Gabriel Hjertstedt, Swedish golfer

• 1971 Kali Rocha, American actress

• 1972 Cliff Floyd, American baseball player and sportscaster

• 1972 Duane Ross, American hurdler and coach

• 1973 Argo Arbeiter, Estonian footballer

• 1973 Arik Benado, Israeli footballer

• 1973 Mikelangelo Loconte, Italian singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

• 1973 Luboš Motl, Czech physicist and academic

• 1974 Ravish Kumar, Indian journalist and author

• 1974 Brian Lewis, American sprinter

• 1975 Ronnie O'Sullivan, English snooker player and radio host

• 1975 Paula Patton, American actress

• 1976 Amy Acker, American actress

• 1976 Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby player

• 1976 Norishige Kanai, Japanese doctor and astronaut

• 1976 Sachiko Kokubu, Japanese actress and model

• 1976 Rachel Komisarz, American swimmer and coach

• 1977 Peter van der Vlag, Dutch footballer

• 1978 Neil Druckmann, American video game designer and author

• 1978 Olli Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player

• 1978 Marcelo Zalayeta, Uruguayan footballer

• 1979 Matteo Ferrari, Italian footballer

• 1979 Niklas Hagman, Finnish ice hockey player

• 1979 Gareth McAuley, Northern Irish footballer

• 1979 Nick Stahl, American actor

• 1980 Jessica Paré, Canadian actress

• 1981 Adan Canto, Mexican actor (died 2024)

• 1982 Eddy Curry, American basketball player

• 1982 Keri Hilson, American singer-songwriter and actress

• 1982 Gabriel Luna, American actor

• 1983 Joakim Lindström, Swedish ice hockey player

• 1984 Lauren London, American actress

• 1985 Shikhar Dhawan, Indian cricketer

• 1985 André-Pierre Gignac, French footballer

• 1985 Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, Emirati princess

• 1985 Frankie Muniz, American actor, drummer, and race car driver

• 1985 Josh Smith, American basketball player

• 1985 Danny Wicks, Australian rugby league player

• 1986 LeGarrette Blount, American football player

• 1986 James Hinchcliffe, Canadian Indycar racing driver

• 1986 Justin Smoak, American baseball player

• 1987 A. J. Pollock, American baseball player

• 1988 Ross Bagley, American actor

• 1988 Tina Charles, American basketball player

• 1988 Kyle Long, American football player

• 1988 Joanna Rowsell, English cyclist

• 1989 Jurrell Casey, American football player

• 1989 Kwon Yu-ri, South Korean singer-songwriter and actress

• 1990 Montee Ball, American football player

• 1991 Cam Fowler, Canadian-American ice hockey player

• 1991 Christian Yelich, American baseball player

• 1992 Natalie Sourisseau, Canadian field hockey player

• 1993 Ross Barkley, English footballer

• 1993 Luciano Vietto, Argentine footballer

• 1994 Ondrej Duda, Slovak footballer

• 1994 Semi Ojeleye, American basketball player

• 1995 Danny Levi, New Zealand rugby league player

• 1995 Anthony Martial, French footballer

• 1995 Kaetlyn Osmond, Canadian figure skater

• 1995 Levy Rozman, American chess International Master, streamer and YouTuber

• 1995 Alexander Sørloth, Norwegian footballer

• 1997 Maddie Poppe, American singer-songwriter and musician

• 1997 Quinnen Williams, American football player

• 1998 Conan Gray, American singer-songwriter

• 1998 Randal Kolo Muani, French footballer

• 2000 Soobin, South Korean singer-songwriter

• 2008 Ediz Gürel, Turkish chess grandmaster

• 2009 Owen Cooper, English actor

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 63 BC Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, Roman politician (born 114 BC)

• 334 Li Ban, emperor of Cheng Han (born 288)

• 902 Ealhswith, queen consort and wife of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex

• 1082 Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona (born 1053)

• 1212 Dirk van Are, bishop and lord of Utrecht

• 1244 Joan, Countess of Flanders and Hainault (born 1199 or 1200)

• 1355 John III, Duke of Brabant (born 1300)

• 1560 Francis II of France (born 1544)

• 1570 Johan Friis, Danish politician (born 1494)

1601–1900

• 1624 Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist and physician (born 1560)

• 1654 Jean François Sarrazin, French author and poet (born 1611)

• 1663 Severo Bonini, Italian organist and composer (born 1582)

• 1749 Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, Canadian commander and explorer (born 1685)

• 1758 Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (born 1688)

• 1770 James Stirling, Scottish mathematician and surveyor (born 1692)

• 1784 Phillis Wheatley, Senegal-born slave, later American poet (born 1753)

• 1791 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer and musician (born 1756)

• 1819 – Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg, German poet and lawyer (born 1750)

• 1854 Henry Ross, Canadian-Australian gold miner (born 1829)

• 1870 Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright (born 1802)

• 1887 Eliza R. Snow, American poet and songwriter (born 1804)

• 1891 Pedro II of Brazil (born 1825)

1901–present

• 1918 Schalk Willem Burger, South African commander, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of the South African Republic (born 1852)

• 1925 Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1867)

• 1926 Claude Monet, French painter (born 1840)

• 1931 Vachel Lindsay, American poet (born 1879)

• 1933 Alexander Atabekian, Armenian physician and anarchist publisher (born 1869)

• 1940 Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist and composer (born 1880)

• 1941 Amrita Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Pakistani painter (born 1913)

• 1942 Jock Delves Broughton, English captain (born 1883)

• 1946 Louis Dewis, Belgian-French painter and educator (born 1872)

• 1951 Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (born 1887)

• 1951 Abanindranath Tagore, Indian painter, author, and academic (born 1871)

• 1953 William Sterling Parsons, American admiral (born 1901)

• 1955 Glenn L. Martin, American pilot and businessman, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company (born 1886)

• 1961 Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman (born 1878)

• 1963 Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer and educator (born 1905)

• 1963 Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan (born 1892)

• 1964 V. Veerasingam, Sri Lankan educator and politician (born 1892)

• 1965 Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, neuroscientist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate (born 1874)

• 1968 Fred Clark, American actor (born 1914)

• 1969 Claude Dornier, German engineer and businessman, founded Dornier Flugzeugwerke (born 1884)

• 1969 Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip of the United Kingdom (born 1885)

• 1973 Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented the radar (born 1892)

• 1975 Constance McLaughlin Green, American historian and author (born 1897)

• 1977 Katherine Milhous, American author and illustrator (born 1894)

• 1977 Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (born 1895)

• 1979 Jesse Pearson, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (born 1930)

• 1983 Robert Aldrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1918)

• 1984 Cecil M. Harden, American politician (born 1894)

• 1986 Edward Youde, Welsh-Chinese sinologist and diplomat, 26th Governor of Hong Kong (born 1924)

• 1989 John Pritchard, English conductor and director (born 1921)

• 1990 Alfonso A. Ossorio, Filipino-American painter and sculptor (born 1916)

• 1991 Richard Speck, American mass murderer (born 1941)

• 1994 Harry Horner, Czech-American director, producer, and production designer (born 1910)

• 1995 L. B. Cole, American illustrator and publisher (born 1918)

• 1995 Charles Evans, English mountaineer, surgeon, and educator (born 1918)

• 1995 Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and playwright (born 1920)

• 1995 Clair Cameron Patterson, American scientist (born 1922)

• 1997 Eugen Cicero, Romanian-German jazz pianist (born 1940)

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

• 2001 Franco Rasetti, Italian-American physicist and academic (born 1901)

• 2002 Roone Arledge, American sportscaster and producer (born 1931)

• 2002 Ne Win, Burmese general and politician, 4th President of Burma (born 1911)

• 2005 Edward L. Masry, American lawyer and politician (born 1932)

• 2006 David Bronstein, Ukrainian-Belarusian chess player and theoretician (born 1924)

• 2007 Andrew Imbrie, American composer and academic (born 1921)

• 2007 George Paraskevaides, Greek-Cypriot businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Joannou & Paraskevaides (born 1916)

• 2007 Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer and academic (born 1928)

• 2008 Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (born 1929)

• 2008 George Brecht, American chemist and composer (born 1926)

• 2008 Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (born 1924)

• 2008 Beverly Garland, American actress and businesswoman (born 1926)

• 2008 Anca Parghel, Romanian singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1957)

• 2009 William Lederer, American soldier and author (born 1912)

• 2010 Alan Armer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)

• 2010 Don Meredith, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (born 1938)

• 2011 Peter Gethin, English racing driver (born 1940)

• 2011 Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer and manager (born 1942)

• 2012 Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (born 1920)

• 2012 Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (born 1909)

• 2012 Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and Cathedral of Brasília (born 1907)

• 2012 Ignatius IV of Antioch, Syrian patriarch (born 1920)

• 2013 Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (born 1917)

• 2013 William B. Edmondson, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Africa (born 1927)

• 2013 Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)

• 2014 Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (born 1931)

• 2014 Fabiola, Queen of Belgium (born 1928)

• 2014 Talât Sait Halman, Turkish poet, translator, and historian (born 1931)

• 2014 Jackie Healy-Rae, Irish hurdler and politician (born 1931)

• 2014 Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian and author (born 1909)

• 2015 Vic Eliason, American clergyman and radio host, founded VCY America (born 1936)

• 2015 Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1929)

• 2015 Chuck Williams, American businessman and author, founded Williams Sonoma (born 1915)

• 2016 Tyruss Himes ("Big Syke"), American rapper (born 1968)

• 2016 J. Jayalalithaa, Indian actress and Former Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (born 1948)

• 2017 Michael I of Romania, fifth and last king of Romania (born 1921)

• 2017 August Ames, Canadian American pornographic actress (born 1994)

• 2019 Robert Walker, American actor (born 1940)

• 2020 Peter Alliss, English professional golfer (born 1931)

• 2021 Bob Dole, American politician (born 1923)

• 2022 Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer (born 1951)

• 2023 Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer (born 1922)

• 2024 Jacques Roubaud, French poet, writer, and mathematician (born 1932)

• 2025 Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect and designer (b. 1929)

• 2025 Michael Annett, American Former NASCAR Driver (b. 1986)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

• Clement of Alexandria (Episcopal Church)

• Crispina of Numidia

• Dalmatius of Pavia

• John Almond

• Justinian of Ramsey Island

• Nicetius (Nizier)

• Pelinus of Brindisi

• Sabbas the Sanctified

• December 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Children's Day (Suriname)

• Day of Military Honour - Battle of Moscow (Russia)

• Discovery Day (Haiti and Dominican Republic)

• International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development

• Klozum (Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands)

Saint Nicholas' Eve (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Poland and the UK)

• Krampusnacht (Austria)

• The King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Birthday (Thailand)

• World Soil Day

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on December 5