Events

Pre-1600

• 536 Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flees the capital.

• 730 Battle of Marj Ardabil: The Khazars annihilate an Umayyad army and kill its commander, al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami.

• 1432 The first battle between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis is fought near the town of Oszmiana (Ashmyany), launching the most active phase of the Lithuanian Civil War.

• 1531 The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.

1601–1900

• 1636 The Qing dynasty of China, led by Emperor Hong Taiji, invades Joseon.

  1775 American Revolutionary War: British troops and Loyalists, misinformed about Patriot militia strength, lose the Battle of Great Bridge, ending British rule in Virginia.

• 1822 French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a memoir read to the Academy of Sciences, coins the terms linear polarization, circular polarization, and elliptical polarization, and reports a direct refraction experiment verifying his theory that optical rotation is a form of birefringence.

• 1824 Patriot forces led by General Antonio José de Sucre defeat a Royalist army in the Battle of Ayacucho, putting an end to the Peruvian War of Independence.

• 1835 Texas Revolution: The Texian Army captures San Antonio following the Siege of Béxar.

• 1851 The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal.

• 1856 The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.

• 1861 American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by Congress.

• 1868 The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.

• 1872 In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African American governor of a U.S. state following the impeachment of Henry C. Warmoth.

• 1893 National Assembly bombing by Auguste Vaillant during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894).

1901–present

• 1905 In France, a law separating church and state is passed.

• 1911 A mine explosion near Briceville, Tennessee, kills 84 miners despite rescue efforts led by the United States Bureau of Mines.

• 1917 World War I: Field Marshal Allenby captures Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire.

• 1917 World War I: The Kingdom of Romania signs the Armistice of Focșani with the Central Powers.

• 1922 Gabriel Narutowicz is elected the first president of Poland.

• 1931 The Constituent Cortes approves a constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic.

• 1935 Student protests occur in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, and are subsequently dispersed by government authorities.

• 1935 Walter Liggett, an American newspaper editor and muckraker, is killed in a gangland murder.

• 1937 Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking: Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Yasuhiko Asaka launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanking.

• 1940 World War II: Operation Compass: British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt.

• 1941 World War II: China, Cuba, Guatemala, and the Philippine Commonwealth declare war on Germany and Japan.

• 1946 The subsequent Nuremberg trials begin with the Doctors' Trial, prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia.

• 1946 The Constituent Assembly of India meets for the first time to write the Constitution of India.

• 1948 The Genocide Convention is adopted.

• 1950 Cold War: Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

• 1953 Red Scare: General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company.

• 1956 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810-9, a Canadair North Star, crashes near Hope, British Columbia, Canada, killing all 62 people on board.

• 1956 An Aeroflot Lisunov Li-2 crashes near Anadyr, killing all 12 people on board.

• 1960 The first episode of Coronation Street, the world's longest-running television soap opera, is broadcast in the United Kingdom.

• 1961 Tanganyika becomes independent from Britain.

• 1965 Kecksburg UFO incident: A fireball is seen from Michigan to Pennsylvania; with witnesses reporting something crashing in the woods near Pittsburgh.

• 1968 Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS).

• 1969 U.S. Secretary of State William P. Rogers proposes his plan for a ceasefire in the War of Attrition; Egypt and Jordan accept it over the objections of the PLO, which leads to civil war in Jordan in September 1970.

• 1971 Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Air Force executes an airdrop of Indian Army units, bypassing Pakistani defences.

• 1973 British and Irish authorities sign the Sunningdale Agreement in an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland.

• 1979 The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first of only two diseases that have been driven to extinction (with rinderpest in 2011 being the other).

• 1987 Israeli–Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

• 1992 American troops land in Somalia for Operation Restore Hope.

• 1996 Gwen Jacob is acquitted of committing an indecent act, giving women the right to be topless in Ontario, Canada.

• 2003 A blast in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds several more.

• 2006 Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-116 carrying the P5 truss segment of the International Space Station.

• 2008 Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

• 2012 A plane crash in Mexico kills seven people including singer Jenni Rivera.

• 2013 At least seven are dead and 63 are injured following a train accident near Bintaro, Indonesia.

• 2016 President Park Geun-hye of South Korea is impeached by the country's National Assembly in response to a major political scandal.

• 2016 At least 57 people are killed and a further 177 injured when two schoolgirl suicide bombers attack a market area in Madagali, Adamawa, Nigeria in the Madagali suicide bombings.

• 2017 The Marriage Amendment Bill receives royal assent and comes into effect, making Australia the 26th country to legalize same-sex marriage.

• 2019 A volcano on Whakaari / White Island, New Zealand, kills 22 people after it erupts.

• 2021 Fifty-five people are killed and more than 100 injured when a truck with 160 migrants from Central America overturned in Chiapas, Mexico.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1392 Peter, Duke of Coimbra (died 1449)

• 1447 Chenghua Emperor of China (died 1487)

• 1482 Frederick II, Elector Palatine (died 1556)

• 1493 Íñigo López de Mendoza, 4th Duke of the Infantado (died 1566)

• 1508 Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (died 1555)

• 1561 Edwin Sandys, English lawyer and politician (died 1629)

• 1571 Metius, Dutch mathematician and astronomer (died 1635)

• 1579 Martin de Porres, Peruvian saint (died 1639)

• 1594 Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (died 1632)

1601–1900

• 1608 John Milton, English poet and philosopher (died 1674)

• 1610 Baldassare Ferri, Italian singer and actor (died 1680)

• 1617 Richard Lovelace, English poet (died 1657)

• 1652 Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician and botanist (died 1723)

• 1667 William Whiston, English mathematician, historian, and theologian (died 1752)

• 1717 Johann Joachim Winckelmann, German archaeologist and historian (died 1768)

• 1721 Peter Pelham, English-American organist and composer (died 1805)

• 1728 Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi, Italian composer (died 1804)

• 1742 Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Swedish Pomeranian and German pharmaceutical chemist (died 1786)

• 1745 Maddalena Laura Sirmen, Italian violinist and composer (died 1818)

• 1748 Claude Louis Berthollet, French chemist and academic (died 1822)

• 1752 Antoine Étienne de Tousard, French general and engineer (died 1813)

• 1768 Joseph Desha, American politician (died 1842)

• 1787 John Dobson, English architect, designed Eldon Square and Lilburn Tower (died 1865)

• 1779 Tabitha Babbitt, American tool maker and inventor (died 1853)

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

• 1813 Thomas Andrews, Irish chemist and physicist (died 1885)

• 1837 Émile Waldteufel, French pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1915)

• 1842 Peter Kropotkin, Russian zoologist, economist, geographer, and philosopher (died 1921)

• 1845 Joel Chandler Harris, American journalist and author (died 1908)

• 1850 Emma Abbott, American soprano and actress (died 1891)

• 1861 Hélène Smith, French psychic and occultist (died 1929)

• 1867 Gregorios Xenopoulos, Greek journalist and author (died 1951)

• 1868 Fritz Haber, Polish-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1934)

• 1870 Ida S. Scudder, Indian physician and missionary (died 1960)

• 1870 Francisco S. Carvajal, Mexican lawyer and politician, president 1914 (died 1932)

• 1871 Joe Kelley, American baseball player and manager (died 1943)

• 1873 George Blewett, Canadian philosopher, author, and academic (died 1912)

• 1875 Harry Miller, American engineer (died 1943)

• 1876 Berton Churchill, Canadian-American actor and singer (died 1940)

• 1882 Elmer Booth, American actor (died 1915)

• 1882 Joaquín Turina, Spanish-French composer, critic, and educator (died 1949)

• 1883 Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician, theorist, and academic (died 1950)

• 1883 Alexander Papagos, Greek general and politician, 152nd Prime Minister of Greece (died 1955)

• 1883 Joseph Pilates, German-American fitness expert, developed Pilates (died 1967)

• 1886 Clarence Birdseye, American businessman, founded Birds Eye (died 1956)

• 1887 Tim Moore, American actor (died 1958)

• 1889 Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish-American runner (died 1966)

• 1890 Laura Salverson, Canadian author (died 1970)

• 1891 Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet and critic (died 1917)

• 1892 André Randall, French actor (died 1974)

• 1895 Dolores Ibárruri, Spanish activist, journalist and politician (died 1989)

• 1895 Conchita Supervía, Spanish soprano and actress (died 1936)

• 1897 Hermione Gingold, English actress and singer (died 1987)

• 1898 Irene Greenwood, Australian radio broadcaster, feminist and peace activist (died 1992)

• 1898 Emmett Kelly, American clown and actor (died 1979)

• 1899 Jean de Brunhoff, French author and illustrator (died 1937)

• 1900 Margaret Brundage, American illustrator, known for illustrating pulp magazine Weird Tales (died 1976)

• 1900 Albert Weisbord, American activist, founded the Communist League of Struggle (died 1977)

1901–present

• 1901 Jean Mermoz, French pilot and politician (died 1936)

• 1901 Ödön von Horváth, Hungarian-German author and playwright (died 1938)

• 1902 Margaret Hamilton, American schoolteacher, actress and voice artist (died 1985)

• 1904 Robert Livingston, American actor and singer (died 1988)

• 1905 Dalton Trumbo, American author, screenwriter, and blacklistee (died 1976)

• 1906 Grace Hopper, American admiral and computer scientist, designed COBOL (died 1992)

• 1906 Freddy Martin, American bandleader and tenor saxophonist (died 1983)

• 1909 Douglas Fairbanks Jr., American captain, actor, and producer (died 2000)

• 1910 Vere Bird, first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda (died 1999)

• 1911 Broderick Crawford, American actor (died 1986)

• 1911 Ryūzō Sejima, Japanese colonel and businessman (died 2007)

• 1912 Tip O'Neill, American lawyer and politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1994)

• 1912 Jim Turnesa, American golfer (died 1971)

• 1914 Max Manus, Norwegian lieutenant (died 1996)

• 1914 Frances Reid, American actress (died 2010)

• 1914 Ljubica Sokić, Serbian painter and illustrator (died 2009)

• 1915 Eloise Jarvis McGraw, American author (died 2000)

• 1915 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-Austrian soprano and actress (died 2006)

• 1916 Jerome Beatty Jr., American soldier, journalist, and author (died 2002)

• 1916 Kirk Douglas, American actor, singer, and producer (died 2020)

• 1916 Colin McCool, Australian cricketer (died 1986)

• 1917 James Jesus Angleton, American CIA agent (died 1987)

• 1917 James Rainwater, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1986)

• 1919 V. Dakshinamoorthy, Indian singer-songwriter (died 2013)

• 1919 William Lipscomb, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011)

• 1920 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Italian economist and politician, 10th President of Italy (died 2016)

• 1920 Bruno Ruffo, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver (died 2007)

• 1922 Redd Foxx, American actor (died 1991)

• 1925 Roy Rubin, American basketball player and coach (died 2013)

• 1926 Henry Way Kendall, American physicist, photographer, and mountaineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1999)

• 1926 Jan Křesadlo, Czech-English psychologist and author (died 1995)

• 1926 David Nathan, British journalist (died 2001)

• 1926 Lorenzo Wright, American sprinter and coach (died 1972)

• 1927 Pierre Henry, French composer (died 2017)

• 1928 Joan Blos, American author and educator (died 2017)

• 1928 André Milhoux, Belgian race car driver

• 1928 Dick Van Patten, American actor (died 2015)

• 1929 John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1989)

• 1929 Bob Hawke, Australian union leader and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (died 2019)

• 1930 Buck Henry, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2020)

• 1930 Óscar Humberto Mejía Víctores, Guatemalan soldier and politician, 27th President of Guatemala (died 2016)

• 1931 Cliff Hagan, American basketball player-coach

• 1931 William Reynolds, American actor (died 2022)

• 1931 Ladislav Smoljak, Czech actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2010)

• 1932 Donald Byrd, American trumpet player and academic (died 2013)

• 1932 Bill Hartack, American jockey (died 2007)

• 1932 Billy Edd Wheeler, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and playwright (died 2024)

• 1933 Ashleigh Brilliant, English-American author and illustrator (died 2025)

• 1933 Milt Campbell, American decathlete and football player (died 2012)

• 1933 Morton Downey Jr., American actor and talk show host (died 2001)

• 1933 Orville Moody, American golfer (died 2008)

• 1934 Judi Dench, English actress

• 1934 Alan Ridout, English composer and teacher (died 1996)

• 1934 Junior Wells, American blues singer-songwriter and harmonica player (died 1998)

• 1935 David Houston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1993)

• 1938 Deacon Jones, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (died 2013)

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

• 1940 Clancy Eccles, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (died 2005)

• 1941 Mehmet Ali Birand, Turkish journalist and author (died 2013)

• 1941 Beau Bridges, American actor, director, and producer

• 1941 Dan Hicks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2016)

• 1942 Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer and manager (died 1997)

• 1942 Dick Butkus, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (died 2023)

• 1942 Germain Gagnon, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2014)

• 1942 Fred Jones, Australian rugby league player (died 2021)

• 1942 Joe McGinniss, American journalist and author (died 2014)

• 1942 William Turnage, American conservationist (died 2017)

• 1943 Pit Martin, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2008)

• 1943 Joanna Trollope, English author, playwright, and director (died 2025)

• 1943 Kenny Vance, American singer-songwriter and music producer

• 1944 Neil Innes, English singer-songwriter (died 2019)

• 1944 Ki Longfellow, American author, playwright, and producer (died 2022)

• 1944 Bob O'Connor, American businessman and politician, 57th Mayor of Pittsburgh (died 2006)

• 1945 Michael Nouri, American actor

• 1946 David Currie, Baron Currie of Marylebone, English economist and academic

• 1946 Dennis Dunaway, American bass player and songwriter

• 1946 Sonia Gandhi, Italian-Indian politician

• 1946 Nicholas Reade, English bishop

• 1947 Tom Daschle, American soldier, academic, and politician

• 1947 Jaak Jõerüüt, Estonian politician, 24th Estonian Minister of Defense

• 1947 Allan Jones, English cricketer and umpire

• 1948 Marleen Gorris, Dutch director and screenwriter

• 1948 Jonathan Sumption, English historian, author, and judge

• 1949 Tom Kite, American golfer and architect

• 1950 Joan Armatrading, Kittian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1952 Liaqat Baloch, Pakistani politician

• 1952 Michael Dorn, American actor and voice artist

• 1953 Cornelis de Bondt, Dutch composer and educator

• 1953 World B. Free, American basketball player

• 1953 John Malkovich, American actor and producer

• 1954 Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourger lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Luxembourg

• 1954 Henk ten Cate, Dutch footballer and manager

• 1955 Otis Birdsong, American basketball player and radio host

• 1955 Chamras Saewataporn, Thai singer-songwriter

• 1956 Sylvia, American country singer-songwriter

• 1956 Jean-Pierre Thiollet, French journalist and author

• 1957 Peter O'Mara, Australian guitarist and composer

• 1957 Donny Osmond, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor

• 1957 Steve Taylor, American singer-songwriter and producer

• 1959 Susan Bullock, English soprano

• 1959 Mario Cantone, American comedian, actor, and writer

• 1960 Stefen Fangmeier, American visual effects designer and director

• 1960 Caroline Lucas, English activist and politician

• 1960 Dobroslav Paraga, Croatian politician

• 1960 Juan Samuel, Dominican baseball player and manager

• 1961 David Anthony Higgins, American actor and screenwriter

• 1961 Joe Lando, American actor

• 1962 Felicity Huffman, American actress and producer

• 1962 Roxanne Swentzell, Santa Clara Pueblo (Native American) ceramic sculptor

• 1963 Dave Hilton Jr., Canadian boxer

• 1963 Empress Masako, Japanese consort of Emperor Naruhito

• 1964 Michael Foster, American drummer

• 1964 Ross Harrington, Australian rugby league player

• 1964 Hape Kerkeling, German actor and singer

• 1964 Johannes B. Kerner, German journalist and sportscaster

• 1964 Les Kiss, Australian rugby league player

• 1964 Paul Landers, German guitarist

• 1965 Joe Ausanio, American baseball player and coach

• 1966 Kirsten Gillibrand, American lawyer and politician

• 1966 Dave Harold, English snooker player

• 1966 Gideon Sa'ar, Israeli lawyer and politician, 24th Israeli Minister of Internal Affairs

• 1966 Martin Taylor, English footballer and coach

• 1967 Joshua Bell, American violinist and conductor

• 1967 Jason Dozzell, English footballer and manager

• 1968 Kurt Angle, American freestyle and professional wrestler

• 1968 Brian Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1968 Brent Price, American basketball player

• 1969 Jakob Dylan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1969 Saskia Garel, Jamaican-Canadian singer-songwriter

• 1969 Lori Greiner, American businesswoman and television personality

• 1969 Annick Lambrecht, Belgian politician

• 1969 Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer

• 1969 Raphaël Rouquier, French mathematician and academic

• 1969 Allison Smith, American actress

• 1970 Kara DioGuardi, American singer-songwriter and producer

• 1970 Lance Krall, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1971 Geoff Barrow, English drummer, DJ, composer, and producer

• 1971 Aleksandra Gajewska, Polish theatre director, actress, and politician

• 1971 Nick Hysong, American pole vaulter and coach

• 1971 Petr Nedvěd, Czech-Canadian ice hockey player

• 1972 Reiko Aylesworth, American actress

• 1972 Tré Cool, German-American drummer and songwriter

• 1972 Michael Corcoran, American singer-songwriter and producer

• 1972 Fabrice Santoro, Tahitian-French tennis player and sportscaster

• 1972 Saima Wazed, Bangladeshi psychologist

• 1973 Stacey Abrams, American politician and activist

• 1973 Fabio Artico, Italian footballer

• 1973 Vénuste Niyongabo, Burundian runner

• 1973 Bárbara Padilla, Mexican-American soprano

• 1974 David Akers, American football player

• 1974 Canibus, Jamaican-American rapper

• 1974 Aloísio da Silva Filho, Brazilian footballer

• 1974 Wendy Dillinger, American soccer player, coach, and manager

• 1974 Fiona MacDonald, Scottish curler

• 1976 Mona Hanna-Attisha, American pediatrician, professor, and public health advocate

• 1977 Shayne Graham, American football player

• 1977 Imogen Heap, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player

• 1978 Gastón Gaudio, Argentinian tennis player

• 1978 Jesse Metcalfe, American actor and musician

• 1979 Olivia Lufkin, Japanese-American singer-songwriter

• 1979 Stephen McPhail, Irish footballer

• 1979 Aiko Uemura, Japanese skier

• 1980 Simon Helberg, American actor, comedian, and musician

• 1980 Ryder Hesjedal, Canadian cyclist

• 1980 Mark Riddell, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster

• 1981 Mardy Fish, American tennis player

• 1982 Tamilla Abassova, Russian cyclist

• 1982 Nathalie De Vos, Belgian runner

• 1982 Ryan Grant, American football player

• 1982 Jim Slater, American ice hockey player

• 1982 Bastian Swillims, German sprinter

• 1983 Jermaine Beckford, English-Jamaican footballer

• 1983 Neslihan Demir Darnel, Turkish volleyball player

• 1983 Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer

• 1983 Jolene Purdy, American actress

• 1984 Ángel Guirado, Spanish–Filipino footballer

• 1984 Leon Hall, American football player

• 1985 Wil Besseling, Dutch golfer

• 1986 Aron Baynes, Australian basketball player

• 1987 Kostas Giannoulis, Greek footballer

• 1987 Gerald Henderson Jr., American basketball player

• 1987 Mat Latos, American baseball player

• 1987 Hikaru Nakamura, Japanese-American chess player

• 1987 Jeff Petry, American ice hockey player

• 1987 Joshua Sasse, English actor

• 1988 Kwadwo Asamoah, Ghanaian footballer

• 1989 Eric Bledsoe, American basketball player

• 1990 Ashleigh Brewer, Australian actress

• 1990 SungWon Cho, American YouTuber and actor

• 1990 Denise Hannema, Dutch cricketer

• 1991 Langston Galloway, American basketball player

• 1991 Choi Min-ho, South Korean singer and actor

• 1993 Cem Ince, German politician

• 1993 Mark McMorris, Canadian snowboarder

• 1993 Laura Smulders, Dutch cyclist

• 1994 Ryan Lomberg, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1995 Simone Fontecchio, Italian basketball player

• 1995 McKayla Maroney, American gymnast

• 1995 Kelly Oubre Jr., American basketball player

• 1996 Mackenzie Blackwood, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1996 Kyle Connor, American ice hockey player

• 1996 MyKayla Skinner, American gymnast

• 1996 AleXa, American singer based in South Korea

• 1997 Harvey Barnes, English footballer

• 2000 Diāna Ņikitina, Latvian figure skater

• 2003 Yuna, South Korean rapper, singer and dancer

• 2005 Ni-Ki, Japanese singer

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 638 Sergius I of Constantinople

• 730 Al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah, Arab general

• 748 Nasr ibn Sayyar, Umayyad general and politician (born 663)

• 933 Li Congrong, prince of Later Tang

• 1117 Gertrude of Brunswick, Markgräfin of Meißen

• 1165 Malcolm IV of Scotland (born 1141)

• 1242 Richard le Gras, Lord Keeper of England and Abbot of Evesham

• 1268 Vaišvilkas, Prince of Black Ruthenia, Grand Duke of Lithuania

• 1299 Bohemond I, Archbishop of Trier

• 1437 Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1368)

• 1544 Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (born 1491)

• 1565 Pope Pius IV (born 1499)

1601–1900

• 1603 William Watson, English priest (born 1559)

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

• 1636 Fabian Birkowski, Polish preacher and author (born 1566)

• 1641 Anthony van Dyck, Belgian-English painter and illustrator (born 1599)

• 1669 Pope Clement IX (born 1600)

• 1674 Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English historian and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1609)

• 1706 Peter II of Portugal (born 1648)

• 1718 Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian monk and cartographer (born 1650)

• 1761 Tarabai, Queen of Chatrapati Rajaram (born 1675)

• 1793 Yolande de Polastron, French-Austrian educator (born 1749)

• 1798 Johann Reinhold Forster, German pastor, botanist, and ornithologist (born 1729)

• 1830 Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher, Danish surgeon, botanist, and academic (born 1757)

• 1851 William Thornhill, English army officer (born 1768)

• 1854 Almeida Garrett, Portuguese journalist and author (born 1799)

• 1858 Robert Baldwin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada West (born 1804)

• 1887 Mahmadu Lamine, Senegalese religious leader

1901–present

• 1906 Ferdinand Brunetière, French author and critic (born 1849)

• 1907 Eva Nansen, Norwegian mezzo-soprano singer and pioneer on women skiing (born 1858)

• 1916 Natsume Sōseki, Japanese author and poet (born 1867)

• 1924 Bernard Zweers, Dutch composer and educator (born 1854)

• 1930 Rube Foster, American baseball player and manager (born 1879)

• 1932 Karl Blossfeldt, German photographer, sculptor, and educator (born 1865)

• 1932 Begum Rokeya, Bangladeshi social worker and author (born 1880)

• 1935 Walter Liggett, American journalist and activist (born 1886)

• 1937 Lilias Armstrong, English phonetician (born 1882)

• 1937 Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869)

• 1941 Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Russian author, poet, and philosopher (born 1865)

• 1943 Georges Dufrénoy, French painter (born 1870)

• 1944 Laird Cregar, American actor (born 1913)

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

• 1957 Ali İhsan Sâbis, Turkish general (born 1882)

• 1963 Daniel O. Fagunwa, Nigerian author and educator (born 1903)

• 1963 Perry Miller, American historian, author, and academic (born 1905)

• 1964 Edith Sitwell, English poet and critic (born 1887)

• 1965 Branch Rickey, American baseball player and manager (born 1884)

• 1967 Charles Léon Hammes, Luxembourgish lawyer and judge, 3rd President of the European Court of Justice (born 1898)

• 1968 Enoch L. Johnson, American mob boss (born 1883)

• 1970 Artem Mikoyan, Armenian-Russian engineer and businessman, co-founded the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau (born 1905)

• 1970 Feroz Khan Noon, Pakistani politician, 7th Prime Minister of Pakistan (born 1893)

• 1971 Ralph Bunche, American political scientist, academic, and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904)

• 1971 Sergey Konenkov, Russian sculptor and painter (born 1874)

• 1971 Rev. Aeneas Francon Williams, Church of Scotland Minister, Missionary in India and China, writer and poet (born 1886)

• 1972 Louella Parsons, American writer and columnist (born 1881)

• 1975 William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1896)

• 1979 Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop (born 1895)

• 1982 Leon Jaworski, American lawyer and politician (born 1905)

• 1982 Marguerite Henry, Australian zoologist (born 1895)

• 1991 Berenice Abbott, American photographer (born 1898)

• 1992 Vincent Gardenia, American actor (born 1922)

• 1993 Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish footballer and manager (born 1926)

• 1995 Toni Cade Bambara, American author and academic (born 1939)

• 1995 Douglas Corrigan, American pilot (born 1907)

• 1996 Patty Donahue, American singer-songwriter (born 1956)

• 1996 Mary Leakey, English archaeologist and anthropologist (born 1913)

• 1996 Alain Poher, French lawyer and politician (born 1909)

• 1996 Diana Morgan, Welsh playwright and screenwriter (born 1908)

• 1998 Shaughnessy Cohen, Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1948)

• 1998 Archie Moore, American boxer and actor (born 1913)

• 2001 Michael Carver, Baron Carver, English field marshal (born 1915)

• 2002 Mary Hansen, Australian singer and guitarist (born 1966)

• 2002 Ian Hornak, American painter and sculptor (born 1944)

• 2002 Stan Rice, American painter and poet (born 1942)

• 2003 Norm Sloan, American basketball player and coach (born 1926)

• 2003 Paul Simon, American soldier, journalist, and politician, 39th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (born 1928)

• 2005 György Sándor, Hungarian-American pianist and educator (born 1912)

• 2005 Robert Sheckley, American author (born 1928)

• 2006 Georgia Gibbs, American singer (born 1919)

• 2007 Rafael Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver (born 1981)

• 2007 Gordon Zahn, American sociologist, author, and academic (born 1918)

• 2008 Ibrahim Dossey, Ghanaian footballer (born 1972)

• 2008 Yury Glazkov, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (born 1939)

• 2009 Gene Barry, American actor (born 1919)

• 2010 James Moody, American saxophonist, flute player, and composer (born 1925)

• 2010 Dov Shilansky, Lithuanian-Israeli lawyer and politician, 10th Speaker of the Knesset (born 1924)

• 2012 Béla Nagy Abodi, Hungarian painter and academic (born 1918)

• 2012 Patrick Moore, English lieutenant, astronomer, and educator (born 1923)

• 2012 Alex Moulton, English engineer and businessman, founded the Moulton Bicycle Company (born 1920)

• 2012 Jenni Rivera, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (born 1969)

• 2012 Charles Rosen, American pianist and musicologist (born 1927)

• 2012 Riccardo Schicchi, Italian director and producer, co-founded Diva Futura (born 1953)

• 2012 Norman Joseph Woodland, American inventor, co-created the bar code (born 1921)

• 2013 Hristu Cândroveanu, Romanian editor, literary critic and writer (born 1928)

• 2013 John Gabbert, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (born 1909)

• 2013 Barbara Hesse-Bukowska, Polish pianist and educator (born 1930)

• 2013 Eleanor Parker, American actress (born 1922)

• 2013 John Wilbur, American football player (born 1943)

• 2014 Sacvan Bercovitch, Canadian-American author, critic, and academic (born 1933)

• 2014 Jane Freilicher, American painter and poet (born 1924)

• 2014 Jorge María Mejía, Argentinian cardinal (born 1923)

• 2014 Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress, Miss America 1959 (born 1937)

• 2014 Blagoje Paunović, Serbian footballer and manager (born 1947)

• 2014 Jože Toporišič, Slovenian linguist and author (born 1926)

• 2015 Soshana Afroyim, Austrian painter (born 1927)

• 2015 Norman Breslow, American statistician and academic (born 1941)

• 2015 Juvenal Juvêncio, Brazilian lawyer and politician (born 1934)

• 2015 Julio Terrazas Sandoval, Bolivian cardinal (born 1936)

• 2021 Speedy Duncan, American football player (born 1942)

• 2021 Demaryius Thomas, American football player (born 1987)

• 2022 Jovit Baldivino, Filipino singer and actor (born 1993)

• 2024 Nikki Giovanni, American poet, writer and activist (born 1943)

Holidays and observances

• Anna's Day, marks the day to start the preparation process of the lutefisk to be consumed on Christmas Eve, as well as a Swedish name day, celebrating all people named Anna. (Sweden and Finland)

• Armed Forces Day (Peru)

Christian feast day:

• Feast of the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by St. Anne (Eastern Orthodox Church)

• Hannah (biblical figure) (Eastern Orthodox Church)

• Juan Diego

• Leocadia

• Nectarius of Auvergne

• Peter Fourier

• December 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Fatherland's Heroes Day (Russia)

• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tanganyika from Britain in 1961. (Tanzania)

• International Anti-Corruption Day (United Nations)

• National Heroes Day, formerly V.C. Bird Day. (Antigua and Barbuda)

• Navy Day (Sri Lanka)

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on December 9