Events

Up to 1900 
 3114 BC  The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilisations, notably the Maya, begins, ending either on December 21 or 23, 2012.
 106  The Southwestern part of Dacia (modern Romania) becomes a Roman province, Roman Dacia.
 117  Hadrian becomes Roman Emperor, following Trajan's death.
 355  Claudius Silvanus proclaims himself Roman Emperor.
 490  Battle of Adda: The Goths under Theodoric the Great and his ally Alaric II defeat the forces of Odoacer on the Adda River near Milan.
 1332  The Battle of Dupplin Moor takes place during the Scottish Wars of Independence.
 1677  A large part of the city of Rostock is destroyed by fire.
 1711  The first horse race is held at Ascot, England.
 1718  A British fleet attacks a Spanish fleet in the Naval Battle of Cape Passero.
 1786  Captain Francis Light establishes a British colony at Penang, Malaysia.
 1804  Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor takes the title of Emperor of Austria.
 1812  Peninsular War: French troops engage in battle with British-Portuguese forces in the Battle of Majadahonda.
 1813  In Colombia, Juan de Corral declares the independence of Antioquia.
 1858  The Eiger in the Swiss Alps is first climbed by Charles Barrington, accompanied by Christian Almer and Peter Bohlen.
 1863  Cambodia becomes a French protectorate.
 1867  Das Kapital, by Karl Marx, goes on sale in Hamburg.
 1898  Spanish-American War: American troops enter the city of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

1901  2000 
 1901  The first German Antarctic expedition, led by Erich von Drygalski, leaves Kiel.
 1904  Battle of Waterberg in present-day Namibia: In a battle with German colonial troops, 30,000 Herero and Nama people are killed.
 1914  World War I: France declares war on Austria-Hungary.
 1918  World War I: The Battle of Amiens ends.
 1919  The Constitution of Germany's Weimar Republic is adopted.
 1920  End of the Latvian War of Independence
 1929  Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs, at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.
 1934  The first civilian prisoners arrive at the Federal Prison at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
 1942  Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a frequency hopping, spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi.
 1952  Hussein of Jordan is proclaimed king.
 1959  Sheremetyevo International Airport opens near Moscow.
 1960  Chad declares independence from France.
 1961  The former Portuguese territories of India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged into the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, as part of the Republic of India.
 1962  Vostok 3 launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome and Andrian Nikolayev becomes the first person to float in microgravity. 
 1965  Race riots begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California.
 1968  The last steam train runs on British railways.
 1972  Vietnam War: The last US ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.
 1979  A dam break in Morvi, Gujarat, India, following heavy rain, kills between 2,000 and 5,000 people.
 1982  A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, between Tokyo and Honolulu, killing one person, and injuring 15.
 1983  Rio Abiseo National Park is created in Peru.
 1984  'We begin bombing in five minutes': Ronald Reagan jokes while preparing for a weekly radio address while running for re-election as US President.
 1986  Ove Joensen completes his rowing journey from the Faroe Islands to Copenhagen.
 1987  Alan Greenspan becomes Chairman of the US Federal Reserve.
 1988  Al-Qaeda is founded.
 1999  A total Solar eclipse is seen over much of Europe and Asia. It is the last solar eclipse of the 2nd millennium.

From 2001 
 2003  A heatwave in Paris, France kills an estimated 144 people, with temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius.
 2003  President of Liberia Charles Taylor flees into exile in Nigeria.
 2003  Jemaah Islamiyah leader Ridyan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.
 2006  Filipino oil tanker Solar 1 sinks at the island of Guimaras, leading to an oil spill.
 2012  Two earthquakes of a magnitude over 6, followed by several aftershocks, strike the area around Tabriz, in northwestern Iran.
 2014  American actor and comedian Robin Williams is found dead at his home in California, having committed suicide. He was 63 years old.
 2017  A train collision near Alexandria, Egypt, kills at least 41 people.

Births

Up to 1900 
1086  Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1125)
1379  Yolande of Aragon (d. 1442)
1467  Mary of York, English princess (d. 1482)
1667  Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Italian princess (d. 1743)
1673  Richard Mead, English physician (d. 1754)
1706  Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis (d. 1756)
1718  Sir Frederick Haldimand, professional soldier (d. 1891)
1772  Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill, British general (d. 1842)
1778  Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, German teacher (d. 1852)
1794  James Barton Longacre, engraver and designer of United States Indian Head cent (d. 1869)
1801  Eduard Devrient, German baritone (d. 1877)
1807  David Rice Atchison, American politician (d. 1886)
1808  William W. Chapman, American politician (d. 1892)
1816  Frederick Innes, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1882)
1823  Charlotte Mary Yonge, British writer (d. 1901)
1824  Martin Gropius, German architect (d. 1880)
1825  István Türr, Hungarian soldier, architect and engineer (d. 1908)
1833  Robert G. Ingersoll, American political leader and orator, atheist, American Civil War Colonel (d. 1899)
1833  Kido Takayoshi, Japanese politician, leading figure of the Meiji restoration (d. 1877)
1837  Marie François Sadi Carnot, French statesman (d. 1894)
1858  Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch doctor, won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering vitamins (d. 1930)
1864  Duarte Leite, Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1950)
1865  Gifford Pinchot, American politician and environmentalist (d. 1946)
1870  Tom Richardson, English cricketer (d. 1912).
1872  Kijuro Shidehara, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1951)
1879  Frieda von Richthofen, German writer (d. 1956)
1882  Kimon Georgiev, 24th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (d. 1969)
1882  Rodolfo Graziani, Italian general and politician (d. 1955)
1889  Arturo Martini, Italian sculptor (d. 1947)
1891  Stancho Belkovski, Bulgarian architect and lecturer (d. 1962)
1892  Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese novelist (d. 1962)
1892  Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet (d. 1978)
1897  Enid Blyton, English writer (d. 1968)
1897  Louise Bogan, American poet (d. 1970)
1898  Peter Mohr Dam, 3rd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1968)
1900  Alexander Mosolov, Russian composer (d. 1973)

1901 - 1950 
1902  Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (d. 1986)
1902  Lloyd Nolan, actor (d. 1982)
1905  Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (d. 2002)
1905  Kurt Gerstein, German SS officer (d. 1945)
1911  Thanom Kittikachorn, Thai general and politician (d. 2004)
1912  Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, astronomer (d. 1954)
1913  Angus Wilson, British novelist (d. 1991)
1913  Paul Dupuis, French Canadian actor (d. 1976)
1913  Bob Scheffing, American baseball player and manager (d. 1985)
1914  Hugh Martin, American songwriter (d. 2011)
1915  Morris Weiss, American comic book artist and writer (d. 2014)
1917  Dik Browne, American cartoonist (d. 1989)
1917  Ilse Scholl, German activist (d. 1998)
1918  Thomas A. Bird, British World War II army officer and architect (d. 2017)
1919  Ginette Neveu, French violinist (d. 1949)
1920  Mike Douglas, American entertainer (d. 2006)
1921  Alex Haley, American historian and novelist (d. 1992)
1923  Stan Chambers, American television reporter (d. 2015)
1925  Floyd Curry, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2006)
1926  Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-born British chemist (d. 2018)
1926  Claus von Bülow, Danish-born socialite (d. 2019)
1927  Raymond Leppard, English conductor
1927  Stuart Rosenberg, American director (d. 2007)
1928  Beniamino Andreatta, Italian economist and politician (d. 2007)
1928  Arlene Dahl, American actress
1929  Alun Hoddinott, Welsh composer (d. 2008)
1932  Fernando Arrabal, Spanish playwright and novelist
1932  Peter Eisenman, American architect
1933  Jerry Falwell, American Christian preacher and politician (d. 2007)
1936  Bill Monbouquette, American baseball player (d. 2015)
1937  Anna Massey, British actress (d. 2011)
1937  Patrick Joseph McGovern, American businessman (d. 2014)
1942  Mike Hugg, British musician
1943  Abigail Folger, American Coffee heiress (d. 1969)
1943  Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general and politician, former President of Pakistan
1943  Jim Kale, Canadian musician
1944  Frederick W. Smith, American businessman
1944  Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
1946  Marilyn vos Savant, American newspaper columnist
1946  Oscar Berger, 34th President of Guatemala
1947  Theo de Jong, Dutch footballer and manager
1948  Don Boyd, Scottish director, producer and screenwriter
1948  Jan Palach, Czech activist (d. 1969)
1949  Ian Charleson, Scottish actor (d. 1990)
1949  Eric Carmen, American singer and guitarist
1950  Erik Brann, American guitarist
1950  Andrei Golovin, Russian composer
1950  Gennidy Nikonov, designer of the AN-94 assault rifle
1950  Steve Wozniak, American personal computer pioneer

1951  1975 
1952  Reid Blackburn, American photographer (d. 1980)
1953  Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea), American professional wrestler
1954  Joe Jackson, British singer
1955  Sylvia Hermon, British politician
1956  Pierre-Louis Lions, French mathematician
1957  Richie Ramone, American musician, drummer with The Ramones
1957  Ian Stuart Donaldson, British musician (d. 1993)
1958  Jah Wobble, British musician
1959  Gustavo Cerati, Argentine singer and musician (d. 2014)
1959  Richard Scudamore, English businessman
1961  Sunil Shetty, Indian actor
1961  Frederick W. Sturckow, American astronaut
1965  Shinji Mikami, Japanese video game designer
1965  Viola Davis, American actress
1965  Marc Bergevin, Canadian ice hockey player and general manager
1965  Robert Fleck, Scottish footballer
1966  Juan María Solare, Argentine music composer and pianist
1966  Nigel Martyn, English footballer
1967  Joe Rogan, comedian and television host
1968  Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau, sister-in-law to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
1968  Sophie Okonedo, British actress
1968  Noordin Mohammad Top, Malaysian terrorist (d. 2009)
1969  Ashley Jensen, Scottish actress
1969  Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, Brazilian marathon runner
1970  Gianluca Pessotto, Italian footballer
1972  Agnes Samaria, Namibian athlete
1972  Jonathon Prandi, American male model
1974  Audrey Mestre, French freediver (d. 2002)
1974  Marie-France Dubreuil, Canadian ice dancer
1974  Anju Jain, Indian cricketer and coach

From 1976 
1976  Iván Córdoba, Colombian footballer
1976  Erick Lindgren, American poker player
1977  Gemma Hayes, Irish musician
1978  Jermain Taylor, American boxer
1978  Chris Kelly, American rapper (Kris Kross) (d. 2013)
1979  Nemanja Vucicevic, Serbian footballer
1980  José Antonio Castro, Mexican footballer
1980  Sébastien Squillaci, French footballer
1980  Lee Suggs, American football player
1981  Sandi Thom, Scottish singer
1983  Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor
1983  Yuriy Krymarenko, Ukrainian high-jumper
1984  Melky Cabrera, Dominican baseball player
1984  Lucas di Grassi, Brazilian racing driver
1986  Kaori Fukihara, Japanese voice actress
1986  Richard Keogh, English-Irish footballer
1986  Pablo Sandoval, Venezuelan baseball player
1987  Dany N'Guessan, French footballer
1988  Patty Mills, Australian basketball player
1990  Nicola Zagame, Australian water polo player
1991  Cristian Tello, Spanish footballer
1992  Bryce Cotton, American basketball player
1992  Tomi Lahren, American conservative political commentator
1992  Gilli Rólantsson, Faroese footballer
1993  Alyson Stoner, American actress
1993  Gita Gutawa, Indonesian singer-songwriter and actress
1993  Sean McGinty, English-Irish footballer
1993  Andre Drummond, American basketball player
1994  Rand Al-Mashhadani, Iraqi competitive shooter

Deaths

Up to 1900 
480 BC  Leonidas, King of Sparta
223  Jia Xu, Chinese politician (b. 147)
353  Magnentius, Roman usurper (b. 303)
449  Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople
897  Wilfred the Hairy, Count of Barcelona
1204  King Guttorm of Norway (b. 1199)
1253  Saint Clare of Assisi, patron saint of television (b. 1193)
1259  Mongke Khan, Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (b. 1208)
1456  Janos Hunyadi, Hungarian regent (b. 1387)
1563  Bartolome de Escobedo, Spanish composer (b. 1500)
1578  Pedro Nunes, Portuguese mathematician (b. 1502)
1656  Ottavio Piccolomini, Austrian-Italian field marshal (b. 1599)
1801  Felix Maria Samaniego, Spanish poet (b. 1745)
1813  Henry James Pye, English poet (b. 1745)
1851  Lorenz Oken, German industrialist (b. 1779)
1854  Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist (b. 1798)
1872  Andrew Smith, Scottish physician, surgeon and zoologist (b. 1797)
1886  Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (b. 1843)
1890  John Henry Newman, English cardinal (b. 1801)
1892  Enrico Betti, Italian mathematician (b. 1813)

1901  2000 
1903  Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican educator and nationalist (b. 1839)
1908  Khudiram Bose, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1889)
1919  Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist, philanthropist (b. 1835)
1936  Blas Infante, Spanish writer and politician (b. 1885)
1937  Edith Wharton, American writer (b. 1862)
1939  Jean Bugatti, Automobile designer (b. 1909)
1953  Tazio Nuvolari, Italian racecar driver (b. 1892)
1955  Robert W. Wood, American experimental physicist (b. 1868)
1956  Jackson Pollock, American artist (b. 1912)
1956  Frieda von Richthofen, German writer (b. 1879)
1972  Max Theiler, South African virologist (b. 1899)
1974  Vicente Emilio Sojo, Venezuelan musicologist and composer (b. 1887)
1975  Rachel Katznelson-Shazar, Israeli politician (b. 1885)
1978  Mario Varglien, Italian footballer (b. 1905)
1980  Paul Robert, French lexicographer and publisher (b. 1910)
1982  Tom Drake, American actor (b. 1918)
1984  Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonia-born German chess player (b. 1916)
1984  Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher (b. 1892)
1986  Heinz Strehl, German footballer (b. 1938)
1988  Alfred Kelbassa, German footballer (b. 1925)
1994  Peter Cushing, British actor (b. 1913)
1996  Rafael Kubelik, conductor and composer (b. 1914)

From 2001 
2003  Diana Mitford, widow of British Fascist leader Oswald Mosley (b. 1910)
2003  Herb Brooks, American ice hockey coach (b. 1937)
2003  Armand Borel, Swiss mathematician (b. 1923)
2006  Mike Douglas, American entertainer (b. 1920)
2008  Fred Sinowatz, former Chancellor of Austria (b. 1929)
2009  Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, and sister of John F. Kennedy (b. 1921)
2011  Jani Lane, American musician (b. 1964)
2013  Henry Polic II, American actor (b. 1945)
2013  Shirley Herz, American publicist (b. 1925)
2013  Jean Bethbo Elshtain, American scholar (b. 1941)
2014  Vladimir Beara, Yugoslavian footballer (b. 1928)
2014  Raymond Gravel, Canadian politician (b. 1952)
2014  Pierre Ryckmans, Belgian-Australian diplomat and author (b. 1935)
2014  Kika Szaszkiewiczowa, Polish artist and writer (b. 1917)
2014  Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (b. 1951)
2015  Nour El-Sherif, Egyptian actor and conspiracy theorist (b. 1946)
2015  Harald Nielsen, Danish footballer (b. 1941)
2016  Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1934)
2017  Abdulhussain Abdulredha, Kuwaiti actor and writer (b. 1939)
2017  Segun Bucknor, Nigerian musician and journalist (b. 1946)
2017  Yisrael Kristal, Polish-Israeli supercentenarian and Holocaust survivor, oldest-living man (b. 1903)
2017  Kent Lee, American Vice Admiral (b. 1923)
2017  Eugenio Polgovsky, Mexican film director (b. 1977)
2018  V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian-British writer (b. 1932)
2018  Fabio Mamerto Rivas Santos, Dominican Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1932)
2018  Morris G. Hallock, American politician (b. 1926)
2019  Bluey Adams, Australian footballer (b. 1935)
2019  Darryl Drake, American football player (b. 1956)
2019  Michael E. Krauss, American linguist (b. 1934)
2019  Ningali Lawford, Australian actress (b. 1967)
2019  Barbara March, Canadian actress (b. 1953)
2019  Walter Martínez, Honduran footballer (b. 1982)

Observances 
 Independence Day in Chad

Days of the year