Events

Up to 1900 
 563 - Second inauguration of the Hagia Sophia, then a cathedral.
 640 - Pope John IV is elected.
 759 - China: Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu leaves for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di.
 1294 - Pope Boniface VIII is elected, after the resignation of Pope Celestine V.
 1717 - A North Sea Christmas flood kills 11,500 people.
 1726 – Montevideo, the present-day capital city of Uruguay, is founded.
 1777 – James Cook reaches the island of Kiritimati, in present-day Kiribati.
 1811 - HMS Defence and HMS St. George sink in a storm off Denmark.
 1814 - The Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812.
 1818 – The famous Christmas carol Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night), is performed for the first time in Austria.
 1851 - The US Library of Congress burns.
 1865 – The Ku Klux Klan is founded by Confederate veterans.
 1871 - The Opera Aida is first performed in Cairo.

1901  2000 
 1906 - Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast, consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
 1912 - A mining explosion in Hokkaido, Japan, kills 245 miners.
 1913 - In Calumet, Michigan, 73 Christmas party goers die in a stampede after "fire" was falsely yelled.
 1914 – World War I: The Christmas Truce begins.
 1924 – Albania becomes a Republic.
 1929 - An assassination attempt is made on President of Argentina Hipolito Yrigoyen.
 1939 - Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas appeal for peace, after the start of World War II.
 1942 - World War II: French monarchist Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle assassinates Vichy admiral Francois Darlan in Algiers, French Algeria.
 1943 - World War II: Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes Supreme Allied Commander.
 1951 – Libya becomes independent, with Idris I as king.
 1953 – Tangiwai Disaster: After a volcanic eruption (of Mt. Ruapehu) on New Zealand's North Island, a train plunges into the Whangeahu river following a bridge collapse caused by the eruption, killing 153 people.
 1954 – Laos is officially declared independent.
 1964 - Flooding kills thousands of people in Southern India and Sri Lanka.
 1968 – Apollo 8, with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders on board, orbits the moon, and take a spectacular photograph of the Earth.
 1971 - A Lockheed L-188 Electra crashes in the Peruvian rainforest, killing 91 people. The only survivor is then-17-year-old German Juliane Koepcke, who lost both her parents in the crash.
 1972 - Japan Airlines Flight 472, a Douglas DC-8, lands at Juhu Aerodrome, overshooting the runway, instead of landing at nearby Bombay Santa Cruz Airport.
 1973 - The District of Columbia Home Rule Act passes, allowing Washington, DC residents to elect their government.
 1974 – Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, killing 71 people.
 1979 – The first European-made rocket Ariane is launched from French Guiana.
 1994 - Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked by terrorists on the ground; Over the course of three days, three passengers and four terrorists are killed.
 1997 - The Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria kills between 50 and 100 people.
 2000 - The Texas Seven hold up a sports store in Irving, Texas.

From 2001 
 2003 – Spanish police stop an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kilogrammes of explosives at Madrid's Chamartin Station.
 2005 – Chad declares that it is in a state of war with Sudan, though denies that it has declared war.
 2008 – The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
 2013 - Queen Elizabeth II issues an official pardon to the mathematician Alan Turing (who had died in 1954). Turing was convicted of homosexuality at a time when it was illegal in the UK.
 2017 - Alberto Fujimori, former President of Peru, is pardoned for reasons relating to his ill health.
 2017 - Guatemala announces that, like the United States, it plans to move its Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Births

Up to 1800 
 3 BC – Galba, Roman Emperor (d. 69)
 1166 – King John of England (d. 1216)
 1389 – John VI, Duke of Brittany (d. 1442)
 1475 - Thomas Murner, German poet and translator (d. 1537)
 1508 - Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (d. 1567)
 1588 – Constance of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1631)
 1597 - Honoré II, Prince of Monaco (d. 1662)
 1625 - Johann Rudolf Ahle, German composer, organist and theorist (d. 1673)
 1635 - Mariana of Austria (d. 1696)
 1679 - Domenico Sarro, Italian composer (d. 1744)
 1698 - William Warburton, English bishop (d. 1779)
 1724 - Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician (d. 1811)
 1737 - Silas Deane, American politician (d. 1789)
 1745 – Benjamin Rush, American physician and founding father (d. 1813)
 1754 – George Crabbe, British poet and naturalist (d. 1832)
 1761 - Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer (d. 1831)
 1762 – Selim III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1808)
 1784 - Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1803)
 1786 - Gregor MacGregor, Scottish soldier, adventurer and trickster (d. 1845)
 1787 - Prince William of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1867)
 1796 - Fernan Caballero, Spanish writer (d. 1877)
 1798 – Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet (d. 1855)

1801  1900 
 1809 – Kit Carson, American frontiersman (d. 1868)
 1810 – Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter (d. 1873)
 1818 – James Prescott Joule, British physicist (d. 1889)
 1819 - Antonio de Trueba, Spanish writer (d. 1889)
 1821 - Gabriel Garcia Moreno, President of Ecuador (d. 1875)
 1837 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria (d. 1898)
 1837 - Cosima Wagner, wife of Richard Wagner (d. 1930)
 1843 – Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (d. 1886)
 1845 – King George I of Greece (d. 1913)
 1854 - Jose Maria Reina Barrios, President of Guatemala (d. 1898)
 1863 - Enrique Fernandez Arbos, Spanish composer (d. 1959)
 1867 - Suzuki Kantaro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
 1868 – Emanuel Lasker, German chess player (d. 1941)
 1886 - Richard Teichmann, German chess player (d. 1925)
 1869 - Henriette Roland-Holst, Dutch poet (d. 1952)
 1872 - Adam Gunn, American athlete (d. 1935)
 1872 - Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (d. 1927)
 1879 – Queen Alexandrine of Denmark (d. 1952)
 1881 – Juan Ramon Jimenez, Spanish writer (d. 1958)
 1882 - Hans Rebane, Estonian politician, diplomat and journalist (d. 1961)
 1887 - Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (d. 1951)
 1888 - Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American movie director (d. 1962)
 1892 - Ruth Chatterton, American actress, novelist and author (d. 1961)
 1893 - Harry Warren, American composer and lyricist (d. 1981)
 1894 - Georges Guynemer, French pilot (d. 1917)
 1896 – Jens Oliver Lisberg, Faroese law student and designer of the flag of the Faroe Islands (d. 1920)
 1897 - Koto Okubo, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2013)
 1898 – Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1967)
 1900 - Joey Smallwood, 1st Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991)

1901  1950 
 1903 – Joseph Cornell, American artist and filmmaker (d. 1972)
 1904 – Joseph M. Juran, Romanian-born American engineer (d. 2008)
 1905 – Howard Hughes, American movie producer and inventor (d. 1976)
 1906 – Joseph Höffner, German cardinal (d. 1987)
 1907 – I. F. Stone, American journalist (d. 1989)
 1907 – John Cody, American cardinal and Archbishop of Chicago (d. 1983)
 1910 – Max Miedinger, Swiss typeface designer (d. 1980)
 1914 – Ralph Marterie, Italian-American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1978)
 1914 – Herbert Reinecker, German writer (d. 2007)
 1917 – Kim Jong-suk, North Korean figure, mother of Kim Jong-Il (d. 1949)
 1919 – Pierre Soulages, French artist
 1920 – Franco Lucentini, Italian author and screenwriter (d. 2002)
 1922 – Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)
 1923 – George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
 1924 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (d. 1980)
 1924 – Lee Dorsey, American singer (d. 1986)
 1924 – Abdirizak Haji Hussein, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (d. 2014)
 1926 - Ronald Draper, South African cricketer
 1927 – Mary Higgins Clark, American writer (d. 2020)
 1928 – Manfred Rommel, German politician (d. 2013)
 1929 – Lennart Skoglund, Swedish footballer (d. 1975)
 1931 – Walter Abish, American author
 1931 – Lech Trzeciakowski, Polish historian (d. 2017)
 1931 – Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer (d. 2008)
 1934 – Stjepan Mesic, former President of Croatia
 1937 – Félix Miéli Venerando, Brazilian footballer (d. 2012)
 1940 – Anthony Fauci, American Physician and Director of NIAID
 1941 – Hans Eichel, German politician
 1941 – Andrzej Suski, Polish Roman Catholic bishop
 1943 – Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland
 1944 – Woody Shaw, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1989)
 1944 – Daniel Johnson, Jr., 25th Premier of Quebec
 1945 – Lemmy, British singer and musician (Motorhead) (d. 2015)
 1946 – Jeff Sessions, American politician, 84th United States Attorney General
 1948 – Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player
 1948 – Edwige Fenech, Italian actress
 1949 – Randy Neugebauer, American politician

1951  1975 
 1954 - Gregory S. Paul, American author, illustrator and paleontologist
 1954 - Jose Maria Figueres, former President of Costa Rica
 1955 - Grand L. Bush, American actor
 1956 - Irene Khan, Bangladeshi lawyer (Amnesty International)
 1957 – Hamid Karzai, former President of Afghanistan
 1958 - Lyse Doucet, Canadian journalist and BBC News correspondent
 1958 - Philippa Whitford, Scottish politician
 1959 – Anil Kapoor, Indian actor
 1959 - Keith Deller, English darts player
 1960 - Glenn McQueen, Canadian-American animator (d. 2002)
 1960 - Carol Vorderman, English television host
 1961 – Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan
 1961 - Wade Williams, American actor
 1962 - David Cobb, American lawyer and politician
 1962 - Darren Wharton, English musician
 1963 - Caroline Aherne, English comedienne and actress (d. 2016)
 1963 - Mary Ramsey, American singer-songwriter
 1966 - Diedrich Bader, American actor
 1967 - Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker
 1967 - Pernilla Wahlgren, Swedish singer and actress
 1968 - Choi Jin-sil, South Korean actress (d. 2008)
 1969 – Ed Miliband, British politician
 1969 - Mark Millar, British historian
 1970 - Amaury Nolasco, Puerto Rican actor
 1971 – Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer
 1972 - Richard Dutruel, French footballer
 1973 - Matt Passmore, Australian actor
 1973 – Stephenie Meyer, American writer
 1973 – Eddie Pope, American footballer
 1974 – Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer
 1974 – Ryan Seacrest, American television host
 1974 - Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor

From 1976 
 1978 – Yildiray Basturk, Turkish footballer
 1978 - Souleymane Diawara, Senegalese footballer
 1979 - Svetlana Pospelova, Russian athlete
 1979 – Chris Hero, American professional wrestler
 1980 – Stephen Appiah, Ghanaian footballer
 1981 – Dima Bilan, Russian singer
 1981 – Nneka, Nigerian singer
 1982 – Aiba Masaki, Japanese singer and actor
 1982 - Robert Schwartzman, American singer
 1984 - Austin Stowell, American actor
 1985 - Christina Schwanitz, German shot putter
 1986 - Ana Brenda Contreras, Mexican-American actress and singer
 1986 - Theodor Gebre Selassie, Czech footballer
 1986 - Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukrainian basketball player
 1986 - Riyo Mori, Japanese model
 1986 - Satomi Ishihara, Japanese actress
 1987 - Jane Summersett, American ice dancer
 1988 - Simon Zenke, Nigerian footballer
 1991 - Louis Tomlinson, English singer (One Direction)
 1992 – Melissa Suffield, English actress
 1993 - Mariya Nishiuchi, Japanese model, actress and singer
 1993 - Yuya Kubo, Japanese footballer
 2000 - Ethan Bortnick, American singer-songwriter, pianist and actor

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 1257 - John I, Count of Hainault (b. 1218)
 1524 – Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer (b. 1469)
 1660 – Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1631)
 1813 – Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1740)
 1863 – William Makepeace Thackeray, British writer (b. 1811)
 1865 - Charles Lock Eastlake, English painter (b. 1793)
 1868 - Adolphe d'Archiac, French paleontologist and geologist (b. 1802)
 1869 - Edwin M. Stanton, American politician (b. 1815)
 1872 - William John Macquorn Rankine, Scottish physician and engineer (b. 1820)
 1873 – Johns Hopkins, American philanthropist and benefactor (b. 1795)
 1889 - Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch clergyman and poet (b. 1819)
 1893 - Robert Bentley, British botanist (b. 1821)
 1898 - Charbel Makhluf, Lebanese monk and priest (b. 1828)

1901  2000 
 1914 – John Muir, Scottish-American naturalist and conservationist (b. 1838)
 1920 - Stephen Mosher Wood, American politician (b. 1832)
 1926 - Wesley Coe, American athlete (b. 1879)
 1930 - Eduard David, German politician (b. 1863)
 1934 - George W. P. Hunt, American politician, 1st Governor of Arizona (b. 1859)
 1935 - Alban Berg, Austrian composer (b. 1885)
 1938 - Bruno Taut, German architect (b. 1880)
 1941 - Siegfried Alkan, German composer (b. 1858)
 1942 - François Darlan, Prime Minister of France (b. 1881)
 1947 - Charles Gondouin, French rugby player (b. 1875)
 1957 – Norma Talmadge, American actress (b. 1894)
 1962 - Wilhelm Ackermann, German mathematician (b. 1896)
 1967 - Burt Baskin, American businessman (b. 1913)
 1971 - Maria Koepcke, German-Peruvian ornithologist (b. 1924)
 1973 – Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Indian businessman, social activist, and politician (b. 1973) 
 1977 - Juan Velasco Alvarado, Peruvian politician and military (b. 1910)
 1979 – Rudi Dutschke, German sociologist and student leader (b. 1940)
 1980 – Karl Dönitz, German admiral (b. 1890)
 1980 - Siggie Nordstrom, American actress and singer (b. 1893)
 1982 - Louis Aragon, French writer (b. 1897)
 1984 – Peter Lawford, British actor (b. 1923)
 1985 - Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, American lawyer (b. 1904)
 1987 - M. G. Ramachandran, Indian actor, producer and author (b. 1917)
 1987 – Joop den Uyl, Dutch politician (b. 1919)
 1990 - Thorbjorn Egner, Norwegian author (b. 1922)
 1992 – Peyo, Belgian comic writer (b. 1928)
 1994 - Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor, singer, director and screenwriter (b. 1916)
 1997 - Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (b. 1920)
 1999 - Maurice Couve de Murville, Prime Minister of France (b. 1907)
 1999 – Joao Figueiredo, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
 2000 - Nick Massi, American singer and musician (b. 1935)

From 2001 
 2002 - Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author (b. 1920)
 2008 – Harold Pinter, British playwright (b. 1930)
 2008 - Samuel P. Huntington, American politician (b. 1927)
 2009 – Rafael Caldera, President of Venezuela (b. 1916)
 2010 – Elisabeth Beresford, British writer (b. 1926)
 2010 – Roy Neuberger, American banker (b. 1903)
 2010 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer (b. 1930)
 2011 – Johannes Heesters, Dutch-born entertainer, actor and singer (b. 1903)
 2012 - Richard Rodney Bennett, British composer (b. 1936)
 2012 - Charles Durning, American actor (b. 1923)
 2012 - Jack Klugman, American actor (b. 1922)
 2013 - Allan McKeown, English-American screenwriter and producer (b. 1946)
 2014 - Krzysztof Krauze, Polish movie director and screenwriter (b. 1953)
 2014 - Buddy DeFranco, American jazz clarinetist (b. 1923)
 2014 - Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer (b. 1944)
 2015 - Ron Jacobs, American basketball coach (b. 1942)
 2016 - Liz Smith, English actress (b. 1921)
 2016 - Richard Adams, English writer (b. 1920)
 2016 - Rick Parfitt, English musician (Status Quo) (b. 1948)
 2016 - Edwin Reinecke, American politician (b. 1924)
 2017 - Jerry Kindall, American baseball player (b. 1935)
 2017 - Heather Menzies, Canadian-American actress and model (b. 1949)
 2017 - Andrey Zaliznyak, Russian linguist (b. 1935)

Observances 
 Christmas Eve (Western Christianity)
 Independence Day (Libya)

Days of the year