Events

Up to 1900 
 25 - Louyang is declared capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
 176 - Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank of 'Imperator'.
 511 - The Kingdom of the Franks is divided between Theodoric I, Chlodomer I, Childebert I and Chlothar I.
 1095 - Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade.
 1703 - The Great Storm of 1703 affecting Great Britain destroys the first Eddystone Lighthouse.
 1727 - The foundation stone is laid for Jerusalem's Church of Berlin.
 1807 - Portugal's Royal Family leaves Lisbon to escape from Napoleonic troops.
 1815 – Adoption of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland.
 1830 - Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to  Saint Catherine Labouré in Paris, originating the creation of the sacred medal which came to be known as the Miraculous Medal.  
 1839 - The American Statistical Association is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.
 1856 - Coup of 1856 in Luxembourg.
 1863 - American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio Penitentiary Prison and return safely to the South.
 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Mine Run.
 1886 – German judge Emil Hartwich suffers fatal injuries in a duel. The incident becomes the background for Theodor Fontane's novel Effi Briest.
 1895 – Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, leading to the establishment of the Nobel Prizes.

1901  2000 
 1901 - The United States Army War College is created.
 1912 – Spain declares a protectorate over the north shore of Morocco.
 1924 – In New York City the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.
 1934 - Bank robber Baby Face Nelson is killed in a shoot-out with the FBI.
 1940 - World War II: Members of the Fascist Iron Guard kill 60 allies of King Carol II of Romania, and dissidents.
 1942 - World War II: At Toulon, the French navy destroys its ships and submarines to protect them from German attack.
 1944 - The RAF Fauld Explosion at a Royal Air Force dump in Staffordshire, England, kills 70 people.
 1945 - A magnitude 8.2 earthquake in Iran kills 4,000 people.
 1954 - Alger Hiss is released  from prison after serving 44 months for perjury.
 1957 – Cold War: Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament.
 1963 - A Trans-Canada Douglas DC-8 crashes in Montreal, killing all 118 people on board.
 1968 - Penny Ann Early becomes the first woman to play major professional basketball.
 1971 - The Soviet space program's Mars 2 orbiter lands on the planet Mars.
 1973 – The United States Senate votes 92 to 3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (on December 6, the House confirmed him 387 to 35).
 1975 – Guinness Book of World Records co-founder Ross McWhirter is shot dead by members of the Provisional IRA.
 1978 – The Mayor of San Francisco George Moscone and his supervisor Harvey Milk are killed by former supervisor Dan White.
 1978 – The Kurdish PKK terror group is founded in Riha (Urfa), Turkey.
 1983 – Avianca Flight 011, a Boeing 747, crashes near Madrid Barajas Airport, killing 181 people.
 1989 – Avianca Flight 203, a Boeing 727, explodes over Colombia, killing all 107 on board and 3 people on the ground. The Medellin drug Cartel claims responsibility.
 1990 – The British Conservative Party chooses John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
 1990 – Appenzell Innerrhoden becomes the last Canton in Switzerland to give women the right to vote.
 1991 – The United Nations Security Council adopts UN Security Council Resolution 721, leading the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia.
 1992 - For the second time in a year, military forces try to overthrow President Carlos Andrés Pérez of Venezuela.
 1997 - 25 people are killed in the second Souhane Massacre in Algeria.
 1999 – Helen Clark becomes the first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand's history.

From 2001 
 2001 - A hydrogen atmosphere is discovered on the extrasolar planet Osinis by the Hubble Space Telescope.
 2001 - Anders Fogh Rasmussen becomes Prime Minister of Denmark.
 2005 – The first partial human face transplant is successfully completed in Amiens, France.
 2006 – The Canadian House of Commons endorses Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motion to declare Quebec a nation within a unified Canada.
 2009 – A passenger train is derailed by a bomb between Moscow and St. Petersburg, killing 28 people.
 2011 - Wales national football team manager Gary Speed commits suicide, aged 42.
 2014 - Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes dies aged 25, as a result of being hit on the neck by a ball two days earlier.
 2018 - Ukraine declares martial law after an armed incident in which the Russian Federal Security Service coast guard fired on and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels attempting to cross from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait.
 2019 - A crackdown on protesters in Iraq results in at least 24 deaths.

Births

Up to 1850 
 1127 – Emperor Xiaozong of Song, Emperor of China (d. 1194)
 1380 - King Ferdinand I of Aragon (d. 1416)
 1576 - Shimazu Tadatsune, Japanese daimyo (d. 1638)
 1582 – Pierre Dupuy, French scholar (d. 1651)
 1630 - Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Austria (d. 1665)
 1684 – Tokugawa Yoshimune, 8th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate (d. 1781)
 1701 – Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer, creator of the Celsius temperature scale (d. 1744)
 1715 – Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost, German physician and theologian (d. 1794)
 1746 – Robert Livingston, American politician and businessman (d. 1813)
 1746 - Increase Sumner, 5th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1799)
 1754 – Georg Forster, German scientist (d. 1794)
 1779 - Aimé, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, French general and politician (d. 1865)
 1804 - Julius Benedict, German-English conductor and composer (d. 1885)
 1809 - Fanny Kemble, English actress, playwright and poet (d. 1893)
 1831 – Gustav Radde, German geographer and naturalist (d. 1903)
 1833 - Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge (d. 1897)
 1843 – Elizabeth Stride, victim of Jack the Ripper (d. 1888)

1851  1900 
 1854 - Louis de Geer, 17th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1935)
 1857 – Charles Scott Sherrington, English doctor, won the 1932 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1952)
 1865 - Janez Evangelist Krek, Slovenian journalist and politician (d. 1917)
 1867 – Charles Koechlin, French composer (d. 1950)
 1870 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, 7th President of Finland (d. 1956)
 1871 - Giovanni Giorgi, Italian physicist (d. 1950)
 1874 – Chaim Weizmann, first President of Israel (d. 1952)
 1876 – Viktor Kaplan, Austrian engineer (d. 1934)
 1878 - Charles Dvorak, American pole vaulter (d. 1969)
 1884 - Vasile Voiculescu, Romanian poet (d. 1963)
 1885 - Liviu Rebreanu, Romanian author and playwright (d. 1944)
 1887 - Masaharu Homma, Japanese general (d. 1946)
 1888 - Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Indian politician, 1st Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 1956)
 1891 - Pedro Salinas, Spanish writer (d. 1951)
 1892 - Prince Oleg Konstantinovich of Russia (d. 1914)
 1894 – Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese industrialist (d. 1989)
 1894 - Katherine Milhous, American illustrator and author (d. 1977)
 1894 - Amphilochius of Pochayiv, Ukrainian monk and saint (d. 1971)
 1896 - Prince Sigismund of Prussia (d. 1978)
 1897 - Vito Genovese, Italian-American mobster (d. 1969)

1901  1950 
 1903 – Lars Onsager, Norwegian chemist (d. 1976)
 1908 - Tameo Ide, Japanese footballer (d. 1998)
 1909 - James Agee, American author and screenwriter (d. 1955)
 1909 - Anatoly Maltsev, Russian mathematician (d. 1967)
 1911 - David Merrick, American theatre producer (d. 2000)
 1912 - Connie Sawyer, American actress (d. 2018)
 1917 - Buffalo Bob Smith, American television host (d. 1998)
 1918 - Borys Paton, Ukrainian engineer and scientist
 1920 – Abe Lenstra, Dutch footballer (d. 1985)
 1920 – Buster Merryfield, English actor (d. 1999)
 1921 – Alexander Dubcek, Czechoslovakian politician (d. 1992)
 1923 – Juvenal Amarijo, Brazilian footballer (d. 2009)
 1925 – Ernie Wise, English comedian (d. 1999)
 1927 - William E. Simon, 63rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2000)
 1929 - Arnold Clark, Scottish businessman (d. 2017)
 1932 – Benigno Aquino, Jr., Filipino politician (d. 1983)
 1934 - Al Jackson, Jr., American drummer, songwriter and producer (d. 1975)
 1934 - Gilbert Strong, American mathematician
 1935 - Les Blank, American director and producer (d. 2013)
 1935 - Daniel Charles, French philosopher (d. 2008)
 1936 - Joel Barcellos, Brazilian actor (d. 2018)
 1937 - Rodney Bewes, English actor (d. 2017)
 1938 - Apolo Nsibambi, former Prime Minister of Uganda (d. 2019)
 1939 - Dave Giusti, American baseball player
 1939 – Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (d. 2001)
 1940 – Bruce Lee, Chinese-American actor and martial arts expert (d. 1973)
 1941 – Aimé Jacquet, French footballer and coach
 1941 - Louis van Dijk, Dutch pianist
 1942 – Jimi Hendrix, American guitarist (d. 1970)
 1942 - Henry Carr, American athlete
 1945 - Barbara Anderson, American actress
 1945 - James Avery, American actor (d. 2013)
 1945 - Benigno Fitial, 7th Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
 1946 - Kim Howells, British politician
 1946 - Richard Codey, American politician, 53rd Governor of New Jersey
 1947 - Don Adams, American basketball player
 1947 - Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti
 1950 - Gavyn Davies, English businessman

1951  1975 
 1951 – Kathryn Bigelow, American movie director
 1951 - Vera Fischer, Brazilian actress
 1951 - Ivars Godmanis, former Prime Minister of Latvia
 1951 - Luis Lusquiños, Argentine politician (d. 2017)
 1952 – Daryl Stuermer, American guitarist (Genesis)
 1952 - Sheila Copps, Canadian politician
 1952 - Bappi Lahiri, Indian director and singer
 1952 - James D. Wetherbee, American astronaut
 1953 - Curtis Armstrong, American actor
 1953 - Boris Grebenshchikov, Russian musician
 1953 - Steve Bannon, American media executive (Breitbart News) and former White House Chief Strategist
 1954 - Arthur Smith, English comedian and actor
 1955 – Bill Nye, American engineer and broadcaster
 1955 - Pierre Mondou, Canadian ice hockey player
 1956 – Lionello Manfredoni, Italian footballer
 1956 – William Fichtner, American actor
 1957 – Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, daughter of John F. Kennedy
 1957 - Kenny Acheson, Northern Irish racing driver
 1958 - Mike Scioscia, American baseball player
 1959 – Charlie Burchill, Scottish musician (Simple Minds)
 1959 - Victoria Mullova, Russian violinist
 1960 – Eike Immel, German footballer
 1960 – Tim Pawlenty, American politician, former Governor of Minnesota
 1960 – Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukrainian politician, former Prime Minister of Ukraine
 1960 - Michael Rispoli, American actor
 1960 - Gianni Vernetti, Italian politician
 1960 - Nigel Marven, British television presenter and zoologist
 1961 – Samantha Bond, British actress
 1961 - Steve Oedekerk, American actor, director and screenwriter
 1961 - Norbert Dickel, German footballer
 1963 - Fisher Stevens, American actor, director and producer
 1964 – Roberto Mancini, Italian footballer and coach
 1964 - Ronit Elkabetz, Israeli actress (d. 2016)
 1964 - Giles Fraser, English Church of England priest, journalist and broadcaster
 1964 - Robin Givens, American actress
 1965 - Rachida Dati, French politician
 1966 – Andy Merrill, American voice actor
 1967 - Shane Embury, English musician
 1968 - Michael Vartan, French-American actor
 1970 - Brooke Langton, American actress
 1971 - Troy Corser, Australian motorcycle racer
 1972 - Shane Salerno, American screenwriter and producer
 1973 – Vratislav Lokvenc, Czech footballer
 1974 - Wendy Houvenaghel, Northern Irish cyclist

From 1976 
 1976 – Jaleel White, American actor
 1978 – Jimmy Rollins, American baseball player
 1978 – The Streets, English rapper
 1978 – Radek Stepanek, Czech footballer
 1979 – Hilary Hahn, American violinist
 1979 – Teemu Tainio, Finnish footballer
 1979 - Shin Hye-sung, South Korean singer
 1980 - Jackie Greene, American singer-songwriter and musician
 1981 - Bruno Alves, Portuguese footballer
 1981 – Matthew Taylor, English footballer
 1982 - Tatsuya Tanaka, Japanese footballer
 1982 - Alexander Kerzhakov, Russian footballer
 1982 - Tommy Robinson, English activist, former leader of the English Defence League
 1983 – Professor Green, English rapper
 1984 - Sanna Nielsen, Swedish singer
 1985 - Alison Pill, Canadian actress
 1985 - Lauren C. Mayhew, American actress and singer
 1986 - Suresh Kumar Raina, Indian cricketer
 1987 - Yuria Haga, Japanese actress
 1987 - Tom Allin, English cricketer (d. 2016)
 1990 – Josh Dubovie, English singer
 1990 - Shane Haboucha, American actor
 1992 - Park Chan-yeol, South Korean singer and dancer
 1996 - Amanda Todd, American victim of cyberbullying (d. 2012)

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 8 BC – Horace, Roman Emperor (b. 65 BC)
 395 - Ruffinus, Roman statesman
 450 - Galla Placidia, Roman daughter of Theodosius I (b. 392)
 511 – Clovis I, King of the Franks (c. 466)
 602 - Maurice, Byzantine Emperor (b. 539)
 1198 - Constance, Queen of Sicily (b. 1154)
 1252 - Blanche of Castile, Spanish consort of King Louis VIII of France (b. 1188)
 1474 – Guillaume Dufay, French-Flemish composer (b. 1397)
 1570 - Jacopo Sansovino, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1486)
 1592 – King John III of Sweden (b. 1537)
 1661 - Teofila Zofia Sobieska, Polish noblewoman (b. 1607)
 1664 – Francisco Pacheco, Spanish painter (b. 1564)
 1680 – Athanasius Kircher, German Jesuit scholar (b. 1601)
 1700 - Pope Innocent XII (b. 1615)
 1811 - Andrew Meikle, Scottish engineer (b. 1719)
 1852 – Ada Lovelace, English mathematician (b. 1815)
 1888 - Wilhelm Hertenstein, Swiss politician (b. 1825)
 1894 – Johanna von Puttkamer, Prussian noblewoman, wife of Otto von Bismarck (b. 1824)
 1895 – Alexandre Dumas, fils, French writer (b. 1824)
 1899 - Constant Fornerod, Swiss politician (b. 1819)

1901  2000 
 1916 - Emile Verhaeren, Belgian poet (b. 1855)
 1919 - Manuel Espinosa, President of Panama (b. 1857)
 1934 - Baby Face Nelson, American bank robber (b. 1908)
 1936 – Basil Zaharoff, Greek arms dealer (b. 1849)
 1937 - Felix Hamrin, shortest-serving Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1875)
 1940 - Nicolae Iorga, Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1871)
 1944 - Leonid Mandelshtam, Russian physicist (b. 1879)
 1953 – Eugene O'Neill, American writer (b. 1888)
 1955 – Arthur Honegger, French-born Swiss composer (b. 1892)
 1958 - Georgi Damyanov, Bulgarian politician (b. 1892)
 1960 - Dirk Jan de Geer, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1870)
 1967 – Léon Mba, President of Gabon (b. 1902)
 1971 - Joe Guyon, American football player (b. 1892)
 1975 – Ross McWhirter, British co-founder of the Guinness Book of World Records (b. 1925)
 1978 – Harvey Milk, American politician (b. 1930)
 1978 – George Moscone, Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1929)
 1981 – Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (b. 1898)
 1988 – Angela Aames, American actress (b. 1956)
 1988 – John Carradine, American actor (b. 1906)
 1989 - Carlos Arias Navarro, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1908)
 1998 - Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1943)
 1999 - Alain Peyrefitte, French politician and writer (b. 1925)
 2000 - Willie Cunningham, Scottish footballer (b. 1925)
 2000 – Len Shackleton, English footballer (b. 1922)

From 2001 
 2005 – Jocelyn Brando, American actress (b. 1919)
 2006 – Alan Freeman, English disc jockey known by his nickname 'Fluff' (b. 1927)
 2008 – V. P. Singh, former Prime Minister of India (b. 1931)
 2010 – Irvin Kershner, American director (b. 1923)
 2011 – Gary Speed, Welsh footballer and coach (b. 1969)
 2011 – Ken Russell, English movie director (b. 1927)
 2013 - Nílton Santos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1925)
 2013 - Lewis Collins, English actor (b. 1946)
 2014 - Phillip Hughes, Australian cricketer (b. 1988)
 2014 - P. D. James, English writer (b. 1920)
 2015 - Philippe Washer, Belgian tennis player (b. 1924)
 2015 - Maurice Strong, Canadian businessman and diplomat (b. 1929)
 2016 - Ioannis Grivas, Greek politician (b. 1923)
 2017 - Loïc Bouvard, French politician (b. 1929)
 2017 - Bill Harris, American politician (b. 1934)
 2017 - James Kisicki, American actor (b. 1938)
 2017 - Bud Moore, American racing driver (b. 1925)
 2017 - Cristina Stamate, Romanian actress (b. 1946)
 2018 - Harold O. Levy, American lawyer and philanthropist (b. 1952)
 2018 - Ed Pastor, American politician (b. 1943)
 2018 - V. K. Rao, Indian civil servant (b. 1914)
 2018 - Barbara Brooks Wallace, American writer (b. 1922)
 2019 - Stefan Danailov, Bulgarian actor (b. 1942)
 2019 - Clay Evans, American pastor and civil rights activist (b. 1925)
 2019 - Maarit Feldt-Ranta, Finnish politician (b. 1968)
 2019 - Godfrey Gao, Taiwanese-Canadian model and actor (b. 1984)
 2019 - Jaegwon Kim, Korean-American philosopher (b. 1934)
 2019 - Sushil Kumar, Indian admiral (b. 1940)
 2019 - Jonathan Miller, English theatre director, opera director and physician (b. 1934)
 2019 - Agnes Baker Pilgrim, American Takelma elder (b. 1924)
 2019 - William Ruckelshaus, American attorney and US Government official (b. 1932)
 2019 - Bala Singh, Indian actor (b. 1952)
 2019 - Sam Watson, Australian indigenous activist, politician and writer (b. 1952)

Observances 
 Lancashire Day
 Earliest Day for the start of Advent

Days of the year