Events

Up to 1900 
 43 BC - Roman writer, lawyer and statesman Cicero is assassinated.
 574 - Roman Emperor Justin II retires.
 1703 - The Great Storm of 1703 in Great Britain makes landfall.
 1724 – religious troubles were followed by the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (Toruń) by Polish authorities.
 1732 – The Royal Opera House opens in London.
 1776 - Glibert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette arranges to enter the American military as a general.
 1787 – Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the US Constitution.
 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
 1869 - American outlaw Jesse James commits his first confirmed bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri.

1901  1950 
 1917 – World War I: The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary.
 1941 – World War II: Canada declares war on Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Japan.
 1941 – The Japanese attack the Hawaiian city of Pearl Harbor during World War II. 2,403 people are killed, 188 planes are destroyed, and 8 US ships are damaged or destroyed.
 1946 - A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, kills 119 people.
 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The government of Republic of China moves from Nanking to Taipei.

1951  2000 
 1962 - Rainier III, Prince of Monaco revises the principality's constitution, devolving some of his power to advisory and legislative councils.
 1970 - West German Chancellor Willy Brandt makes a gesture of reconciliation towards the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, known as the "Kniefall", as he falls to his knees in front of the city's memorial.
 1972 - First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos escapes an assassination attempt.
 1972 - Apollo 17 launches, as the last mission to-date to fly to the Moon; On this mission, the famous "Blue Marble" photograph of the Earth is taken.
 1975 – Indonesia invades East Timor.
 1983 - An Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 collides with an Aviaco DC-9 in dense fog while the two airliners are taxing down the runway at Madrid-Barajas Airport, killing 93 people.
 1987 - Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 people on board.
 1987 - The Alianza Lima air disaster occurs.
 1988 – In Armenia an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale kills nearly 25,000, injures 15,000 and leaves 400,000 people homeless.
 1988 – Yasser Arafat recognizes the right of Israel to exist.
 1995 - The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter.
 1999 – The RIAA files a lawsuit against the Napster file-sharing client, on charges of copyright infringement.

From 2001 
 2003 – The newly formed Conservative Party of Canada is officially recognised.
 2006 - A tornado strikes Kensal Green, Northwest London.
 2007 - The "Hebei Spirit" oil spill begins in South Korea after a crane barge that had broken free from a tug collides with the very large crude carrier, Hebei Spirit.
 2015 - Then-US Presidential candidate Donald Trump calls for Muslims to be banned from entering the United States.
 2016 - An earthquake in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, kills around 100 people.
 2016 - All 47 people on board die when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashes near Islamabad. 
 2017 - Australia legalises same-sex marriage.

Births

Up to 1900 
 521 - Columba, Irish missionary, monk and saint (d. 597)
 903 - Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, Persian astronomer and author (d. 986)
 1302 - Azzone Visconti, Italian ruler (d. 1339)
 1546 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (d. 1567)
 1561 - Kikkawa Hiroie, Japanese daimyo (d. 1625)
 1598 – Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian artist (d. 1680)
 1627 - Countess Louise Henriette of Nassau (d. 1667)
 1637 – Bernardo Pasquini, Italian composer (d. 1710)
 1643 - Giovanni Battista Falda, Italian architect and engraver (d. 1678)
 1724 - Louise of Great Britain (d. 1751)
 1784 - Allan Cunningham, Scottish author and poet (d. 1842)
 1801 – Johann Nestroy, Austrian dramatist and actor (d. 1862)
 1810 – Theodor Schwann, German biologist (d. 1882)
 1823 – Leopold Kronecker, German mathematician (d. 1891)
 1830 - Luigi Cremona, Italian mathematician (d. 1903)
 1838 - Thomas Bent, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of Victoria (d. 1909)
 1847 - Deacon White, American baseball player and manager (d. 1939)
 1860 – Joseph Cook, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1947)
 1863 – Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer (d. 1945)
 1863 - Felix Calonder, Swiss politician (d. 1952)
 1863 - Richard Warren Sears, American businessman (d. 1914)
 1873 - Willa Cather, American writer (d. 1947)
 1879 - Rudolf Friml, Czech-American pianist and composer (d. 1972)
 1884 - John Carpenter, American sprinter (d. 1933)
 1885 - Mason Phelps, American golfer (d. 1945)
 1887 - Ernst Toch, Austrian-American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
 1888 - Hamilton Fish III, American captain and politician (d. 1991)
 1889 - Gabriel Marcel, French philosopher, dramatist and critic (d. 1973)
 1891 – Fay Bainter, American actress (d. 1968)
 1900 - Christian Matras, Faroese poet (d. 1988)

1901  1950 
 1905 – Gerard Kuiper, Dutch astronomer (d. 1973)
 1908 - Slim Bryant, American musician (d. 2010)
 1909 - Nikola Vaptsarov, Bulgarian poet (d. 1942)
 1910 - Duncan McNaughton, Canadian high jumper (d. 1998)
 1910 - Louis Prima, American singer-songwriter, trumpeter and actor (d. 1978)
 1910 - Vere Bird, 1st Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda (d. 1999)
 1910 – Edmundo Ros, Trinidadian bandleader (d. 2011)
 1912 - Daniel Jones, Welsh composer (d. 1993)
 1915 – Eli Wallach, American actor (d. 2014)
 1918 - Max Merkel, Austrian footballer (d. 2006)
 1920 – Manuel Pereira da Silva, Portuguese sculptor (d. 2003)
 1920 - Tatamkulu Afrika, South African poet and author (d. 2002)
 1920 - Fiorenzo Magni, Italian cyclist (d. 2012)
 1920 - Walter Nowotny, Austrian-German soldier and pilot (d. 1944)
 1924 - Jovanka Broz, First Lady of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
 1924 – Mario Soares, former President of Portugal (d. 2017)
 1928 – Noam Chomsky, American linguist, philosopher and political writer
 1930 - Christopher Nicole, English author
 1932 - Ellen Burstyn, American actress
 1933 - Krsto Papic, Croatian actor (d. 2013)
 1935 - Armando Manzanero, Mexican musician, singer and composer
 1940 - Stan Boardman, English comedian and actor
 1942 - Harry Chapin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1981)
 1943 – Sue Johnston, English actress
 1947 - Johnny Bench, American baseball player and sportscaster
 1947 - Tony Thomas, American screenwriter and producer
 1947 - Garry Unger, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
 1947 - Anne Fine, British author
 1948 - Gary Morris, American singer and actor

1951  1975 
 1952 – Susan Collins, American senator
 1952 - Georges Corraface, French actor and producer
 1954 - Mike Nolan, Irish singer
 1955 - Priscilla Barnes, American actress and producer
 1955 - John Watkins, Australian educator and politician
 1956 – Larry Bird, American basketball player
 1956 - Anna Soubry, English politician
 1956 - Iveta Radicova, former Prime Minister of Slovakia
 1958 - Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta
 1959 - Barbara Wilshere, British actress
 1960 - Craig Scanlon, English guitarist and songwriter
 1962 - Alain Blondel, French decathlete
 1962 - Grecia Colmenares, Venezuelan-Argentine actress
 1962 - Imad Mughniyah, Lebanese resistance leader and freedom fighter
 1963 - Theo Snelders, Dutch footballer and coach
 1964 – Ilse Aigner, German politician
 1965 - Colin Hendry, Scottish footballer
 1965 - Jeffrey Wright, American actor and director
 1969 - Andrea Claudio Galluzzo, Italian historian and archaeologist
 1971 - Chasey Lain, American pornographic actress
 1972 – Hermann Maier, Austrian skier
 1972 - Tammy Lynn Sytch, American wrestler and manager
 1973 - Damien Rice, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
 1973 – Terrell Owens, American football player
 1974 - Nicole Appleton, Canadian singer and actress

From 1976 
 1977 – Dominic Howard, English drummer (Muse)
 1977 - Luke Donald, English golfer
 1979 - Jennifer Carpenter, American actress
 1979 – Sara Bareilles, American singer
 1980 – Clemens Fritz, German footballer
 1980 – John Terry, English footballer
 1984 – Robert Kubica, the first Polish Formula One racing driver
 1984 - Aaron Gray, American basketball player
 1984 - Marko Vujin, Serbian handball player
 1985 - Dean Ambrose, American wrestler
 1987 – Aaron Carter, American singer
 1988 - Emily Browning, Australian actress
 1988 - Andrew Goudelock, American basketball player
 1989 - Nicholas Hoult, English actor
 1989 - Caleb Landry Jones, American actor
 1989 - Alessandro Marchi, Italian footballer
 1990 - Yasiel Puig, Cuban baseball player
 1990 - David Goffin, Belgian tennis player
 1990 – Urszula Radwanska, Polish tennis player
 1991 - Dori Sakurada, Japanese actor, singer and dancer
 1993 - Jasmine Villegas, American actress
 1994 - Yuzuru Hanyu, Japanese figure skater
 2003 – Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, Dutch royal

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 43 BC – Cicero, Roman politician and writer (b. 106 BC)
 283 - Pope Eutychian
 983 – Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 955)
 1254 - Pope Innocent IV (b. 1195)
 1279 - Boleslaw V the Chaste, Polish prince (b. 1226)
 1295 - Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, English soldier (b. 1243)
 1649 - Charles Garnier, French missionary and saint (b. 1606)
 1683 - Algernon Shirley, English philosopher and politician (b. 1623)
 1723 - Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect (b. 1677)
 1772 - Martín Sarmiento, Spanish monk, missionary, scholar and author (b. 1695)
 1793 - Joseph Bara, French soldier and drummer (b. 1779)
 1817 – William Bligh, British naval officer and Governor of New South Wales (b. 1754)
 1879 – Jon Sigurdsson, Icelandic independence campaigner (b. 1811)
 1894 – Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat and entrepreneur (b. 1805)
 1899 - Juan Luna, Filipino painter and sculptor (b. 1857)

1901  2000 
 1902 - Thomas Nast, German-American cartoonist (b. 1840)
 1906 - Elie Ducommun, Swiss educator and journalist (b. 1833)
 1913 - Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian cardinal (b. 1828)
 1917 - Ludwig Minkus, Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1826)
 1938 - Anna Marie Hahn, German-American murderer (b. 1906)
 1947 - Tristan Bernard, French author and playwright (b. 1866)
 1947 – Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher, diplomat and educator (b. 1862)
 1970 - Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist, sculptor and author (b. 1883)
 1975 - Thornton Wilder, American author and playwright (b. 1897)
 1978 - Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist (b. 1886)
 1985 – Robert Graves, English poet (b. 1895)
 1990 – Joan Bennett, American actress (b. 1910)
 1993 – Félix Houphouët-Boigny, 1st President of Ivory Coast (b. 1905)
 1993 – Wolfgang Paul, German physicist (b. 1913)
 1994 - J. C. Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1939)
 1997 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (b. 1942)
 1998 – Martin Rodbell, American scientist (b. 1925)

From 2001 
 2005 - Lucy d'Abreu, Indian-born supercentenarian (b. 1892)
 2006 - Jeane Kirkpatrick, American diplomat (b. 1926)
 2010 - Elizabeth Edwards, American lawyer and author (b. 1949)
 2011 – Harry Morgan, American actor (b. 1915)
 2011 - Jerry Robinson, American comic artist (b. 1922)
 2012 - Marty Reisman, American table tennis player and author (b. 1930)
 2013 - Edouard Molinaro, French actor, director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1928)
 2014 - Khalil Ullah Khan, Bangladeshi actor (b. 1934)
 2014 - Mango, Italian singer, songwriter and musician (b. 1954)
 2014 - Ken Weatherwax, American actor (b. 1955)
 2015 - Ko Chun-hsiung, Taiwanese actor and producer (b. 1945)
 2015 - Shirley Stelfox, English actress (b. 1941)
 2015 - Martin E. Brooks, American actor (b. 1925)
 2016 - Greg Lake, English musician (b. 1947)
 2017 - Fred J. Doocy, American politician and banker (b. 1913)
 2017 - Ivan Korsak, Ukrainian writer and journalist (b. 1946)
 2017 - Philippe Maystadt, Belgian politician (b. 1948)
 2017 - Roland Taylor, American basketball player (b. 1946)
 2018 - Belisario Betancur, Colombian politician, President of Colombia (b. 1923)
 2018 - Shmuel Flatto-Sharon, French-Israeli politician (b. 1930)
 2018 - Luigi Radice, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1935)
 2019 - Berkley Bedell, American politician and businessman (b. 1921)
 2019 - Reinhard Bonnke, German evangelist (b. 1940)
 2019 - Bump Elliott, American football player (b. 1925)
 2019 - Giuseppe Frigo, Italian politician and lawyer (b. 1935)
 2019 - Herbert Joos, German jazz trumpeter (b. 1940)
 2019 - Ali Mufuruki, Tanzanian businessman (b. 1958)

Holidays and observances 
 Saint Ambrose Feast Day
 United States – Pearl Harbor Day
 Colombia – Día de las Velitas (Day of the Candles): Festivity
 India – The Armed Forces Flag Day
 Armenia - Spitak Remembrance Day
 International Civil Aviation Day

December 07