Events

Up to 1900 
 795 - Pope Leo III is elected.
 838 - A North Sea flood affecting Friesland kills around 2,500 people.
 1135 - Stephen of England is crowned King.
 1481 – Battle of Westbroek – Holland defeats troops of Utrecht
 1606 – King Lear performed in the Court of England
 1620 – Elizabeth Báthory's crimes are uncovered
 1620 – Pilgrim Fathers land of what becomes New Plymouth in Massachusetts
 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The British were defeated in the Battle of Trenton
 1790 – Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution
 1792 – Final trial of Louis XVI of France begins in Paris
 1793 – Battle of Geisberg – French defeat Austrians
 1793 – Wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
 1805 - Austria and France sign the Treaty of Pressburg.
 1806 – Battle of Pultusk – indecisive battle between Napoleon and the Russians.
 1811 - In Richmond, Virginia, the worst theatre fire in US history kills 72 people, including then-Governor of Virginia George William Smith.
 1812 – The Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay are blocked off by ships during the War of 1812.
 1825 – Several Imperial Russia army officers lead 3000 soldiers to the Senate Square in the failed Decembrist uprising
 1825 – The Erie Canal opens
 1861 – Confederate diplomatic envoys James Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Britain
 1862 – 38 starving and angry Lakota men are hanged for killing white people after a brief rebellion
 1862 – American Civil War: Start of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.
 1871 - Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate for the first time, on the opera Thespis. It is another four years before they work together again.
 1898 – Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
 1900 - A relief crew arrives at the lighthouse in the Flannan Islands off the west coast of Scotland, only to find that the previous crew had disappeared without a trace.

1901  1950 
 1906 – The world's first full-length feature movie is made in Australia, The Story of the Kelly Gang.
 1908 – Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia.
 1916 - Joseph Joffre is made Marshal of France.
 1919 - Babe Ruth of the baseball team Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by team owner Harry Frazee.
 1925 – The Communist Party of India is founded.
 1925 – Turkey adopts the Gregorian Calendar, which it uses from January 1, 1926.
 1931 – Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity was founded
 1933 – The Nissan Motor Company was organized in Tokyo, Japan
 1933 – FM radio is patented.
 1941 - Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing Thanksgiving Day as a holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.
 1943 – The German warship Scharnhorst sinks off the coast of North Cape in Norway after being attacked by the British Royal Navy late the previous evening.
 1943 – At the Cairo Conference, Winston Churchill decides that Germany needs to be defeated before Japan.
 1944 – The play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was first publicly performed.
 1944 – American troops repulse German forces at Bastogne.
 1945 – CFP franc and CFA franc are created.
 1946 – Flamingo Hotel opens in Las Vegas.
 1947 – 26 inches of snowfall in 16 hours in New York City.
 1948 – Cardinal Mindszenty arrested in Hungary.

1951  2000 
 1963 - The Beatles release the singles I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There in the United States, starting the so-called Beatlemania internationally.
 1966 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
 1973 – Comet Kohoutek reaches perihelion but is not such a display as expected.
 1973 - The horror movie The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, is released in US cinemas.
 1973 – Soyuz 13 lands.
 1974 – Salyut 4 launched.
 1975 – Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in the Soviet Union.
 1976 – Foundation of the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist).
 1978 - The first Paris to Dakar Rally starts in Paris.
 1979 – Soviet Special forces troops take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.
 1980 – Aeroflot puts the Ilyushin Il-86 into service.
 1982 – TIME magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human; the personal computer.
 1984 – Princess Astrid of Belgium marries Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este.
 1986 – The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its final episode after thirty-five years on the air.
 1988 – Start of the Nanjing Anti-African protests.
 1991 – Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the USSR.
 1996 – JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old beauty queen, was found murdered in her family's basement in Boulder, Colorado.
 1996 – United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification goes into force.
 1997 - The Soufriere Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat explodes.
 1998 – Iraq announced its intention to fire upon US and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern "no-fly zones".
 1998 – Severe gales over Ireland, northern England, and southern Scotland. Widespread disruption, widespread power outages in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland.
 1999 – On the 26-28th, France and countries to the east, including Germany, are hit by severe storms and rain. Over 100 people were killed, and the storm caused extensive damage to property and trees and the French national power grid.

From 2001 
 2002 – French Raelian scientist Brigitte Boisselier says Clonaid has delivered the first of a supposed five clone babies through cesarean section.
 2003 – Major earthquake, of magnitude 6.6, devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, killing tens of thousands; citadel of Arg-é Bam is destroyed.
 2004 – A massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter magnitude scale creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, The Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The death toll is currently estimated at more than 300,000. Officials say the true toll may never be known, due to rapid burials. Indonesia was worst affected with as many as 219,000 people killed.
 2004 – In a re-run of Ukraine's Presidential election Viktor Yushchenko defeats Viktor Yanukovich.
 2006 – At least 260 people are killed when an oil pipeline in Lagos, Nigeria, explodes.
 2012 - Shinzo Abe becomes Prime Minister of Japan for a second time.
 2016 - Shinzo Abe becomes the first Prime Minister of Japan to visit the site of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.
 2017 - Honduras and Panama decide to move their embassies in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
 2017 - Former professional footballer George Weah is elected President of Liberia.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1194 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1250)
 1532 – Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (d. 1576)
 1536 – Yi I of Joseon, Confucian scholar (d. 1584)
 1622 - Cort Adeler, Norwegian admiral (d. 1675)
 1687 – Johann Georg Pisendel, German violinist and composer (d. 1755)
 1716 – Thomas Gray, English poet and letter-writer (d. 1771)
 1723 – Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German writer (d. 1807)
 1735 – Prince Josias of Coburg, Holy Roman Empire general (d. 1815)
 1751 – Clement Hofbauer, missionary (d. 1820)
 1769 – Ernst Moritz Arndt, German writer (d. 1860)
 1771 - Julie Clary, French wife of Joseph Bonaparte (d. 1845)
 1777 - Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse (d. 1848)
 1780 – Mary Fairfax Somerville, British mathematician (d. 1872)
 1785 - Etienne Constantin de Gerlache, 1st Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1871)
 1791 – Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor (d. 1871)
 1819 – E. D. E. N. Southworth, American novelist (d. 1899)
 1822 – Dion Boucicault, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1890)
 1837 – George Dewey, U. S. admiral (d. 1917)
 1837 - Morgan Bulkeley, 54th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1922)
 1853 – René Bazin, French novelist (d. 1932)
 1859 - William Stephens, 24th Governor of California (d. 1944)
 1863 – Charles Pathé, French movie pioneer (d. 1957)
 1867 - Phan Boi Chau, Vietnamese nationalist (d. 1940)
 1872 – Norman Angell, British writer, Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 1967)
 1874 - Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, Bangladeshi educator, theologian and social reformer (d. 1965)
 1880 - Elton Mayo, Australian psychologist (d. 1949)
 1883 – Maurice Utrillo, French painter (d. 1955)
 1890 – Uncle Charlie Osborne, fiddler (d. 1992)
 1891 – Henry Miller, American writer (d. 1980)
 1893 – Mao Zedong, Chinese military leader and politician (d. 1976)
 1894 - Jean Toomer, American writer (d. 1967)

1901  1950 
 1902 - Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian writer (d. 1980)
 1903 – Elisha Cook Jr., actor (d. 1995)
 1904 – Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (d. 1980)
 1905 – Anfilogino Guarisi, Brazilian-Italian footballer (d. 1974)
 1905 - Mario Varglien, Italian footballer (d. 1978)
 1906 – Imperio Argentina, Argentine-Spanish actress and singer (d. 2003)
 1907 - Albert Gore, Sr., American politician (d. 1998)
 1909 - Matt Gordy, American pole vaulter (d. 1989)
 1911 – Princess Takamatsu of Japan (d. 2004)
 1912 - Henk de Looper, Dutch field hockey player (d. 2006)
 1913 - Elizabeth David, English cookery writer (d. 1992)
 1914 – Richard Widmark, American actor (d. 2008)
 1918 – George Rallis, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2006)
 1921 – Steve Allen, American actor, comedian, composer, and writer (d. 2000)
 1923 - Richard Artschwager, American artist (d. 2013)
 1926 – Gina Pellón, Cuban painter
 1926 - Earle Brown, American composer (d. 2002)
 1927 – Alan King, American comedian and actor (d. 2004)
 1927 - Stu Miller, American baseball player (d. 2015)
 1931 - Roger Piantoni, French footballer
 1933 – Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer
 1935 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma, President of Togo (d. 2005)
 1937 - John Horton Conway, British mathematician
 1938 - Bahram Bayzai, Iranian director, screenwriter and producer
 1939 - Fred Schepisi, Australian director
 1939 – Phil Spector, American music producer
 1940 – Edward C. Prescott, American economist
 1941 - Daniel Schmid, Swiss movie director
 1942 – Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo, 28th President of Guatemala
 1942 – Gray Davis, former Governor of California
 1945 – John Walsh, American talk show host
 1947 – Carlton Fisk, American Baseball Hall of Famer
 1947 - Liz Lochhead, Scottish poet
 1949 – José Ramos-Horta, East Timorean human rights activist and former President of East Timor
 1949 - Mikhail Boyarsky, Russian actor and singer
 1950 - Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, former Prime Minister of Pakistan

1951  1975 
 1951 - C. J. Henderson, American writer, critic and editor (d. 2014)
 1951 - John Scofield, American jazz guitarist and composer
 1952 - Alexander Ankvab, Abkhazian politician
 1953 – Henning Schmitz, German musician (Kraftwerk)
 1953 – Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia
 1953 – Leonel Fernandez, former President of the Dominican Republic
 1953 - Michel Guimond, Canadian politician (d. 2015)
 1954 - Peter Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and son of Edmund Hillary
 1954 - Susan Butcher, American dogsledder (d. 2006)
 1954 - Tony Rosato, Italian-born Canadian actor (d. 2017)
 1954 – Ozzie Smith, American Baseball Hall of Famer
 1955 – Evan Bayh, US Senator from Indiana
 1956 – David Sedaris, American essayist
 1957 - Dermot Murnaghan, British newsreader
 1959 – Koji Morimoto, Japanese director
 1959 - Hans Nielsen, Danish speedway rider
 1960 - Andrew Graham-Dixon, British art historian and broadcaster
 1962 - James Kottak, German musician
 1963 – Lars Ulrich, Danish musician (Metallica)
 1969 – Thomas Linke, German footballer
 1969 – Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, American-born German equestrian
 1971 – Mika Nurmela, Finnish footballer
 1971 – Jared Leto, American actor, singer and musician
 1975 – Marcelo Rios, Chilean tennis player

From 1976 
 1976 – Lea De Mae, Czech actress (d. 2004)
 1976 - Janina Karolchyk-Pravalinska, Belarussian athlete
 1977 - Fatih Akyel, Turkish footballer
 1979 - Fabian Carini, Uruguayan footballer
 1979 – Mark Cueto, English rugby player
 1979 – Chris Daughtry, American singer
 1981 - Ilia Kandelaki, Georgian footballer
 1982 - Shun Oguri, Japanese actor and model
 1982 – Aksel Lund Svindal, Norwegian skier
 1984 - Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker
 1985 - Beth Behrs, American actress
 1986 - Hugo Lloris, French footballer
 1986 - Kit Harington, English actor
 1987 - Mikhail Kukushkin, Kazakhstani tennis player
 1989 - Yohan Blake, Jamaican athlete
 1989 - Sofiane Feghouli, Algerian footballer
 1990 - Andy Biersack, American singer
 1990 – Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer
 1990 - Denis Cheryshev, Russian footballer
 1991 - Eden Sher, American actress
 1992 - Jade Thirlwall, English singer (Little Mix)
 1994 – Souleymane Coulibaly, Ivorian footballer
 1994 - Stephanie Boscarino, American actress
 1994 - Luisa Hartema, German model
 1995 – Zach Mills, American actor

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 268 - Pope Dionysius
 418 - Pope Zosinos
 831 - Euthymius of Sardis, Byzantine bishop and saint (b. 754)
 865 - Empress Dowager Zheng of China
 1350 - Jean de Marigny, French archbishop
 1458 - Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (b. 1393)
 1476 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1444)
 1530 – Babur, Mughal Emperor (b. 1483)
 1624 – Simon Marius, German astronomer (b. 1573)
 1780 - John Fothergill, English physician (b. 1712)
 1784 – Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (b. 1743)
 1786 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian playwright and critic (b. 1713)
 1811 - George William Smith, Governor of Virginia (b. 1762)
 1867 – Jozsef Kossics, Slovenian writer (b. 1788)
 1869 - Jean Leonard Marie Poiseuille, French physician and physiologist (b. 1797)
 1890 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (b. 1822)

1901  2000 
 1909 - Frederic Remington, American painter and illustrator (b. 1761)
 1923 - Dietrich Eckart, German journalist and politician (b. 1868)
 1931 - Melvil Dewey, American librarian (b. 1851)
 1933 – Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian literary critic and politician (b. 1875)
 1960 - Tetsuro Watsuji, Japanese philosopher (b. 1889)
 1970 – Lillian Board, British athlete (b. 1948)
 1972 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884)
 1973 – Harold B. Lee, American Mormon leader (b. 1899)
 1974 - Farid al-Atrash, Syrian-Egyptian singer-songwriter, musician and actor (b. 1915)
 1977 - Howard Hawks, American director (b. 1896)
 1981 - Savitri, Indian actress, director and producer (b. 1937)
 1983 - Violet Carson, English actress (b. 1898)
 1985 – Dian Fossey, American gorilla specialist (b. 1932)
 1985 - Harold P. Warren, American movie director (b. 1928)
 1986 – Elsa Lanchester, British actress (b. 1902)
 1994 - Pietro Pavan, Italian cardinal (b. 1903)
 1999 – Shankar Dayal Sharma, President of India (b. 1918)
 1999 – Curtis Mayfield, American musician (b. 1942)
 2000 - Jason Robards, American actor (b. 1922)

From 2001 
 2001 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor (b. 1929)
 2004 – Marianne Heiberg, Norwegian mediator (b. 1945)
 2004 – Khun Bhumi Jensen, Thai royal (b. 1983) (2004 Indian Ocean earthquake)
 2004 - Angus Ogilvy, British businessman (b. 1928)
 2005 - Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (b. 1937)
 2005 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (b. 1948)
 2006 – Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)
 2006 - Ivar Formo, Norwegian cross-country skier (b. 1951)
 2009 - Giuseppe Chiappella, Italian footballer (b. 1924)
 2010 – Salvador Jorge Blanco, President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1926)
 2010 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
 2011 - Sarekoppa Bangarappa, Indian politician (b. 1932)
 2011 – Sam Rivers, American jazz musician and composer (b. 1923)
 2011 - Pedro Armendariz, Jr., Mexican actor (b. 1940)
 2012 - Gerry Anderson, British writer, director and producer (b. 1929)
 2012 - Fontella Bass, American singer (b. 1940)
 2013 - Marta Eggerth, Hungarian-American actress (b. 1912)
 2013 - Dr. Tangalanga, Argentine comedian (b. 1916)
 2014 - Leo Tindemans, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1922)
 2014 - James B. Edwards, American politician, 110th Governor of South Carolina and 3rd United States Secretary of Energy (b. 1927)
 2014 - Roberto Delmastro, Chilean politician (b. 1945)
 2015 - Jim O'Toole, American baseball player (b. 1937)
 2016 - Ashot Anastasian, Armenian chess player (b. 1964)
 2017 - Shahnon Ahmad, Malaysian writer (b. 1933)
 2017 - Johnny Bower, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1924)
 2017 - Gualtiero Marchesi, Italian chef (b. 1930)

Observances 
 Boxing Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, except if 26 December happens to be a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, it is moved to December 27 by Royal Proclamation.
 Saint Stephen's Day in Roman Catholicism, holiday in some European countries
 First Day of Kwanzaa (United States)
 Second Day of Christmas

Days of the year